Charlie Woods and the Lost Scabbard of King Arthur

Chapter 9 -The Rough Honesty of a Friend

The flight having been made with an open cockpit was without much conversation and Charlie found he slept until Dr. Rutter woke him to point to look down at some strange war ships far below. Then he passed Charlie a big piece of wrapped cheese to eat and said almost at a yell in the high wind, "Here, eat this, we're about halfway. I've never seen so many big ships together like that," it looked like a little fleet of six or seven ships.

Charlie said, "War ships, if I'm not mistaken. Must be headed to gather somewhere for some reason. This doesn't bode well for avoiding the war, I'm afraid."

They saw no other ships again till almost landing in the bay next to La Rochelle where there were many fishing boats. The mouth entrance to harbor of La Rochelle was and still is guarded by two large castles, weather-warn gray and imposing, medieval looking towers built in a previous age to defend the harbor against pirate attack with a huge chain, now retired.

The pontoon plane motored up to a dock and was tied off by a harbor master. A small refueling truck ambled up and immediately began refueling Dr. Rutters pontoon plane, as if it were done very regularly. And without much warning Sam Wisegee ran up to give Charlie a big bear hug, which he was not expecting, "Charlie Woods, oh how I'm so relieved to see you at last!" He turned to the Provost, "I was so happy to get your call Dr. Rutter." And then he gave Dr. Rutter a hearty handshake.

Sam was a short stocky fellow with big lips and heavy brown curled hair. His shoulders were too broad for his height, like a miniature linebacker. He always seemed to have a dirty face. It wasn't so much that he was unclean, but from the nature of his work digging around.

He pulled out a little bag which was drawn tight, opened it and took a coin out to hand to Charlie, "I believe I still owe you a debt." It was a large single golden coin.

Charlie turned it over to look at it. On one side was an angel in a robe holding a crucifix the size of a man with odd lettering on it, 'Yot' and 'Comb' and other writings he could not cipher. He said, "What is this? Surely, it's more than the value of what you owe me, Sam?"

"Well sure it is, but you deserve it from the trouble I brought upon you last we met. I had you drinking like a fish thrown back in the ocean. That there coin is a Solidus, twenty-three-ounces of gold in that piece." he leaned forward to whisper past his hand, "straight from the Knights Templar coffers it tis. And most likely taken from Israel in the year four hundred and twenty-three. The Byzantine Empire," he smiled a toothy grin.

"I'm sure it will be precious to me Sam," Charlie said nodding with a wink.

The bay of La Rochelle in 1937 was a place of many fisherman, but with a history of many epic battles of wooden war ships against a harbor and navel fleets, including the Knights Templar's twenty-eight barks before the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Dr. Rutter saw the coin exchange and Charlie let him take a look at it in his own hands, "Oh what a beautiful coin. Do you know, an order was issued in eleven-thirty-nine A.D., under pressure by King Phillip, by the Pope Clement the fifth to track down and arrest the Templars and the leader of them all, Jaques de Molay. But I thought they had supposedly fled La Rochelle at first with the Templar treasure by sea?"

Sam lifted up his index finger and looked suspiciously around, "Shhh, I've been archeologicalling the old headquarters in old town, the preceptory of the Rue des Templiers." He suppressed a laugh and then said, "I've found some secret passages and a few coins dropped in their hurry to whisk it all away eight hundred years ago."

Dr. Rutter handed the coin back to Charlie and then shook their hands in turn, "Well boys, this is where I have to say adieu. I'd better be back before midnight or my wife will change the locks on all the exterior doors, locking half the Masons out, half of city council don't you know."