Chapter 10: The Talk of the Town

Thursday

"Martin, I need to tell you something," Louisa began her morning phone call. "My brother and his friends have been hunting for a Spanish Armada shipwreck using an old map and they've gotten me to join in. It's been great fun so far, but now they're asking me to invest a bit of money to keep the operation going. We expect there will be a big pay off if we actually find something, possibly gold or silver, and loads of valuable historical items too."

She talked it all out quickly, hoping he wouldn't pick up on the investment part, but he zeroed right in on it.

"Slow down, Louisa. Am I to understand your ne'er-do-well, responsibility-shirking brother wants you to sink money in some get-rich-quick scheme? Is that what you're saying?"

"It's not a get-rich-quick scheme, it's a historical expedition."

"Based on what? Some treasure map he bought off a man down the pub? Did this man throw a handful of magic beans into the bargain? Louisa, there is no historical reason to believe any ship from the Spanish Armada went down anywhere close to Cornwall, and even if it did why would a warship be carrying any quantity of gold or silver?

"It was a secret plan to bribe the Irish into rebellion. Look Martin, Tom's friend had the map tested at a university lab, it's authentic 16th Century parchment and ink."

"The parchment may date to the correct period, but that's no guarantee of authenticity," he said. "A parchment can be washed clean of original markings and a clever forger can write or draw new things on it, using ink or pigment mixed from period ingredients. It's very common for people to be taken in. Penhale's brother was forging 19th Century paintings by mixing up authentic-seeming paint."

By now Louisa felt like an idiot. She just sighed.

"How much money are they trying to get off you?"

"Um, maybe up to… £3,000. Some of it may actually be to help my brother with some… minor… gambling debts." Even over the phone she could tell he was furious.

"Louisa, do I need to remind you that your trust in your father's honesty was misplaced? He came here assuring you that past accusations against him were unfounded, and he was not only lying to you, his mentally unstable accomplice could have killed us. Maybe you should ask yourself if your brother is worth the trust you blindly place in him."

"Well, it's my money Martin," she retorted. "If I want to help Tom, I have a right to do so."

Now it was Martin's turn to be silent for a moment. "Louisa, just promise me you won't give your brother anything before you come back and we can discuss it some more. You and James Henry are still coming home Saturday?"

She assured him that they were, although at the moment she didn't feel very pleased about the prospect.

Louisa rang off and went inside. There was a note on the kitchen table. "Sorry, didn't mean to cause you grief," it said. Tom must have overheard her arguing with Martin, though she purposely made the call from the back terrace for some privacy.

"Got lots of business to see to today, Harvey and I need to work on the engine," the note continued. "We're meeting at the Lion tonight 6-ish to sort things out, if you care to join us. T."

Feeling low, she finished up breakfast with James Henry, then she scattered his toys on a blanket on the living room floor and let him explore while she lay on the settee and watched some mindless telly. Around lunch time, she felt a bit more ambitious so she took James Henry to the library where they were having a play group for toddlers. It felt good to hang out with other mums and talk about teething, movies, politics, the royal baby, anything but irresponsible brothers and scolding partners.

The talk turned to the beautiful weather forecast for the rest of the week. "It's fine sailing weather," said a woman with a little ginger-haired girl. "My brother'll be out on the water in his boat. He rented some scuba gear to go look for a Spanish wreck out by St. Keyne's Rock. There's a rumour going about that it's full of gold, if it's out there."

"How did he hear about that?" asked Louisa, startled but trying to sound casual.

"A man down the pub," the woman replied.

"All of a sudden, it's the talk of Port Liac," agreed another mum. "There'll likely be a dozen boats out there searching this afternoon, more if the tourists get wind of it, but it's a needle in a haystack, if you ask me."

That didn't improve Louisa's mood. After the play group, she went around visiting the shops in town while James Henry napped in his pushchair. At 6 p.m., they headed over to the Golden Lion, where Tom, Harvey, and Martin had a table in a back corner. She was at least relieved to see the pub was mostly empty, except for Fiona who was engaged in feeding grapes to the parrot that lived there.

"So what was all that about keeping the map top secret then?" Louisa hissed, trying to keep her voice low. "It's the talk of the town now."

"Yeah, we know all about it. We can thank your brother for that," said Harvey, obviously none too pleased with the situation himself.

"Listen Louisa, I know I may have talked a bit much, but I was just trying to get some more money to fund the project, and I ran into a bit of bad luck," Tom replied. "I may have let on more than I should have about the map but nobody else has seen it. It's in a secure location, ain't that right Doc?"

Martin nodded. "I've got it hidden at the surgery."

"And nobody could possibly connect you with Tom, is that it?" Louisa took on a sarcastic tone. "Everybody has seen you in scuba gear with us on the boat. And that Eddie person saw you with me at Tom's house last night. What's to stop someone from breaking into your place to search for it?"

"It's all under control," Tom insisted. "And you don't need to worry about me hitting you up for money, that's also thanks to the Doc."

"Yeah, I've got the cash for Tom and Harvey to fuel up the boat tomorrow," Martin said. "I also rang up someone in London who's very interested in investing in the project to keep it going, even if that includes paying off your brother's debt to keep him from harm. He's coming out to Port Liac Saturday, the investor I mean."

"But what if someone else actually finds the wreck in the meantime?" Louisa asked.

"Well, that's where things really get interesting," Harvey said in a conspiratorial voice. They all drew closer to hear better, even James on Louisa's lap seemed interested. "Tom and I have been rethinking the situation. The way the coastline is shown on the map, whoever drew it wasn't real familiar with the area and some geographic features may have changed over the centuries. We've been doing some more research. Bottom line is it may not actually be the vicinity of Port Liac at all. Now this really is top secret, absolutely no one else can know about this, but we think it may in fact show a location further down the coast... right off Portwenn."

To be continued…