Chronicles of the Dragon Pirate (56 page)

A woman’s voice shrieked and I knew the Dark Sister had left her to face Jade, and from the scream abruptly cut off, I also knew her fate. I took a step to join Pepper, but an enormous hand on my shoulder kept me where I was. “Leave her be, lad,” Redbeard said. “She’ll be finding you when she needs you.”

“We’ve more important matters to deal with,” Captain Hawkins said, motioning with the white sword he’d evidently recovered towards the port bow. The Sea-Witch was pulling up alongside us with her gun ports open and bronze cannons out, while much of her crew were staring at us over the sights of a musket barrel.

Standing among her men with Karl the Hammer beside her, Captain Cholula looked like a cat about to lap up a bowl of cream. “Captain Hawkins, have your men stand down.”

Redbeard lifted his double-bladed axe over his head. “If it be a fight you want, we be happy to oblige.”

Much of the crew yelled defiance back at the Sea-Witch, as Arabella came up beside Captain Cholula. “Harry,” she called out, “if you make a fight of it you cannot win. Be reasonable and at least let us talk.”

More jeers and catcalls followed, and under their cover I hissed, “Jade, are you here?”

“I am.”

“You need to draw from me...and don’t argue,” I said quickly. “If we don’t get the upper hand now then I’m going to become Cholula’s apprentice, or dead.”

“Tomas, if I draw from you then death may occur anyway.”

“I said don’t argue. Besides, if I can’t trust you then I can’t trust anyone. Draw from me, animate the golem and attend to the captain: that’s an order.”

“As you wish,” resignation clear in her voice a moment before twin fangs like longswords pierced my shoulders. I gasped, coldness growing inside of me as she continued feeding, and I knew I truly was drawing close to death as she went on drinking my life.

Suddenly the ship seemed to spin and I dropped to my knees, the fangs withdrawing at once as Jeremiah dropped down beside me. “Tomas? Bloody bones, he’s cold as ice, worse than I’ve ever seen!”

“Then we’d best be getting him down below,” Redbeard said. A moment later I was scooped up in arms like hairy tree branches, and he carried me towards the hold with no more effort than if I’d been a child.

But then the Davy began to shudder, and everyone including Redbeard stopped what they were doing and looked around as the cold rain continued to wash over us. A moment later two great paws dug in their claws to the main deck on the starboard side, and the dragon-golem hauled itself up on deck. The deck rail splintered with a wooden crunch as men yelled and ran away while others turned their weapons on the golem. Jade ignored them, carefully walking across the main deck until the dragon-golem stood in front of Captain Hawkins, who’d turned to meet it. “Tomas said I am to serve you,” Jade said in a voice that carried across the water.

Captain Cholula and all of her crew except Karl stared at the golem with shocked expressions, the dragon-golem towering over Captain Hawkins as it sat on its haunches next to him. Captain Hawkins gave me a satisfied smile before turning back towards the Sea-Witch, the usual stern expression returning to his face. “I believe both sides need to stand down. Have your men lower their weapons, we’ll lower ours, and then you and I will talk.”

Karl spoke in Captain Cholula’s ear before she could speak. She glared at the mercenary looking back at her with a neutral expression, but then turned to her men with the expression of someone biting into a piece of sour orange. “Stand down...all hands, stand down.”

Captain Hawkins turned to the crew and motioned for them to do the same. Both sides’ grounded pikes, put up muskets, and slid cutlasses back into scabbards and sashes, all the time glaring at the other ship as Redbeard chuckled in my ear. “Looks like all’s going to be well, thanks to you, lad. How do you be feeling?”

Darkness was pulling me down as I whispered, “Cold...so cold.” Icy fingers were dragging me down as Redbeard bellowed Master Khan’s name, but I paid him no heed as I drifted down like a man drowning in the bitter black of a raging sea...and I knew no more.

I awoke feeling warm. My dreams had been cold fragments filled with concerned faces but now I was warm, my body naked but covered by a soft blanket as I lay in a hammock gently swaying to the rhythm of the ocean waves. I also realized there was a woman lying naked beside me as well. A thought struck me and I said aloud, “Please tell me you’re Pepper.”

I heard a familiar giggle and opened my eyes. Pepper was lolling beside me with the thin wool blanket covering her as well, gazing at me with eyes blue as the sky I could see through the porthole behind her. “Welcome back, Swamp-rat. You’ve been out a couple days, but Khan said he was going to keep you alive and he’s kept his word. We’re in his workroom so he could keep an eye on you.”

I nodded as I looked around. The table had been moved to accommodate a hammock, and most of his equipment had been put away somewhere. Beside his hammock was his sea-chest, with a familiar set of bone armor draped over it, and I turned back to Pepper. “I thought you were going to absorb your bone armor.”

“As I keep telling everyone,” her jaw set as if ready to fight, “I’m not going to permanently wear armor. I’ll wear it when we’re going into battle, as you’re going to wear the set I’m having made for you when we reach Tortuga, but I won’t have anything keeping us separated when we’re like we are now.”

I chose my words with care. “As long as you’ll wear it when we’re going into battle, I won’t say a word. Besides,” I added with a smile, “I like the idea that it’s only you when we’re like this.” Pepper’s satisfied smile turned wicked, and I wished my body felt like taking advantage of her nakedness. But I could only muster a faint stirring, so I contented myself with soaking up her warmth as I yawned. “So what happened after I passed out?”

“Captain Hawkins and Cholula worked out an agreement. Neither one’s happy, because Captain Cholula’s agreed to leave off going after you, at least for now, and Captain Hawkins has agreed to stand for Cholula in the council of captains on Tortuga, so she and her men will be accepted there.”

“But I thought Captain Hawkins wasn’t a member.”

“He’s not,” Pepper answered, “But Captain Black and the others respect him. Anyway, Arabella did a lot of back and forth between the two ships between the ships, working the agreement out.”

“I can imagine. So what happened to the galleon...and Haven?” I added as an afterthought.

“The people of Haven have abandoned their village,” Pepper said in a quiet voice. “A few of their women are travelling with us to Tortuga, like Jeremiah’s Maria and Claude’s woman Panther, but by the time we’d sailed back there, everyone was fleeing for their lives in canoes...well, not everyone. They left behind the old and the sick, and when the captain hailed him, the headman Isaac claimed they didn’t have enough room for all the villagers.”

I asked gently, “Except they did?”

Pepper shrugged. “The canoes looked pretty full of people and provisions, so I don’t know. Captain Hawkins did tell Isaac what Olde Roger has planned, and Isaac said he can ride out the coming storm either way.”

“Because the villagers are going to establish their next home somewhere else and live simply?” Pepper nodded and I asked, “Did their shaman go with them?”

Pepper shook her head. “It’s strange how Fate works in the world. The Davy pulled in close to shore as the canoes were leaving, and the shaman was standing with the old and the sick, berating those leaving as cowards when Black-leg Bart and the rest of his new crew showed up and attacked her while the old people fled.” Pepper shuddered, and I clasped her hand as she went on. “They did look almost human, but the way they tore her apart, laughing while she screamed...” Pepper shook her head as her voice became more matter-of-fact. “When they’d finished, the others went after the old people without even bothering to look for valuables while Black-leg Bart carried the shaman’s head with him to the edge of the shore. He called out to Captain Hawkins that it wasn’t over, that someday the captain would be forced to drink the same potion he had, and on that day Harry Hawkins would become the most fearsome pirate captain that had ever sailed the seven seas.”

“What did the captain do?”

“Ordered Claude to have his sharpshooters’ kill Bart, but the creature strolled out of range before they could prepare. He didn’t lose his wits in the change, that’s for sure.” She took a deep breath. “As for the galleon, part of the agreement was splitting up the gold, and when both sides had their shares, the ship was fired and burned. We laid Victoria’s body on it and Terence’s, as well as Captain Thorne’s and the rest of the Shadowmen... those who didn’t escape back to the island by sea, anyway.”

“So that’s the end of the Black Narwhale and her crew.”

“Not quite,” Pepper giving me a strange look. “When Captain Cholula’s men searched the hold, one Shadowman was found hiding. Someone I believe you know.”

“Is it Seth?” Pepper nodded and I gave her a sour look. “Why am I not surprised?”

Pepper giggled. “Arabella brought him aboard the Davy after questioning him in front of Cholula, and since he got here he’s been trying to say that everything that happened to him was your fault...except he knows it isn’t, and he has to keep taking back his words. The crew’s been having sport baiting him, especially the Mulatto’s men.”

“How is the Mulatto?”

Pepper gave me a sardonic smile. “The Mulatto’s too mean to kill. Alright, that’s not true, but he is tough. We did lose some men, though a lot less than anyone thought we would, and Master Walters will be especially missed.” Her voice grew sad as she added, “Curly’s dying. He survived being stabbed but by the time Samuel could get to him he’d lost a lot of blood, and the foul humors on the Shadowman’s weapon got into his guts. Now we’re just waiting for the end.”

I tried to sit up and failed. “But it might not be too late. Fire-Rose is excellent at healing, and I doubt she’d take very much...”

Pepper clamped her hand over my mouth. “Not one more word. You almost gave up your life saving our arses, and don’t think the crew doesn’t know it. The only reason you’re as well off as you are now is because Captain Cholula gave her own strength to Fire-Rose so she could keep the foul humors at bay until you woke up, as well as healing your wrist and,” touching the side of my face with her fingertips, “the marks Victoria gave you.”

I touched the spot in front of my ear where the harpy had raked me. It was smooth except for one long furrow running down almost to my chin. “It looks like Fire-Rose missed one of them.”

Pepper gave me a wry smile. “Captain Cholula arbitrarily decided you need a scar.”

“I was not consulted,” Jade’s voice said from above my head. “Had I been, I would not have agreed to the foolish human practice of leaving marks on one’s skin as a sign of prowess.”

She sounded so aggrieved I had to smile. “It’s good to hear your voice, Jade,” the smile leaving my face as I asked, “Is there really no hope for Curly?”

“He will be dead within the hour. Khan is giving him tincture of Goblinsbane, which is keeping the pain at bay but is also killing him faster. If you wish to speak with him you must do it soon.”

“Then I need to get up,” I said as I sat up in the hammock.

My head swam and Pepper gave me a knowing look. “Use Khan’s privy and put on some trousers,” Pepper sliding out of the hammock gracefully and slipping on a grey robe sitting on the edge of the worktable. “I’ll get you some Sweetwater and a bowl of porridge before we go see him.”

Pepper padded out the door and I did as she’d said, feeling as insubstantial as a ghost as I finally got the trousers on and sat on the edge of the worktable. “Jade, where’s everyone else?”

“Those not on watch or keeping the ship on course towards Tortuga are sleeping. It has been a very busy pair of days.”

“What about your golem?”

Jade’s voice became amused. “Captain Hawkins has it holding down the main hatch. Both sides took a lot of gold off the galleon, so he decided to take steps to keep everyone honest. I am as hollow as you must feel at the moment, but I am getting accustomed to the feeling, since the dragon-golem is the most effective weapon we have right now in the war to come.”

I shivered, drawing my knees to my chest. “Jade, I’m not ready for a war.”

“You will be. Right now, you are a well my sisters and I can draw from, and the well is already deeper than it was before. You have much to learn of the art of sword-craft, but Mr. Smith is an excellent teacher, as is Captain Hawkins in the art of tactics...if he remains with us, of course.”

“But can we even win a war? Olde Roger didn’t seem too concerned whether or not I got stronger or more skilled, only that I offer him a challenge.”

Master Khan’s voice from the doorway made me look up. “Olde Roger also thought we would never destroy one of his galleons, yes? We had luck on our side but also skill as well.” He’d smoothed out his face so most of his wrinkles were gone, making him look much younger, if still hairless. “I too have much to teach you, of fighting without weapons and the art of tactics, different from the art Captain Hawkins may or may not teach.”

I began to thank him, my words tumbling over themselves like small children running, but he merely smiled and held up his hand. “Tomas Rios, it may be we cannot win this war because we are only human...more or less, but it never means we should give up. We will fight, even if there are only a few of us, and who knows? It may be we shall surprise Olde Roger again, yes?”

We spoke of the battle until Pepper returned with a wooden bowl and a blackjack full of Sweetwater, which I drank down before devouring every last speck of porridge until the bowl was clean. I suppressed a burp, which made Pepper suppress a giggle as she looked at me, but our moods sobered as Master Khan led us out of the workroom, through his own berth, and out into the hold.

Along the wall separating the crew’s hold from the main hold was an area set up with several stained, canvas pallets, arranged in a row near Samuel’s berth. The pallets were empty save one, Curly stretched out on the pallet with his hands at his sides. We walked up beside him and I knelt down, the straw inside crackling as Curly turned his head. His eyes were like twin pools of ink as he whispered, “Who’s there?”

I took a deep breath then regretted I had, for the reek of his foul humor stunk like rotten cheese only somewhat masked by the Artifact cinnamon ball sitting beside him on the floor. “It’s the Prince-O-the-Pirates,” I replied. Curly chuckled and held up his hand, which I clasped with my own. “I’d give my strength to Fire-Rose and have her heal you, if I could.”

Curly began to cough and Master Khan had him sit up long enough to bring up a mass of phlegm black as tar into the leather slops bucket beside the pallet, before he laid back down. “Wouldn’t do any good,” he whispered, his voice growing a bit stronger as anger touched it. “That sea-bitch Cholula refused to help any of us except you, so she can make you dance to her tune when you’re better.” His hand gripped mine as tight as a sea-knot. “You promise me you won’t let her have you, not without a fight. You promise me that.”

It was an easy promise to make. “I give you my word I won’t let her take me without a fight.” He nodded, letting me go and I asked, “Do you need anything?”

“Any more of that potion left?”

“Only the dregs,” Master Khan said, wiping beads of black sweat off Curly’s forehead with a black stained rag next to the slops bucket. “But it will take away all of your pain in this life.”

“There’s one thing I gotta do first...Pepper?”

Pepper knelt down on his other side. “I’m here, Curly.”

He let go of my hand and Pepper clasped his as he spoke. “I know you ain’t any kinda priest, but there’s things I gotta say to someone before I die, and maybe you could say a few words in Latin like my Da did when I was a child. He was a parish priest, and it’s funny how he used to preach against sin on Sunday mornings then practice it with me mam on Sunday nights. Lord-O-Mercy, I haven’t thought about him in years.”

“Whatever you need, I’m here.” Pepper listened to him whisper in her ear for a time, and when he finished, bowed her head gravely. “In nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi: Obsecro te, Deum remissionem peccatorum vestrorum tribuat... Amen.”

A look of peace came to Curly’s face as he let go of Pepper’s hand. “I’ll take the rest of that potion now.” Master Khan helped him drink it then took the empty cup from Curly’s hand. “Khan, you tell the captain to give my share of the gold to Pepper for her dowry, and tell him to bury me at sea. Wrap me up in sail cloth and Pepper? When you stitch me up, make sure the last one’s through my nose, just to make sure I’m dead.”

Pepper wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. “I promise.”

Curly closed his eyes as Master Khan took the stained wooden cup and rag and placed them in the leather slops bucket, and the three of us rose and moved away as his breathing gradually began to slow. Then a woman’s voice called my name and I looked farther down towards the table Samuel used for operations. Arabella was standing beside it, dressed in dark, leather clothing and a Shadowman’s wide brimmed hat, and as the three of us started towards her I noticed Seth was kneeling at her feet with his arms bound behind him and his feet shackled together, so he couldn’t walk normally but could only hobble. I was out of breath as we reached them, and Arabella said in a sardonic voice, “I pray Tomas will be up to the task at hand on his betrothal night.”

Master Khan gave her a disapproving look. “We are relying upon the sea to give us her breath, yes? So it will take several days for us to reach Tortuga, more than enough time for Tomas to regain his strength.”

“I am pleased to hear it,” Arabella turning to me with an evil smile. “I have your old enemy here if you wish to make him grovel at your feet, or take out your anger upon him as your friend Jeremiah did.”

I looked down upon Seth, who looked up at me with eyes red as blood. His face was bruised and cut, wounds that would never heal again, and his dark clothes were so torn that much of his now dead white chest was exposed. He reminded me of nothing more than a corpse pulled from the ocean, and as I stared down at Seth I realized for the first time in my life I wasn’t afraid of him. “There was a time in St. Augustine when I would’ve given anything to do that, to pay him back for all the things he did to me.”