More Than You Know (41 page)

"He carved his name in the chest?"

"He did."

Claire sat up on her knees again. “So Strickland has some real connection to the treasure after all. I never thought of this. Do you think he knows?"

"Don't you?"

She nodded. “All these years ... centuries ... the part of the legend no one talked about."

"William Abberly was probably a younger son. Educated but with few prospects. Going to sea with Henry Waterstone would have been a grand and dangerous venture. Making maps of the New World for the queen would have been a great privilege."

"He was still the son of a duke. When he didn't come back with Waterstone, there would have been some kind of inquiry."

"Not if the family was out of favor with Elizabeth,” Rand said. “Strickland told me that his ancestors almost lost Abberly Hall. They might not have been able to get any satisfaction ... at least not immediately. Who can say when they understood the role William Abberly played in hiding the treasure? He was the key figure and they had nothing to show for it."

"Neither did the Hamiltons or the Waterstones."

"We had Abberly's riddles. They didn't. When Henley Hamilton moved himself and his family to the colonies he thought he was protecting them from the Waterstones. I think they all had much more to fear from William Abberly's family."

Claire was silent as she took it all in. “If Stickle is truly my father, then..."

"Then you're an Abberly.” Rand could see by her expression that she was not comfortable with the idea. “Would you like to open the chest?"

She shook her head. “What if ... you know ... he's..."

"Inside?” Rand chuckled. “He's not. I think William Abberly lived out a long and fairly productive life here. In spite of the fact that Henry Waterstone left him for dead, the mapmaker survived. He has descendants to prove it."

Claire expelled the name with the softness of releasing a breath. “Tiare."

"And Tipu. And all the priests who have guarded this treasure before him. That's what Tiare meant when she said they had been waiting for me for three hundred years. That's the real reason the Hamilton name meant something to her. The other priests understood it, too. William Abberly passed down a story of his own."

This last revelation made Claire twist her head and listen for footsteps behind them. “I think we should hurry, then. We can't know what he intended his children and their children and all the children after him to do to you."

Rand had also considered that. He passed the torch back to Claire. Placing both hands on the edge of the chest, he applied some pressure upward. The lid was raised with little effort.

Claire heard the hinges creak. “Well?” she asked.

"It's filled with smaller wooden cases,” he said, removing one. “The ones I can see on top are all the same size. The carvings on them are different.” He opened one. In a bed of emerald velvet, none the worse for being secreted away for three hundred years, was a strand of the most perfect pearls Rand had ever seen. He lifted them carefully, half expecting them to spill all over the stone floor, then asked Claire to hold out her palm. He dangled the string above her hand for a moment, then lowered it slowly.

It was like rainfall in her hand. The beads were as cool as water drops. “Pearls,” she said. The strand was too long to be held properly in one hand. “I'll wear it with the rest of the ropes.” Claire slipped it over her head and around her neck. “What else is there?” She pretended to be affronted by his low laughter. “I'm curious,” she defended herself.

Rand was still smiling to himself as he removed another case. “Diamond eardrops,” he told her. He turned the case this way and that. The exquisitely cut diamonds flashed. “Do you want to wear them?"

"No. Not with what I have on."

Rand's burst of laughter echoed in the chamber. He snapped the lid shut. “Something else perhaps.” He set the case down and picked up another. “Rubies? This is a bracelet."

"The pearls are enough, thank you.” Claire leaned forward. “I don't understand. I thought all of this was for Pope Gregory. He wasn't going to wear these things, was he?"

"It's merely tribute,” Rand explained. “He could do anything with it he liked. Hoard it. Display it. Or give it to a mistress.” He caught her surprised expression. “Are you really so naive?"

"Not any longer."

Grinning, Rand leaned over and kissed her. Before Claire could take him to task, he began opening more cases. Pope Gregory's gifts from the Spanish government included a silver belt, snuff boxes, music boxes, rings, a chalice, ivory combs, a crucifix, and two small cases filled with nothing but uncut stones. All of the items, including the cases, were encrusted with precious gems. Every one of them was the work of an artisan.

Rand stared at the bottom of the chest. There were only eight wooden boxes remaining. Unlike the boxes he had opened previously, these were marked with carvings he recognized. He reached for the one engraved with a crown and lifted it out. He raised the lid carefully.

The crown was a headband of hammered gold. Slender. Plain. Except for its circumference it could have been mistaken for a collar. Rand held it up and described it to Claire. “There are places for each of the stones to be set, but none of them have been.” He placed the crown on top of its case and retrieved another box from the chest. “If I'm right, this should be the ruby."

"Blood will run,"
Claire said. In spite of her solemn tone, her expression and posture were eager.

"I wonder if the curse is true,” Macauley Stuart said.

Rand and Claire turned simultaneously toward the chamber's entrance. The doctor stood on the threshold, a pistol in his hand, Tiare and Tipu just off to one side. Tipu held a torch. He was trying very hard to keep it steady.

"Dr. Stuart?” asked Claire.

"He has a gun, Claire,” Rand said quietly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her stiffen. Without realizing it, she started to lower the torch. Rand put down the box in his hand and gently touched her elbow to remind her to keep it up. “Tiare and Tipu are with him."

Tiare made a small, almost imperceptible, negative shake of her head when Rand looked at her.

Rand corrected himself. “Tiare and Tipu are here,” he said. “They're not
with
him.” His glance swiveled back to the doctor. “Why don't you let Tiare hold the torch? It's too heavy for Tipu. He'll drop it."

Macauley placed his free hand on Tipu's thin shoulder. “The boy's doing fine."

"Where is Mr. Cutch?” asked Claire.

"Just where you left him."

"Did you hurt him?"

"He's alive,” Stuart said.

It was not precisely an answer to her question. Claire opened her mouth to press for more information, but Rand's light touch at her side silenced her.

"Where are your men, Tiare?” asked Rand.

It was Macauley who answered. “They're not coming,” he said. “I suppose things will proceed more smoothly if you're not anticipating a rescue from anyone. You can concentrate on what I'm saying."

Rand continued to look at Tiare. She was clearly frightened. Torchlight flickered on her face and revealed features that were almost colorless and a bottom lip that trembled. He was surprised when she responded to his question, even when it was clearly Stuart's intent to keep her quiet.

"I came to your ship with Tipu. Just the two of us. None of my men know we're here. I wanted to speak to you privately."

"Enough,” Macauley said. He waved his gun a little. When he was done, it was pointed at Tipu. “She didn't think you could find the treasure,” he told Claire and Rand. “I wasn't convinced. You're both very clever ... most of the time.” He looked at Claire. “You left your cane in my cabin this morning. That's how I knew you were there. I discovered the riddle was missing from my bag right away. You could have given yourself more time if you hadn't been so careless.” He watched self-recrimination bring heat to Claire's cheeks. “I still wouldn't have been able to follow without Tiare's help. She brought me by canoe. I was surprised to find out I've been to this place before. Obviously it was something you discovered on your own, Captain."

"I would rather have arrived in an outrigger. The land route was difficult."

Macauley nodded. “That's what Tiare told me. She said even if you knew where you were going, it would take some time to arrive. She was right. You haven't been here so very long.” His eyes wandered over the treasure boxes that surrounded Claire and Rand. Some of them were open. He could see for himself the jeweled bounty that had already been uncovered. He returned his attention to Rand. “Tiare was wrong about this underground vault, too. She said you wouldn't be able to get inside. Apparently no one here knows the secret to opening the stone. Not even the priests."

"That was as my ancestor wished,” Tiare said.

"William Abberly,” Claire said.

Tiare and Tipu nodded in unison. “Only Hamilton and Waterstone working together can open the vault,” Tipu said in important tones. “You must be Waterstone, Claire."

"My mother entrusted me with the riddle,” she said. There was no point in explaining she had no Waterstone blood. Revealing that to Tiare might prove dangerous.

"You never helped your father find the treasure,” Tiare said.

"I never knew he was looking for it. And I didn't understand I had the riddle in my possession. It wouldn't have mattered. It's as Tipu has learned from you. Hamilton and Waterstone had to work together. That was Abberly's real intent."

Macauley Stuart's ironic laughter punctuated Claire's words. “You think so? He only wanted members of both families in the same place so he could bury them with the treasure. In this case, both of you.” His chin jutted toward them. “Tell them, Tiare. It's why you came to see them this morning in secret. Tell them what your priests decided."

Tipu turned his head around to look at his mother. She would not meet his eyes. The torch wavered in his hand again.

"She doesn't want to say it in front of the boy,” Macauley said. “But I'll tell you what she told me alone. The priests decided that you would be brought here, and if you could prove yourselves by opening the stone, you would remain here. Forever. The only way you and the ship were going to be released was if you couldn't get into the vault. Tiare came on her own to warn you. She thought she could persuade you to leave the stone untouched, even if you knew its secret.” He shrugged. “You know now that she was too late.” His gaze rested for a moment on the pick and shovel. “I don't think you're going to be able to dig your way out."

Macauley nudged Tipu forward, pressing the barrel of his gun against the back of the boy's head. “Go on,” Stuart said. “Hold the torch up."

Tipu tried to glance back at his mother and couldn't. He took a few small steps forward. His light joined Claire's, and the treasure at her feet took on a glowing quality. In spite of his fear, the colors mesmerized him. “Where are the seven sisters?” he asked.

The doctor nodded. “I had the very same question.” He used his weapon to point to the golden headband. “Is that the crown?"

Rand nodded. He held it up. “Do you want to see it?"

Macauley was not going to be distracted so easily. For good measure he took a step back. “There are no stones on it. I was told to expect a rainbow of stones."

"We were just getting to those when you came in. Do you want us to finish? I can place them in the crown temporarily.” Without waiting for Macauley's direction, Rand picked up the box that he hoped held the ruby and opened it. The ruby's brilliance was enhanced by the torchlight. Rand plucked it from its velvet bed and placed it gingerly in its oval setting in the crown.
"Blood will run,"
he said. He chose another. This time it was an orange sapphire of exceptional color. The round cut matched perfectly with its setting.
"Flames will come.
Claire, would you get another?” He guided her hand to the box that he knew held the yellow stone. It was another sapphire with a strong saturation of color and a square cut. He squeezed Claire's hand gently as he helped her set it in its proper place.

"Blazing sun, blinding some,"
she said.

One of Macauley's brows lifted. “Your own curse, Claire. How fitting."

She ignored him and accepted Rand's help in choosing another. “It should be an emerald.
Blades lifted high across the plain."

It was a pear-shaped emerald, almost fifteen carats in weight. The clarity of the gem was astonishing. Claire was the only one not distracted by it. She set it in its place by touch alone.

"Flood waters rising, months of rain."
Rand held up an aquamarine. By itself, it was the least valuable of all the stones in the collection, but without it the setting was incomplete. There was no other gem whose color was so perfectly suited to fill this band of the rainbow's spectrum. Rand set it as carefully as the others.

A deep indigo-blue sapphire was revealed next. It was cut in the kohinor manner, a style that reflected its Persian meaning: mountain of light. Rand held it up briefly before he set it in the crown.
"A plague will ink clouded skies."

"The last one,” Macauley said impatiently. “Open the last one."

Rand took out the only remaining box and lifted the lid. It was an amethyst. The violet color was clear, the stone almost flawless.
"Grieving, shadows beneath thy eyes."