The Oxford Set
It was an overcast day in the picturesque Cornish fishing village of Porthysek.
The sky was grey, the rain pit-patted onto the slate roofs, and the sea gently rolled into the harbour.
Not that that bothered Alice Jones, much.
She actually enjoyed watching the moody coastal scenes outside her living room window, curled up on the sofa with a cup of tea whilst planning yet another archeological excavation to go on.
It was a world away from her childhood home in sunny Florida, but that was partly why she loved it.
Most of the time nothing particularly interesting happened outside, but this time was different.
Whilst on a Zoom meeting about the possible remains of a Roman Villa outside the village, Alice zoned out for a moment, looking out at the murky sea.
In the distance, she could just about see a large ship.
It was a magnificent vessel, almost certainly 17th century; the ultimate Pirate ship.
She continued to watch the vessel, until something distressing happened.
A large wave engulfed the ship and brought it down to the ocean floor. Nothing of the ship remained on the surface.
Horrified, Alice quickly excused herself from the Zoom meeting, and ran down Roscarrock Hill towards the RLNI centre.
Within a few moments, the lifeguard’s boarded their boat and went out into the vast ocean.
Within a few hours, they returned to the harbour, sullen looks on their faces.
”But I literally saw a ship get taken down beneath the waves,” Alice said, “surely other people saw it too?”
”If they did, it’s too late,” one of the lifeguards said, “if there was any ship at all, there’s nothing there now.”
”It was only a few seconds ago,” Alice said, “There must be crew members stranded out there.”
The lifeguard simply shook their head. “I’m afraid not, Alice. We found no trace of anything, or anyone.”
After a while, Alice slowly trudged up the hill back to her cosy living room.
”Have you considered the idea that you simply imagined it?” Ben, Alice’s husband, said later that evening, curled up in an armchair with a cup of tea.
Alice slowly shook her head.
”I…” Alice paused for a moment, the sighed, “know what I saw.”
”Are you suggesting you saw a ghost ship?” Ben asked.
”I don’t know, maybe.” Alice said. “I can’t think of any other explanation.”
”Even the possibility that it was merely a figment of your imagination?” Ben said.
”Yeah. It was definitely there in the ocean.” Alice said. “And it definitely got capsized by a wave.”
Ben took a sip of his tea. “Interesting.”
”Are you aware of any shipwrecks of Port Isaac harbour?” Alice said.
”Not that I know of,” Ben said. “Perhaps you should ask Cat? Shipwrecks are more her speciality.”
”Ok. I will,” Alice said. “I need to talk to her anyway about arranging a trip to Seaburgh so we can finally look for King Redweald’s Crowns.”
”Good,” Ben said.
He finished the dregs of his tea before easing himself out of his armchair.
”I need to examine the Illuminated Manuscript in my office for a few more hours but then we could have our evening meal in Nathan Outlaw’s tonight, if you’re interested?” Ben said.
”That would be great, yeah,” Alice said.
With that, Ben went upstairs to his office, and Alice quietly did some work on her laptop, trying her best to forget about the phantom vessel she saw that morning.
The Robinsonverse 