Trade Winds (Choc Lit) (40 page)

Graham nodded. ‘I’ll come with you.’ He turned to the coolie by the gate. ‘You there, fetch us a palanquin please and quickly.’

Chapter Thirty-Three

It was with enormous relief that Jess and Killian boarded the ship on the sixth of January to begin the journey home. The horrifying attacks by Farquhar had put a damper on an otherwise enjoyable stay in Canton and they were glad to put it all behind them.

‘I’ll miss Mei and her little boy,’ Jess said, waving to Li and his wife who had come downriver to say goodbye, ‘but it will be wonderful to be with people I can talk to properly.’

‘Yes, it’s been interesting to say the least, but I don’t think I’ll be coming back in a hurry.’ Li, pleased with the pair of binoculars and silver time piece Killian had given him as a thank you for looking after Jess and his son, had urged him to return soon, but Killian had no wish to do so. ‘If we want to trade with China, I suggest we find a reliable supercargo to do it for us or perhaps we should stick to merely investing in these ventures.’

‘Yes, now all we have to do is reach home safely. Let’s hope we do so quickly.’

Jess’ prayers were not answered immediately, however. Although they made good time across the China Sea, things began to go wrong as soon as they passed into the Sunda Strait. There they were surprised to find themselves blockaded by seven Dutch ships, who seemed hell-bent on hindering them from continuing their journey. Jess shivered at the sight of their menacing presence and tried not to imagine what this might mean.

Campbell ordered the Swedish flag to be hoisted and the anchor dropped, waiting to see what the Dutch would do, but nothing happened.

‘Very well, let’s try and sail away quietly during the night under cover of darkness then,’ he said, but the Dutch caught up with them the following day fairly easily. Campbell ordered the ship to anchor yet again. Tired of this cat and mouse game, Campbell then commanded the second mate, Mr Bremer to take the launch over to the Dutch ships and ask why they were following them. Bremer took with him copies of their passes and Campbell’s official letter showing that he was the Swedish Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy to the Emperor of China, stamped and signed by the King of Sweden himself.

‘That ought to show them,’ Campbell muttered, but Killian wasn’t so sure. There was obviously something wrong here.

He was proved right when Bremer never returned, and during the night they were surrounded by Dutch ships so they couldn’t try to escape again. Finally, the next morning, the launch came back with orders for all the Swedish crewmen to go to the Dutch ships, except the captain and the supercargos. As a substitute, the Dutch sent over their own sailors and a captain to help sail the ship, although where to they didn’t say.

‘Must you go?’ Jess asked anxiously, when Killian came to tell her what was happening. Brice grizzled as if he too sensed something was wrong.

‘I’m afraid so, but I hope I’ll be back soon.’

‘Be careful and don’t do anything rash. If anything should happen to you I … that is we …’ She couldn’t finish the sentence. There was so much she wanted to say to him and now she was afraid she’d never get the chance. They had shared a cabin since leaving Canton, but she hadn’t yet worked up the courage to tell him she wanted him to be her husband in every sense of the word. And now perhaps it was too late.

‘Don’t worry. I will see you soon.’ He gave her a quick kiss on the mouth, lingering a little too long as if promising more to come. She had to be content with that, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Campbell summoned her to his cabin soon after the crew had left. Mr Graham, the second supercargo, was with him and they both looked grave.

Campbell fixed her with his blue gaze in a direct, but not unkind way. ‘Mrs Kinross, I understand you are of Dutch extraction and presumably speak their language. I just wanted to warn you not to let them know that, under any circumstances, because one of their accusations is they think we’re harbouring Hollanders on board. I speak Dutch myself, but I’ll not admit it unless I have to. I shall address them in Swedish.’

‘Is that what this is all about?’

‘Perhaps, although I think it has more to do with the Ostend company, which was officially dissolved last year. The Dutch didn’t want competition from them and they suspect we’ve been sent out by the Ostenders, using the Swedish flag as a cover. The only two ships who had official permission to sail were the ones we encountered in Canton. It’s all a lot of nonsense, and so I shall tell them. I’ve demanded to see the governor-general in Batavia and they’re taking me there tomorrow.’

‘And what of me and my son?’

‘I’m afraid you’ll have to stay here.’ He gestured towards Graham, who had remained silent throughout. ‘No need to fret, I shall leave the other supercargos here to watch over you. Now why don’t you take a turn about the deck with Graham here? You look as though a bit of fresh air might do you good.’

Graham immediately came forward and offered his arm. ‘I’d be happy to escort you, Mrs Kinross,’ he said politely.

Jess didn’t much feel like returning to her cramped cabin, and she liked the pleasant, friendly Graham, so she agreed. ‘Thank you, that’s very kind.’ She nodded at Campbell. ‘I wish you luck, sir.’

With Brice asleep in his sling, she ambled slowly from one end of the ship to the other with Graham.
Some of the new Dutch crew members paused in their tasks to follow them with their eyes, and stared at Jess in particular. She heard one exclaim ‘
Godverdamme!’
− ‘God damn it’ – in surprise and assumed they hadn’t expected to find a woman on board. No one spoke to them though, which was a relief.

‘I do hope Mr Campbell is able to sort this out soon,’ Jess said, trying to quell her anxiety.

‘Don’t worry. I have every confidence in him,’ Graham replied. ‘Mr Campbell will have us out of here in no time, you’ll see.’

Jess sincerely hoped he was right.

She retired to her cabin, where she paced endlessly with Brice just to have something to do, but she was soon heartily sick of being confined. When Mr Graham came and offered to take her for another stroll after supper, she was more than happy to go with him.

‘Has Mr Campbell gone yet?’ she asked as they mounted the steps up to the main deck.

‘No, he’s leaving early tomorrow morning. He’s hoping to speak to the Dutch governor-general as soon as he arrives in Batavia, so with a bit of luck we should be able to leave soon.’

She took his arm, as before, and they made their way to the fore. Along the way they passed a group of Dutch sailors who assessed Jess openly this time. She felt as if their eyes were boring into her back, which was very disconcerting and made her feel extremely uncomfortable. She took a deep breath and ignored them.

‘She’s a tasty piece and no mistake,’ she heard one of them say in his own language as soon as she and Graham had gone past. The others chuckled and murmured in agreement.

‘Yes, the captain ought to let us have some sport with her. Shall we ask him?’

‘No point. He probably wants her for himself first, selfish whoreson!’

Jess felt her spine stiffen with outrage, but tried to keep her emotions under control. She gritted her teeth and although she understood every word, she pretended she hadn’t heard, just as Mr Campbell had instructed. She couldn’t entirely suppress a shudder, however, and Graham noticed.

‘Are you cold, Mrs Kinross?’ he enquired.

‘No, no, I’m fine, thank you.’ It was a balmy night with only a slight breeze and although she’d brought a shawl, it wasn’t needed. Brice, on her back, acted as a sort of heater too, his tiny body snug against hers.

‘I won’t keep you up here for too long. Wouldn’t want the little one to catch a chill.’

‘I don’t think there’s any danger of that, but we might as well go to bed early I suppose.’ Jess glanced towards the Dutchmen, but quickly averted her gaze when she found their eyes still resting on her. The sooner she was safe in her cabin, the better, she thought.

On the way back to the stairs, someone called out ‘Mind that rope!’ and Jess paused for a fraction of an instant before she remembered that he couldn’t possibly be speaking to her. She hurried after Graham and breathed a sigh of relief when the bar was safely across her door.

By the afternoon of the following day, Jess was becoming seriously worried. There had been no word from Campbell and all was quiet on board the ship. It seemed like the calm before a storm, and Jess’ stomach was turning itself into knots as she tried not to think about what might be happening to Killian. A soft knock on the door made her almost jump out of her skin, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard a familiar voice outside.

‘Mrs Kinross? It’s only me, Graham.’

Jess opened the cabin door a fraction. ‘Yes? Has something happened?’

‘No, no news as yet, I’m afraid. I just thought you might like to take another walk up on deck for a breath of fresh air?’

‘Er, I don’t know …’ Jess hesitated, remembering the crewmen of the night before, but she had been going nearly mad in the tiny cabin and a short outing sounded extremely tempting.

‘It should be perfectly safe.’ Mr Graham smiled. ‘It’s not as if we’re prisoners, after all.’

‘Well, it’s very kind of you,’ Jess said. ‘It is rather stifling in here, I must admit.’ He was right, no one had threatened them openly in any way. The Dutchmen didn’t know she understood their idle talk.

Since Brice was awake this time, she carried him in her arms and followed Mr Graham up onto the deck. The Dutch captain who was supposedly looking after the ship in Campbell’s absence was nowhere to be seen, but some of his crew members stood by the ship’s railing again. Jess didn’t know if they were the same ones, but either way, their presence made her uncomfortable. They studied her as she passed with the Englishman, but said nothing. Even so, the way they seemed to devour her with their eyes made her feel uneasy, particularly the gaze of a tall blond man who seemed to be their unofficial leader. A shiver darted through her and she stepped closer to Mr Graham.

‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ she whispered. ‘Those men don’t look too friendly today. Perhaps it would be better if I just stayed in the cabin.’

‘No, no, they can’t very well do anything to you in broad daylight. The captain assured Mr Campbell we would all be perfectly safe in his absence.’

Jess remained unconvinced, but Mr Graham started walking round the deck and she didn’t want to stand around by herself, so she followed him reluctantly. They made it from one end of the ship to the other without anyone bothering them, and then stopped to admire the view. The ship was anchored near a lush, green island, and it was a peaceful scene. Jess had just started to relax when she heard raucous laughter from the group of Dutchmen.

‘I’ve a good mind to bed her, captain’s permission or not,’ Jess heard one of the men say with a lascivious chuckle. ‘Though she looks to be the haughty kind, so she’d need some incentive no doubt.’

The others guffawed and suggested various lewd enticements that may or may not work. Jess concentrated on the view and hoped the colour in her cheeks could be attributed to the heat rather than embarrassment at their words. As long as it was just banter among the men, she had nothing to fear, she told herself.

‘Ah, but I reckon the best way would be to threaten her son,’ one of the sailors put in. ‘Pretend to throw the child overboard and the bitch would do whatever you asked.’

‘Yes, shark fodder! Although the sharks won’t thank you for such a tiny morsel. Still, better than nothing, eh?’ They all laughed at that quip as though they found it hilarious.

Jess froze and had to struggle not to turn around and snarl angrily at the crew men. Had they no shame? How could they even joke about something like that?

‘Mr Graham, would you be so kind as to escort me back to my cabin now please?’ she said as evenly as she could to her companion. ‘I do believe the heat down there is preferable to the actual sunlight after all.’

‘Yes, of course. As you wish.’

They set off towards the stairs, but just before reaching them, their route was intercepted by the blond man. ‘Going below so soon?’ he asked in accented English, his eyes narrowed as he stared hard at Jess.

‘Yes, the heat is too much for me, I’m afraid.’ Jess fanned herself with one hand in exaggerated fashion.

‘But you only just emerged,
Mevrouw
. I think you ought to stay a bit longer.’

Jess frowned at him. ‘Excuse me, but I need to go and feed my son, if you don’t mind.’ She tried her best to stay calm, but her heart was beating uncomfortably fast and Brice must have sensed it, because he started to grizzle.

‘You understood me, didn’t you,’ the man said.

‘I’m sorry?’ Jess felt fear churning inside her and settling like a heavy stone in her stomach.

‘Don’t try to fool me,’ the man sneered in Dutch. ‘I was watching you and you reacted when I said I’d hurt your brat. And last night, you heard the man yelling at you to watch out. Don’t try to deny it, I saw you hesitate.’

‘I don’t speak your language so I have no idea what you just said,’ Jess insisted in English. ‘Now kindly let me go and see to my son.’