course, was that everyone thought they were in possession of secret maps showing the location of a sunken galleon, or heard tell of a hiding place where someone had buried chests of gold and silver. If even a hundredth of those maps or rumors were actually true most of the islands in the Carribee would have sunk long ago under the weight of all that buried gold.
Dante ran his thumb over the surface of the coin and studied it again. The escudo itself looked genuine enough. The silver was pitted from being tossed in the surf and sand and as he identified each marking and stamp, he shared them aloud.
"It was indeed minted in 1586,” he said slowly. “The P with the shield and cross tells us it was mined in Peru—in Potosi to be precise. The symbol next to it—" he waited until she walked around behind the desk and leaned over his shoulder to see it in the brighter light— "is the mark from the mint in Nombre de Dios, and this tiny nick on the edge is no accident. It was put there by the clerk in charge of counting every coin that left Panama bound for Hispaniola. This little beauty went on quite a trek down from the Andes and through the jungles of Panama before it ended up in the hold of a galleon bound for Spain."
Her mouth was an inch from his ear, close enough for her breath to tickle his cheek as she spoke. "Then you believe it's real?"
"Oh, it's real all right. It was part of the last shipment of bullion bound for Seville to finance the armada Phillip was amassing to attack England. But I'll stake my soul it didn't come from the hold of the Nuestra Senora de Valencera ."
"But I was told—"
"You were told wrong. Deliberately so, I imagine."
Eva straightened, taking the rush of warm breathiness with her. "I was shown a copy of the records. There was a galleon by that name lost in a storm in 1586."
"No doubt there was. The storm... the hurricane you refer to took at least twenty ships down that year. I'm familiar with it because it was the same year and the same storm that drove my father's first ship onto a coral reef and damn near sank her with all hands. As it was, he and his crew were stranded on an island for six months before he could make repairs. And because he was stranded for those six months, he was not with Sir Francis Drake when Cartagena and Santo Domingo were sacked, two incredible feats unmatched to this day. I say that only to add to the reasons why someone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of ships and shipping legends would have cause to recall the events of that year. And if someone told you it was the Nuestra Senora de Valencera, he most likely had reasons for not telling you the absolute truth."
"But… why would anyone do such a thing?" she asked softly. "And how can you say with such rich authority that this coin did not come from that particular ship?"
Gabriel half-turned in the chair, inherently wary of women with sharp little teeth and nails who had just been told they had been deceived.
"The Spaniards have limited imaginations when christening their ships and most are named after saints or holy prayers, even some noteworthy sinners whose names vary only by a letter or two. However, not all of them are treasure galleons. The Nuestra Senora de Valencera , for instance, was likely an India Guard. An escort ship, if you will. Small, fast, heavily armed as a deterrent for blackguards like myself who might try to nose up too close and cull one of the fat prizes from the fleet. She would have carried soldiers and guns, not gold or silver, but she was certainly not important enough to have coins minted with her name stamped on them."
She was studying his face, trying to decide if he was being truthful with her or not. It also told him that she was genuinely unaware of the value of what she wore so casually around her neck.
"There was another ship lost that year. One with the same initials: NSV. Anyone worth their weight in salt water should have known the name without having to
Dante ran his thumb over the surface of the coin and studied it again. The escudo itself looked genuine enough. The silver was pitted from being tossed in the surf and sand and as he identified each marking and stamp, he shared them aloud.
"It was indeed minted in 1586,” he said slowly. “The P with the shield and cross tells us it was mined in Peru—in Potosi to be precise. The symbol next to it—" he waited until she walked around behind the desk and leaned over his shoulder to see it in the brighter light— "is the mark from the mint in Nombre de Dios, and this tiny nick on the edge is no accident. It was put there by the clerk in charge of counting every coin that left Panama bound for Hispaniola. This little beauty went on quite a trek down from the Andes and through the jungles of Panama before it ended up in the hold of a galleon bound for Spain."
Her mouth was an inch from his ear, close enough for her breath to tickle his cheek as she spoke. "Then you believe it's real?"
"Oh, it's real all right. It was part of the last shipment of bullion bound for Seville to finance the armada Phillip was amassing to attack England. But I'll stake my soul it didn't come from the hold of the Nuestra Senora de Valencera ."
"But I was told—"
"You were told wrong. Deliberately so, I imagine."
Eva straightened, taking the rush of warm breathiness with her. "I was shown a copy of the records. There was a galleon by that name lost in a storm in 1586."
"No doubt there was. The storm... the hurricane you refer to took at least twenty ships down that year. I'm familiar with it because it was the same year and the same storm that drove my father's first ship onto a coral reef and damn near sank her with all hands. As it was, he and his crew were stranded on an island for six months before he could make repairs. And because he was stranded for those six months, he was not with Sir Francis Drake when Cartagena and Santo Domingo were sacked, two incredible feats unmatched to this day. I say that only to add to the reasons why someone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of ships and shipping legends would have cause to recall the events of that year. And if someone told you it was the Nuestra Senora de Valencera, he most likely had reasons for not telling you the absolute truth."
"But… why would anyone do such a thing?" she asked softly. "And how can you say with such rich authority that this coin did not come from that particular ship?"
Gabriel half-turned in the chair, inherently wary of women with sharp little teeth and nails who had just been told they had been deceived.
"The Spaniards have limited imaginations when christening their ships and most are named after saints or holy prayers, even some noteworthy sinners whose names vary only by a letter or two. However, not all of them are treasure galleons. The Nuestra Senora de Valencera , for instance, was likely an India Guard. An escort ship, if you will. Small, fast, heavily armed as a deterrent for blackguards like myself who might try to nose up too close and cull one of the fat prizes from the fleet. She would have carried soldiers and guns, not gold or silver, but she was certainly not important enough to have coins minted with her name stamped on them."
She was studying his face, trying to decide if he was being truthful with her or not. It also told him that she was genuinely unaware of the value of what she wore so casually around her neck.
"There was another ship lost that year. One with the same initials: NSV. Anyone worth their weight in salt water should have known the name without having to
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