Free Under the Moon Gate by Marilyn Baron

of Jamestown, an occurrence that led to the accidental settlement of Bermuda. He knew her relatives were also among the first settlers of Bermuda. Intertwined . Yes. That was how he had always felt about the two places. How would it feel to be “intertwined” with the bewitching girl sitting in front of him?
    “Where did you go to college?” she asked in an obvious attempt to find out more about the “houseguest” she hardly knew.
    “University of Virginia.”
    “Ah, I thought I detected a bit of prep school polish under that gruff exterior.
    He hesitated and then smiled.
    “Were you really a history major?”
    Nathaniel lowered his voice. “Yes. Does that turn you on?”
    She shot him a glaring look. “Let’s just say I have a soft spot in my heart for the subject.”
    “Any other soft spots I should know about?” He looked at her through shuttered eyes.
    “None I care to share with you.”
    Nathaniel laughed, then decided to change course. “You know, aside from sailing from Virginia to Bermuda and back, this is my first real trip to the island.”
    “Bermuda is not really one island,” said Patience. “It’s a chain of more than one hundred twenty islands and islets that were created by a prehistoric volcanic eruption.”
    “Is there anything about Bermuda you don’t know and aren’t compelled to spout?” Nathaniel, privately captivated, tried to sound annoyed.
    “I’m sorry. It’s just that I sometimes get carried away when I talk about my home. It’s what I do. Don’t you find anything in Bermuda to your liking?”
    Yes, I find you very much to my liking. “How could anyone sail and not love this place?” he answered, never tearing his eyes from her. “It’s like a dream. I’ve never seen a place like it anywhere in the world,” he admitted, his eyes gazing into hers. “The water, the beaches… They’re breathtaking.”
    “Well, we’ve made enough small talk, so why don’t you tell me where you’re taking me?”
    “First, I have to tell you the story of how your grandfather’s chest was discovered,” Nathaniel began. “My uncle was just a teenager when he sailed with Edmund Downing, who discovered the remains of the Sea Venture in 1958 in the waters off Fort St. Catherine on St. George’s.”
    “Your uncle knew Edmund Downing?” He had her complete attention now.
    “My uncle was the real adventurer in the family. I guess I take after him. He never settled in any one place. His home was the sea. He instilled the love of sailing in me. I went with him on some of his expeditions when I was very young. He told me that when he and Downing discovered the wreck of the 1609 ship, they discovered something else at the bottom of the ocean. Downing wasn’t interested in this particular find. On the surface, it appeared to be nothing valuable—just a bunch of papers in a large old sea chest. So he gave the chest to my uncle. I want to take you out to where my uncle first found it.”
    “Do you have the proper maps? There are still treacherous reefs surrounding the islands. During the last 450 years, more than 300 ships have wrecked on these reefs, including pirate ships.”
    “This isn’t a pirate ship, and I’m a good sailor, Patience. Of course I know how to avoid the navigational hazards of the reefs. I managed to make it to Bermuda in the first place, didn’t I? Anyway, I don’t see any stone walls I could run into out here, do you?”
    “They’re hidden beneath the surface of the water,” she said, laughing.
    Nathaniel slowed the motor and dropped anchor. “Here it is. So close to the reef. That’s why no one’s been able to find it in all these years. I figure the chest was originally dropped off here by a German U-boat. Maybe in the same place your grandfather was dropped off to swim to shore.”
    “Pure speculation.”
    ****
    Patience bit her bottom lip as she contemplated the water. This was their special place. Hers and her grandfather’s. It was both