Treasured Secrets (29 page)

‘Your mother's alive!' said Jimmy.

Archer nodded.

‘Holy shit, man. Why the hell didn't she get in contact with you?'

Archer explained his mother's condition. Then he lifted the floral bag and spilled the contents onto the table. ‘The nuns gave me this bag full of things.' Everybody reached for something and Archer discreetly shoved the envelope stack back into the bag. ‘These were Dad's.'

Jimmy spread out the large map of the islands and pointed out the shipping lines. ‘He was certainly trying to work out something.'

‘He was looking for the
Flying Seahorse
and as I just told you…we found it. But I can't for the life of me remember where we were. Somewhere in all of this are the clues to its whereabouts. And the treasure.'

The energy in the room increased a couple of notches. Alessandro flipped through the notebooks as if a big
X
would mark the spot. Jimmy pored over the maps, Rosalina revisited the photo album and Archer went through one of his mother's diaries.

‘Can I ask a question?' Ginger said to nobody in particular. ‘I understand the maps, books, diaries and drawings. But what I don't get is all these beer coasters. Why would he keep those?'

Archer flipped through the coasters, each one from a different taverna on a different island, and the answer hit him like swinging boom on a racing yacht. ‘Give me that map…I need tape…Alessandro, grab a laptop…I need a pen.' The room buzzed with excitement. In a matter of minutes the large map was stuck to the dining room window and Alessandro and Rosalina were ready with duelling laptops.

‘Here's what I think. Dad was tracing the path of the
Flying Seahorse
. He probably hopped from island to island, just like we did. He loved a cold beer at the end of the day. So I'm guessing the coasters are souvenirs from each of the pubs he visited along the way. If we trace the pubs, we may find the path he took and, more importantly, which one was the last stop. That may be where we'll find the
Seahorse
.'

‘Brilliant.' Ginger grinned with girlish glee.

‘Okay, the first one is…' Rosalina selected a coaster at random. ‘Emborion Seaside Tavern on Milos Island.'

By the time they finished they had a line running from Kythira to Milos to Santorini to Anafi, with many smaller islands in between.

‘We know the treasure came from Italy so we can assume the ship's path was most likely this way.' Archer ran his finger from the left to the right-hand side of the paper. ‘Which means…Dad's final pub was Captain Nikolas Taverna on Anafi Island.' It was a sobering thing to point at the small island to the right of Santorini, the last island his dad ever enjoyed a beer at. Archer shoved the thought aside. ‘What do we know about Anafi?' He looked to Alessandro for the answer.

Alessandro's fingers attacked the keyboard. The Italian paused for a moment before he began reading. ‘Anafi has an area of only forty kilometres squared. Current population, about five hundred people. Its history is fairly unknown as there has been a lack of archaeological finds, although it's assumed this island was under Minoan and Cretan rule in second millennium BC.' He read in silence for a while. ‘Aaah, this is interesting. In the thirteenth century the Venetians arrived and they ruled the island and its surroundings until the sixteenth century.'

‘That's promising,' said Rosalina.

‘I don't understand.' Alessandro spoke up. ‘If your father wrote everything in these books, why didn't he simply write down where the
Seahorse
is?'

Everybody looked to Archer for the answer. ‘If I remember correctly, Dad was paranoid about people finding out what he was doing. He used to tell me how important it was to keep everything a secret. Actually, it sort of explains one thing: his notebooks aren't written in any order. The notes are all over the place. It's like he chose any book or any page to begin writing. That's why there are loads of blank pages.'

There was silence in the room. ‘Anafi seems like a good place to start.' Archer shrugged and looked at Rosalina. She'd no doubt have an opinion; she always did. Not that he was complaining; he missed that a hell of a lot when she wasn't around.

She nodded.

Jimmy raised his beer. ‘Anafi it is.'

‘Anafi.' They cheered in unison with raised glasses.

Jimmy drained his beer and thumped the bottle onto the table. ‘So we head there tomorrow. Then what?'

‘I guess we start with the locals and see if they have any info that may help.'

‘Can I make a suggestion?' Ginger twisted her fingers into knots.

Archer nodded. Her comments so far had been helpful.

‘In that photo of you and your father?' She lowered her eyes. ‘You know, the one just before you dive.'

‘Yes, I know the one.' Archer kept his voice cool and matter-of-fact.

‘Well, behind you and your dad there's a distinct formation of rocks. Maybe we could find them.'

Archer reached for the album and flicked to the photo. He looked past the smiling faces to the background and spied what she was talking about. Four large rocks, rectangular in shape, appeared to have been stacked on top of each other. Almost like they'd once formed part of a wall.

Archer jumped up and kissed Ginger on the forehead. ‘You're a genius.'

Ginger grinned at Alessandro like a woman who'd just been proposed to. ‘I always did have a good eye for detail.'

***

The distance between Patmos and Anafi was just shy of one hundred and fifty nautical miles and it took nearly eight hours to get there. The sun was slipping into the horizon when Archer released the anchor in an alcove west of the main port. There was no point going onshore tonight; Archer figured it'd be more practical do that at first light.

Archer joined Jimmy and Alessandro at the table and each of them set about going through one of Wade's notebooks. The notes in the book Archer was flicking through were interesting and confusing at the same time, constantly deviating from rational thoughts to random scribble. Going by the grunts coming from Jimmy, Archer guessed he was experiencing the same. Alessandro however, was as intense as a bulldog with a fresh bone, devouring every page like it was a stick of marrow.

From where he sat, Archer could watch Rosalina and Ginger prepare dinner. So far, they seemed to be working together as if they'd been doing it for years. That was a connection Archer never thought he'd see. Rosalina was pretty damn protective of her kitchen.

Dinner was served, and during the meal Ginger posed another interesting question. ‘Archer, I know how you got onto the treasure and
Flying Seahorse
, but how did your father figure it out?'

Archer shook his head. ‘I have no idea.'

‘I believe I can answer that.' Alessandro jumped up and rummaged through Wade's ragged notebooks. He flicked through the first one he picked up, then the second, and finally a third. ‘I know it's in here somewhere.' He progressed through two more before he found what he was looking for.

‘I came across this drawing of the
Seahorse
and your father has made this notation that he's underlined several times. It appears the captain of
Flying Seahorse
questioned why cotton bales weighed so much. Then he charged a priest extra to take the cargo on board.'

Jimmy slapped his palm on the table and everyone jumped. ‘So the captain figured there wasn't just cotton in them bales.'

‘Hey, I also found a letter that may help,' said Rosalina. ‘It was from a woman whose husband was a crew member on the
Seahorse
. Let me find it.' Rosalina rummaged through the loose sheets of paper until she came across a photocopy of a handwritten letter. The black and white copy had yellowed slightly, highlighting its age. The elegant handwriting filled most of the page.

‘It reads,

‘So again there's mention of a priest aboard the
Seahorse
.' Alessandro's eyes bulged wide.

Archer had to suppress a laugh. The Italian scholar was as excited as a three-year-old in a sand pit.

‘But wait. There's another letter.' Rosalina took a minute to find the next letter.

‘So this is how your father knew the
Seahorse
was missing at sea.' Alessandro's look was one of complete astonishment. Archer, on the other hand, wasn't surprised; his father was a clever man and tenacious as hell. Once he got a whiff of something he'd pursue it until he ran out of leads.

Ginger tried to stifle a yawn. ‘Sorry.'

Archer looked at Rosalina. She too was struggling to keep her eyes open. ‘How about we get an early night?' he said. “Cause tomorrow we're going treasure hunting.'

‘
Mi scusi
.' Alessandro ran his hand down his neck. ‘I don't really want to mention this, but…aren't you worried about sharks?'

Archer shook his head calmly, aware that all eyes had shot to him. He'd done the research about shark attacks — practically memorised every statistic. And based on all that research, he had no other conclusion than his dad was just plain unlucky. ‘There are sharks in the Mediterranean. Forty-six different species, to be exact. But shark attacks here are incredibly rare, less than one per year. Dad was the only man to have died of a shark attack in this region in the last thirty years. You've got more chance of being killed by a toaster.'

‘
Va bene
.' Alessandro huffed. ‘I think I'll take my chances with a toaster.'

Archer laughed, and soon everyone chuckled along with him.

Nox nearly missed Archer and his yacht leaving Patmos and the speed with which they took off convinced him they were onto something. It was fortunate he had come out of the grocery store when he did, otherwise they would have vanished without a trace. He dropped his parcels and raced back into the store. Brother Bonito was at the freezer, staring with apparent indecision at the tubs of gelato. Nox dug his fingers in the priest's thin arm. ‘Let's go.' He yanked him towards the door.

‘What? You're hurting me.'

‘They're leaving. If we don't get to the boat now, we'll never find them.'

Nox ran as fast as he could down the steep hill and Brother Bonito panted with heart-attack heaviness behind him. As he ran along the foreshore, ignoring the curious glances from everyone, he kept his eyes on the escaping
Evangeline
. Even though the larger yacht could outpace his small speedboat, its enormous size also made it highly visible. If they lost them now, they'd have to island hop until they located them again. Last time it had taken a week. He couldn't afford that inconvenience again.

As soon as he was on board, he reached for the high-powered binoculars and scanned the horizon.
Evangeline
was a white dot in the distance. He noted her position and then started the engine. ‘Untie us, you fool.' He shoved Brother Bonito forward.

‘Don't push me.' Bonito's eyes squinted with anger.

Nox didn't have time for this. ‘If we don't get after them right now, we'll never find them.' He spoke through clenched teeth; it was all he could do to resist yelling at the pathetic man.

Brother Bonito didn't move.

‘Did you see the way they took off? They're onto something. Which means we're
this
close to the treasure.' He held his fingers an inch apart.

Brother Bonito still didn't move and Nox could almost see the debate raging in his mind. Nox pushed past him. ‘Move! They're getting away.' The Lamberti fishing boat he'd hired was meant to provide camouflage amongst the other fishing vessels, but right now he regretted his choice. A faster speedboat would have been much more useful.

It was too late to lament on that now. He unhooked the ropes that attached them to the jetty, raced back into the cabin, started the engine and slammed the throttle to full speed. He nearly ploughed over a couple of fishermen in a small boat, only realising they were there when they hurled abuse as he motored past.

In the seat beside him, Bonito's knuckles were bone white as he clutched at the railing. He looked like the trapped man he was. His sudden defiance was very untimely.

Nox reached for the binoculars again. The horizon was dotted with all manner of boats. But
Evangeline
was gone.

‘Shit.' He grabbed his dirty coffee mug from this morning and hurled it at the back of the boat. It shattered into a dozen pieces, pitching china shards all over the place. Brother Bonito blinked at him, the fear in his eyes that of a man scared to death. And so he should be, because right now Nox could kill him with his bare hands. Nox gripped the steering wheel until his fingers ached instead. He couldn't eliminate Bonito just yet. But Nox was hopeful he'd only need him for a few more days.

It was a long time before Nox admitted defeat. Archer was gone.

Looks like we have to find them the hard way. Again.

* * *

Archer and Rosalina were awake first, but it wasn't long before everyone sat at the table together to enjoy a simple breakfast of coffee and toast.

Jimmy slathered his toast with Vegemite. ‘Mmm, tastes like home,' he said with a mouthful of bread.