Sky Pirates (21 page)

Patrice picked up the purse and tipped its contents out on the table. The coins tinkled and clattered onto the wood where they lay shining in the candlelight. Everyone inside the Mermaid stopped what they were doing and stared at the gold.

“I am looking for a woman. Her name is Eleanor Chance. She also goes by the name Marsh or Greychester. She has red hair, and if you stare at her closely enough, you will see that she casts no shadow,” Patrice said in a loud voice.

Silence descended upon the tavern. He had their attention now. Patrice gestured at the little heap of gold coins on the table. “This here is but a small sample of the riches I have set aside for the man who brings her to me. If you make a few inquiries, you will find that I am Lord Abercrombie. I am a man of considerable means and this girl is very important to me.” He paused for a few moments in order to create the right effect. Then he gestured with a sweep of his arm. “I hereby pledge to pay one hundred thousand pounds sterling to whomever brings me the girl. Delivered to my door, alive and kicking, right here in London.”

Everyone stared at Patrice and, somewhere in the background, he could have sworn he heard a pin drop.

Patrice pulled a card out of his breast pocket and held
it aloft. “Here is the address. I will entrust its safekeeping to this fine fellow,” he said as he held the card out to the somewhat nonplussed landlord.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, I bid you a good evening.” He spread his cape and vanished in a puff of smoke. It was a simple, if not garish, trick that was usually within the repertoire of cheap illusionists. He would not normally stoop to such frippery, but it was a rather unwashed audience and it definitely had the desired effect. There was a moment’s pause before pandemonium broke out as everyone rushed to grab up the coins.

Patrice chuckled to himself as he watched the chaos from the shadows across the alleyway.

That should do it
, he thought to himself as he turned and strolled down the alley to where Mr. Chunk was waiting with the motor. If anyone could ferret out Eleanor Chance, it would be this riffraff.

As always, it was the sound of money that spoke the loudest.

“Evening, Chancey,” Heller said as Elle sat down next to him in the mess. Dinner for him and breakfast for her this evening was sausages and beans served with hunks of fresh bread. On the two shifts one would be either waking up or going to bed, so Fat Paul tried to make dinner and breakfast as similar as possible.

“Hello, Heller,” Elle mumbled. She had not slept well. Her sleep had been filled with dark dreams of being chased by awful baying creatures.

Dashwood had put Finn on the day shift and he had ordered her to split her night shift between the bridge and the engine room. It was, she believed, a fitting punishment for her insolence the last time they had met in his quarters a few days ago. He had also given orders that some of Finn’s duties be transferred to her, so she found herself clambering inside mucky engine parts and scrubbing out spark conduits. Adjusting to hard physical labor was proving to be a bit of a challenge. She ached all over and her body did not want to be awake when it was so dark outside.

They were somewhere across the south Atlantic Ocean. The captain had directed them to head south after San Francisco and across Panama into the Atlantic. She had been navigating east across night ocean for days now, which was extremely dull work at the best of times.

“Caught some right rough turbulence this afternoon.”
Heller chuckled. He bit into a large chunk of bread and chewed with gusto.

“It was a bit bumpy, wasn’t it?” Elle stared at her beans.

“Oh nah. It’s about what’s to be expected in these air currents this time of year. Have you sailed the straits before?”

“I haven’t,” Elle admitted. “Most trade routes tend to avoid the area.” And for obvious reasons. Treacherous air currents and sudden storms plagued this part of the world and played havoc on navigational instruments. Pirate ships prowled the cloudbanks, waiting for easy quarry. Much like the
Inanna
was doing at this very moment.

She looked up at Heller, who was busy spearing his sausages with his fork. Funny how he had frightened her when they first met, she thought. Now he was almost a friend. But then again, she was a pirate now, in every sense of the word. She dug her fork into her beans and took a bite. Yes, she was a pirate trapped on a ship where the captain’s word was law. And in this case it was a captain who hated the sight of her.

“Why the long face, little one?” Heller said. “It won’t do to see a pretty face like that so sad.” Heller stared at her with concern.

She sighed. “Oh, Heller, I feel so alone here. I feel like I have no one to talk to.”

Heller wiped his black beard with the back of his hand. “I suppose it must be hard for you, being the only woman and all. I know it’s not the same, but you can talk to me. I like listening to others. It’s what makes me a good first mate.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said.

“Go on, try me.” Heller sat forward with concern.

“Can I trust you?”

He frowned. “Of course.”

“Well, you know Dr. Bell left me all her notebooks?”

Heller nodded. “Me and the captain have been through ’em. The captain was mighty upset when they turned out to be a load of old cobblers with no maps or treasure in them.”

“That’s just the thing, Heller. The captain missed one of the notebooks. One I held back.”

“You didn’t!” His expression grew alive with interest.

“I did too. I held back the one journal with a map in it until I could be sure that the captain could be trusted.” Elle pulled the journal out of the leg pocket of her overalls. She opened it and smoothed out the page. “See this here?” She pointed at the pictogram. “This is a map to the Khmer city of Angkor. The greatest temple city that has ever been built.”

Heller’s eyes grew wide. “And temples have gold …” he murmured.

“Well, I can’t promise that, but I can say that this will lead us to the greatest temple ever built. Built by one of the richest people who have ever lived. The map speaks of the fact that the temples were lined with gold, but it is all for nothing.” Elle rubbed her eyes. They felt scratchy and tired.

“Why so?” Heller said.

“Well, when I showed the maps to the captain, with a plan to find the place, he said no.”

“He did?” Heller frowned. “That doesn’t sound like our captain. He’s normally first in line for treasure. Unless there’s a good reason …”

“There’s no reason other than the fact that he doesn’t trust me,” Elle said quickly.

“That seems mighty foolish,” Heller said.

“I know.” Elle skewered a bit of sausage and bit into it. “So here I am, on a ship that’s ready and able to go, but I can’t because my captain doesn’t like or trust me enough to give it a go.” She put down her fork. “I wish
you hadn’t destroyed my
Water Lily
. I would have been off this tub and in search of the city by now.”

Heller stared at the map with such concentration that Elle could almost hear the cogs and gears moving inside his head.

“Tell you what,” he said after a good few minutes. “Let me talk to the captain. He’ll listen to me.”

Elle eyed Heller. “Would he? Or would he be angry and accuse me of talking to the crew behind his back?”

Heller thought for a moment. “Hmm, that’s a good point. But I tell you what, let me have a word with some of the lads and then we’ll see what we can do about changing his mind,” he said.

“Thank you, Heller.” Elle laid her hand on his arm.

Heller grinned. “See, I told you I was good.”

Elle pushed aside her breakfast, which had started to congeal on her plate. “Well, I had better head up to the bridge. This old bird is not going to navigate herself.”

“You do that,” Heller said with a far-off look in his eyes.

Elle’s shift dragged by without event as the
Inanna
plowed on through the clouds. No one said a word, or gave even the slightest indication that Heller had spoken to them, and she went about the business of scrubbing out vents and conduits. Just before dawn, dog-tired and covered in grime, Elle stumbled to her bunk, where she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next evening, however, when she came down for breakfast, it was a whole different story.

Elle felt all eyes on her when she entered the mess hall. Fat Paul gave her an extra chop on her plate. The boys from engineering even made a space at the table for her to sit. Heller was nowhere to be seen. Every so often one of her crewmates would nudge the other and nod.

Elle picked up her fork and contemplated the lamb
chops and mashed potatoes on her plate. Good, solid stodge to keep everyone going. The one thing Captain Dashwood did not appear to scrimp on was catering, but then again, a fed crew was a happy crew, so it made sense.

A kerfuffle at the entrance of the mess broke her reverie and she looked up to see that Dashwood had stormed in. The captain didn’t usually enter the mess, and there was a great deal of shuffling and the rumble of chairs scraping as crewmen rose to acknowledge him.

Dashwood ignored them as he strode into the mess. “Eleanor Chance!” he roared. He was quite red in the face actually.

Elle stayed where she was. This was going to be trouble and she would do well to show no fear. “Here, Captain,” she said in a voice as steady as she could muster.

“Who in the seven hells do you think you are, lady?” he bellowed.

She set her fork down. “Captain?”

“I said, exactly what do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m sorry but I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I am talking about this!” He threw the journal onto the table before her.

“The city of Angkor. What of it?”

A hush fell across the mess. Everyone was staring at them.

“I’m sorry, Captain, I’m afraid I still have no idea what you are on about,” Elle said.

“I will not have you inciting mutiny on my ship!” he shouted. “Or do you really want me to hang you by that little neck of yours?”

“Mutiny?” Elle said, rising from her seat. “Who said anything about mutiny?”

A few crewmen coughed uncomfortably behind her.

“Come now, Captain. That’s taking it a bit too far
now. Me and the fellas were only engaging in idle gossip,” Heller said behind them. He had followed Dashwood into the mess. He gave Elle a reassuring look. “We all like tales of booty and riches. Even you do,” he said in soothing tones.

Dashwood’s face was like stone. “Anyone who even thinks about supporting these crazy notions will be made to take to the wing. Do I make myself clear?”

There was a soft gasp from more than a few crewmen. Taking to the wing or walking the plank was a rather nasty punishment which was usually meted out for the worst of crimes. It entailed being thrown out of the back of the cargo hold with a rope round one’s waist. If the fall did not rip a man in two, the extreme cold would cause certain death.

Elle put her hands on her hips. “Excuse me, Captain, but don’t you think that you are overreacting just a tiny bit?”

“Overreacting?” Dashwood roared as he turned on her. “I take you in. Give you a place here. Feed you, clothe you, put up with your irritating demands and … and the first thing you do as soon as my guard is lowered is try to steal my crew. I say mutiny certainly warrants my reaction, madam.”

“Steal your crew? Have you completely lost your mind?” Elle said.

Dashwood glared at her. “That’s it. Another week in the brig. And don’t try me, because the next step is lashes. Lady or not.”

Elle paled. “But I’ve done nothing wrong—”

“Um, Captain, me and the boys would like to say a word,” Heller interrupted.

“What?” Dashwood swung round to face him.

“Well, seeing as this is not the navy, and we are all freebooters here, me and the boys feel that we should put the matter to a vote. They say the lost city is paved
with gold. I, for one, would at least like to prove that such a rumor was wrong …”

There were murmurs of agreement among the crew.

“I don’t believe this.” Dashwood threw his hands up in dismay.

“Angkor Wat does exist and were it not for you scrapping my ship, I would be on my way to it right now,” Elle said. “In fact, I intend to procure a ship as soon as I am able to do so.” She turned to the crew. “You all know that I was the captain of the
Water Lily
. I am a very resourceful woman, so do not doubt that I will find the money to fund such an expedition myself. The only thing stopping me is the fact that Captain Dashwood is keeping me prisoner on this ship when every prisoner here is free. So any man who wants to join me in finding the city would be welcome on board.”

There were a few cheers, which were abruptly cut off by Dashwood’s murderous glare.

“Begging your pardon, Captain,” Heller spoke again. “It has been a while since we’ve seen any proper money. What with the haul in North Africa not being worth much and all that went wrong in San Francisco … the boys are eager for a bit of action, is all.”

“Who else feels this way?” Dashwood said.

A few more men grunted their agreement.

“Is this the crew I have? A bunch of milk-livered sons of whores who are ready to run the moment someone whispers the word
gold
?”

Dashwood looked apoplectic, his hands balled into fists by his side. She would have to step in and do something soon, or else there would be bloodshed.

“Why don’t you just let me go, Captain?” she said. “You know I don’t belong here. You said so yourself. Set me down somewhere. And perhaps also anyone who wants to find Angkor Wat. We would be on our way, never to bother you again. That way you will be rid of
all the troublemakers.” She took a deep breath. “I will see if I can find us a charter. It won’t be an easy journey but I promise to be fair to anyone who follows me. Let us agree to part ways with no hard feelings, shall we?”

“Who else wants to go off and die on this crazy half-cocked idea? Any man who does, step to the other side of the room now,” Dashwood said. He was still seething, but Elle noticed with no small measure of relief that at least he was listening to her.