My Life In Ruins

12. Let Me Smack Him Once And I'll Die A Happy Girl

Chapter 12

Let Me Smack Him Once And I’ll Die A Happy Girl

When Max had the panel completely open, letting the sunlight stream into the small crevasse, we could see just what the flash of gold was: a perfectly preserved gold coin.  My heart started thumping in my chest as Max reached in and pulled it from the crevasse, holding it in the palm of his hand.  On one of the faces was a shield and the other I really couldn’t distinguish.  The date 1713 was clearly visible on it, though. 

Dad reached over and took it in his hand, holding it up so he could get a better look at it.

“Where is it from?” I asked, watching him just like Max and Brielle were. 

“It’s circa 1713 and it’s definitely a Spanish coin,” he said, flipping it over again.  “It’s absolutely perfect, too.”

“1713 Spanish coins,” Brielle said, her eyebrows pulled together.  “Weren’t most of them on board the 1715 Treasure Fleet?”

Max looked at her.  “The 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet?”

She nodded.  “Yes, that one.”

The disaster of the 1715 Spanish Fleet had been one of the greatest loses of any of the Spanish treasure fleets.  The convoy of eleven ships carrying millions of pesos in gold and silver had left the New World for Spain, only to be caught in a hurricane a week after setting off.  All the ships sank, taking their treasure and hundreds of lives with them. 

The remains of the fleet had been discovered off the Florida coast in the 1960s.  Since then, hundreds of coins from the eleven ships had been discovered on the bottom of the ocean floor with the some of the remains.  But probably none of those coins looked as good as this one, though. 

“So what does this mean?” I asked, looking back at Dad.  “The fleet wrecked off the coast of Florida.  Are we going there next then?”

Dad continued looking at the coin for a moment before looking up at us.  “It doesn’t make much sense.  Is that his treasure?  It can’t be all of it.  I mean, he wasn’t even a very well-known pirate in 1715.  He wasn’t until the next year.”

“Maybe this is what put him on the map,” I said.  “There were tons of pirates who snuck around the wreckage, trying to get anything they could bring up.”

Dad nodded, trying to piece what I said together with information that we already knew. 

I saw Max move to sit down in front of the vines.  His head was just level with the panel in the stone wall.  But when I looked closer, I could see something else hidden there. 

“There’s something else,” I said, moving for the panel.

But that sent me crawling over Max’s lap.  I wouldn’t have really paid much attention since I was trying to get whatever was in the crevasse.  That was until I started to wobble a bit and Max grabbed onto my waist to keep me from falling.  Blushing, I kept my face turned from his as I reached into the crevasse and pulled out another old, yellowed piece of paper. 

“Got it,” I said, and leaned back. 

Max let go of my waist just as I sat down in the plush grass beside him.  I peeked over at him out of the corner of my eye.  Aw, he was blushing!  But then again…so was I.  No wonder Dad and Brielle were looking at us funny…

I didn’t even want to know what they were thinking. 

But by the looks on their faces, I already could guess.

Curse you, you two overly observant people!

“Okay,” I said, looking down at the piece of paper in my hand.  “Let’s see what’s written on here.”