Spanners - The Fountain of Youth Read Online Free PDF Page B

we prospered, and soon rumors came of a large island to the Northwest. We didn’t know at the time that this ‘island’ was what is now Florida, but Juan was willing to give up his governorship to travel there, so Santos and I went with him. I quickly arranged a small crew for Juan and took off to Florida with him, filled with the usual conquistador dreams of women, land and, of course, gold.
    “Spain had only sent us on a mission to scout and map the territory, so we arrived with three lightly armed boats. We found a small cove that we used as a base for our operations, and then proceeded to launch small expeditions from there, mapping out the coastline and trading with the naturals. Sometimes the naturals were vicious and we had to battle them, but we spent most of our time traveling, and most of our struggle was against the elements.
    “After months of expeditions, it soon became obvious that this was no island, so Juan sent one ship back with copies of the maps, and a request to scout inland. While he waited for a response, he set up missions for Santos and me to lead. He had proven himself loyal over the years and knew Spain would grant whatever he requested, so he sent us forward.
    “Santos and I weren ’t so eager to leave the coast though; the naturals had become increasingly violent, and it soon became clear that there was no gold in this land, no matter how vast it might be. We came to Juan Ponce and he chided us.
    “‘ Do you not care for Spain? For God? ’ he asked.
    “‘ We honor Spain neither by being massacred inland nor by succumbing to malarial flies, ’ said Santos in response.
    “I was not so politic in my complaint, of course. I brandished my knife, stuck it in Juan’s desk and yelled at him. ‘ There is no GOLD here!’ I said . ‘Why are we here if there is no gold? ’
    “Juan wasn’t bothered by our hostility, but he did worry about his brothers’ confidence, so he asked us to wait until our crew had gone to sleep and promised to tell us the real reason he went to Florida.
    “We agreed to meet in secret, and later that evening he woke us up and took us to a tent far from the camp; it was pouring rain and both the distance and the weather colluded to ensure that no prying ears would hear his plans. Juan was not alone; he had brought his steward, Balthasar.
    “‘ Santos, Diego and Balthasar,’ said Juan. ‘ I trust you three and no one else, so hear my tale. I was visited in a dream by an angel who told me that this land is filled with the gold that will help us rule the world .’
    “Santos and I were both perplexed; Juan wasn’t one to speak of dreamtime visions of angels.
    “‘ Forgive me ,’ said Juan with a laugh, ‘I don’t mean to speak in riddles. Let me tell you what I’m really after. ’
    “Juan told us that the naturals weren ’t hiding any gold. ‘ The real gold, ’ he said, ‘lies within the naturals themselves. ’
    “He explained that there were rumors of angels with strange powers floating around Europe, beings that we now know today to be spanners . But he said that there were rumors of whole tribes of these beings living in the New World.
    “‘ In Europe, these angels know to hide in the shadows, ’ said Juan, ‘but one of those angels visited me in a dream and told me that in the virginal territories here, they live openly. It’s up to us to find a tribe of these creatures, and take their powers for ourselves. ’
    “I knew it wasn ’t that simple to take a spanner’s abilities, and so did my brother.
    “‘ But if we find this tribe, we can’t simply take their powers,’ said our brother Santos. ‘They have found angels in Europe and fruitlessly tried to extract their powers; it’s of no use, and you should believe me because I personally oversaw the extractions. ’
    “‘ You’re right, hermano,’ said Juan, ‘but the angel in my dream told me that there was one creature here who is the source of these powers and can bestow