“That box is lovely.”
“It belonged to my great-grandfather.” He set it on the deck with a loud thunk. “Even with little gold inside, these old corsair’s boxes are heavy.”
“No treasure, then?”
“I did not say that.”
Alonso lifted the lid of the box and drew out a shield of steel inlaid with gold and silver. As Arzella ran her fingers over the shield’s engraved design, Alonso pulled out a large, leather-bound book.
“What do you know of navigation?” he said.
“I can steer by the compass.”
“Very well. Steer a course east-northeast for now. There is much more you will need to learn, as there are only the two of us. If something happens to me, it will be up to you to finish our voyage alone.”
Arzella sat behind the wheel, one hand on a spoke, holding a steady course. Alonso stood at her side and held out the book he had brought. The letters of the title were stamped into the cover: Carte de la mer Méditerranée en douze feuilles, Joseph Roux.
Alonso opened the book and turned the heavy pages. “Can you read a sea chart?”
“I have only ever seen the one that my uncle used. I can see I have much to learn.”
For the next hour, Alonso taught her how to read the sea charts, and the way a hand compass could be used to determine a course.
“For now, we are headed to Crete, an island in Greece. Here.” He pointed to the chart. “The voyage will be long, but we have food and water aboard.”
Arzella looked up to check her course. Even as they passed some two leagues north of Malta, they could see the forest of masts that was Napoleon’s fleet.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“There has never been anything like it, I believe.”
“Surely the Knights will be slaughtered if they resist.”
“I don’t believe they will resist. When I last saw Grand Master Hompesch, he already looked defeated. He hoped to negotiate a truce.”
“Will Bonaparte let the Knights stay?”
“No one can predict what that man will do. My guess is no. But, my love”—he threaded his fingers through her hair—“we will not be there to see the end of it.”
“So where are we going? And why? You don’t strike me as the type to run from a fight.”
“No, we are not running. And this is not to be an easy voyage, sailing this ship with just the two of us.”
“You didn’t answer my questions.”
“Let me start with why. We are leaving because von Hompesch asked me to. You know the mark I wear above my heart?”
“Yes. You told me you had taken an oath, and you could not speak of it.”
“That is true. But these are trying times, and I have no one to turn to but you.”
“I am glad of it. With my father gone, nothing holds me to Malta. So tell me about this mark.”
“I am a member of a brotherhood of Knights known as the Guardiani. Hundreds of years ago, during the Crusades, the Knights of Saint John came into possession of an ancient manuscript. It is a gospel written by one of Christ’s disciples, and it has long been the most valued treasure belonging to the Order.”
“That is your oath, then, to guard this manuscript?”
“Yes. Bonaparte hates the church, and he certainly has plans to expropriate all the riches he can find in Malta. The grand master plans to allow him to take most everything, but not this.” He tapped the side of the corsair’s box. “We have been charged to keep the manuscript not only safe, but hidden as well.”
“Hidden?”
“Yes.” Alonso paused. “Have you read the Bible, Arzella?”
“Some of it. Not all.”
“So you know then that the Bible is made of many books.”
“Yes. What are you trying to tell me, Alonso?”
“In the early days of Christianity, there were many different sects, many gospels. These books contradicted one another. Men decided on the four gospels that made it into the New Testament. Many of the other gospels were destroyed.”
“But this one wasn’t destroyed?”
“Perhaps it should have been. I don’t know why it survived. The tale it tells is quite different from the books you know, and it is older than any other texts we know of today.”
“How did the Knights come to own this manuscript?”
“During the Crusades, when the Knights of Saint John were assisting with a renovation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem, they found a passage into an underground cavern. The church had been built on top of an old Roman temple to the goddess Venus, and in that chamber, the Knights discovered this manuscript.”
“May I see it?”
“It is too fragile.” Alonso placed the shield back in the box and closed the lid. “We cannot touch it or let the light of day shine upon it. The pages are animal skin and the ink fades. It was written in ancient times.”
“Why do you say perhaps it should have been destroyed?”
Alonso leaned back and gazed up at the sky. “You ask many questions.”
“And you have asked me to sail off into the unknown with these pages.”
He reached over and slid the back of a finger down her cheek. “My dear Arzella. I do love you more than you will ever know.” He cleared his throat. “This manuscript is both dangerous and of great value because it might change everything you think you know about Jesus Christ.”
Triton Fountain
Valletta, Malta
April 23, 2014
The cab let them out in the roundabout next to the Triton Fountain at Valletta’s City Gate. Neither of them had said a word during the ride from the marina. Cole slung his arms through the straps of the big backpack while staring at the bronze mermen in the fountain. He was still angry with her.
Riley waited on the curb while he paid the driver. Throngs of people were pouring into the city from the bus terminal a ways down the hill and the tourist buses idling at the curb circling the roundabout. Bright, colorful flags snapped in the wind, giving the scene a carnival-like atmosphere.
Instead of joining her, Cole headed straight for the entrance to the city. Riley trotted after him as he crossed the bridge over the moat. She grabbed hold of his arm.
“Hold on, Cole. Let’s not go in to see Najat like this.” She led him to the side of the river of people, and she leaned on the stone barrier there. The view of the fortifications of the old city was spectacular. “Let’s talk about this.”
“Okay. But I still don’t understand it. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? It’s been more than a week, Riley.”
“I know, and I apologize. I screwed up. I wanted to tell you sooner, but the time never seemed right. Remember that first night at sea, when you were so excited to be under way on your new boat after all that waiting?”
“Of course I remember.”
“I planned to tell you then, when we were alone in our stateroom. But then you took the first watch and sent me and Theo to get some sleep. I told myself I’d wait until the morning. And then another day went by and another. I admit, I took the easy way out, but I wanted my laughing, happy fiancé back. I was afraid that as soon as I inserted Diggory Priest into the mix, you’d be back to the quiet, paranoid guy I’d been living with for the last few months—even though I recognize now that your fears weren’t irrational.”
“And what about these past few nights at Djerba Island? We were alone in our stateroom there.”
“Yes, and we slept. We didn’t talk, we didn’t make love.”
“Riley, would you have come on this trip if you hadn’t seen those videos?”
“I don’t know. I hadn’t decided yet. But I knew once I saw him that I needed to be at your side to help you deal with whatever is coming.”
“You wanted to protect me?”
“I guess you could say that.”
“But I’m the guy—I’m supposed to protect you.”
“We don’t have to think that way. You know my
background. I don’t need you to protect me.”
“So you don’t think I can manage on my own?”
“No, it’s not that. You’re an archeologist, and you’ve now got your ideal expedition boat. What about me? What am I supposed to do on Shadow Chaser II? Put on an apron and be chief cook and bottle washer? I haven’t figured out where I fit in this new life, Cole. I want us to be a team. But we’re both trying to figure out how we’re going to work as a married couple.”
He looked into her eyes for a long moment, and then nodded. “I understand that this new boat represents a big change for you,” he said, speaking softly. “And I know it’s not just the boat. Believe me, I’m hearing what you’re saying, and I know we have a lot to figure out. And we will. It’s all going to be fine, I know it. We just have to be honest with each other.” Cole adjusted the straps of his backpack and looked around at the crowd. “But right now? To be honest, I’m a bit nervous, considering what is on my back. Let’s go see our favorite historian.” He took hold of her hand. “Together.”
Riley had called Najat from the boat and asked for her help with an artifact they had found. The historian had hammered her with questions, but Riley held her off, telling her she would see it when they arrived.
Najat was waiting just inside the entrance to the Grand Master’s Palace. “Follow me,” she said. She took off at an astonishing pace for such a short woman and led them back to the beautifully furnished office where Riley had worked on the cipher from James Thatcher’s journal. “Have a seat.” Najat gestured to the two chairs opposite her big desk, then she circled around and sat behind it.
Cole slipped off the backpack and drew out the shield, wrapped in a couple of beach towels. Riley took off one of the towels, folded it, and placed it on the desk. Cole set the shield on top.
Najat’s eyebrows lifted, and she made a little yipping noise. Then she clapped her hands. “Bravo! What a lovely piece.”
Riley waited for her to say more, then realized that she had not told Najat where they had found it. “Cole found this on the Upholder.”
“You found the wreck?”
Riley nodded. “This is what Tug and Charlie discovered in Tunisia after they blew up a bridge outside Sousse.”
The historian lifted the pair of reading glasses hanging from a chain around her neck and placed them on her nose. She leaned in and examined the curling engraving around the outer edge of the shield.
“What can you tell us about it?”
She shook her head. “I wonder if it is possible?”
“What?” Cole asked.
Najat looked up and blinked several times. The woman’s eyes were not focused on anything in the room.
Riley reached over and touched her forearm. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, yes, excuse me. My brain is sometimes working faster than my mouth. Do either of you know the Legend of the Silver Girl?”
“Several people have mentioned it since we arrived in Malta, but so far, we haven’t actually heard the story.”
“Well, permit me. You’ll see why when I am finished.
“Many years ago, a strange young woman wearing foreign clothing arrived in Mdina with a baby boy in her arms. Though she was still young, her long hair was silver colored. She settled in the old city and opened a shop, where she made the most lovely things out of silver. At first, no one would buy her wares, because they had never heard of a woman silversmith.
“One day a noblewoman saw the girl in the market. She exclaimed that the necklace and earrings the girl wore were the most exquisite she had ever seen. The girl took them off and handed them to the lady, saying, ‘If you like them so, then please take them as a gift.’ From that day on, she was called the Silver Girl, and she became the most famous silversmith in Malta.
“When she was a very old woman and she lay dying, her son asked her why she had always had such silver-colored hair. She told him a story of sailing off to a faraway land with a Knight corsair on the eve of Napoleon’s arrival on Malta in 1798. The Knight’s errand was to hide the Order’s greatest treasure. During a terrifying storm on that voyage, she said, her hair turned silver overnight. Her son asked her what had happened to the treasure. She explained that they’d hid it in a place where no one would look, and that then she’d engraved the secret key to finding this treasure onto the Knight’s silver shield. Just as she was about to tell her son how to find this shield, God took her.”
“Of course,” Riley said. “But it is a great story.” She glanced at Cole and then back at the shield on the table.
“I’ll bet it’s brought boatloads of treasure hunters to Malta through the years, too,” Cole said.
Najat nodded. “Yes, it is astonishing the things people will do. We’ve had attempted thefts here at the museum, and people come with the most flimsy credentials, asking to do research. Of course, they want to examine the shields.”
Cole’s grin stretched from dimple to dimple when he touched the shield and said, “Do you really think—”
Najat’s eyes twinkled and she was literally licking her lips. Riley thought, Surely this renowned historian doesn’t really believe in that old folktale.
“Well, Cole,” Najat said, “I think there is some element of truth in this tale. You see, today, the headquarters of the Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta is in the Magistral Palace in Rome. Inside the palace is the Magistral Library, which houses the world’s finest collection of books, articles, maps, photos, and prints about the Order. As you can imagine, in my line of work, I’ve been there to do research many times.”
“So what does that library have to do with this legend?”
“I’m getting to that. You see, the library was started in the mid-nineteenth century when members and friends began donating their entire collections to the Order. In 1882, a Maltese man by the name of Lukka Demontras died. He willed his entire library and fortune to the Order. A very wealthy man, he lived in Mdina. He claimed that his mother, who had died fifty years earlier, had been the source of the legend. In a letter to the grand master, he stated that his mother had died in his arms when an unexpected illness took her suddenly. He wrote that he believed the Knight with whom his mother had sailed had been his father, therefore he felt a loyalty to the Knights. He hoped the Order would someday be able to recover their lost treasure. I’ve seen the letter myself. All the material he donated is in a special collection in the Magistral Library in Rome.”
“Come on,” Riley said. “What are the odds that, after all these years, this mythical shield would suddenly show up?”
Cole turned to her and smiled. “Riley, let your imagination run with it.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Najat said.
Cole said, “Do you have any idea what this treasure is?”
“Again, there has been lots of speculation, but no one really knows. There are those who want to believe it is gold and jewels. Others think it may be a religious relic—perhaps even something that once belonged to Jesus.”
“Or,” Riley said, “it’s all just a folktale.”
Cole said, “My father thought there was something to it.”
“Let’s take a closer look at this shield of yours.”
Cole picked up the shield and rotated it so that the section with the hole was in front of Najat. “I’ve examined it fairly carefully, and the only thing I can find that looks odd is in this part right here. Do you see the letters? It looks like the name Joseph Roux.”
Najat put her hand in front of her mouth and began to giggle. Then she opened the center drawer in her desk and began fumbling through the mess of pens, letter openers, scissors, and the like. She reached deep inside and pulled out a magnifying glass. She held her breath as she examined the letters and then straightened up with a loud exhale.
“It’s true. Those letters have been engraved on this shield.” She giggled again.
“What is it, Dr. G.? What’s so important about that?”
“Joseph Roux
was a well-known eighteenth-century French cartographer. His sea chart atlas of the Mediterranean was thought to be top-notch in his day. Admiral Nelson carried a set on his flagship, the HMS Victory.”
“Okay,” Cole said. “So what does that tell us?”
“Oh, but I haven’t told you the best part.”
“Which is?”
“Among the books that Lukka Demontras donated to the Magistral Library in Rome, there is a copy of Carte de la mer Méditerranée en douze feuilles, by Joseph Roux.”
Aboard Shadow Chaser II
Marsamxett Harbour, Malta
April 23, 2014
Riley stood at the sink, rinsing off the last of the cutlery. Cole had tried to get her to use the fancy dishwasher he’d installed on the new boat, but she didn’t like it. She’d lived without such amenities for nine years aboard Bonefish, where she’d had to be very frugal with water and power, and she was finding it difficult to adjust to the new lifestyle on the big yacht.
Cole was still sitting at the dining table, filling Theo in on what he and Riley had learned at the museum that afternoon.
“I guess that makes sense,” Theo said. “If Joseph Roux’s atlas of sea charts was in the library of books owned by this Lukka Demontras, there’s a good chance it belonged to his mother.”
“Right,” Cole said. “Especially since, according to Dr. G., there’s no evidence that the son was ever a sailor.”
“So, the shield is supposed to have some kind of key engraved on it, and what we’ve found there is the name Joseph Roux. Why not just get another copy of this book from an antiquarian bookseller?”
“Just as there was something written by the Silver Girl on the shield, I think there must be something written in her copy of this sea atlas.”
Riley stepped out of the galley and both men looked up at her.
“Thanks for cleaning up,” Cole said.
“Thanks to Theo for making dinner,” she said.
Theo smiled and nodded at her. “My pleasure.”
“I think I’m going to go up and take a shower and turn in. Good night, fellas.” Riley knelt next to Theo’s dog and scratched her ears. “Good night to you, too, Princess.”
Knight's Cross (The Shipwreck Adventures Book 3) Page 25