True Treasure: Real - Life History Mystery (3 page)

“A worthy endeavor.”

“Quite. Yes.” Captain Graham leaned in to note the signature on the painting
M. Welch
. “I think the King would be pleased with this particular artist’s work. I must insist on impressing Mr. Welch into service for his King. He will be handsomely rewarded for his work, of course.”

“I’m afraid it won’t be possible.”

Captain Graham turned to face Mr. Upham, “Does M. Welch reside nearby?”

“Why yes, but—”

“Then please see to it he receives this commission letter and let him decide for himself. You do realize it could be considered an act of treason to not serve the King when one is called...”

“Yes, but—”

“There is nothing further to discuss. Mr. Welch will report to the HMS Devonshire within the next two days or I will send my soldiers to arrest him.”

“If you insist...”

“On behalf of His Majesty, I insist.”

“Very well, I will deliver your—order.” Mr. Upham smiled and tilted his head as Captain Graham bowed his, then walked to the door, his business done.

As the captain walked down the road toward the docks, Mr. Upham let out a high pitched laugh, “I wish I could see his face when he meets Mr. Welch!” He laughed again as he slid the letter into his pocket.

***

Mr. Upham pulled his carriage up to the door of the Welch Hacienda. The head maid Magdela showed him into the parlor. “I’m here to see Mr. Welch or Mrs. Welch. It is rather urgent,” he said with a smile on his face.

Magdela beckoned him to have a seat. In broken English she said, “Mr. Welch is no here, out in the new cocoa field. Mrs. Welch is sick, baby make her sick.”

“Oh, oh yes, I’d quite forgotten she was in the family way,” Mr. Upham said slowly and loudly as if that would help Magdela, who was a Costa Rican native who spoke broken Spanish and very little English as Cabecar was her native tongue, understand.

“I get Miss Mary.”

“Mr. Upham nodded his head in agreement, “Miss Mary? That would be fine, gracias.”

“Gracias,” Magdela answered as she ducked out of the room.

A few minutes later, Mary rushed into the room, “Did you sell one of my paintings?”

Mr. Upham laughed and pulled the letter out of his pocket. “This is delightful, and I am not quite sure what to do about it.”

Mary read the letter, a puzzled look on her face. “This says I am commanded to join a survey expedition by order of King George? Is this a joke?”

“Oh, no
, no,” Mr. Upham said, nervously holding his hat in his hands, “Well, yes, it is rather humorous, but when Captain Graham saw your paintings he naturally assumed you were a man. So he is expecting Mr. Welch to show up! It is clearly a misunderstanding...”

“But why did you not tell him I am a woman?”

“Well, I suppose you have to meet the Captain to understand, but he is not the kind of man you
tell
—I mean he commands and you answer, and well—so there it is...he thinks you are a—man.” Mr. Upham sighed. “It is rather funny.”

Mary paced back and forth pondering what to do. The thought of going was absurd. On a navy ship to survey the coastline! They would never let her onboard once they knew she was a girl. And of course, her parents would never allow it. But could they stop her? Mother was sick, and father was gone...

What if she told Magdela to pack a bag for herself, she could serve as her chaperone. If the captain stopped her before she got onboard, well then it was not meant to be...but if by some miracle she did get onboard, she’d have her chaperone, her work, and an adventure. It would serve her parents right for not allowing her to go to England with a proper escort. She made up her mind. She would report as told. After all, she had the letter ordering her to appear.

“I will go.”

“What?...What?”

“Do not worry, Mr. Upham. I will take Magdela as a chaperone. We would not want to disappoint the King of England now, would we?”

“Yes! I mean, no.” Mr. Upham put on his hat. “I really do have to go. Oh, and the missing thirteenth bug is a lady bug isn’t it?”

“So you finally saw it?”

“No, but Captain Graham noticed it right away.”

“He did, did he? Well, this Captain Graham who
commanded
and was observant enough to find the hardest of the hidden bugs, but not willing to listen enough to find out the painter was a woman, will be an interesting character to meet.” She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he realized M. Welch was her. She was sure it would be a moment he would never forget. And she was right.

*

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CHAPTER 2

Keiko and Julian, Present time

“Have you picked out the resort, yet?” Keiko asked Julian as she flipped through the pages of the catalog they'd gotten from the travel agent. It contained photos of crystal clear waters, white sand, and deserted stretches of beaches. Couples in swimsuits were toasting each other with tropical colored drinks, looking romantically into each other’s eyes as the sun shined behind them.

Julian came up behind her clasping her around the waist. “I don’t care, as long as you're happy. But try to pick one with a cute little masseuse who can walk on my back.”

“We’re only married for two weeks and you already want someone on your back? Lay down on the bed and I’ll give it a shot.”

Julian kissed her behind the ear and laughed. “Just kidding.”

“How about this one? It’s the closest one to both of the most likely islands.”

“Couples only? All-inclusive?” Julian read out loud.

“Of course
,” Keiko answered.

“No offense, but I don’t want someone else’s rug rats running up on the beach and dripping ice cream on my back. I only think of it, because that’s something I would have done as a kid.” Julian added.

Keiko dropped the catalog and turned in Julian’s arms to face him. She casually lifted her arms to encircle his neck and lightly caressed him, “Don’t worry, I plan on keeping you busy so you won’t be getting much time to just laze around on the beach.”

“Wonderful,” Julian said as he kissed Keiko behind her ear. Keiko gave him the kiss he’d been waiting for.

When they pulled back for a breath Julian said, “Now that’s what I’m looking forward to having more of.”

Keiko pulled away and said, “Later. We have to pick out a place to stay and make the reservation.” Keiko picked up the catalog she’d tossed aside. Julian came up and tried to pull her back in for another kiss.

Keiko laughed and playfully pushed him away, “How can you think about only one thing when there are three hundred and fifty tons of buried gold treasure out there and we have the map to its location?”

“Have you ever tried to kiss a piece of gold? It doesn’t kiss back.”

“Be serious.
I know
we can find the treasure. I know it! I feel it in my bones. Just think, when we find the treasure how much good it will do. Not only for the people of Costa Rica, but for the Smithsonian.”

“Don’t you think the Spanish will be making a claim too?”

“Of course they will! But with three hundred and fifty tons of it, even if they split it three ways, it’s going to do some good.”

“You know the Vatican may even put in a claim, some of the treasure came out of Catholic churches.”

“Okay, so four ways. Let’s say five just in case you’re forgetting an interested claimant.”

Keiko flipped through the catalog again. “I am thinking though, you’re right. We should stay at an all-inclusive couple’s resort.”

“Why am I suddenly right?”

“When we show up and rent a boat to take us to the islands with our equipment the captain and the people at the docks are going to know what we’re doing.”

“If anyone decides to follow us, they’ll be easier to pick out if we’re staying with a bunch of people who are only interested in having romantic getaways and honeymoons.”

“We
will
be on our honeymoon, and
I hope
it’s a romantic getaway.”

“Well, it will be
,” Keiko said, “but I know you. You're looking forward to the treasure hunt as much as I am.”

“Yeah, who cares if the islands are surrounded by man
-eating sharks and nefarious pirates who might try and rob us?” Julian joked.

“Stop being so pessimistic. You’re all muscle,” Keiko said as she ran her hands up Julian’s sculptured biceps. “Way too tough for the sharks. I bet they don’t want anything to do with humans. Don’t people go diving with sharks all the time?”

“Keiko?”

“Yes?”

“Sharks don’t know anything about
humans
. What they know and eat—is meat.”

Keiko laughed, “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you. I’m not afraid of sharks.”

“I hope those words don’t come back to bite us.” Julian said under his breath as he let Keiko go. He picked up the catalog and said, “I’ll make the reservations. Pack light and bring an extra suitcase. We’ll need it for the gold.”

“Funny guy
,” Keiko said as she walked past him toward the bedroom. “I wonder what would be the airline extra baggage charge on three hundred and fifty tons of gold?”

Julian stopped what he was doing for a few seconds and calculated in his head, “Only about seven million dollars.”

“Really? Bring your credit card.”

Julian said, “So what’s your plan once we are there?”

“I’m glad you asked. Come into my office. I’ve got it all laid out. I’ve been working on this the last three nights while you were at the recording studio working on your Cherokee game app. I’ve been saving it for a surprise.” Keiko’s eyes twinkled with excitement as she grabbed Julian’s free hand, and opened one of the double doors which led into the room that used to be Keiko’s father’s office.

Hung over the library shelves, weighted down on the edges by books, was a map of the coast of Costa Rica.

“I used the electron microscope at work to look at the layers under the dirt and wear and tear on the map.”

“Here. History records Mary Welch recalled a cedar tree as having marked the spot. She said they spent six months camping out by the tree. I’m sure she was right. We can take soil samples from two or three feet down and find where the tree most likely was.”

Julian interjected, “So we’ll need a mini lab.”

Keiko nodded her head while she kept talking. “I did some digging, and found a group of men who went hunting for the treasure back in the seventies. They kept the map hidden from the captain and insisted on finding the ‘five rocks.’ The captain had no idea what they were talking about. He’d never seen five rocks. I figured out why.”

“Why?” Julian asked as he lightly stroked Keiko’s back.

“Because captains only take boats out during high tides. Most dock areas get too shallow at low tide to allow boats with big drafts out. The men he was taking out were not familiar with tides, so they never thought to specify they needed to go out at low tide. Years later, the captain saw the rocks during the low tide, but couldn’t remember where the stones were in relation to where the treasure would be. Plus, he couldn’t find the men he’d originally taken out as they’d been highly secretive and had not supplied their names or nationalities.”

“Checking further, I found other references to five huge stones, the size of small houses, that the tides bury. The tips are only available during the lowest tides.”

“So timing is important.”

“Right! Which is why I wanted to delay our honeymoon until there would be a full moon causing the low tides. Now when I heard the rumors of the rocks from the expedition which took place during the seventies, I looked closer at the map for signs of the rocks. Here look at this picture I took with the electron microscope from a different magnification level.”

Julian squinted at the photo. “I see what appears to be three erase marks where the volcanic rocks as big as houses would be, just off the shoreline.”

“Exactly! Only three! It confirms it’s an island with three boulders off the shore, not the one with five. This confirms what I’ve suspected all along. The searchers and pirates have been looking on the
wrong
island, and looking for the
wrong
landmarks. They were looking for five, and if they found them, they were still on the wrong island.”

“So you’re sure now which island off the coast we should be looking at?”

Keiko looked triumphant. “Yes, I am. And that’s why the two of us are going to find the treasure when no one else could.”

“Which island?”

“Look at the original.”

“My copy of the original says
, ‘Cocos Island.’”

Keiko nodded her head in agreement. “Yes, it does
now
. When I examined it under the electron microscope and looked a few layers deeper—look at what was carefully scratched out and marked over.”