The Curse of Boney Jones

On Christmas Day, I placed a couple of new geocaches in Martinsville — The Christmas Troll (GC8H88K) and Old Man Rodan's Christmas Special (GC8H89C) — so it seemed fitting I should place at least one new in Greensboro for good measure. I did this yesterday afternoon, and I imagine the new listing will be published in the next day or so. It's in the woods near Lake Townsend, not far up the road from here. The nice prop comes courtesy of friends Elizabeth & Cortney (a.k.a. EmVirginia), which they originally gifted me for an entirely different purpose. Unfortunately, it didn't serve its intended purpose to proper effect, so I figured that repurposing it for geocaching would be more than apt.

As a writer of fictions, I felt obliged to come up with a little story for the cache. So here it is:

"Edward Leigh 'Boney' Jones was an early 18th-century 'explorer,' reputedly of questionable character — in other words, a pirate. After a long, checkered career at sea, Jones settled in the area now known as Greensboro. For years after his retirement, he remained wanted for his illegal activities, and so he buried a sizable treasure trove somewhere around what is now Lake Townsend. His one trusted confidante was his former first mate, a particularly vicious pirate named 'Bloody' Reg Bannister. One night, Bannister murdered Boney Jones in his sleep, and thus claimed the vast hoard for himself.

"Supposedly, Boney Jones's remains lie somewhere around Lake Townsend, left there by the murderous Bloody Reg. For years, the legend has persisted that Boney Jones's tortured voice sometimes rings out late at night. Near the lake, some claim to have seen his skeletal figure, his hands raised in supplication, a sign of his desire to regain his stolen treasure. Should you come upon Boney Jones's mortal remains, beware — in his everlasting madness, his groping hands may attempt to take hold of you and throttle the very life from you. You may be able to placate him by signing your name on the Scroll of The Damned that some say Bannister buried with him. But there are no guarantees. Boney Jones may claim you and, someday, it may be your bones that some unfortunate soul discovers near the banks of Lake Townsend."

Happy trails.