.
History notes that Columbus maintained a daily account of his first voyage, the
Diario de a bordo
,
the
Onboard Log
.
This journal was presented to Queen Isabella on his return, and the queen herself commanded a scribe to prepare an exact copy. But by 1554, both the original and the copy were gone. Fortunately, before they vanished, the copy passed through the hands of Bishop Bartolomé de las Casas who used it to produce
El libro de la primera navegación, The Book of the First Navigation
—or, as it’s generally known today
,
The Journal of Columbus
.
But again, there is no way to know if de las Casas’ creation is either complete or accurate. In short, no authentic, firsthand account of Columbus’ first voyage exists. Even worse, the chart Columbus used to guide his path has also been lost, that map not seen since the early 16th century
.
His youth is also entirely unaccounted for. An Italian lineage does not concur with reality since he always wrote in Castilian, not Italian. He possessed no discernible educational
background, yet he was clearly schooled. Fernando wrote a biography stating that his father attended the University of Pavia, but Columbus himself never mentioned that fact. This omission is curious given that he spent the better part of his adult life trying to convince the monarchs of Europe that he was qualified to spend their money on a voyage west, across the unknown sea. The fact that he possessed a university degree would have been an excellent way to raise his prestige with scholars the various crowns appointed to assess his proposal
.
Ironically, his entire ocean venture was based on an error—that the western shores of Europe lead to the eastern islands of Asia. The modern belief that people of that time thought the earth was flat is fiction. Since the Greeks all mariners knew the earth was a sphere. The unknown was what lay beyond the western horizon, out of sight of land, where nothing but water abounded. In reality, Columbus did not discover America since millions of people already lived there. He was not the first European to set foot on its soil since the Vikings accomplished that feat centuries earlier. He was, instead, the first European to place the New World on the map, though to his way of thinking he actually placed it in Asia
.
From an early age I listened to tales of Columbus. Both my grandfather and great-grandfather were fascinated by him. Many myths are associated with the man, but none more romantic than the notion that he came to the New World for a purpose other than profit. His
La Empresa de las Indias, The Enterprise of the Indies
,
was openly geared toward gain. The idea had been to discover, then to exploit what was found. But some say Columbus possessed other motives. What those might have been vary. Much has been made of the fact that not a single priest accompanied him on the historic first voyage. Yet he did bring along a Hebrew translator named Luis de Torres. History has never been able to supply an adequate explanation for that, but conspiratorialists have not been as hampered
.
Another tale that has gained momentum through the centuries is one I heard as a child concerning Columbus’ lost gold mine. By 1600 Spain had tripled the amount of European gold that had been in circulation prior to Columbus’ first voyage. A story developed of how Columbus found a mine on Jamaica but concealed its location from everyone, including the Spanish Crown. My grandfather was fascinated with the story and told me about it, along with introducing me to Columbus’s signature
.
It is unusual, to say the least—a cipher that has never been decoded. Why did he not simply sign his name? Why a triangular-shaped series of letters that could mean almost anything? And why the hooked X’s that appear in two locations? My grandfather always alluded to this but never explained the significance. As with so much else, we simply do not know the real story. But it is hard not to become enthralled. I know I did. So much that the subject of Christopher Columbus has formed the basis of my academic life
.
Zachariah stopped reading Alle Becket’s article. He’d fished it from his satchel to refresh his memory.
Thankfully, he maintained a worldwide watch for any mention of Christopher Columbus. Google Alerts and similar referral services kept him abreast of anything pertaining to that subject.
One day an article in Minerva had flagged.
Most of it was nothing new, but two words grabbed his attention.
Hooked X’s.
Only a few people in the world knew to use that phrase in conjunction with Christopher Columbus.
So he’d located Alle Becket.
Now he’d found Tom Sagan.
Clearly, he was in the right place.
And tomorrow he’d be inside the Levite’s grave.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
TOM ENTERED HIS HOUSE, THE ONE PLACE LEFT ON THE PLANET where he felt a margin of comfort. He stayed here the majority of his time, behind closed windows and a locked door. He’d tried an apartment and a condo, but had not liked the close proximity of neighbors. He didn’t want to know anybody and he sure as hell didn’t want anybody knowing him. He liked solitude, and his nondescript rental, located at the end of a long block on Orlando’s south side, offered exactly that.
The visit to Abiram’s grave still unnerved him.
As had the car that appeared, then disappeared.
On the drive back his thoughts had returned to the deed sent to him for the house. When it arrived in the mail the lawyer had also included one other item.
A short, handwritten note.
He needed to see it again, so he opened the drawer where he’d tossed both it and the deed three years ago.
He unfolded the pages and, for the second time, read.
The house is yours. You were raised there so you should own it. I was born a simple Jew. My faith and religion were important to me. Those were not important for you. I can’t say I understand that. Sadly, though we are of the same blood, we’re strangers. A lot of life was wasted between us. Things changed. Unfortunately, there is no way to go back. It’s all over. If it matters, I know you were not a fraud. Whatever the explanation for what happened, it wasn’t that you made up that news story. I want you to know that I