The Legend of the Phantom

by Jacob Nelson

  “And there is no talk about who is to blame?”

  “The finger’s been pointed at Pierre, sure ‘nough, but no man knows. It could just be ‘cause he showed when he showed.”

  “Thank you,” said Christopher. “Now if you’d be so kind as to point the way to the house with the sleep cots…”

  Christopher mused over the few facts he had learned as he prepared to retire for the night about his own ship. The room with the sleep cots couldn’t supply him with any more info than did the owner of the tavern; and really all he knew was that, yes, his father was murdered; and that there might be some connection between the murder and the man named Pierre.

  As he mused on the problem, a knock sounded on his door.

  “Captain,” the boatswain began, “A messenger just delivered this note for you. He claimed that he was to say it was very urgent.”

  The boatswain passed over the sealed note.

  It simply said, ‘Leave now. Pierre knows who you are.’

  “Who sent this?” Christopher said briskly to the boatswain.

  “I do not know, sir.”

  “Then who delivered it?”

  “Just a messenger boy, captain. He took his penny and disappeared, sir.”

  Christopher held the note and faded off into thought. A gentle cough from the boatswain woke him from his reverie. Seeing him still standing there Christopher was brought back to the present.

  “Thank you,” Christopher said.

  “Yes, captain. Good night, sir.”

  “Good night.” Then as the boatswain started to depart, Christopher thought better of the departure and called out to him, “Nigel!”

  “Yes, captain?” he answered, turning back.

  “Prepare the ship in the morning for an early departure.”

  “Yes, Captain. May I inquire where?”

  ‘Where indeed?’ thought Christopher quickly. ‘The in-laws place may put them at risk, yet they may already be in a dire situation… However, he couldn’t leave them without word if they were in danger. But even if they were being watched, sailing there would only cause greater harm than good. If only there was someone else he could trust…’ Then he realized what his befuddled brain had been trying to tell him all along; for there was one man he could trust...

  “For Cuba.”

  “Very good, sir.” And with that, Nigel was on his way.

  The following morning found Christopher in a great mood. It could have been the passing of the storm, which though it had rocked the ship did no lasting damage. It could have been the bright sun that cut through the well-washed world. But mostly it was the thought of seeing his life-long friend and adventurer from his youth: Caribo.

  Christopher wasn’t the only one in a good mood. Pierre grinned as he booked his passage for England. On the morrow his ship would be leaving for England. As it arrived it would lay in port first at Plymouth; followed by Portsmouth, Brighton, London-towne, Hull, and Whitby.

  A bit of clever eavesdropping and simple questioning of the local gossip, coupled with a bottle of ron and a few of Christopher’s sailors, had given him all the information he needed to know. Christopher Columbus, heir to Bartholomew Columbus, resided in Portsmouth.

  There was no need to travel as far as Whitby. With the destination firmly set in mind, Pierre bought his passage. To Portsmouth he would go.

  As the ship landed in Cuba, the children of the nearby village came running out to visit. The news reached Caribo shortly before his friend entered the village.

  “Kit!” he called out, running forward to meet his old friend. “How are you? What a grand surprise! Come, meet my family…”

  The visit was short, joyous, and yet bittersweet as Christopher explained why he was visiting.

  “Of course I will visit the home of Miya’s people, my friend. But do this, sail home and bring her back, for her father commands hundreds of thousands, and if she is safe anywhere, she will be safe there.”

  The reason was logical and Christopher agreed. Cutting the visit short, he decided that immediate action was needed.

  So giving the crew warning, with Caribo’s help he prepared the vessel with the date set for sail in two days time.

  Two days later Christopher’s ship raced home. With full sails open, he caught the current and worked the winds. A little over a week into the journey Christopher’s ship came across two other ships, one bearing an English flag and the other a Spanish one. Catching up to them, he joined their convoy and together the three ships made sail for the Old World.

  As they neared the French coast, the Spanish ship veered south, leaving the other two to head north for England. Then, as Plymouth approached, the other ship left him and Christopher sailed on for the next port stop: Portsmouth.

  As Christopher’s ship sailed on, Pierre watched with menacing eyes.

  The next few days, though stressful in preparation for the western trip, were joyous ones for Miya. Miya was excited to have her husband back, safe and sound, yet even more excited that she was soon to see her family and loved ones.

  Baby Christopher Jr. was now six months old and finally sleeping through the night. Still nursing, he was at the point where he was filling out, and as an added precaution a milk goat was bought to be brought along to supplement his diet.

  As the milk goat was taken to the ship, the ship that carried Pierre arrived.

  Recognizing Christopher’s ship, Pierre immediately set to find out their destination.

  “We are off to the New World,” said one of the sailors.

  “What part?” asked Pierre.

  “I do not know, but you might ask the captain, Sir Christopher Standish, for he surely knows.”

  “Sir Christopher Standish? I thought this was the ship of Christopher Columbus?”

  “It is! And oft times Christopher Walker. A man of many faces!” The sailor laughed at his own joke.

  With inquires made it was easy to find the Standish place. A huge smile split Pierre’s face as he took in the large mansion that the Standish family called home.

  “Now, Pierre,” he said aloud to himself, “why would the Standish leave this huge estate for the New World… unless the money wasn’t here.”

  Pondering on it, Pierre decided that there was only one way to make certain the money wasn’t there.

  That night he put his plan into action.

  The fire wasn’t observed by the sleeping family. But one of the many servants of the Standish household did see it and quickly woke the family. “Fire! Quick milady, get up!”

  “Kit!” she screamed, as Christopher woke, not certain if she meant him or the baby.

  “You get out with the servant, Miya. I’ll get the boy!” Sending her on her way, he waited just long enough to make certain that his wife was truly on her way. Then, running down the hall, he scooped up the boy as the dark clouds of smoke began to fill the room. Rushing back the other way, he saw that the main entrance was already encased in fire. Feeling the heat and realizing he needed to get the baby boy out, he wrapped him in a nearby shawl and taking up a running stride, jumped through the window onto the lawn below.

  Already servants were trying to put out the flames, but the fire was too hot. Miya wept as she gathered the baby from Christopher.

  A servant of the household came up to the trio as they stood on the lawn watching their home go up in flames. “I am certain the fire was set intentionally,” he told Christopher. “I heard voices and saw a man run off just before the flames engulfed the house. I’m sorry that I could not stop him.”

  “Why?” wailed Miya as Christopher wrapped her into his arms. “Why would anyone do this? Is it for the gold? Don’t they know it’s not here, but across the water?”

  The two men in the shadows listened hard as they watched on. “Ok, Pierre, you have yourself a ship,” the grizzled captain hoarsely whispered. Then slipping away, the captain left Pierre alone in the dark.

  The following day, Christopher picked through the ruins of his
mother’s ancestral home. There was little left of worth there. Only one room escaped the fire; an underground storage area that housed some of the items of his father: a desk, some books, his father’s journals, and a few odds and ends.

  Giving instruction to his servants concerning the remains of the house, he finally left and finding his family still at the ship, with the tide turned, he decided to wait one more day before departure. Allowing himself and the crew time to assemble themselves and provisions for the three month journey ahead.

  The trip to the New World was made with ease. Soon they had arrived at Miya’s homeland. There, upon the rock that the ship would sidle up to, stood Miya’s brother, Tihuac. Behind him stood his personal guards.

  When Miya saw them, she could hardly wait for the plank to be dropped into place and quickly she swarmed off of the ship into her brother’s arms.

  After the ship was faithfully docked, and greetings exchanged, Christopher asked Tihuac to post guards for ships as he was afraid they had been followed. The fear was nothing rational, yet, especially the last few days, it had been gnawing at him. Tihuac offered his own servants for the task, and, having arranged the watch immediately, turned back to Princess Miya.

  “Come little sister, our father and mother will be pleased to see you!”

  Miya found them at the palace, her father bed-bound and sick; aside from being very old. Christopher was led to his quarters and smiled to himself as he realized that the room hadn’t changed a bit since he was last there, so many years before. A tribute to his wife, the daughter of the royal family of Tuluk.

  He was just returning from the palace to the ship, to collect a few of the comforts that his wife was now used to, when Tihuac’s servant came running to him. “A ship, Cacique Kit. It sailed near, then sailed past.”

  “Where? Can you show me?”

  The two of them raced off to the water’s edge where Christopher could just make out the form of a ship as it maneuvered to make another sweep of the coastline in search of hidden mooring.

  ‘I need to draw its attention from here’ thought Christopher to himself. Aloud he quickly addressed Tihuac’s guard, “Let Miya know that I will be back. Tell her to stay here under the cover of her people.” Then, climbing aboard his ship, he hastened his crew to set sail for the Isle of Ámona.

  Christopher’s ship was just vanishing out of sight as Miya came running up the path to find him. The servant had warned her, but she hoped to dissuade husband from some unknown folly. As she arrived at the rock, she could see that she was too late.

  It felt to her that she was always just missing him, just left far enough behind that she felt alone. As the thoughts flooded her mind, tears flooded her eyes and she dropped to her knees while the sobbing took hold of her body. Then having released her emotional tension, she wiped her eyes, stood, stared after him, and blew him a kiss …a gesture she had learned from him… before returning to the palace.

  Tihuac’s guard acted like he hadn’t seen a thing and escorted her down the path.

  Pierre, on the other hand, had seen it all, and pointed out the blushing bride to the hoary captain. “That’s the one we want. We get her, and we get the gold… Guaranteed!”

  Christopher sailed on to Ámona, keeping a man as look-out for the other ship. The island was but two days journey and during that time no one saw ship nor foe. Arriving at Ámona, he had the men make trips inland to supply his father’s stronghold. Yet all the while he posted a look-out for men or ships.

  Meanwhile, the pirate ship that was captained by the grey-haired old man, had longboated to shore, leaving Pierre and a few of the harder men to await the opportunity to get the girl. The opportunity shortly arrived.

  Mistaking the pirate ship for Christopher’s ship, one of villagers announced that a ship was approaching. Miya, took the news as Kit’s return and rushed out to greet him.

  Arriving at the rock, she scoured the horizon for the ship, but did not see it. Disappointed she turned to return to the village, but as she stepped into the shadows of the jungle path, she found her way barred by two pirates. Turning to flee, she ran right into the outstretched arms of Pierre.

  Chapter 16

  Miya’s scream caused Mulek to turn. He ran quickly toward the rock and as he thundered down the path he straightaway saw the two men that stood between him and the princess.

  A guard to the son of the Royal Highness, Mulek was always armed, either with spear or bow and arrow, but always with a jade dagger by his side.

  As he approached at full stride he pulled his arm back snapped it forward and ran a long spear through the first man.

  The other thug had time to fire his pistol, but the ball missed its target; as Mulek had rolled into the throw and came up with jade knife in hand. A quick twist around the body placed Mulek behind the outstretched gorilla arms of the thug and with a quick slice of the dagger, the green of the jade turned a dripping crimson red.

  Already Mulek was turning to get the last man, the one that held the princess, but even as he prepared to move in, a long éspée caught him in the back. The éspée being wielded by Pierre.

  It was a coward’s thrust but effective nonetheless.

  Even as Mulek fell, the ship sided up to the rock, in preparation for part two of Pierre’s plan.

  Quickly, Pierre left the dying Mulek and moved the girl along the path to the ship.

  There Pierre moved Princess Miya into the Captain’s cabin for keeping while they awaited the onslaught of the natives.

  As sure as rain in April, the natives came pouring up to the ship. But the captain and Pierre were nonplussed as they knew they held the crown…in this case Miya.

  “Return Miya!” bellowed Tihuac, having arrived with his father’s army. “Return her or die!”

  “Do as I say or I’ll kill her,” Pierre shouted back. “If you want her alive, go get the gold!”

  Pierre waited a moment for the response, the seconds ticking like hours. He added, “I will cut off an ear if you don’t get the gold. If you are slow to bring me the gold, I will follow with the other ear.”

  Tihuac’s face turned a crimson red as he attempted to control his anger and frustration. “You can have the gold, but I will kill you!”

  “Good boy. I’m sure you will try. Be quick now. I believe this young lady would like to keep her ears.”

  The loading of the gold went quickly. Great chests had been built to hold the dowry gold and seventeen of them were quickly loaded onto the ship, weighting it down. The gold was stored next to a previous haul of ornamental works and 40 bars of silver.

  As the 17th chest was loaded, the nervous lookout called out that he had spotted Christopher’s ship. Although he was mistaken, immediately all action ceased and the anchor was weighed. The ship’s sails were unfurled within moments and before the natives even knew what was happening, the ship pulled away from the rock, leaving a native or two with unsure footing sliding off the rock into the brink below.

  The few remaining natives onboard were also forced into the water… most living, but one that struggled stained the blue of the Caribbean red as his inert form hit the foam.

  The heavy ship was slow to run, but as the wind caught the sails, it picked up speed and steadily made its way south.

  Christopher arrived the next day, not having seen the other ship depart.

  As his ship docked at the rock, Tihuac came running.

  “Kit! The pirates have taken Miya!”

  Christopher was taken aback. “How? When? Was she hurt?” His mind was in turmoil, spinning a million miles a second.

  “Yesterday evening. Taken on the path. They threatened to hurt her, but she wasn’t hurt when they left. They went in that direction, following the land.”

  Yesterday. They already had a huge head start. Then a second depressing thought entered his mind, “And the baby? Is baby Kit with her?”

  “No. Kit is with nurse-wife. He’s safe. Please let me come with you to save her.”

&n
bsp; “I would love to, but I need you here.”

  “But I insist! She’s my sister…”

  “And my wife! Tihuac, I really need you here in case they return. Please! Watch over my son for me while we are gone.”

  The prince nodded his unwilling consent.

  Christopher placed his arm on Tihuac’s shoulder. “Thank you, brother. I will do all I can to bring back your sister.” No sooner had the words left his mouth than he was acting. He immediately returned to the ship and with barked orders the ship seemed to fly into operation once again, heading south.

  Christopher’s ship was not a timid thing. Built by the Drassanes Reials, the ship was originally a commissioned warship that was sold to Christopher’s father, Bartholomew, as the newer ships were built. The royal shipyard was constructed in 1378, by agreement of King Pere IV, the Consell de Cent (Council of One Hundred) and the Diputació del General (Council of the General). Nor was the name Columbus unknown to the royal shipyard.

  Though normally equipped to run twelve cannon below deck (six on each side), and four more top deck, Christopher’s sixteen cannon ship was only partially defended, with just the four topside cannon on each side above and another four on each side below. Despite the lesser armament, it was well prepared to match any threat in the water… something that his father felt was necessary after his initial run-in with pirates so many years before. Though slightly heavier than the average trade ship, this was the ship that Christopher preferred sail especially when approaching potential danger.

  It was somewhat by happenstance that this ship was the one that he had returned to the New World in, but now he was pleased he had, for his ship was packing twice the armament as the pirates.