Ill Wind and Dead Reckoning: Caribbean Pirate Adventure (Valkyrie) (24 page)

‘There’s not much to tell,’ she replied, looking past me to the water off our leeside. I stayed quiet, hoping she would keep talking.

‘Well, not much you can’t guess, anyway. My father practically sold me to my husband. Erik wasn’t too bad at first, just cold and distant, but when his father died he changed, and became as cruel and ruthless as the English buccaneers he’s in league with.’

She paused a moment, then took a deep breath as if she’d decided she could trust me with her story.

‘My married life was a hell of degradation and humiliation, and I’m not going to share that with anybody, including you. All that shame is in the past – over and done with. I want to look forward, to make a new life and forget the past.’

I didn’t believe her – if she was forgetting the past why did she still flinch whenever I surprised her with my approach? Why did she still expect a blow and not a helping hand? And now my own crew had threatened her. I wanted more than anything to keep her safe, but I had to know what had happened to her.

‘You’re not forgetting the past, though, are you?’ I asked. She looked at me and I realized I had to be careful. ‘I hear your dreams, Gabriella.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I hear your cries through the cabin wall. I hear your fear, and I hear you shout for Jan.’

She looked down at the deck but didn’t say anything.

‘What hold does your husband have over you that you still fear him?’

She did not deny it.

‘Who’s Jan?’ I tried again.

‘Jan was Klara’s son. He was killed when we escaped. Because of me, my best friend’s nine-year-old son is dead, is that what you want to hear? I told you I don’t want to talk about it! I won’t be pitied, not by you, not by anyone, now leave me alone!’ she shouted, almost running forward.

I was taken aback by the force of her distress and the sudden way she’d exploded into temper, and I was consumed by hatred for her husband. But I couldn’t do anything to make it better now that she’d stormed off. I would have to be patient, although all I wanted was to wear round and head straight back to Sayba, kill van Ecken and the rest of them, and take the town for our own. I wanted to keep Gabriella safe and convince her that she was completely free of her old life.

‘Sail oh!’

I looked at Gabriella’s back on the foredeck and the stubborn set of her shoulders, but the ship and everyone aboard was calling. I told myself it was just as well; that I should leave her alone. I would no doubt only make matters worse. I smiled to myself. She reminded me so much of Magdalena, whose temper I’d also seemed to arouse with ease.

‘How does she look, Davys?’ I shouted up to my lookout. Billy Davys had been with
Sound of Freedom
when I took her a couple of years ago and he’d been at sea more than half a century. I knew I could trust his instincts, and his eyes were somehow still sharp after a lifetime of working sun-baked canvas.

‘A twinmaster, Cap, heavily laden,’ came the reply. ‘She’s showing Dutch colours – probably on her way to St Eustatius or even Sayba.’

I jumped up into the rigging to have a look myself – a Dutch prize would be perfect, it might even cheer Gabriella up, especially if there was a connection to van Ecken, although the middle of a firefight was not where I wanted to put the newest member of my crew. She needed to be safe.
I
needed her to be safe. I looked aft at the boats we were towing. Perfect! Gaunt could take both women out in the pinnace and keep them away from the guns.

*

‘
No
. You’re not sending us off out of the way. You’ve given us a place on your ship – let us earn it!’

‘You are earning it, every day that you work aboard. This will be our first attack since you arrived – my men and ship need my full attention, I can’t neglect them to make sure you’re safe. Anyway, I’d have thought you’d want to stay well away from the fight, haven’t you just said you’ve had enough of that?’

‘I’ve had enough of being beaten. I don’t mind a fight if I have the means to fight back! I won’t get in your way, I know better than that, I just want to earn my place!’

‘You will – the pinnace will be launched anyway and packed with water, food and gold in case we lose
Freedom.
If this goes wrong I’ll need someone I can trust in her; I need someone who will come back for me.’

‘But why us, can’t someone else go in the pinnace?’

‘Everyone else can shoot.’

That silenced her.

‘Can I trust you to come back for me?’

She nodded. ‘On one condition.’

I winced inwardly,
what’s she going to demand of me?

‘I want a sailing lesson.’

‘A sailing lesson?’

‘Yes. I want to learn to sail and it makes sense to start small.’

‘Gaunt?’ I called, and my carpenter crossed over to us, eyebrows raised, even though he must have heard. ‘Is that acceptable to you? Will you teach her?’

‘Aye, Cap, it’d be my pleasure.’ He smiled. ‘It’ll give us summat to do whilst thee has all the fun.’

I frowned; I didn’t want Gabriella thinking of our way of life like that.

‘Another thing.’ I turned back to Gabriella, wondering what she wanted of me now. ‘Once this is over, I want you to show me how the guns work.’

‘Anything else?’

‘Yes, I want a glass, or telescope, or whatever you call it. I want to see what you do and make sure
you’re
safe.’

Pleased, in spite of myself, I handed her my father’s glass. She was concerned for
my
safety.

‘Whatever you do, Robert,’ I said, trying to cover up my pleasure. ‘However much she begs, stay well back. I don’t want her anywhere near the range of their guns.’

‘Of course, Cap, I’ll keep her safe. Don’t fret thysen. C’mon lassie, make thy way to the larboard bulwark and help me pull the boat alongside.’

‘Robert,’ I said, quieter, and caught Gaunt’s arm. ‘Look after her, whether she makes it easy for you or not. If we get into trouble, don’t let her see. I’m counting on you, amigo.’

Robert Gaunt was nearly as old as Davys, had been at sea most of his life, and was just as reliable. I knew she would be safe in his care, and I expected him to be a patient teacher. I watched them climb into the laden pinnace, step the mast, and unfurl the sail before casting off. I raised my hand in salute rather than farewell and thought about the Dutch ship. I wondered why I felt so uneasy that Gabriella would be watching the fight, and realized I feared she might be repulsed by the way I lived.

‘Sand’s down on deck and guns are ready. Sharpshooters are aloft and the men on deck are ready too.’

I looked at my quartermaster. ‘Muy bien, Frazer,’ I replied. Very well.

‘You’ve never needed to be told that afore today,’ he pointed out.

‘No.’ He was right, I hadn’t.

‘I don’t like it, your attention should be on the ship, not that boat. And the carpenter should be aboard
Freedom.
’

I let go of the gunwale and turned to view my decks. ‘It all looks shipshape, Frazer, and Gaunt’s where I want him.’ I looked around once more to see the pinnace sailing steadily away, and tried to shake thoughts of Gabriella from my mind. I couldn’t deny the fear twisting my belly. I hadn’t known battle-nerves quite this strongly for some time, but then I’d thought I’d already lost everything. Now I realized I’d found something, or rather someone, I wanted to live for.

‘Death or victory!’ Frazer said. I looked at him and smiled. That was the same battle cry we used before every attack, the same one my father had no doubt cried before meeting Morgan in the Panamanian jungle. It didn’t sound quite so noble any more.

‘Let’s just make sure it’s victory shall we, Frazer?’

‘Always, Leo, always.’

‘He knows what he’s doing, lass, thar’s no need to fret.’

I looked at Mr Gaunt, embarrassed that my thoughts were so easy to read, and ignored Klara smirking at me from her seat in the bow.

‘He’s done this afore, lass, relax.’

‘When can I steer?’ I asked him, not wanting to acknowledge his amused reassurance.

‘In a bit, when we’re further away. Has thee sailed one of these afore?’

‘No.’

‘Well, I’ll soon have thee storming about.’ He lapsed into silence for a while and I watched Leo’s ship grow smaller as we sailed away. My belly was full of nerves for what they were about to do, and I could see Klara felt the same. Was she concerned about the captain too? Or Obi? I smiled to myself. Obi of course, he’d made quite an impression on her.

‘I reckon we’re far enough away here,’ Mr Gaunt said into the silence. ‘Why don’t we swap places and see what thee’s made of?’

I got to my feet – too quickly – and the boat rocked violently.

‘Gabby!’ Klara said in alarm. I ignored her and grabbed hold of the mast to stop myself falling overboard.

‘Steady there, lass, no sudden movements, she’s not ballasted like the big ‘un, keep your weight to the middle and watch thy balance.’

‘Are you sure you know what you’re doing? Why don’t you sit down and let Mr Gaunt sail the boat?’ Klara said. I ignored her again, took a deep breath and moved my feet aft, more carefully this time. It was hard to find space for my feet around the stores, but even harder to let go of the mast.

When I took that risk I almost fell again; but for Mr Gaunt’s quick arm I would have done. He stood across the back of the boat with his feet wide apart, despite his instruction to me to keep to the middle, but he was balanced enough to help me find my own. I clutched at him gratefully and moved my feet exactly as he told me. He gave me the tiller and moved forward, agile and comfortable. I smiled at Klara, who looked away, but I was sure I saw a small smile on her face first. I was delighted – it was good to see her smiling.

‘Sit thysen down there, lass – no not there, t’other side – and I’ll balance thy weight.’

I moved to where he was pointing and sat on the starboard side of the aft thwart, away from the sail and boom.

‘Now, we’ll find out if thee’s learnt anything these past weeks,’ he said with a smile. ‘Hey! Thee has the helm, thee needs to pay attention to thy boat and sails, not them ships! Come back to me, lass!’

I turned back to face him with an apologetic smile. ‘Sorry, just wondering what was happening, that’s all.’

‘We’ll hear it when it starts. Leave your friend there to keep an eye on ‘em, I’m going to sheet the sail in and get us moving – just keep her steady.’

He hauled on the mainsheet and we started moving immediately. I heard a gurgling and leaned over the side to investigate. The boat lurched over, but thankfully I hadn’t let go of the tiller; Mr Gaunt grabbed it and used it to pull me back in to the sound of more disapproval from the bow.

‘Oh! Thank you! I thought I was going to fall out!’

‘And so thee should have. What were thee thinking, lass? You nearly had us over!’

Scared and confused, I could feel tears fill my eyes and I looked away from Mr Gaunt. I’d rather be on that Dutch ship then out at sea in a twenty-foot boat that wouldn’t stay upright with any kind of assurance.

‘Steady now, lass, thee’s all right. Even if we do fall in we’ll only get wet, ‘though I doubt the Cap would be too pleased to lose gold he’s entrusted to us.’

I’d forgotten about the gold and supplies. This was more than a sailing lesson, we could be the difference between life and death for Leo and the crew should the Dutch ship get in a lucky shot or two. Now I lost my battle with my tears and I thought back to how I’d almost sunk us. Twice. Already.

‘Hush now, lass, thar’s nowt to weep about. Look about thee; we’re still upright with our cargo – and us – still safe.’ He gave me a moment and carried on once I nodded that I was well.

‘Feel the wind, lass. Where’s it coming from?’

I thought about it and replied, ‘Over my left shoulder.’

‘Aye. Now look at the sail, how’s thee gonna catch it?’

I looked at the sail, only now realizing he’d let it flog again. ‘You need to pull it in.’

‘Aye. Watch it while I sheet in and see when I stop. Does thee see how she fills? The last bit to shiver is the luff, next to the mast. Remember what that looks like, and if it’s flapping pull the sail in. If the sail’s already in as far as it can be then it’s thy steering that’s at fault and you need to bear off the wind a touch.’

‘Bear off?’

‘Aye.’ He looked at the confusion on my face and sighed, to more laughter from up front. I looked at Klara and smiled as our eyes met. However much of a fool I made of myself doing this, it was worth it to see her eyes sparkle once more. ‘Thee can sail in any direction except straight into the wind. If thee pulls the tiller towards thee, it pulls the rudder and pushes the bows away from the wind – that’s bearing off. Push the tiller and you harden up to the wind, or go aloof. Push it further and you tack.’

At least I knew what tack meant. ‘That’s bad isn’t it? Doesn’t that mean going backwards until the wind’s coming from over the other side of the boat?’

‘It does on a square-rigger like
Freedom
, but it’s much simpler in a little tub like this. We can sail much higher – closer to the wind direction,’ he added with another exasperated glance at me. ‘Than
Freedom
can. In the ship, the yards would jam up against the stays that hold the mast up, but we ain’t got that problem here.’

I nodded, still a bit confused, but I wasn’t scared any more. At least Mr Gaunt knew what I was supposed to be doing, and Klara was smiling again.

‘So, if I “harden up”, like this, you need to pull the sail in and, oh!’

We picked up some speed as I tried it out, and I had wind and salt spray in my face – it felt wonderful!

‘That’s better, lass, blow me if you ain’t a right little sea artist under them tears,’ said Mr Gaunt, giving me an indulgent smile. ‘Hook thy feet under that loop of line down there and lean back a bit over watter. That’s it, lass. That smile suits you a lot more than them tears did, shall we try a tack?’

Now that I had the feel of her and a little confidence, my first tack went well, or better than I expected anyway, which I supposed was not quite the same thing. I steered her through the wind a little too far, but I didn’t tip us over and I managed to avoid the boom as it swung wildly across the boat, missing my head by only a hair.

I enjoyed myself so much that I almost forgot the reason for us to be sailing out here in the first place. It was exhilarating to be flying so close to the waves, the little boat straining her sails to go faster and faster despite her load. The first roar of cannon went straight through me; for a moment I wondered if I’d been shot. I turned to look over my shoulder (this time keeping the rudder in position) to see the puff of smoke heading our way from
Freedom
.

‘What will happen now?’ I asked Mr Gaunt, my earlier joy replaced by fear. ‘Will they win?’

‘They’re sure to, lass. These things go one of three ways. The easiest and usual consequence is the prize striking her colours without firing a shot. Dropping her flag in surrender,’ he explained. ‘They know from the black flag that quarter’ll be given, that means mercy, not like some of them scoundrels showing the bloody flag – a red flag promises death and destruction to the whole ship and crew whether they ask for mercy or not. I’ve never sailed under one meself, and never will, although I’ve known them that have. Turned them into devils, it did.

‘Anyhow, most of them that don’t strike, run, but
Freedom’s
rigged for speed and she catches most of her prey.’

‘What’s the third one? Oh, fight.’

‘Aye, fight. Not many do, there’s too many legs and arms and other bits of men lost, including lives. Not many take the risk. Most merchants underhand their ships, and they don’t pay well what crew they do take on. There ain’t many who’ll risk their lives for the contents of a merchant’s pocket, and we’ve no use for a scuttled ship – can’t clear her of her riches then, can we?’

‘They’re not striking their colours.’

I saw Mr Gaunt smile at Klara’s use of his phrase. ‘No, they ain’t, are they? There’s always the stubborn ones who won’t give up.’

My heart sank and my breath gasped. I was grateful that Leo had ordered us off
Freedom
after all
,
and I turned back to Mr Gaunt only to see him smile at my leap of fear.

‘We’ll swap places again, lass. I reckon thee’ll be more interested in that glass than the tiller.’ I nodded, moved forward towards Klara with a lot more confidence then I had aft, and took the glass from her.

‘I wish I’d have been a way off when I saw my first pirate attack. It were mayhem. I didn’t know what were fore and aft or larboard and starboard with all the noise and gunsmoke stinging me eyes. A good mate o’ mine were killed that day, and poor Jimmy lost his leg. There’s not many who’d take on a man like that – especially a man who complains as much as Jimmy does. There were a lot of us crew impressed with that, it’s why most of us joined him, even if he is a Spaniard, but we don’t hold that against him. Anyway, his ma were English, and that’s enough for me.’

‘What do you mean? Joined who?’

‘The Cap of course.’

I was still confused.

‘Leo were the pirate who attacked me ship. The one that’s now called
Sound of Freedom
.’

‘Leo did that? Leo? And you sail with him?’

‘Aye. There were nowt personal in it and a ship’s a ship. He’s a finer master than the last one an’all, and I’m grateful to him – well, mebbe not at first – but I’ve been at sea thirty year and had nowt to show for it but abuse and a body breaking down with the work. I’ve been with Santiago more or less a year now, and it’s been the best ‘un. I’ve more freedom, less work, and plenty of gold to show for it. I wish I’d gone pirate decades afore. Aye, he’s a good man is the Cap, he never leaves a man behind, that’s worth summat in this life, that is.’ He looked at me. ‘But that’s the Cap all over. There might have been a few lives lost aboard
Freedom
, but not one has been thrown away as they are on a lot of ships. Life’s precious to him – that’s why the crew are happy to follow him on this crusade of his. That said, he brings in plenty of gold – that helps, too.’

‘Crusade?’

‘Aye. Tarr, Blake and Hornigold. Them that killt his ma. The whole crew wants ‘em dead now, not just the Cap.’

We were interrupted by a massive roar and a bonfire of smoke.

‘What’s happened? Why’s
Freedom
rolling like that? Is she hit? Is she going down? Quick, we’ve got to get to her!’

‘Settle down, lass, she’s well. He’s fired all his larboard cannon together in a broadside, the roll’s just
Freedom’s
reaction to all that powder going off. I’m glad I ain’t on that gundeck, it’s a fearsome place in a fight.’

‘Oh.’ I felt a bit of a fool, but mainly relieved. Klara still looked worried though, and I remembered that Obi was on one of the gun crews.

‘They must be putting up a good fight, we haven’t much use for a wrecked prize; it’ll take time to strip her of her treasures, and a ship’s wasted on the bottom.’

I fumbled the glass to my eye and tried to make sense of what I saw.