Dourado

CHAPTER 3

Dane closed the translated copy of Rienzi’s journal. He ran his fingers across the smooth cover. Maxie had bound his translation in a simple, three-ring binder, and had printed “Journal” in his precise hand.

“So Maxie was looking for whatever this guy, Rienzi, lost. Do we have any idea what it was?”

Kaylin stood with her back to him, not answering, staring over the balcony and down at the Ashley River’s slow moving waters where the river flowed into Charleston Harbor. Content to wait until she was ready to talk, Dane left his seat at the bar that separated the kitchen from the living area of her small apartment, and joined her outside. Propping his forearms on the rail, he took in the peaceful view. A few sailing vessels plied the calm, gray harbor waters, their white sails glistening against the blue sky. He had always had an affinity for the water. If he could not be on the water, he wanted to at least be near it. He wondered if perhaps he had found a kindred spirit in Kaylin.

He and Bones had arrived late the night before, three days after their initial meeting. Despite their reservations, it had not taken much coaxing from Kaylin to convince them to sign on for her project. Their latest expedition was a complete bust, and even though the Coast Guard investigation had cleared them of all wrongdoing, it would be a while before the Sea Foam was ready to ply the seas again. The compensation Kaylin was offering was more than enough to repair the damage to their craft. More, in fact, than he thought an art teacher should be able to afford. When he had pressed her on the point, she explained that her father had provided well for her. That, Dane did believe. Maxie was the kind of man who took care of his own. He and Bones admired the man greatly. But more than that, they wanted to see his last wish carried out.

“I’m sorry,” Kaylin finally said. “It’s difficult to talk about Dad’s work.” She turned to look at Dane, her green eyes downcast. “Rienzi never names this treasure that was so precious to him. I’ve only had a few days to look over everything, but it seems that Dad was thorough in combing through everything the man ever wrote. He says all sorts of grandiose things about how important his discoveries were, but never reveals what, exactly he found.”

“I picked up on the grandiose part,” Dane said. “He sounds like a character. Makes you wonder if it’s all just bluster, or if he really did accomplish anything of note.”

“He lived quite a life,” Kaylin said. “He took part in the battle of Waterloo. He also fought for Simon Bolivar in Colombia, then came back to Europe where he was wounded at Marathon. He traveled most of the known world and became a self-styled discoverer. Not exactly a colonial times Indiana Jones, but something close.” She grinned, and some of the strain melted away. She looked younger, more energetic. “He claimed to have been the first person to rediscover the ruins of Syre and Assab in Abyssinia. He also claimed that he was the first to excavate them, as well as Petra in Arabia.”

“Wasn’t Petra a crappy Christian band back in the eighties?” Bones called from the kitchen. He dropped a bag on the table and joined them on the balcony.

“It’s also a famous city in the Middle East,” Kaylin said. “It’s literally carved into the sides of cliffs.”

“You know, like in the third Indiana Jones movie.” Dane nudged his friend with an elbow to the ribs.

“Oh yeah!” Bones said, as if this were all a startling revelation. “You guys are so smart.”

The blonde rolled her eyes and continued. “Anyway, Rienzi was returning to France on the Dourado with all the treasures he had accumulated during his world travels. He lost everything when the ship sank.”

“Bummer,” Bones said. “Reminds me of the time I hooked up with this really cute sorority girl. We made it about halfway back to my dorm and then she hurled all over…” He took one look at Kaylin’s disapproving stare and cut the story short. “Never mind. Rewind to where I said ‘bummer’ and just leave it there.”

“Good idea.” Kaylin folded her arms across her chest and frowned, but there was a twinkle in her eye that had been absent moments before. “Rienzi certainly thought it was a ‘bummer’ as you put it. He went back to France and made a bit of a name for himself writing. He never did get over losing his life’s work, though.”

“What happened to him?” Dane asked.

Kaylin hesitated. “He killed himself eighteen years later.”

“Ouch. Sounds like the guy had a flair for the dramatic,” Bones observed, shaking his head. “So, what do we know about the last voyage of the Dourado?”

“It’s a strange story,” she said. “Besides Rienzi’s belongings, the captain claimed to have been carrying more than half-a million dollars on board when the ship went down. That was a great deal of money back then. When the survivors reached Singapore with word of the sinking, the British sent out a detachment of troops in three ships to guard the wreck from the local pirates while divers tried to salvage the ship.”

“I can’t imagine trying to dive using nineteenth century technology,” Dane observed. He shuddered at the thought of braving the depths with only the aid of primitive dive equipment. Modern diving was hazardous enough.

“They didn’t have to. The ships returned very quickly. They were unable to find the Dourado, and assumed that it had gone down in deep water. Less than a week later, though, the wreckage was found off the coast of the island of Bintan. Salvage efforts only turned up a few items: a silver statue, a box with some papers, and a couple of personal items. They found no sign of the money, nor of Rienzi’s treasure. After three months, Rienzi gave up on ever recovering his property, and returned to France.”

The doorbell rang, bringing their conversation to an abrupt halt. Kaylin answered the door, and returned a moment later with a tall, lean, ginger-haired man of middle years in a black suit and priest’s collar. His thin-lipped smile was the only sign of emotion in an otherwise bland face. His eyes, narrowed in either curiosity or suspicion, flitted from Dane to Bones, then back to Dane.

“Father Wright,” Kaylin said, “I would like to introduce two friends of my father. This is Dane Maddock.” She gestured to Dane with a wave of her hand. “And this is Uriah Bonebrake. They were in the Navy together with Dad.”

The priest shook Dane’s hand first, then turned to Bones. “Uriah,” he said, clasping Bone’s hand. “A strong, biblical name.”

“Let’s hope I don’t share his fate,” Bones said with a mischievous smile. “Getting killed over a woman hits way too close to home.” Dane’s surprise must have registered on his face, because Bones frowned at him. “Think I don’t know my bible? I was raised on the reservation. Pentecostal preachers everywhere you look.”

“I suppose we can forgive you for that,” Father Wright said. He actually cracked a smile, but only a small one. “Kaylin,” he continued, turning to their hostess, “I won’t stay but a moment. I just came by to check in on you.”

“Thank you, Father. I’m doing fine, all things considered.”

“Glad to hear it.” Father Wright paused, rubbing a pale, slender hand absently across his chest. He seemed nervous or uncertain. “I hope you’ll forgive me, but I have a bit of an unusual question. Your father had in his collection a very old French bible. I must not have hidden my admiration for it very well, because he offered to donate it to the rectory library.”

“Oh,” Kaylin said, a frown creasing her brow. “I haven’t gone through his things yet. I’ll keep an eye out for it, though, and let you know if I come across it.”

“Perhaps it is in his library?” the Priest asked. Dane thought it a trifle rude for the man to persist, but he held his tongue. “I could drop by his house sometime when you are going to be there.”

“Actually, that’s the one place I have inventoried,” Kaylin said. “After the burglary and the police investigation it seemed like it needed doing. As I said, I will look for it.” Her voice had taken on a tone of impatience, and she stood with hands on hips.

“Thank you,” Father Wright replied, touching her shoulder gently. “I just wanted to mention it. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.”

“I will, Father. Thank you for dropping by.” Kaylin showed the priest out and returned to the living room where Dane and Bones had wandered in from the balcony. She had a puzzled look on her face.

“That was an odd conversation,” Dane said, dropping down onto Kaylin’s black leather sofa.

“It was very odd,” she said, taking a seat next to him. “Father Wright is a good man. It just feels so inappropriate for him to be asking for something of Dad’s so soon after…” Her voice trailed away. “You know what I mean.”

“You’d think a priest would have better bedside manner,” Bones observed. He fished beer and a package of beef jerky out of the bag he had laid on the kitchen table. “Anybody else?” He held up his drink and snack.

“It’s a little early for that much gas,” Dane said. “Thanks anyway, though.”

“Breakfast of champions,” Bones said. He joined them in the living room, dropping down into a Papa San chair beneath one of Kaylin’s seascapes. The rattan chair creaked under his weight, and he overflowed it like a gorilla in an inner tube. Dane chuckled at the mental image. Bones raised an eyebrow but did not ask what was funny.

“Cool artwork, Kaylin,” Bones said, looking around at the paintings that adorned the living room walls. “You painted them all, huh? Anyway, I want to talk about this wreck we’re supposed to find,” he said. “If it was salvaged back when it first went down, and they didn’t find much, it either means that Rienzi was full of it, or this alleged incredible discovery was lost somewhere between the point where the ship sank, and the point where the wreck was finally discovered. At best, we’ll have to scour the ocean bed looking for some item which, by the way, we don’t know what it is. I’d say it’s impossible.”

“It can’t be impossible,” Dane argued. “Maxie wouldn’t have wasted his time if it couldn’t be done.” Dane had the utmost confidence in their former commander. He had no doubt that Maxie had been on to something. “There’s something he knew that we don’t. When we figure it out, we’ll know how to proceed.”

“Do you have anything other than the papers you showed us?” Bones asked Kaylin.

The girl shook her head. “We’re missing something. I’ve been through Dad’s journal and Rienzi’s and I can’t find anything.” She folded her arms and set her jaw. Her eyes were fixed on some invisible spot in the distance as she thought. “It has to be there. It just has to.”

Dane thought he knew someone who could help them. He excused himself for a minute and stepped outside to make the call. When he returned to the living room, Bones and Kaylin looked at him with curious expressions.

“I’ve got a friend on the case,” he explained cryptically. He would leave them in suspense until he heard something back.

“So that’s how you’re going to play it?” Bones asked, grinning suspiciously.

“Yep,” Dane said. He did not want to get their hopes up until he found out what kind of results his contact could get. That, and he enjoyed keeping them in suspense. At any rate, there was more that they could do in the meantime.

“Kaylin,” he said, turning to the blonde, “What do you say we check out your dad’s library?”