Ill Wind and Dead Reckoning: Caribbean Pirate Adventure (Valkyrie) (15 page)

‘Don’t fire on their stern, Frazer. If Magdalena’s aboard, that’s where she’ll be, in one of the aft cabins.’

My quartermaster nodded. Our normal tactic in a fight at sea were to pound the other vessel’s stern to disable the rudder and prevent them from manoeuvring. Once they were unable to steer, they were at the mercy of our guns. I was asking my closest friend and crew to attack one of the most feared ships in the Carib Sea, and to do it the hard way, with little chance of success. But this wasn’t a fight for gain or prestige. We fought by different rules today.

‘We’ll aim for the rigging; disable them that way,’ said Jean-Claude, my master gunner.

‘Broadsides,’ I reminded them. ‘I want Tarr’s whole crew kept busy.’

‘Aye, Captain, we know.’ Frazer sounded impatient. ‘Be off with you, they’re drawing close.’

I looked to the northeast at Tarr’s ship,
Pinta
– although she now bore boards proclaiming her to be
Edelweiss –
and swung myself over the rail. Since Frazer and the others had found me on my island, we’d taken successively larger boats, honing our fighting skills as we did so. A year after I’d lost
Pinta
to Tarr, we took our first proper ship. One hundred feet long, with a burthen of 245 tuns and twenty three cannon, most of her crew chose to join us (I didn’t force anyone to my crew, and no one would have lost their lives had they chosen differently). I renamed her
Sound of Freedom
for the noise of her bow wave against her wooden hull as she cut through the Carib Sea. She’d be Magdalena’s freedom.

After a year and a half at sea as a pirate, I was ready to take on Tarr.

*

I looked at the three men with me in the pinnace. After my earlier experience at the hands of Tarr, we filled the small vessel with food, water and gold as a precaution against losing
Freedom
, put her off and kept her out of the way of every fight. Today we were still a rescue boat, but the mast remained unstepped, and the four of us waited in
Freedom’s
lee for the battle to begin in earnest before we sailed into the thick of it.

Sheltered by
Freedom’s
bulk, I couldn’t see
Pinta – Edelweiss –
but I knew she was drawing close, because
Freedom
had hardened up. Steering closer to the direction the wind was coming from would give an advantage to the ship that got her timing exactly right. Both ships wanted this weather gage – to be closer to the wind gave them more options and more freedom in manoeuvring as well as controlling the other vessel’s wind. But to make the move too soon meant exposing the vulnerable stern and rudder to the other ship’s cannon. Tarr didn’t know that
Freedom
would not fire on his afterquarters.

‘Get ready,’ I said to King and Phillippe on the oars. ‘We’ll go as soon as Jean-Claude fires his first broadside.’

Almost as soon as I’d spoken, all the starboard cannon fired and
Freedom
rolled towards us; almost on top of us, then righted herself.

‘Cast off, Alonso.’

Alonso released the line that tethered our bow to
Freedom,
and Phillippe pushed us off with his oar.

Tarr answered
Freedom’s
broadside with one of his own, just as we rowed around
Freedom’s
bow. The two ships were almost level, with
Freedom
slightly upwind. Frazer had beaten Tarr to the weather gage. My smile of satisfaction didn’t quite make it to my face. We were exposed with open water between the two ships, and we had to cross it quickly. The water was choppy and confused by cannonball, and hard work to row through. If just one of Tarr’s gunners spotted us it would only take one well aimed ball to sink us.

‘Pull! Pull!’ I instructed, urging my men to row harder. At least we didn’t have far to go – less than a hundred yards.

*

Alonso leapt from the boat to climb
Edelweiss’s
stern with mallet rather than cutlass tucked into the black sash wound around his waist, and the boat fell behind. He drove wooden wedges between rudder and hull, preventing Tarr from steering and disabling the ship.

I looked up at the gallery of windows twenty five feet above my head. I’d have a much longer and more difficult climb to make, and couldn’t be sure I’d find Magdalena at the end of it. But the cabins were the most likely place for her to be in a fight.
Even Magdalena wouldn’t be on deck, surely?

I urged King and Phillippe to get close-to again, and hung a coil of rope around my neck and one shoulder in readiness. It was hard work for the two on the oars to regain the ship, and I had no choice but to wait before I could follow Alonso on to the hull.

‘Captain!’

I checked myself at Alonso’s shout and looked up. Magdalena. Her familiar face surrounded by a mass of dark curls had appeared through one of the windows.

‘Stay there, Magdalena, I’m coming up!’ I shouted. I felt a pang of guilt for leaving her to fend for herself at Tarr’s mercy for so long. But she hadn’t changed, not even after two years aboard a pirate ship, and I watched in frustration as she clambered over the rail. She was going to jump.

‘Magdalena, no! Wait! It’s too high!’

She took no notice and leaped into the water, her skirts billowing around her.

‘Magdalena!’ I screamed.

She hit the water. I held my breath. There! There she was, clawing her way back to the surface.

‘Pull!’ I shouted at my men. ‘Hurry!’ I had to get to her. I had to grab her; hold her; pull her aboard to safety.

I looked up at a cry from the ship. The helmsman had noticed a problem with his steerage, leaned over to check his rudder and seen us.
Mierda! It’s too soon!
I looked back to Magdalena to urge her to swim harder, but couldn’t find her. There! Her head broke the surface again. She was caught in the eddy created by the jammed rudder, and her saturated gown was pulling her down.

‘Magdalena!’ I shouted as she was dragged under again. Alonso dived after her.

I looked up at the sound of pistol fire – the rail was lined with men, all shooting at the two in the water and my boat, and I recognized both Tarr and Blake amongst them. I searched the other faces as I fired back, looking to see if I recognized anyone from
Pinta’s
crew before Tarr had taken the ship from me. I did not. There was no one I knew.

‘Magdalena!’ I looked up at a face leaning over the rail she’d jumped from. A long, curly wig and an eyepatch.
Who’s he? Why’s he not shooting at us? What is Magdalena to him?

I looked back to the water. Magdalena’s struggles were getting weaker, but Alonso had reached her. The ship had moved further ahead, and the swimmers were in calmer water. Alonso started to drag Magdalena towards the boat and the gap between us closed.

‘Get back to your oar!’ I shouted at King. He’d dropped it to fire back at the men on the ship, unwilling to keep his back to a volley of pistol fire. He dropped his spent pistol and grabbed the oar again. I picked up another pistol from the pile in the bottom of the boat, fired it and leaned over the side. Magdalena and Alonso were close now, but lead balls fountained the water around us.

‘No!’ I screamed as Magdalena’s body jerked from an impact, then another. The water around her reddened.

I grabbed another pistol, and fired at the men who had killed her, then grimaced as Tarr silently toppled overboard. But I couldn’t get any satisfaction from his death. It wasn’t enough. Not now.

I grabbed hold of Magdalena again and hauled her still body aboard. I knew we had to get out of there and quickly, but I wouldn’t leave her for the sharks. Alonso climbed in, and we started the pull back to
Freedom.

We didn’t have far to go; the two ships had almost sailed past each other and Frazer and my crew did their best to keep the
Edelweiss
gunners busy, but lead rained around my small, vulnerable pinnace. I sheltered Magdalena’s body as best I could while I reloaded my pistols. I knew it made no sense, but I refused to let her be hurt again. I’d already failed her too much. A scream made me look up. Alonso pushed King out of his way – and on top of Magdalena.

‘Mierda!’

‘He’s dead, Capitán, and we will be too if we don’t get into
Freedom’s
lee quickly,’ Alonso snapped in Spanish. He took King’s oar and matched Phillippe’s stroke.

I nodded and fired again at
Edelweiss’s
stern and the men gathered there. One unfortunate tar had started the climb down to free the rudder, and I aimed carefully. The longer
Edelweiss
was dead in the water, the better.

Yes! The man fell and another started to descend – Blake was obviously just as brutal a master as Tarr had been. I aimed again. Missed. I tried again, but realized they were out of range. I reloaded and kept firing anyway. Tarr might have fallen, but Blake still lived.

Alonso and Phillippe cheered as
Freedom’s
stern chaser put a two-pound ball through the other ship’s stern, shattering the rudder and scattering the men there.
Edelweiss
was ours – crippled with no way of manoeuvring.
Pinta
was mine again.

‘Pull,’ I shouted, and realized
Freedom
had loosed her sails and slowed – we’d soon be back aboard.

*

‘
She’s likely going down, Leo,’ Frazer said as I stepped on to my decks. He didn’t ask after Magdalena. He had no need to; he’d seen what had occurred.

‘Wear round and let’s finish her,’ I ordered. ‘I want that ship and her crew of cut-throats on the bottom!’

He shouted the orders and
Freedom
started the laborious turn that would take us back into cannon range of the damaged pirate ship.

‘
Sail oh
,’ Juaquim shouted from the masthead.

‘Mierda!’
Now what?
We were still only halfway through our turn,
Freedom
had taken damage, our supply of cannonball was running low, and my gunners were exhausted. I needed no more complications.

I jumped up into the ratlins, telescope in hand, to have a look at the new arrival for myself. She was headed straight for the two ships and I realized who she was as soon as I recognized her for a twinmaster.
Freyja
– Hornigold.

‘Mierda!
Shit!’ I swore in both Spanish and English.

I climbed back down to the quarterdeck and Frazer.

‘We’re too badly damaged to take them both on, Captain.’

I knew Frazer was serious when he addressed me as Captain rather than Leo. I nodded, reluctant. If I carried on I had a good chance of sinking the crippled
Edelweiss,
and sending her entire murderous crew to the bottom. But
Freedom
had so many problems of her own that she’d be no match for the smaller, fast, manoeuvrable and fully-armed
Freyja.
I’d already lost two people in the pinnace, including Magdalena, and another had died aboard
Freedom
from the splinters sprayed around the gundeck from one of Tarr’s hits. I looked at my decks and the men for whom I was responsible. I’d lost enough for one day, I wouldn’t send any more to their deaths in a fight we were unlikely to win.

‘Bear off,’ I said, and Frazer repeated my order at full shout. I slammed my fist into the bulkhead aft of the quarterdeck and swore, loudly, then went into my cabin. I could not let my men see me lose control.

We buried King and Hitchens at sea, but Magdalena didn’t belong there. I’d brought her to the island where I’d been washed ashore from
Pinta
. She could sleep here, and she’d never be forgotten on La Isla Magdalena.

I stared into the flames. The sorrow of the past three days had been superseded by the revelry of the rum punch, and my men were now celebrating life. I counselled myself to let them; the work on
Freedom
was nearly done, and we were safe here. I knew I had to let them work off the tension of the fight and our losses, but their laughter set my teeth on edge.

‘Here, Leo.’ Frazer handed me a chunk of pork from the spit. ‘Eat.’

I took it, only now aware of the smell of roasting pig. I bit into the warm flesh, suddenly ravenous, and realized I hadn’t eaten all day. I tried to smile at Frazer in thanks, and refilled our rumpots.

‘To Magdalena,’ I toasted.

‘Magdalena,’ he repeated, and we drank. I stared into the fire again.

‘What now?’ Frazer asked.

I looked at him in surprise, what did he think was next?

‘Blake and Hornigold,’ I said.

‘Why? Magdalena’s dead, we can’t achieve anything and will only lose more men. We’d do better going after gold.’

‘They have to pay.’

Frazer nodded, but said no more. I felt myself angering.

‘They’ll be coming for us now in retribution for Tarr. I want to be hunter, not prey.’ My voice was growing louder despite my efforts to keep calm. He nodded again and I took a deep breath. ‘If they saved
Edelweiss
, Blake’ll be ashore somewhere making repairs; likely at Sayba if he could make it, and that’s too well defended to attack with only one ship.’ I tried to keep my temper under control. ‘We’ll go after Hornigold and
Freyja
first, save Blake for last. Losing first Tarr then Hornigold will— Mierda!’

Cheval, my second mate, stumbled into me. My meat and rum went flying and I got a face full of sand. I leapt to my feet, cutlass drawn.

‘Have a care, Second!’ I snarled.

‘Pardon, Capitaine, pardon.’ He laughed, and the sight of his grinning face – not a face I was particularly fond of – was too much.

‘Not good enough,’ I shouted, and held my cutlass up in challenge.

He backed off, waving his hands.

‘Non, non, Capitaine, it was an accident, no harm intended.’

I didn’t believe him. He’d been nothing but trouble since he’d come aboard, and I was sure he’d done this on purpose to challenge me. I wanted to kill him.

‘You kicked sand in my face, Second.’ I drew my blade.

He stopped laughing and drew his cutlass. He was all business now, and we slowly circled each other, ringed by my Freedom Fighters.

I lunged, my rage making me reckless, but he danced out of my way. I realized I’d lose this fight if I didn’t get a hold of myself. I backed off a few paces and took a deep breath. I needed to stay calm and concentrate on his eyes and his swordarm. I stepped to my left again and he followed, his eyes never leaving my face.

I’d learned the skills of a swordsman as a young man, but they had no bearing here. This wasn’t a duel between gentlemen for honour. This was about killing, and Cheval had learned his skills aboard buccaneer ships. I’d seen him in action and knew his style was brutal and effective. He lunged at me, his blade hacking at my throat. I dodged and knocked the steel away. He didn’t pause, and immediately thrust the tip of his blade towards my chest. I jumped backwards and fell, then kicked out to bring him down to the beach. I leaped to my feet and held my blade to his throat, ready to finish it.

‘Captain, he’s not worth it,’ Frazer’s calm voice interrupted. I looked at him, then at the silent circle of faces around me. ‘Save it for Blake and Hornigold.’

‘Oui, Blake and Hornigold,’ Cheval said. ‘You know I used to sail with them, I know their tactics – you need me.’

I looked at him, then again at my men. I nicked the flesh at the base of his throat – first blood – and tucked the cutlass back into my sash. I recognized the real danger of the situation. If I killed a member of my own crew, even Cheval, for something so trivial, I’d lose my captaincy. Many pirate captains, including the late Captain Tarr, kept command through fear and killing anyone who stepped out of line. I wouldn’t follow his example, and had promised the crew as much when I first took command. Cheval knew it.

‘You make a good point there, Second. Fill the rumpots, Frazer, the night’s still young!’

The watching crew relaxed and emptied what was left in their beakers ready for a refill. I bent down to Cheval, offering him a hand up.

‘And Second? You need to be more careful, do you understand me?’

Cheval’s smile faltered and he nodded. I saw a different look in his eyes, though, and knew I’d have to watch my back. This had been no accident – he’d chosen his moment with care. He wanted my ship.

I withdrew my hand and left him where he was – lying prostrate on the sand.