Ill Wind and Dead Reckoning: Caribbean Pirate Adventure (Valkyrie) (36 page)

‘What the hell? Get off me!’ I shouted. Something had landed in the fire with a bang, shooting flame high into the air, and Leo had shoved me down. I had a mouthful of sand and no idea what was going on.

‘Arrows,’ he hissed in my ear. ‘Stay down, we need to find some cover.’

Another explosion from the fire; they must be tipped with powder. Then more, this time alight, and fire rained down on us. The campsite was chaos: drunken men ran shouting for cover, their superstitious souls sent into blind panic, guns firing wastefully at I didn’t know what. I stayed down, trying to think.

‘Over there, get behind the boats,’ Leo instructed and shifted his weight off me. ‘Don’t waste your ball, find someone to shoot at afore you fire.’ Then, louder, ‘Feliciano! Phillippe! Can you see anyone? Get to the cannon!’ We had readied both vessels for sea and only had one cannon still ashore. The other guns were aboard
Freedom
and
Valkyrie
, but the gun crews were all on the beach. That boat had chosen her moment well. ‘Mierda
,
what’s that?’

I stared open-mouthed at the sea: it had erupted into flame. I could just make out bundles in the waves and as I watched, another was hit by a flaming arrow and spilled more fire.

I looked at Leo, who waved at me to stay down. He’d managed to calm the men after the initial surprise, but we all had the same problem. With a lake of fire at our backs and flaming arrows firing down on us from inshore we were trapped, we had no night-sight, and no one to shoot back at. We were easy targets. Then a louder boom, and I followed Leo’s jerk of the head seaward: the boat offshore had opened fire.

Leo shouted at Phillippe and Feliciano again to fire to seaward. All was utter confusion, and I was more scared than I had been since I’d first come to sea. It was the first time I’d seen Leo at a loss. I didn’t like it.

Another boom from the water grabbed my attention, and I watched the flickering shadow of another mast come down in horror. This time
Freedom’s
foremast toppled overboard, lit up by flames, accompanied by a roar of rage from Leo. They meant to trap us ashore – they wanted
Valkyrie
and had just made sure we couldn’t pursue when they took her.

Leo was furious. ‘They are
not
going to steal the new boat, especially after all the hard work we’ve put into her. I’ve not been through everything the last few weeks have brought just to lose her now!’

He wasn’t the only one who thought that way. Sense and well-honed fighting instincts had quelled most of the confusion and rampant superstition, and the men had taken what little cover there was behind the boats and faced inland, recognizing they could do nothing at the moment for
Freedom
or
Valkyrie
on the other side of that wall of fire.

‘They can’t find anyone to shoot at,’ I hissed at Leo. As I spoke, a couple of shots from the shore cannon blasted out to sea, and Leo shouted to take care. Thanks to some clever positioning by the attacker’s helmsman, we were in danger of hitting
Valkyrie
, but Feliciano on the cannon couldn’t hear.

‘Look! Someone’s boarding
Valkyrie
!’ I watched the boarding of my ship in horror, my eyes now used to the flaring light as the flames subsided.

Leo laughed. ‘They’re in for a surprise then!’

‘Why? What do you mean?’ I asked.

‘Frazer’s aboard, and Jean-Claude. Half a dozen others too. That boat’s been standing off and on for far too long, I thought they might be up to something. I wasn’t quite expecting this, though!’

A big cheer went up around the beach. Feliciano had succeeded in hitting the pirate boat just as she tacked round to get behind
Valkyrie
again, and it had been a good shot. By the looks of it, it wouldn’t be long before she went down. Then I realized they would only want
Valkyrie
more.

‘Newton, take Thomas and Juaquim, get into those trees and see if you can find whoever’s shooting those arrows, but take care – they seem to know the island well.’

A noise to seaward grabbed our attention again – shots sounded from
Valkyrie
. They had boarded her. Men from the beach started running to the boats to row out, despite the flaming sea. They were angry now, and a little embarrassed that we’d been taken by surprise, despite our numbers and preparations – and of the way they had panicked. Leo and I jumped into the first boat to hit the surf.

‘Only a small crew,’ Leo mused, ‘but a good plan. I liked the powder arrows in the fire, we should remember that one. I’m looking forward to meeting the man behind their tactics.’ I looked at Leo in surprise: he sounded nervous, but of course if Frazer wasn’t in control of
Valkyrie
, we had no defence from her guns. ‘Come on, Capitana
,
let’s go and see who dared to attack your new boat.’

‘Ship.’ I repeated the joke dryly, my mind on what would happen next.
What’s happening on my decks?

*

So far so good.
Valkyrie’s
new gunports remained closed, and as we approached I saw that Frazer and the others held two people on deck at gunpoint.
Valkyrie
was safe. We climbed aboard and Frazer reported directly to Leo.

‘We had ourselves some visitors, Captain. What do you think, throw them to the sharks? Or maybe we could find some crocs. Shooting at all our hard work, I reckon they deserve a wee bitty torturing afore they die.’

The tall pirate spoke with a Danish accent: ‘There’s no need for that, gentlemen. You should take our attack as a compliment, she’s a beautiful boat.’

I stared – she was a woman! I had found another woman pirate captain, and she’d attacked my ship! Tall, blonde and muscular, probably in her mid-twenties, and dressed in the usual sailor’s short-clothes of shirt and breeches, she also wore a bright emerald-green sash wound around her middle. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I wanted to hug her: there was someone else out there like me; but I also wanted to push her overboard for trying to steal my ship – the ship I’d been through so much to take for myself and keep. I smiled to myself; whatever else she was, she was proof that women could not only live, but command at sea. I straightened my face before she saw my smile.

Frazer was disgusted. ‘Another bloody woman. I’m plagued by deviling skirts.’

Leo laughed at his quartermaster’s discomfort. ‘Nobody’s dying tonight – at least I hope not, but if any of my men have perished there’ll be a score to reckon.’

The other pirate spoke: ‘If they have, it’ll be as a result of their own poor shooting.’ He didn’t sound quite so friendly. ‘We don’t kill unless we have to.’

‘Introductions seem like a good idea, if not overdue. I’m Leo Santiago, Captain and Master of
Sound of Freedom
yonder. The one that seems to be trailing her fore-topmast overboard.’ He smiled tightly, enjoying his little performance and victory, but I could see he was hurting to see his ship injured.

The woman turned back to Frazer. ‘So that makes you captain of this little beauty, I suppose?’

‘No, that would be me. Gabriella Berryngton. You’d better not have hurt my ship!’

‘Not a splinter. As I said, she’s a beauty, we were careful with her. It’s good to meet another lady captain at last.’

Leo and Frazer looked at each other and laughed. ‘I don’t know about “lady”, not many ladies find employment as pirates.’

Ignoring them, I carried on. ‘It’s your turn for introductions.’

‘Ah yes. Carmen Elvström. Captain and Master of
Awilda
, or I was until you sank her. This is my quartermaster, Andy Fowler – she’s the expert with fire and powder.’

Another woman. I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t been told. She was shorter and stockier than her captain, with dark hair and eyes, and an even darker scowl, which I suspected may be a permanent feature.

‘Impressive. Very impressive. It would be a shame to waste that skill and ingenuity, I’m surprised to find it in a woman. How many more of you are there out there?’ Leo said, looking at me.

‘Another four,’ Carmen said, misunderstanding. ‘All women, and a successful crew at that. Or at least we were when we had a boat. I really had my heart set on this one.’ She perked up. ‘Maybe the night doesn’t have to be a total loss after all, do you need any more hands? As you’re aware, we find ourselves free of a deck at present.’

I ignored Frazer’s grumbling and thought. We did need more crew, especially aboard
Valkyrie
, but I was not ready to make a decision yet, even if signing on a bested crew was a tradition of the Carib Sea. How could I possibly live and sail with any of the women who had attacked
Valkyrie
?

‘There’s no denying your experience and ingenuity would be useful, but would I be able to trust you on my decks?’ I asked.

‘You can trust our work. We’ll sign your articles and abide by them. We’ve never mutinied yet, and don’t intend to. We’ll sail with you, assuming the others agree.’

‘Let me think on it,’ I said, and looked at Leo when he put his hand on my arm.

‘Load them in the boat, Frazer, we’ll all go ashore; there won’t be any more trouble tonight.’

We stayed where we were as everyone else crowded around the gate in the bulwark and he added, ‘Be careful, querida.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Signing them on to your crew. That was a daring attack, six women against near on fifty men, and they nearly pulled it off. They’d have succeeded if we hadn’t spotted their boat so often and left such a large and alert shipkeeping party.

‘They’d be useful to have fighting alongside us, there’s no doubt about that, but I don’t think you can trust them, whatever she says. There’s more than one way to take a prize, you know, and it’s always easier from the deck. If you do decide to sign them up, at least promise me that we’ll split them between both vessels to lessen the threat of mutiny. But they would be useful,’ he mused, ‘assuming you can keep your authority over those on your decks.’

‘That wouldn’t be a problem, they know they’re beaten, and they’d be outnumbered by the existing crew.’ Truth be told, I quite liked the idea of more women aboard my ship, despite the way we met. There was also the fact that they’d be
my
crew – not Leo’s. I led the way to the rail and climbed down to take my place in the longboat. I had a lot to think about.

‘Would you mind pulling to
Awilda
before we go ashore?’ Carmen asked. ‘Two of my crew are clinging to her masthead.’

‘Devil’s bones!’

‘More bloody women!’

‘What the Devil?’

I couldn’t tell whether the men were more surprised or embarrassed to see who had instilled so much panic in them earlier, and I couldn’t help but smile.

Leo motioned Carmen, Andy and Jayde to the fire where they were most visible, and the men crowded around, still grumbling and cursing.

I looked up as Newton, Thomas and Juaquim approached from the treeline, unaccompanied and shrugging their shoulders. They hadn’t been able to find the other Awildas. I looked at Carmen and raised my eyebrows. She grinned – no doubt proud of her crew for evading capture – then raised one hand to her mouth and gave a piercing, complicated whistle. Everybody stopped talking, startled at the noise, and Carmen smiled. Five minutes later, two women, heavily armed with blade, gun and bow, walked on to the beach and stood staring at the Freedom Fighters.

‘I’m pleased to introduce the rest of my crew,’ Carmen said. ‘Bess and Annika.’

The women didn’t react, and the Freedom Fighters glared at them. They were no doubt shocked at how few there were.

‘Awildas, we’re with friends here.
Awilda
has foundered, and, with any luck, we’ll be signing on to Captain Santiago and Captain Berryngton’s accounts.’

The beach erupted in fury as the men realized what she’d said.

‘No! No, no, no, no, no!’ Newton’s was the loudest voice.

‘Aye, for once I’m with Newton,’ Frazer’s Scottish brogue cut through the babble. ‘Ye’ll have to take a vote on this one, Captain.’

‘Very well.’ Leo sighed, and I looked at him in disappointment, wondering why he didn’t stand up for his decision as captain. Then I realized that with the crew, and most especially the quartermaster, asking for a vote, he had no choice;
Freedom’s
articles were clear. I’d used the same circumstance against him to win command of
Valkyrie.

‘By a show of hands,’ he shouted, quieting the throng. ‘Votes to allow the Awildas to sign on to
Freedom’s
account?’

I raised my hand and looked around me – only about a dozen hands were held high.

‘Votes against?’

A wave of hands reached for the lightening sky.

‘There you are then, sorry ladies, it looks like Sankt Jan Island will be your home for the foreseeable future.’

I had kept my eyes on Carmen’s all through the vote and her expression hadn’t changed.

‘Just a moment,’ I said. ‘
Freedom
has voted –
Valkyrie
hasn’t.’

‘There’s only one vote, Gabriella, and I seem to remember your hand being counted. The women stay here.’

‘We’ve only voted for
Freedom’s
account, we should also vote on whether they join
Valkyrie.
I could use some more hands, and we’ve all seen how skilled these women are.’

‘Aye, she’s right,’ someone called, and more voices murmured an assent.

I stared at Leo and he narrowed his eyes. I was doing exactly what he’d cautioned me against. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘All those in favour of the Awildas joining
Valkyrie
?’

Almost every hand was raised.

Leo nodded, but didn’t look pleased. Carmen nodded to me, and I held her gaze.

‘Be very careful, Gabriella,’ Leo said quietly. ‘There are too many of them, they could still take
Valkyrie
from you and I may not be able to stop them – especially after you’ve challenged me and my authority in front of them.’

I glanced up at him and saw he was extremely angry and only just managing to contain it. I wondered if I would regret this.