The Pirates and the Nightmaker (11 page)

Leaving the poop and my once commanders, I hurried to find Sophie. Now that the sails were set, I imagined Jenny Blade would have some purpose, some destination in mind.

Sophie was standing on the quarterdeck with her mother and Mr Griff. I stopped some yards away when I saw them and Sophie hurried over to meet me. I looked quickly around in case Mr Wicker was about, but he was nowhere to be seen.

‘You were right,’ I whispered.

‘The wind’s come up even more quickly than I’d hoped,’ she whispered in turn.

It was true; beneath her cap her hair was lifting slightly already.

‘What are your mother’s plans?’ I asked.

‘We are to the Cove,’ she said.

‘The Cove?’

‘My mother wants the vessel to be re-provisioned and we need fresh water. She also wants to be rid of Captain Lightower and the drunken doctor.’

I glanced at her. I wasn’t sure of what she meant by
be rid of.

‘Captain Lightower thinks your mother might intend to hang him or throw him to the sharks,’ I said.

Sophie gave me a look of astonishment. ‘Then he is judging Jenny Blade by his own dreadful standards!’ she exclaimed. ‘My mother means to deliver him to the Cove where he may be able to arrange passage to Jamaica. That is, if he can find a privateer willing to transport him.’

This information relieved me greatly, although I did not share Captain Lightower’s low opinion of Sophie’s mother. Any captain who would engage Irish Peter to provide music and dancing to her sailors would not be capable of naked brutality.

‘But this Cove?’ I asked. ‘Where is that?’

‘It cannot be far,’ said Sophie, ‘a few days at most. It is our home really when we are not at sea, an island with a small port, an anchorage and a little town. It is a safe haven for those like us. My mother has a house there and there are taverns and inns for the men. It is also,’ she added, ‘a place governed by no flag: English, French or Spanish.’

At that point, Sophie gave me a warning look and abruptly backed away from me and returned to her mother. I glanced to one side and saw that Mr Wicker had just climbed from below decks and was approaching Jenny Blade and Mr Griff.

He gave me an imperceptible nod and a conspiratorial smile which I found uncomfortable. Still, Sophie had been alert enough to hide from him our connexion, and I was somewhat relieved.

‘Good morning, ma’am,’ he said to Jenny Blade, and ‘Your servant, sir,’ to Mr Griff.

When they returned his greeting he raised his head and took off his tricorn hat to let the breeze ruffle his black hair. ‘So pleasing to be out of that insufferable stillness,’ he remarked amiably.

The others concurred.

‘Do we have a destination in mind?’ he asked.

‘We do, sir,’ said Jenny Blade.

‘I suppose I could not dissuade you from it, in favour of delivering me to Cartagena?’ he continued.

‘You could not, sir,’ said Jenny Blade firmly. ‘As we have discussed on previous occasions, our delivering you to Cartagena would probably deliver us to a Spanish dungeon, and I have more pleasant plans for the next forty years of my life.’

‘I supposed as much,’ said Mr Wicker, quite unperturbed. ‘But you did not elaborate. Where are we then heading?’

‘We are heading to a safe port, perhaps two days hence,’ replied Jenny Blade. She looked at him steadily. ‘It is a place where there is a good chance you may find someone to offer you passage to Cartagena, if not immediately then sooner or later.’

‘Good, good,’ said Mr Wicker, ‘I can ask no more than that. But you still have not told me the name of this port.’

‘It has no name and it has several,’ said Jenny Blade, ‘but no name you might find on a chart.’

With that Mr Wicker had to be satisfied, for they were then joined by Captain Lightower and Dr Hatch.

They, too, greeted the captain, Mr Griff and Mr Wicker and were greeted in turn.

It seemed Captain Lightower, too, wished to decide the
Medusa
’s destination.

‘Ma’am,’ he began, ‘now that we are under way, I must insist you take this vessel directly to Jamaica.’

‘What, Lightower,’ smiled Mr Wicker, ‘to report the loss of the
Firefly
? I would have thought Kingston was the last place you would want to go.’

‘You are too facetious, sir,’ said Captain Lightower stiffly, and giving Mr Wicker a look of loathing.

‘Captain Lightower,’ interrupted Jenny Blade, ‘I will remind you that I am commander of this vessel, I determine its course, and I have already determined it. I should add, gentlemen, the course I have decided on takes us neither to Cartagena de Indias nor to Kingston, Jamaica.’

Captain Lightower flushed.

‘We will anchor, as I have just been informing Mr Wicker,’ continued Jenny Blade, ‘at a place where you may well be able to find passage to wherever you wish to go, whether that be Cartagena, Jamaica or Ultima Thule, but right now I have no further words to say on the matter.’

‘Ma’am,’ said Mr Wicker, smiling, ‘you have made your point exceedingly well and, with your permission, I would now take my leave.’

Somewhat less graciously, Captain Lightower and Dr Hatch likewise excused themselves and left, although Lightower did cast a curious look at Sophie before he departed.

That look reminded me of the conversation I had overheard and, when I had a chance, I whispered to Sophie,
‘Be wary of that man.’

She glanced at me. ‘Captain Lightower?’

I nodded. ‘He and Dr Hatch were talking at the bow end before … That’s when he was worried about what your mother might decide to do with them.’

‘I noticed,’ said Sophie, ‘that he did not think to thank my mother for delivering him to the Cove instead of the bottom of the sea.’

‘They seemed unable to come up with anything to persuade your mother from harming them,’ I said, ‘until the doctor mentioned in passing that Jenny Blade was a mother.’

‘Well, she is,’ said Sophie.

‘Yes, but when the doctor mentioned that, Captain Lightower seemed oddly pleased and he told the doctor that he wasn’t such a fool after all.’

As the full implications of this intelligence sank in, Sophie’s eyes widened.

‘I see I was right to dislike this man,’ she whispered.

‘Surely he would not harm you now that your mother has told him she will take him to this Cove,’ I said.

‘Not if he believes her,’ said Sophie, ‘but knowing the man and how he has judged my mother by his own standards, he probably won’t trust her …’

‘You must be careful.’

Sophie nodded.

There was a silence. We were now alone on the quarterdeck. Sophie’s mother and Mr Griff had retired to the helm, I presumed to give the helmsman instructions.

After some time, I said, ‘Should I tell Mr Wicker of this?’

‘Mr Wicker?’

‘There is no love lost between Mr Wicker and the captain,’ I explained. ‘There is some way that Mr Wicker has a hold over him. This became quite clear when we were on the jolly-boat. I imagine it would give Mr Wicker great pleasure to confound any plans the captain might have.’

Sophie considered this briefly, and then said, ‘I think not. It would be difficult, would it not, to apprise Mr Wicker of this without revealing our acquaintance and that I can see you?’

‘He need not know that. I could simply tell him I had overheard the doctor and the captain talking.’

‘Still, I’d prefer Mr Wicker were left out of this. As much as I am nervous of Captain Lightower, I am frightened of Mr Wicker. He has a deep darkness about him.’

Sophie was right.

‘Of course,’ I said. ‘You are quite correct, and I will keep this between us.’

She smiled at me. ‘Thank you, Loblolly Boy.’

‘But do take care …’

‘I will, and you keep watch?’

‘I will.’

We parted then and I flew up to the mast top. A sailor was already occupying my place in the crow’s nest, so I dropped down to the topgallant spar and sat there, as ever more purposefully the ship gathered the breeze and headed towards the Cove.

Two days later, early in the morning and sure that it was too early for Mr Wicker to be summoning me, I climbed into the air to gather my bearings. I had not gained much height when I saw not many leagues to port a small mountainous island almost entirely covered in green forest, and ringed with yellow beaches and inlets. Scattered about it were smaller islands, some little more than large rocks nosing out of the sea and splashed with foam.

There was one larger bay, almost a perfect O with a narrow entrance channel guarded by a bluff on either side and a number of ships were at anchor there with two or three moored directly against a quay jutting out into the bay. Beyond the shore there were several dwellings and other buildings, many shaded by large trees.

Clearly this must be the so-called Cove, our destination.

I was sorely tempted to wing further towards the little town to explore, but I was mindful of Captain Bass’s warning. Mr Wicker could be rising at any time and I thought it best that I remained close by. I returned to the
Medusa
reluctantly, consoling myself with the fact that in a short time we would cast anchor.

Not long afterwards, the sailor in the crow’s nest announced ‘Land ahoy’ with a rousing shout, and the decks became busy with men preparing for our arrival or lining the rails merely curious to see terra firma once more.

I dropped to the deck myself and hurried to the prow. It was not long before the island became visible from deck level.

‘So this is our destination, little Loblolly Boy.’

I had not noticed that Mr Wicker had made his way to the forecastle and was standing at my shoulder. This was the first time he had engaged me in conversation since the evening he had refused to change me back.

‘What will you do, sir?’ I asked.

I suppose I might have asked
what will we do?
, but something in me wanted to pretend that we were independent of each other.

He glanced at me as if gauging how much he would tell me.

‘If this is the place I think it is,’ he said, ‘I may have a friend or two ashore whose assistance I can draw upon. If not, then I imagine we must wait until assistance arrives.’

‘Assistance?’

Mr Wicker was always so assured and self-sufficient it was odd to hear that he might look for assistance. But then, I remembered, it was to assist him that he had taken my existence from me and replaced it with another.

‘To obtain passage to Cartagena,’ he said. ‘As you heard, Jenny Blade will not help me and that fool Lightower lost his ship.’

I was a little surprised by these words. I knew that he had been negotiating with Jenny Blade, but surely the
Firefly
had been bound to Jamaica. Captain Lightower’s losing it was only incidental.

‘You still mean to go to Cartagena?’

‘Of course.’

‘But the Spanish are there.’

‘Oh, little Loblolly Boy,’ he laughed. ‘I am not at war with
the Spaniards. King George is at war with the Spaniards, but not I.’

I decided to take a small risk. ‘What you want must be very important then,’ I said, ‘for even if you are not at war with the Spaniards, they may think otherwise. Are you not risking an awful lot?’

He looked at me keenly. ‘You have been thinking about things, I see, little Loblolly Boy, and I see you are not as foolish as your one-time captain believes.’

‘Believed,’ I said. ‘My captain thinks me drowned, don’t forget.’

Mr Wicker laughed. ‘Even sharper,’ he said. ‘I have been underestimating you.’

‘But are you not taking a great hazard?’ I persisted. ‘Are you not putting yourself in danger?’

‘You measure the hazard by the prize, little Loblolly Boy,’ said Mr Wicker. ‘And in this instance the prize eclipses the hazard completely.’

‘You really think you can carry off the prize?’ I asked.

‘With your help, my boy,’ smiled Mr Wicker, ‘we can do almost anything we set our minds to.’

I looked at him with alarm. I didn’t believe that. I didn’t believe it at all. For myself, I had no sense of danger in what he was proposing. I was, after all, both invisible and imperceptible and if trouble arose I could fly away like a startled bird. But Mr Wicker was not invisible. Mr Wicker could not fly. I could not fathom how, even with my assistance, he could be so confident and brazen about visiting a Spanish stronghold and calmly stealing a precious astrolabe.