Buccaneer (30 page)

“The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, according to the chart. They must be a great help when making a landfall in moonlight or daylight.”

Aurelia refused to go below; the moonlight flickering on the swell waves as they rolled past the
Griffin
in their endless procession to the westward, the curves of the sails making dancing shadows as the ship rolled, the excitement of sailing to find the
Peleus
– all this, she told Ned, meant she could not sleep anyway.

The
Nuestra Señora del Carmen
was just rounding up to anchor, with the
Griffin
in her wake, when there was a flash in the dawn sky as the
Peleus
fired a gun and a roundshot ricocheted close under the Spanish ship’s bow.

Ned froze as the noise of a cannon firing echoed across the bay, but he relaxed as he realized that Thomas Whetstone was taking no chances: Thomas was expecting the
Griffin
, but when she appeared led by what was obviously a Spanish ship, from the shape of her hull and the cut of her sails, he assumed the worst.

It was still too dark to stand on the bulwarks and wave, so that Thomas would recognize individual people, yet to get closer to the
Peleus
would mean that Thomas would fire a broadside. Quickly he gave orders for the
Griffin
to luff up and drop her mainsail and jib, and while that was done shouted to the bosun to stand by to anchor. But the wind and current were carrying the
Griffin
close to the
Peleus
and if Thomas had any sense he would suspect a trap; the
Griffin
would be just the sort of Trojan horse to drift alongside the
Peleus
and pour out Spanish soldiers.

The trumpeter! One of the carpenters could play a trumpet and often practised. Was he on board or had Saxby taken him in the
Carmen
?

“Neal! Neal! Send Neal aft!”

A moment later he was relieved to see a man running along the deck towards him and recognized the gawky shape of the carpenter.

“Quick, get your trumpet! Aim it at the
Peleus
and play some English tune!”

“What tune, sir?”

“I don’t care!” Ned blazed, “but if you don’t start inside a minute we’ll get a broadside from the
Peleus
.”

The man bolted below and a few moments later was back, scrambling up on to the bulwark. He balanced himself and the tune of “Early One Morning”, strident and piercing, seemed to ricochet across the bay. Almost at once Ned saw a lantern on the
Peleus’
deck and it began flashing as someone waved his hand across the window.

“Was he shooting at poor Mr Saxby?” Aurelia asked.

“He was ready to shoot at all of us!”

“But why? He must have recognized the
Griffin
.”

“The
Griffin
, yes, but not the
Carmen
. It was our fault entirely; we should have made some signal, or anchored further away to leeward, where he’d know we could not attack him.”

By now the
Griffin
was anchored and as soon as a boat had been hoisted over the side Aurelia said excitedly: “Come on,
chéri
, let’s go over and see them!”

Ned called for the boat’s crew and ten minutes later he and Aurelia were climbing up a rope ladder to board the
Peleus
. Thomas was waiting at the top, far from his usual exuberant self. “Ned, how can I apologize? I thought you’d been captured and the Dons were using your ship against me. That other vessel
is
a Spaniard, isn’t she?”

Whetstone was so shamefaced that both Ned and Aurelia burst out laughing. “Yes, she
was
Spanish, but you were firing across Saxby’s bow! She’s our prize, the
Nuestra Señora del Carmen
, with 350 tons of maize.”

“
Your
prize? But…”

“And we have another two hundred and fifty tons in the
Griffin
. Six hundred tons for Jamaica!”

Diana, who had been standing in the shadows beside the mainmast, came forward. “I apologize again for Thomas. He was so sure you were Dons springing a trap on him.”

“We’ve a lot to learn,” Ned said soberly. “It was our fault for not signalling to you somehow.”

“Well, you did eventually – ‘Early One Morning’ – sounded beautiful, though I must admit I had not heard it on a trumpet before!”

“And appropriate, too,” Whetstone said. “About half an hour early, I should say. But the sun will be up by the time we get some hot drinks! Steward!” he bellowed. “Cook! Light that galley fire again since we shan’t be going into action after all, and let’s have a good breakfast. Will Saxby come over?” he asked Ned. “I’ll send a boat for him.”

He stumped off, giving orders right and left, and Diana linked arms with Aurelia. “You’ve had an exciting time!”

“No, it was all very quiet – at least, until Thomas made that big bang.”

Diana was puzzled and just as Thomas returned she asked: “Why did you buy that other ship as well as the maize?”

“Oh no, we buccaneered that ship,” Aurelia said matter-of-factly. “Can one ‘buccaneer’ a ship? Well, we stole it. First we bought 5,544 quintals of maize and loaded it on board the
Griffin
. There were another 350 tons in the
Carmen
, which was lying at the jetty. We were going to buy it but then we decided to take the
Carmen
as well as her cargo to make up the 600 tons and to save you, Thomas, the bother of transferring the maize to the
Peleus
.” She winked at Diana. “And we know what a slow ship the
Peleus
is, Thomas; we thought that if we loaded her with maize we’d never get to Jamaica!”

“You are learning m’dear,” Thomas said, “but remember criticize a man’s wife, criticize his manners, but
never
criticize his ship!”

With that he walked aft with Ned to hear the details, and the two men returned ten minutes later, by which time the smoke from the galley chimney indicated that breakfast would not be long, and announced that they would be starting for Jamaica at noon. They had agreed to leave Saxby in command of the prize, with Simpson as his mate. Whetstone’s second mate would join the
Griffin
for the voyage to act as the navigator, teaching Ned the rudiments of navigation at the same time.

“Six hundred tons of maize and a prize ship! Ned m’boy, you’ll be rich!” Thomas exclaimed.

“And so will you!”

“How so? I’ve just sat here at anchor, peacefully whipping rope’s ends!”

“We go halves. We’d agreed on that.”

“But that was assuming I’d do something towards it.”

Aurelia said: “Just knowing you were here – that helped. And it was pure luck that we could sail off with the
Carmen
. If you’d been there you’d have taken the mayor, the bishop and the treasurer too and made them pay ransom!”

“You flatter me, but thank you: the Whetstone treasury is looking rather empty at the moment. It is a pleasant thought, though, that the Lord Protector’s exchequer will soon be helping to fill it, through the governor of Jamaica.”

Again light winds made it a slow passage to Jamaica and the three ships rounded the sandspit at Caguas six days after leaving the bay west of Riohacha. The great anchorage was empty but for four small privateers and a dozen fishing canoes, but the three ships had not been anchored for more than half an hour before a canoe brought out a fastidious young army lieutenant whose well-cut uniform was liberally encrusted with fish scales from his passage in the canoe. He came on board, walked uninvited down to the cabin, sat down in the chair and proceeded to brush the fish scales from his uniform. Ned walked over to him, lifted him out of the chair by the collar and ordered him back into the canoe.

“You can come on board this ship when you smell less like a fishmonger!”

“But I am an ADC to the governor! I have orders for you!”

“Will you go down the ladder or shall I have a couple of my men toss you over the side?”

When the lieutenant came back up the ladder ten minutes later, no fish scales were visible but his clothes still stank of rotting fish. The moment he set foot on deck Ned said quietly:

“Introduce yourself.”

“But I say, I’ve had enough of –”

Ned pointed down to the canoe. “No one comes on board the ship I own and command and gives me orders, least of all army officers recruited in Billingsgate.”

“Rowlands,” he said sulkily. “Edward Rowlands, lieutenant, 48th Foot. General Heffer, the military Governor, has given orders that you –”

Ned raised his hand. “I am not interested in verbal orders from anyone.”

“I have written orders here,” Rowlands admitted. “I was –”

“You impudent rascal. Give me the packet and get down into your canoe!”

“But I need a reply.”

“Send someone else for it; you smell too much and lack the manners to be allowed on board this ship again.”

Protesting but nevertheless obeying, the lieutenant backed out the entryport as Ned broke the seal on the governor’s orders. They were brief: the
Griffin
and the
Peleus
, which appeared to be laden, were to unload their cargo of maize at the Cagway jetty at once. Ned noticed the anglicized name of the port and went up on deck to wave across at Thomas Whetstone, indicating that he should come on board. The
Peleus
’ boat was already in the water, hoisted out as the canoe came in sight being paddled from the shore.

Thomas heard of Ned’s insisting that the lieutenant brush off the fish scales in the canoe and bellowed with laughter. “Good for you – I’d have tossed him over the side. You’re too soft-hearted!”

Ned handed him the general’s orders and at once Thomas’ manner changed. His face went grim, and he shook his head slowly. “I don’t like this man,” he growled. “For a start any sailor could tell him that the
Peleus
is in ballast; second, why isn’t he inquiring about the third ship, which
is
obviously fully laden; and third, this reads more like an order to arrest a corporal for drunkenness. Starving Commonwealth generals don’t order me about. We sell them goods for an agreed price, and that’s as far as it goes.”

Relieved that Thomas’ attitude was the same as his own, Ned said: “The general probably wrote these orders days ago, ready for our return: that would explain why they refer to only two ships. Why don’t you and I pay him – what’s his name, Heffer – a visit? In the meantime the three ships stay at anchor.”

Thomas nodded: “Treat him as though he is a Spaniard!”

They found General Heffer in his headquarters at the large, airy house at Cagway, so built by the Spanish that from its balconies there was a fine view southwards over the sea and northwards across the anchorage to the mountain ridge.

Ned immediately recognized Heffer as a Cassius: anyone with any sense, let along Caesar, would demand that the men about him should be sleek “and such as sleep o’ nights”. Heffer had the “lean and hungry look” of a man who thought and plotted too much. Tall, thin, gaunt of face and with eyes that were sunken and seemed to burn with a feverish zeal, he looked as though he would have been more at home as a Jesuit, ordering a few more turns on the rack.

He was sitting at a table writing when Ned and Thomas were announced and he continued for another three or four minutes before looking up to ask in a harsh voice: “Which of you is–?”

Ned nodded, for a moment startled before realizing this was only Heffer’s way of distinguishing them.

“I want the maize unloaded at once.”

“We shall want paying at once, too,” Thomas said amiably.

“I am requisitioning your cargoes in the name of the Commonwealth.”

“Are you indeed,” Thomas drawled. “Well, that hardly concerns me because my ship is in ballast – in army terms that means she has no cargo on board – but I can’t see my friend agreeing.”

“What do you mean you have no cargo?”

“My ship is empty. The
Griffin
is carrying 250 tons of maize and her prize, the
Nuestra Señora del Carmen
, has 350 tons. So there are 600 tons of maize out there belonging to my friend.”

Whetstone’s voice was friendly; his face had the benevolent smile of a bearded friar. It should not, Ned thought, have fooled anyone, least of all a general.

Heffer looked up at Ned. “Your cargo is requisitioned.”

Ned nodded as though agreeing. “The price is what was agreed before we sailed, of course.”

“Price? Who is talking of price? I’ve just told you, your cargoes are requisitioned.”

Ned nodded as though agreeing. “We understood your problem; the garrison of Jamaica is starving. Still, you – or, rather, your deputy, Major Slinger – did agree that if we could provide you with grain you would pay a certain price.”

“We are at war,” Heffer said. “The Spaniards might attack any moment.”

“How true, how true,” Ned said dreamily. “When we went into Riohacha and took the grain, I remember commenting that we are at war with Spain, and they might attack us any moment.”

“Quite so,” Heffer snapped. “Now, I want that grain unloaded at once.”

“We can start unloading as soon as you have paid,” Ned said, still in a dreamy voice. “Six hundred tons. Your tallymen will of course check, but we checked it too.”

“I don’t want to have to say this again,” Heffer said angrily, “but that grain is requisitioned. I shall send troops out to take control of the ships. You are under orders from me to bring the grain ships in to the jetty, one each side. Now.”

“Oh dear me,” Ned said sadly, like a disappointed curate. “Troops in boats, eh?”

Heffer stood up and went to the door. “Rowlands! Send two platoons to each of those ships and two ensigns to take command.”

With that he slammed the door and sat down at the table, picking up his pen and continuing to write.

“General,” Ned said softly, “may I interrupt for a moment?”

Heffer looked up, obviously irritated and expecting Ned and Thomas to leave the room. “Well, what is it?”