Excerpt of The Secret of Blackrock Cave

Here is an excerpt of The Secret of Blackrock Cave. Since these books are hard to describe (funny? comedy? adventure? huh?) I think this and a few other excerpts will help clear things up a bit. Once again, enjoy!

~Anastasia

Excerpt of ‘Rhett Hawke: The Secret of Blackrock Cave’

  “But where is the treasure?!” Captain Rex almost shouted. 
“Quiet!” Adriane hissed. “You could set off a cave-in!”
“But the treasure isn’t here!” he replied loudly.
“The cave goes deeper,” Evan said cautiously. “Maybe we should go ahead.”
Rex curled his lip dangerously. He jerked his head in an indefinable direction. “Up here, Hawke. You first.” He poked Wikk in the chest with his sword. “But leave the bodyguards. No funny business.”
Rhett smiled easily and strode forward as smoothly as he could with his injured leg. Adriane grabbed his arm, giving Rex a dark, proud look as she marched along with her stumbling comrade.
They lit more torches and gave one to Rhett to light the way. The pirates shoved and fought to run ahead, but Rex silenced them with a word.
The going was slow according to the leader, and the pirates were getting antsy to see gold. Rhett himself itched to see a glimmer of some sort. Where was this promised gold of Cíbola?
They must have wandered through a thousand tunnels and forked paths. Rhett’s leg was throbbing and he was getting kind of suspicious about the whole deal. Sir Francis Drake was a pirate, after all. He would have spent every ounce of gold he looted, wouldn’t he?
It must have been hours before Rex stomped up to Rhett and poked him in the chest with his pistol. “Where’s the treasure, Hawke?”
Rhett pretended to look emotionally hurt. “What? What do you mean? Do you honestly think I took it and didn’t tell you?”
“Stop foolin’ around,” Rex growled. “Where’s the treasure?”
“What makes you think I know where it is? I didn’t even know about your bloody treasure before you told me about it.”
Rex narrowed his gleaming eyes. “You know somethin’, Hawke. Somethin’ yer not tellin’ us.”
Rhett huffed and caught Adriane’s eye. She gave him a questioning look, but Rhett quickly shook his head. “Listen, mate,” Rhett said. “I know about as much about where the treasure is as you do about my mother’s mental state.” At Rex’s stare, Rhett added, “Nothing.”
Rex bellowed and threw his sword around. “Then I came here for nothing? Where’s me treasure?!”
Adriane grabbed his arm and pulled. “Be quiet! The cave!”
Rex elbowed Adriane in the face and she reeled back. Evan sprang up and grabbed Rex’s arms. Wikk followed by wrestling Rex’s mouth shut between his echoing shouts.
A shower of rocks landed in Rhett’s hat. He looked up. “Uh, Milty?”
Rex threw both Evan and Wikk of of him. “An’ DON’T call me MILTY!” Rex screamed. “M’name is CAPTAIN REX!”
“MILTON! SHUT UP!”
Adriane waved her arms. “YOU GUYS BE QUIET! THE CAVE IS UNSTABLE! IT COULD—”
Between the last two shouts, the cave suddenly rocked. Everyone froze, clutching something to stabilize themselves. A hunk of the cave’s ceiling came crashing down dangerously close to Rhett, and he leaped away, rolling when he hit the ground. Before anyone could react, a wall of rock had fallen between Rhett’s party and Rex’s crew.
“What trick have ye played now, Hawke?!” Rex yelled over the rocks.
“For the last time, you old twit,” Adriane sighed, “shut your trap!”
Rhett chuckled but hid the sound with a coughing fit. Clearing his throat, he said, “Captain Milton Rex, it looks to me like we have a race on our hands.”
“A race?” Rex said.
“A race to the treasure!” And Rhett, Adriane, Wikk, and Evan dashed down the nearest corridor.