Mango Lucky (2 page)

Normally I wouldn't have taken noticed of these guys, but they stood out from the rest of the beach crowd. It was the way they were dressed.

Instead of t-shirts and shorts like everyone else, they both were wearing long black pants, black boots, and black long sleeve shirts. And one was carrying what looked like a tire iron in his right hand.

Not what you expect to see on the beach in the sleepy town of Englewood, Florida.

I reached for Sarah and nodded toward the two men, "See those two guys? Something's up. Let's hang back and see what happens."

As we watched, the two men closed in on the man with the metal detector and stood directly in his path.

When he looked up and saw them, he attempted to walk around the pair.

They stepped into his path again, blocking him.

I looked at Sarah, "Stay here, I'm going to get a little closer."

Sarah whispered, "Don't hurt them."

Sarah knew about my days in Afghanistan. And she'd seen me in action before. She knew I could handle trouble. She knew I could hurt people if necessary.

As I began walking toward the two men, I stopped, bent over and filled my hands with wet sand. Then I continued in their direction, coming up from behind.

As I got closer I could hear the taller one say, "Give us your trinkets old man, or we'll hurt you."

3

The man with the metal detector ignored the threat. He stepped around the men and walked away.

The two men quickly caught up with him, again blocking his way. The taller of the two put his left hand on the man's shirt, in his right he flicked open a six inch knife and said, "Your money. Now!"

The older man calmly set his metal detector down on the sand, picked up his long metal scoop and held it in front of him, as if he were preparing for battle.

"Get out of my way. I don't want trouble."

The men in black laughed. Moving closer, the taller one flashed the knife, "Give us your money, or get cut."

Instead of giving up his money, the detector guy swung his metal scoop at the taller man, narrowly missing his face.

That's when the shorter man, the one holding the tire iron, put one foot behind the old man's leg and pushed him backward, causing him to topple onto the sand.

At that point I was close enough to take action.

From behind, I walked up and dumped a hand full of sand down the back of the shirt of the taller man.

I'd learned this trick early on.

Distracting and confusing an opponent gives you the advantage. And in this case, sand down the back of the shirt was the perfect distraction.

Feeling the wet sand, the taller man slapped his neck with one hand as if trying to swat a bee, and then used his other hand to reach around and feel the small of his back where the sand had accumulated.

The man was now defenseless, with both hands behind his back.

I turned and repeated the move with the shorter man, dumping sand from my other hand down the back of his shirt. He reacted the same way as his partner.

Both hands behind his back, trying to figure out what was going on.

The man with the detector took this opportunity to swing hard with his long handled scoop, catching the short man on the left side of his knee.

I could hear the knee pop when the heavy end of the scoop connected. Screaming, the short man fell to the sand, dropping his tire iron.

I picked it up.

The taller man started to move toward the detector guy who was now trying to get back on his feet. I stepped between them, tapping the attacker on the chest with the tire iron.

"You really don't want to do this. Too many witnesses."

I pointed to the gathering crowd. "Now would be a good time to leave. While you still can."

From the corner of my eye, I saw the metal detector guy raise his right arm. In his hand, a small pistol.

4

The beach is no place for a gun. Especially when there is a crowd of potential witnesses and victims.

Turning to the metal detector guy, I said, "Put the gun away. "

I pointed to the two attackers, already leaving the beach. One was limping, the other mumbling obscenities in our direction.

As the crowd of witnesses scattered, Sarah walked up, "You okay?"

"Yep, no problem. Just a misunderstanding."

I turned toward the metal detector guy who was still holding the gun. "Put it away. If the police show up, you don't want to be holding a gun."

He grinned. "I coulda handled those punks by myself. Me and this pistol. If you hadn't showed up, I would have shot 'em both."

I nodded, and he put the gun back into his belly pack.

Extending my hand, I helped him get to his feet, "I'm Walker. This is Sarah."

He smiled, "Glad to meet you. I'm Ralph."

Looking at Ralph, Sarah asked, "You okay?"

He nodded, "I'm fine. Just a little embarrassed that those punks were able to knock me down.

"They think just because I'm old, I'm an easy target.

"But they'd be wrong. This metal scoop is a pretty good weapon, and if that doesn't work, I've got the little pistol in my belly pack."

He took a breath, then continued, "I'd hate to shoot anyone, but I'm not going to let some punk beat me up."

Sarah nodded in agreement, then asked, "Does this happen often?"

Shaking his head, Ralph said, "Not really. Mostly people just ignore me. Or they come up and ask me questions. Want to see what I've found.

"But once in a while, I'll run into trouble. Usually kids trying to impress other kids. Throwing a Frisbee at me. Things like that.

"This is only the second time someone tried to steal from me. And just like the first time, it didn't work out for them."

Sarah nodded, then pointing at the detector, asked, "So Ralph, what kind of things do you find out here on the beach?"

He smiled. Sarah had that effect on men.

5

"What do I find?" replied Ralph. "You'd be amazed.

"I find bracelets, earrings, watches, even cell phones."

He reached into his shirt pocket, "I found this today. It's a gold ring. With a small diamond."

Sarah looked at the ring, "Wow! You found that today?"

Ralph beamed, "Sure did. Right on this beach.

"Now don't get me wrong. I don't find rings like this every day. In fact, I'm lucky if I find just one a week.

"But I usually find something interesting every time I come out here. Mostly coins. Costume jewelry. And lots of toys."

"What do you do with all the things you find?" asked Sarah.

"If I can identify the owner, I try to return the item. But most things I find aren't marked with an owner ID. So if it's something real valuable, I'll let the lifeguard know, and if someone asks about it, I'll give it back to them.

"The rest of the stuff, I keep. When I need money, I sell some of it."

Sarah nodded, then asked, "So Ralph, how you'd get started metal detecting?"

Ralph smiled, "Had to. Doctors orders.

"See, fifteen years ago my wife and I were living in upstate New York. We got tired of the cold winters and decided to head to Florida.

"After looking around, we decided Englewood was the perfect place for us. Affordable, peaceful, and right on the gulf.

"We bought a small house and settled into the retirement lifestyle. Two years later, my wife died, leaving just me and Porky."

"Porky?" asked Sarah.

"Porky is my dog. A Jack Russell terrorist. He's the boss.

"Anyway, after my wife died, my doctor said I needed to get a hobby that involved daily exercise.

"I didn't like golf, so I took up metal detecting. Been doing it every day for the last twelve years. Except when there's a hurricane."

Sarah nodded, "So if you've been out on the beach every day for the past twelve years, you must of found a lot."

Ralph smiled, "Yep. I have buckets full of coins and other stuff I've found. And three display cases full of rings."

Sarah was impressed. "That's amazing!"

Then she pointed at me and said, "I'm trying to get Walker here to take up metal detecting. What would he need to get started?"

Ralph thought for a moment, "He'll need a good metal detector. And a long handled sand scoop.

"And he'll need a lot of patience. Because you don't just come out here for a few minutes and find buried treasure.

"You have to be out here every day and swing the detector for hours, hoping to find just one good thing.

"If you have the right detector and learn how to use it, and spend enough time swinging it, you'll start to find coins, and eventually jewelry. Maybe even some really nice pieces."

Sarah nodded, "What if Walker wants to find real treasure? You know, pirate gold. Where would he do that?"

Ralph shook his head, "You won't find any pirate treasure on this side of Florida. To find that, you'll need to go to the Treasure Coast on the east side of Florida. Near Vero Beach.

"Over there, under the right conditions, you have a pretty good chance of finding Spanish silver and gold coins."

"Treasure coast?" asked Sarah. "Why is it called that?"

"Well," replied Ralph, "Back in 1715, thirteen Spanish ships loaded with gold and silver were heading from South America to Spain, and got caught up in a hurricane just off what is now Vero Beach, Florida.

"Those ships sunk and dumped two hundred tons of freshly minted gold and silver coins just offshore. And ever since, people walking the beaches over there occasionally find silver and gold coins from the ship wrecks. Especially after big storms."

Sarah nodded, then asked, "So if Walker wants to take his motorhome over there and search for treasure, what should he do?"

"That's easy," replied Ralph. "He should wait until he sees a tropical storm heading for that coast, then get a camping spot at Sebastian Inlet State Park.

"From there, he can quickly get to the best treasure beaches right after the storm passes.

"But before he goes, he should look up the 1715 Fleet wreck on the internet. He'll find maps showing where the ships went down, and the best beaches to search."

Ralph smiled, picked up his detector and stuck out his hand. "Walker, thanks for your help with those punks. If I can ever do anything for you, just let me know. You can always find me out here on the beach."

Then he turned to Sarah, "If you guys don't mind, I want to get back to detecting and see if I can find another ring before the sun goes down."

He pulled his headphones over his ears and started moving down the beach, slowly swinging his detector over the sand.

6

Sarah couldn't contain herself. "Walker, you need a metal detector. Then you could be like Ralph, finding diamond rings on the beach.

"You saw the one he found today. It's probably worth a thousand dollars or more. If you had a detector, you could be finding things like that."

"You're right," I said. "That was a nice looking ring. But look at how many hours Ralph spends detecting each day.

"I'm not sure I want to spend my time that way, alone on the beach swinging a metal detector.

"I'd rather be doing something with you."

Sarah turned toward me, a serious look on her face. "Walker, here's the deal. You've got too much time on your hands. I can't be around you all the time. You need to come up with a hobby or something to keep you busy.

"So think about getting a metal detector. And think about going over to the Treasure Coast for a few days, maybe even a week or two.

"And do it sooner than later. Because we need a break from each other."

I wasn't expecting that. I thought Sarah and I mutually enjoyed each others company.

But maybe she was right. We were spending a lot of time together. And maybe she needed some time alone. Maybe even some time with someone that wasn't me.

I wasn't going to argue with her. If she wanted me to go to the other coast and be a treasure hunter for a few days, that's what I'd do.

"Walker, don't take this personal. It's just that until you showed up, I got used to living alone. Not having to entertain anyone. And I liked it that way.

"And while I've really enjoyed our time together, I really miss being by myself. And there's something else.