Port of San Julian. Winter Quarters. May 3, 1520.

Magellan has kept everyone busy these last weeks. We have built shelters on the sandy beaches and are searching for provisions, the lack of which has forced the Captain to cut rations in half. We explore the area almost daily. Magellan hopes to find friendly Indians to trade with but if any live in this place, they have kept themselves well hidden.

One of our first tasks is rummaging. Magellan intends to careen each of the ships, remove the rotted planks, caulk the seams, and tar the hulls below the water line. To do this, we have to remove everything from the ships and place their contents in the shelters. We have already done all of these things to the smallest ship in the fleet, the Santiago, and she will continue exploring to the south. Magellan hopes to find the strait or the cape of the continent and has ordered Captain Serrano to continue the search.

When I am not busy with my duties, the Captain General teaches me navigation. This was his first lecture, as best I can recall it:

AWhen a captain sails his ship out of the sight of land, he must have some method of navigation to calculate his course. Nature helps him in several ways. For example, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. So, if the dawn appears on the left side of a ship, she must be sailing roughly south. At night a more accurate guide is the Pole Star. Unlike the sun, the Pole Star does not change its position by the hour: it remains constantly in the north. As you go farther north, the Pole Star climbs higher in the sky; as you go south, it sinks lower. By marking north, the Pole Star indicates a ship=s direction; by its height in the sky it also indicates her position between the North Pole and the Equator.@

And so it goes on. Each day I learn something new. Finding latitude and longitude with the cross-staff and the sand-glasses. Dead reckoning positions using others= experiences with winds, currents, and my own instincts to estimate the distance and direction since leaving port. Learning about the compass, the most important of navigation tools, and keeping it magnetized with lodestone. The Captain says I am a quick study.

I have always been a fast learner. Sometimes, your survival depends on it.

Granada 1512-1516.

I awoke in a strange place. Maria was beside me, tending to my bruises and cuts. As she did so, she told me what she=d learned about my father.

The fleet was delayed in Hispaniola until late July. Despite the signs of bad weather and against the advise of my father, the admiral of the fleet refused to take shelter. The fleet was struck by a storm just out of port. Every ship but one was lost, that of my uncle. His ship limped back to Hispaniola, was repaired and eventually sailed again for Spain.

Weeks passed and my uncle sold our home in Arroyo. I didn=t even get to say goodbye to Julian. Luis brought Maria and I to his house in Granada. I spent the next three years in that house and it brings me little joy to recall them. If I could have found a way to leave and take Maria with me, I wouldn=t have spent a day there.

My uncle believed I was Aspoiled@ and Alacked discipline.@ He also believed that the way to correct this was through labor and severe punishments. I worked for him as if I were his slave rather than his nephew. And I wasn=t the only one he terrorized. The whole house lived in fear of his wrath and peace only came when he was away.

We lived on what we could find. Luis payed Maria nothing and we rarely had steady meals. Maria could have left at any time but she wouldn=t leave me. I felt guilty for being her burden, her only reason for staying, and I gathered what I could by any means possible. I was an adept thief at the age of 14. I learned on the streets and back alleys of Granada and took whatever I could. What could not be eaten, could be sold. I also searched through Luis=s belongings whenever I could. I was only caught once and the punishment I received was severe. I was beaten to within an inch of my life and didn=t leave my bed for weeks. I learned my lesson very well that time. I became more cautious.

Three years passed.

I was 16 and desperately trying to find a way out of that house. Out of Granada. I could have signed on as a sailor in any of the ships in the nearby ports but I couldn=t leave Maria. Shortly after coming to Granada I had made a promise to myself and Maria. ASomeday I will escaped from here and find my fortune across the sea. I will return with gold and glory. We will have a grand house, larger than Luis=s. We will be no man=s servant . My destiny will be my own and not dictated by another. You will never work again, Maria, and my servants will take care of you. We will be free.@

AA nice dream, mi niño,@ Maria would always reply. AI know you can make it a reality, but remember, gold will never replace your family, bring you happiness or give you peace.@

It still makes me smile thinking of how naive she was.

*****

One day, when I least expected it, a way out of Granada was presented to me.

I was wandering along the docks on the river Genil on an errand for my uncle. The docks were crowded with sailors, merchants, travelers and other people going about there business.

Suddenly, the crowd began to part, furiously. People were throwing themselves aside, desperately trying to get out of the way of an out of control carriage. I was buffeted from all sides and had no where to go. So I did the only thing I could, thinking all the while that this was the most foolish thing I had ever done. I took my position in front of the carriage, watching the coachman desperately try to regain control and avoid the crowds of people. I braced myself as the horses thundered nearer, waiting for my chance. At the last moment before the horses ran me down, I jumped aside and grabbed the side of the coach as it passed. The force nearly ripped my arms from my body. Struggling desperately, I used all of my strength to pull myself up next to the astonished driver. The reigns had fallen from his hands and I bent to retrieve them. I was running out of time and dock, the fast moving waters of the river just ahead of me. I grabbed the reigns and pulled back hard. The coachman shook himself out of his stupor and together we stopped the horses with few feet to spare.

As the crowd applauded and praised me for my bravery, a beautiful young woman stepped shakily from the coach. I recognized her almost immediately. Señorita Ayala Pedroza, daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Granada. And she nearly fainted into my arms.

AYou saved my life, Señor,@ she said breathlessly. AI am eternally grateful. How can I repay you?@ I replied that wanted nothing from her. AYou must have some reward for your courage,@she insisted. AWhat is your name?@

ABlas de Mendoza.@

AMendoza?@she said thoughtfully. AAre you a relative of Captain Luis de Mendoza?@ I nodded. AAh,@she exclaimed, AI know him. You are his nephew?@ I nodded again. AThen perhaps I will see you again.@

I returned to the house that evening, receiving the expected reprimand and punishment from Luis. I expected nothing more to come from this encounter. Señorita Ayala, as rumor stated, was leaving Granada to be married to a man of aristocratic ancestry in Toledo and I doubted that she would even remembered me.

I was wrong.

*****

A few weeks after the incident, I returned home and found a familiar carriage (the one that had nearly killed me) at the door. I entered the house to find one of the servants waiting impatiently. I was immediately led me to the parlor. I knocked on the door and Uncle Luis ordered me to enter. I expected to find Señorita Ayala with him but to my surprise there was a man instead. He was tall, perhaps five to seven years older than myself, with dark hair and a beard cut in a popular style. He must be Ayala=s fiancé, I thought. AIt seems you are quite the hero, Blas,@ Luis said warmly though his eyes were stone cold. ASeñor Gomez has just been telling me how you saved his fiancé, Lady Ayala.@ I remained silent. AIndeed,@ the man called Gomez nodded, confirming Luis words. AWhich is why I am here. It is rare to find such courage. Strength and quick thinking are the qualities I am in need of. I want this young man to join my regiment.@ My uncle and I both looked up in surprise. AYou must be joking,@ Luis laughed. AI am not,@ Gomez said more sternly. AI was impressed when Ayala told me how this young man came to her aid and I agreed that her savior could be a great asset to the King=s army. I intend to train him to become an officer.@ AIt is impossible. I won=t allow it!@ Luis answered angrily. AAnd why not,@ Gomez=s temper was also rising. AIt is unusual for a man of low birth to be given this opportunity. And it is his decision, not yours. He is old enough to make his own choice.@ With that, they both turned there gaze on me. All this time I had been standing quietly, thinking. I looked from one man to the other. AIt is difficult to make such an important decision so quickly, Señor Gomez.@ I said carefully. I could feel Luis=s eyes burning into me as I spoke. AWould you be so good as to give me a few days to decide.@

AVery well,@ Gomez replied. ABut I leave for Toledo in a week. I must have your answer by then.@

Gomez was hardly in his carriage when Luis turned on me. AYou will not go with him, nephew.@

Despite the trouble it could cause, I had to say, ABut uncle, you always say I need discipline. Is there a better place to get it than in the army?@

AThis isn=t a joke, Blas,@ he replied, his voice low and dangerous. AYou will go to Señor Gomez tomorrow and express your gratitude for this offer but that you must refuse. You will do this or you and >others= in this household will regret it.@

That was the end of it, I knew what he was threatening. I went to Gomez the next day and said exactly what Luis had wanted. AI don=t know what hold he has over you but these are obviously your uncle=s words, not your own,@ Gomez said in response. AOne day you will have to follow your own course. Break this hold he has over you. When you do, my offer still stands.@ I thanked him and returned to the home of my uncle, Gomez=s words still echoing through my mind.

*****

A few months later, Luis left unexpectedly on a voyage to Barcelona and the household took full advantage of his departure.

I, myself, used this opportunity to search his office. I was looking through papers on Luis=s desk when, by chance, a few fell to the ground. As I bent to retrieve them, I noticed something odd in one corner of the desk. A piece of wood unlike that of which the rest of the desk was made. I had never noticed this imperfection before. It was stained to look like the same wood but upon closer inspection, it clearly was not. Curious, I gently touched the piece. I was quite taken aback when it clattered to the floor revealing a hollow niche carved into the desk. Looking inside, I discovered many papers carefully placed within. I pulled one free and found it was a letter on fine, expensive paper. The signature at the bottom burned into my mind. Don Antonio de Medina. My mother=s father, my grandfather.

I sat down and began to read. The letters were a correspondence between my uncle and grandfather that were dated from the death of my father to the present, the latest being received shortly before my uncle=s departure. I was surprised to learn that my grandfather was very ill and would soon die himself. They stated that he wished me to receive an inheritance. From the stories Maria had told me, I thought that Don Antonio would never forgive my mother for disobeying him and her inheritance would be given to her brother. But the letters reveled that her brother too had perished, unmarried with no children. It seemed I was the only one left to receive my grandfather=s fortune.

At first, I was of course, excited. I would be rich. Maria and I could leave Granada and I would have the freedom to do as I wished. But the next letter I read changed my joy to dread. I could only guess what Luis had written from the responses of Don Antonio but it seemed, from my Grandfather=s letters, that Luis had said I was a sickly boy, to weak to leave Granada. This confused me. I had always been healthy and was certainly not the invalid my uncle had seemed to portray me to be.

Then, I understood it. Luis wanted my inheritance for himself. The more I pondered this the more clear it became that I was in danger. The only way for my uncle to have this fortune was to either keep me in the dark about its existence, or to kill me after he collected it on my behalf.

What could I do? Where could I go?

I took the letters to Maria and explained what I had learned. ALuis must have left Granada to collect the fortune and when he returns, he will no longer need me.@

AYou must leave Granada, Blas,@ Maria grasped my arm and spoke in a hurried whisper that quaked with fear. AIf you don=t go, he will kill you I am certain.@

ABut where can I go?@ I said despairingly.

AThat nobleman, Gomez, why don=t you go to him?@

ABut what about you? If Luis returns to find me gone, he will take his revenge on you. You have to leave. We will take anything we can find of value and leave Granada,@ I said thinking. ABut can I take you to Toledo?@

ANo, not Toledo. I will go to Barcelona,@ Maria replied.

ABut Luis is there!@

ANot for long, soon he will return,@ she said with new calmness in her voice. AAnd I have family there who can help me.@

AI don=t want to be parted from you. You are the only mother I have ever known.@

ANiño, I know of no other way to keep us both safe.@

I nodded knowing that what she said was true, but hating it.

We traveled back to Seville where I was able to book passage to Barcelona for Maria. We said farewell on the docks two days later. AOur Lord will watch over and protect you, niño. I will pray for you everyday.@ With that we parted and I didn=t think I would ever see her again.

That afternoon, I found myself making my way out of Seville on the road to Toledo.