It was in July 1502 when the sailing ship El Dorado, laden with plundered treasures, was making a return trip to Spain from Santo Domingo. The El Dorado was thought to have perished in the dark depths of the Mona Passage during the worst-recorded hurricane in history-one with winds of incredible strength and a tumultuous, angry sea of towering waves. Juan Perez, a survivor of that shipwreck, was held captive in Florida for nineteen years by the long-lost tribe of Calusa Indians. He endured torture, war, inhumane treatment and witnessed acts of cannibalism . . . and eventually fell in love with King Senequne's daughter, Tepe. This is the story of Juan's eventual escape and rescue . . . and the sacred Vid, the true Fountain of Youth, that his mentor, Ponce de Leon, had long dreamed of finding. But along with the Vid came the human curse of greed that endangered the lives of any who possessed it.

It was in July 1502 when the sailing ship El Dorado, laden with plundered treasures, was making a return trip to Spain from Santo Domingo. The El Dorado was thought to have perished in the dark depths of the Mona Passage during the worst-recorded hurricane in history-one with winds of incredible strength and a tumultuous, angry sea of towering waves. Juan Perez, a survivor of that shipwreck, was held captive in Florida for nineteen years by the long-lost tribe of Calusa Indians. He endured torture, war, inhumane treatment and witnessed acts of cannibalism . . . and eventually fell in love with King Senequne's daughter, Tepe. This is the story of Juan's eventual escape and rescue . . . and the sacred Vid, the true Fountain of Youth, that his mentor, Ponce de Leon, had long dreamed of finding. But along with the Vid came the human curse of greed that endangered the lives of any who possessed it.