Pirate Latitudes: A Novel (17 page)

Chapter 26

F
OUR DAYS LATER, they sighted the monster.

It had been an uneventful sail, down the chain of the Lesser Antilles. The wind was fair and the sea calm; Hunter knew he was now nearly a hundred miles south of Matanceros, and with each passing hour he breathed more easily.

His crew was busy making the galleon as seaworthy as possible. The Spanish crew had kept
El Trinidad
in a lamentable state of repair. Rigging was frayed; sails were thin in places, torn in others; decks were filthy and the holds stank with refuse. There was much to do as they sailed southward, past Guadeloupe and San Marino.

At noon of the fourth day, Enders, ever watchful, noticed the change in the water. He pointed off to starboard. “Look there,” he said to Hunter.

Hunter turned. The water was placid, with only a slight chop to mar the glassy surface. But barely a hundred yards away, there was a churning beneath the waves — some large object moving toward them, and at incredible speed.

“What are we making?” he demanded.

“Ten knots,” Enders said. “Mother of God . . .”

“If we are making ten, that thing is making twenty,” Hunter said.

“At least twenty,” Enders said. He glanced around at the crews. No one had noticed it.

“Move to landward,” Hunter said. “Get us in shoal water.”

“The kraken don’t like it shallow,” Enders said.

“Let us hope not.”

The submerged shape moved closer, and passed by the boat some fifty yards away. Hunter had a glimpse of dead gray-white, a suggestion of tentacles, and then the thing was gone. It moved off, and circled, then came back again.

Enders slapped his cheek. “I’m dreaming,” he said. “I must be. Say it is not true.”

“It’s true,” Hunter said.

From the nest of the mainmast, Lazue, the lookout, whistled to Hunter. She had seen the thing. Hunter looked up at her and shook his head, to keep silent.

“Thank God she didn’t give out the cry,” Enders said, “that’s all we’d be needing, isn’t it?”

“Shoal water,” Hunter said grimly. “And quickly.” He watched the churning water approach once more.

Up in the mainmast nest, Lazue was high above the clear blue water, and she could see the approach of the kraken plainly. Her heart was in her throat, for this was a legendary beast, the stuff of sailing songs and stories for the children of seafarers. But few had ever seen such a creature, and Lazue was not glad of the experience. It seemed to her that her heart stopped as she watched the thing approach again, with frightening speed, plowing up the surface as it came toward
El Trinidad
.

When it was very close, she saw the entire animal clearly. Its skin was a dead gray. It had a pointed snout, a bulbous body at least twenty feet long, and trailing behind, a tangle of long tentacles, like a Medusa’s head. It passed beneath the ship, not touching the hull, but the waves from the creature’s movements rocked the galleon. Then she saw it emerge on the other side and plunge down into the blue depths of the ocean. She wiped her sweating brow.

Lady Sarah Almont came on deck to find Hunter peering over the side. “Good day, Captain,” she said. He turned and gave her a slight bow. “Madam.”

“Captain, you are quite ashen. Is all well?”

Without replying, Hunter rushed to the other side of the aft deck and peered over the side again.

Enders at the tiller said, “You see it?”

“See what?” asked Lady Sarah.

“No,” Hunter said. “It dived.”

“We should have thirty fathoms beneath us,” Enders said. “That’s shoal for the thing.”

“What thing?” asked Lady Sarah, pouting prettily.

Hunter came back to her.

Enders said, “It may be back.”

“Aye,” Hunter said.

She looked from Hunter to Enders. Both men were drenched in cold sweat. Both were very pale.

“Captain, I am no sailor. What is the meaning of this?”

Enders, tense, exploded. “God’s blood, woman, we have just seen—”

“—an omen,” said Hunter smoothly, with a sharp look to Enders. “An omen, my lady.”

“An omen? Are you superstitious, Captain?”

“Aye, he’s very superstitious, he is,” said Enders, glancing out toward the horizon.

“It is plain,” said Lady Sarah, stamping her foot on the deck, “that you will not tell me what is amiss.”

“That’s right,” Hunter said, smiling. He had a charming smile, even through his pallor. He could be most exasperating, she thought.

“I know I am a woman,” she began, “but I really must insist—”

And at that moment, Lazue shouted, “Sail ho!”

Straining his eyes to the glass, Hunter saw square canvas directly astern, coming above the line of the horizon. He turned back to Enders, but the sea artist was already barking orders to run out all the canvas
El Trinidad
possessed. The topgallants were unreefed; the foresprit was run up, and the galleon gathered speed.

A warning shot was fired to the
Cassandra
, a quarter of a mile ahead. Soon after, the little sloop also let out her full canvas.

Hunter looked through the glass again. The sails on the horizon had not grown larger — but neither had they diminished in size.

“God’s blood, from one monster to another,” Enders said. “How do we fare?”

“We’re holding,” Hunter said.

“We must come off this course soon,” Enders said.

Hunter nodded.
El Trinidad
was running free before an easterly wind, but her course carried her too far west, toward the island chain to their right. Soon the water would be too shallow; they would have to alter course. On any ship, a course change meant at least a temporary loss in speed. Short-handed, the galleon would be especially slow.

Hunter said, “Can you wear her?”

Enders shook his head. “I dare not, Captain. We are too short-manned.”

Lady Sarah said, “What is the problem?”

“Quiet,” Hunter said. “Go below.”

“I will not—”

“Go below!” he bellowed.

She backed off, but did not go below. Standing some distance away, she watched what she viewed as a strange spectacle. The man Lazue came down from the rigging with catlike grace, almost feminine in his movements. It was with a shock that Lady Sarah noticed the press of the wind against Lazue’s blouse, clearly outlining breasts. So the gentle man was a woman! She had no time to ponder this, however, for Hunter was standing with Lazue and Enders, and all were engaged in fierce conversation. Hunter showed her the pursuing ship, and the island chain to the right. He pointed to the cloudless sky, and the sun, already on its downward arc as afternoon wore on. Lazue was frowning.

“What island will you make for?” she said.

“Cat,” Enders said, pointing to a large island down the chain.

“Monkey Bay?” she asked.

“Aye,” Enders said. “Monkey Bay.”

“Do you know it?” Hunter said.

“Yes, but it was years past, and this is a windward port. How is the moon?”

“Third quarter,” Hunter said.

“And there are no clouds,” Lazue said. “Pity.”

At this, they all nodded and shook their heads very gloomily. Then Lazue said, “Are you a gambler?”

“You know I am,” Hunter said.

“Then make your course change, and see if you can outrun the ship. If you do, well and good. If not, we will manage.”

“I trust your eyes,” Hunter said.

“Do,” Lazue said, and she scrambled back up the rigging to her lookout post.

Lady Sarah could make nothing of this conversation, although she recognized the tension and concern well enough. She remained by the railing, looking toward the horizon — where the sails of the pursuing ship were now clearly visible to her naked eye — until Hunter came over to her. Now that the decision was made, he seemed more relaxed.

“I did not understand a word of that,” she said.

“It is simple enough,” Hunter said. “You see the ship following?”

“I do.”

“And you see the island downwind, Cat Island?”

“I do.”

“There is a harbor there, called Monkey Bay. It is our first refuge, if we can make it.”

She looked from the pursuing ship to the island. “But surely you are close to the island, and there will be no problem.”

“You see the sun?”

“Yes . . .”

“The sun is setting to the west. In another hour, it will gleam off the water with a brightness to cause pain to the eye. And we cannot see the obstructions beneath, as we make for that bay. In these waters, a ship cannot sail into the sun unless you risk tearing out the bottom on coral.”

“But Lazue has entered the port before.”

“Aye, but it is a windward port. Windward ports are exposed to the storms and strong currents of the open ocean, and they change. A sand bar can shift in days, weeks. Monkey Bay may not be as Lazue remembers it.”

“Oh.” She was silent a moment. “Then why make for port? You have not stopped these three nights past. Sail on into the night, and lose the ship in darkness.” She felt very pleased with this solution.

“There is a moon,” Hunter said gloomily. “Third quarter, it will not be up until midnight. But it will be enough for the ship to follow us — we will have only four hours of true darkness. We cannot lose her in so short a time.”

“Then what will you do?”

Hunter picked up the glass and scanned the horizon. The pursuing ship was slowly gaining on them.

“I will make for Monkey Bay. Into the sun.”

“Ready about!” Enders shouted, and the ship came around into the wind, slowly, cumbersomely changing course. It took a full quarter of an hour before they were cutting through the water again, and during that interval, the sails of the pursuing craft had grown much larger.

As Hunter peered through the glass, he felt something about those sails was depressingly familiar. “You don’t suppose . . .”

“What, sir?”

“Lazue!” Hunter shouted, and pointed to the horizon.

Up above, Lazue put the glass to her eye.

“What do you make it to be?”

She shouted down: “Our old friend!”

Enders groaned. “Cazalla’s warship? The black ship?”

“None other.”

“Who commands her now?” Enders said.

“Bosquet, the Frenchy,” Hunter said, recalling the slim, composed man he had seen board the ship at Matanceros.

“I know of him,” Enders said. “Steady and competent seaman, he knows his trade.” He sighed. “Too bad it’s not a Don at the helm, we might have better luck.” The Spaniards were notoriously bad seamen.

“How long to landfall now?”

“A full hour,” Enders said, “could be more. If the passage is tight, we’ve got to get in some of this canvas.”

That would cut their speed even more, but it could not be helped. If they were to have control over the ship in confined waters, they would have to shorten sail.

Hunter looked back at the pursuing warship. She was changing course, her sails tilting as she wore to leeward. She lost ground a moment, but soon was moving ahead at full speed.

“It will be a very near thing,” he said.

“Aye,” Enders said.

Lazue up in the rigging stretched her left arm. Enders changed course, watching until she dropped her arm. Then he held steady. A short time later, her right arm was held out, half-bent.

Enders again corrected course, turning slightly to starboard.

Part IV

Monkey Bay

Chapter 27

E
L TRINIDAD
MADE for the cove of Monkey Bay.

Aboard the
Cassandra
, Sanson watched the larger ship maneuver. “Blood of Louis, they’re making for land,” he said. “Into the sun!”

“It is madness,” moaned the man at the helm.

“Now hear me,” Sanson said, spinning on him. “Come about, and fall into the wake of that Donnish hog, and follow it exactly. I mean none else: exactly. Our bows must cut their form, or I will cut your throat.”

“How can they do it, into the sun?” moaned the helmsman.

“They have Lazue’s eyes,” Sanson said. “It may be enough.”

.   .   .

LAZUE WAS CAREFUL
where she looked. She was also careful what she did with her arms, for the most casual gesture would cause a course change. At this moment, she stared westward, holding her left hand flat under her nose, blocking the reflection of the sun off the water just ahead of the bow. She looked only to the land — the sloping green contours of Cat Island, at this moment a flat outline, without depth.

She knew that somewhere ahead, when they were closer, the island contour would begin to separate, to show definition, and she would see the entrance to Monkey Bay. Until that moment, her job was to hold the fastest course bearing on the point where she expected to find the entrance.

Her elevation helped her; from this vantage point atop the mainmast, she was able to see the color of the water many miles ahead, an intricate pattern of blues and greens of different intensities. In her mind, these registered as depths; she could read them as if they were a chart marked with soundings.

This was no mean skill. The ordinary seaman, knowing the clarity of Caribbean water, naturally assumed that deep blue meant deep water, and green, still deeper. Lazue knew better: if the bottom was sandy, the water might be light blue, though the depth was fifty feet. Or a deep green color could mean a sea grass bottom just ten feet deep. And the shifting sun over the course of the day played odd tricks: in early morning or late afternoon all the colors were richer and darker; one had to compensate.

But for the moment, she had no concern for depth. She scanned the colors at the shoreline, looking for some clue to the entrance to Monkey Bay. She remembered that Monkey Bay was the outflow of a small river of fresh water, as was the case with most usable coves. There were many other Caribbean coves that were not safe for large ships, because there was no gap in the offshore coral reef. To have a gap, one needed a fresh-water outflow, for where there was fresh water, coral did not grow.

Lazue, scanning the water near the shoreline, knew that the gap might not be near the stream itself. Depending on the currents that carried the freshwater out to sea, the actual break in the reef might be a quarter-mile north or south. Wherever it was, currents often produced a brownish turbidity in the water, and a change in the surface appearance.

She scanned carefully, and finally she saw it, south of the ship’s present course. She signaled corrections to Enders on the deck below. As
El Trinidad
came closer, she was glad that the sea artist had no idea what he was facing; he would faint if he knew how narrow the gap in the reef really was. There were coral heads awash on both sides, and between them the open space was no more than a dozen yards.

Satisfied with the new course, Lazue closed her eyes for several minutes. She was aware of the pink color of sunlight on her eyelids; she was not aware of the motion of the ship, or the wind in the sails, or the smells of the ocean. She was focused entirely on her eyes as she rested them. Nothing mattered but her eyes. She breathed deeply and slowly, preparing herself for the coming exertion, gathering her energy, sharpening her concentration.

She knew how it would happen; she knew the inevitable progression — an easy beginning and then the first ache in her eyes, the increasing pain, then tears, stinging, burning. At the end of the hour, she knew she would be wholly exhausted, her entire body limp. She would need sleep as if she had been awake for a week, and would probably collapse as soon as she climbed down to the deck.

It was for this coming, massive exertion that she prepared herself now; breathing in long, slow breaths, with her eyes closed.

.   .   .

FOR ENDERS, AT
the helm, his concentration was very different. His eyes were open, but he had little interest in what he saw. Enders felt the tiller in his hands; the pressure it exerted on his palms; the cant of the deck beneath his feet; the rumble of the water slipping by the hull; the wind on his cheeks; the vibration of the rigging; the whole complex of forces and stresses that made up the trim of the ship. Indeed, in his absolute concentration, Enders became part of the ship, joined to it as if physically connected; he was the brain to its body, and he knew its condition to the minutest detail.

He knew its speed to a fraction of a knot; he sensed when any sail was wrongly trimmed; he knew when any cargo shifted in the hold, and he knew where; he felt how much water was in the bilge; he knew when the ship was sailing easy, when she was on her best line; he knew when she was past it, and how long she could hold past it, and how far he could push her.

All this he could have told you with his eyes closed. He could not have said how he knew it, only that he did. Now, working with Lazue, he was worried, precisely because he had to give over part of his control to someone else. Lazue’s hand signals meant nothing to him that he could sense directly; yet he followed her directions blindly, knowing that he must trust her. But he was nervous about it; he sweated at the tiller, feeling the wind more strongly on his damp cheeks, and he made more corrections as Lazue stretched out her arms.

She was taking the ship southward. She must have spotted the break in the reef, he thought, and was now making for it. Soon they would pass through the gap. The very idea made him sweat more.

.   .   .

HUNTER’S MIND WAS
wholly occupied with other concerns. He raced back and forth, from bow to stern, ignoring both Lazue and Enders. The Spanish warship was closing with each passing minute; the upper edge of the mainsail was now clear of the horizon. She still carried full sail, while
El Trinidad
, now only a mile off the island, had dropped much of her canvas.

Meanwhile, the
Cassandra
had fallen behind the larger ship, dropping back to port to let Hunter’s vessel show them the course to harbor. The maneuver was necessary, but Hunter’s canvas was eating
Cassandra
’s wind, and the little ship was not making good speed. Indeed, she would not until she was completely astern of
El Trinidad
. At that point, she would be very vulnerable to the Spanish warship unless she stayed close to Hunter.

The trouble would come when making the bay itself. The two ships would have to pass through in close succession; if
El Trinidad
did not make passage smoothly, the
Cassandra
might ram her, injuring both ships. If it happened in the passage itself, it could be a nightmare, both ships sinking on the rocks of the reef. He was sure Sanson was aware of the danger; he was equally sure that Sanson would know that he dared not drop too far back.

It was going to be a very tricky maneuver. He ran forward, and stared through the shimmering glare of the sunlit water at Monkey Bay. He could see now the curving finger of hilly land, extending out from the island and forming the protected hook of the bay.

The actual gap in the reef was invisible to him; it lay somewhere in the sheet of glaring, sparkling water directly ahead.

He looked up the mainmast to Lazue and saw her make a signal to Enders — she swung her fist upward to strike the flat palm of her hand.

Enders immediately barked orders to lower more sail. Hunter knew that could only mean one thing: they were very close to the reef passage. He squinted forward into the glare, but still could see nothing.

“Linemen! Starboard and larboard!” shouted Enders, and soon after, two men at either side of the bow began to alternate shouted soundings. The first unnerved Hunter. “Full five!”

Five fathoms — thirty feet — was already shallow water.
El Trinidad
drew three fathoms, so there was not much to spare. In shoal waters, coral undersea outcroppings could easily rise a dozen feet from the bottom in irregular patterns. And the sharp coral would tear the wooden hull like paper.

“Cinq et demi”
came the next cry. That was better. Hunter waited.

“Full six and more!”

He breathed a little easier. They must have passed the outer reef — most islands had two, a shallow inner reef and a deeper one offshore. They would have a short space of safe water now, before they reached the dangerous inside reef.

“Moins six!”
came the cry.

It was already growing more shallow. Hunter turned again to look at Lazue, high on the mainmast. Her body was leaning forward, relaxed, almost indifferent. He could not see her expression.

.   .   .

LAZUE’S BODY WAS
indeed relaxed; it was so limp she was in danger of falling from her high post. Her arms gripped the top railing lightly as she leaned forward; her shoulders were slumped; every muscle sagged.

But her face was tight and pinched, her mouth pulled back into a fixed grimace, her teeth clamped together as she squinted into the glare. She held her eyes nearly shut and she had been doing this for so long that her lids fluttered with tension. This might have been distracting, but Lazue was not even aware of it for she had long ago slipped into a kind of trance state.

Her world consisted of two black shapes — the island ahead and the bow of the ship just beneath her. Separating them was a flat expanse of shimmering, excruciatingly bright sunlit water, which fluttered and sparkled in a hypnotic pattern. She could see almost no detail in that surface.

Occasionally, she had a glimpse of coral outcroppings awash. They appeared as brief black spots in the blinding white glare.

At other times, during lulls in the gusting wind, she had a momentary image of eddies and currents, which swirled the uniform pattern of sparkles.

Otherwise, the water was opaque, blinding silver. She guided the ship through this shimmering surface entirely by memory, for she had marked, in her mind, the position of shallow water, coral heads, and sand bars more than half an hour ago, when the ship was farther offshore and the water ahead was clear. She had made a detailed mental image using landmarks on the shore and in the water itself.

Now, by looking directly down at the water passing amidships — which was transparent — she could gauge
El Trinidad
’s position relative to her mental image. Far below, she saw a round head of brain coral, resembling a gargantuan clump of cauliflower, pass on the port side. She knew that meant they would have to bear north; she extended her right arm, and watched as the black silhouette of the bow nosed around, and waited until they were in line with a dead palm tree on the shore. Then she dropped her hand; Enders held the new course.

She squinted ahead. She saw the coral awash, marking the sides of the channel. They were bearing directly for the gap. From memory, she knew that before reaching the gap, they had to veer to starboard slightly to miss another coral head. She extended her right hand. Enders corrected.

She looked straight down. The second coral head went past, dangerously close to the hull; the ship shivered as it scraped the outcropping, but then they were clear.

She held out her left arm, and Enders changed course again. She lined herself on the dead palm again, and waited.

Enders had been electrified by the sound of the coral head on the hull; his nerves, straining to hear exactly that dreaded sound, were raw; he jumped at the tiller, but as the crunching continued, a vibration moving aft, he realized that they were going to kiss the coral, and he breathed a deep sigh.

In the stern, he felt the vibration approaching him down the length of the ship. At the last moment, he released the tiller, knowing that the rudder was the most vulnerable part of the ship below water. A grazing collision that merely scraped the hull of barnacles could snap a hard-turned rudder, so he released tension. Then he took the tiller in his hand again, and followed Lazue’s instructions.

“She would break a snake’s back,” he muttered, as
El Trinidad
twisted and turned toward Monkey Bay.

“Less four!” shouted the lineman.

Hunter, in the bow, flanked on either side by the men with their plumb lines, watched the glaring water ahead. He could see nothing at all forward; looking to the side, he saw coral formations fearsomely close to the surface, but somehow,
El Trinidad
was missing them.

“Trois et demi!”

He gritted his teeth. Twenty feet of water. They could not take much less. As he had the thought, the ship struck another coral formation, but this time there was only a single sharp impact, then nothing. The ship had snapped the coral head, then continued on.

“Three and one!”

They had lost another foot. The ship plowed forward into the sparkling sea.