by Daniel Caet
“Yes, it's him. You better stay here, I'll go talk to him.”
“Mrs. birdie now knows that Langley is my friend, it will be strange if you approach him by yourself,” he said and I had to accept that he was right so, against my fear that Langley felt threatened in some way, both of us get up from the table and approached him.
“Good evening Langley, I'm glad to see you here again!”
“My lady Stanley, good night,” he said as he looked nervously around me and Helel.
“Can we sit down?” I asked, although I didn't wait for an answer and sat on one of the stools around the table followed by Helel.
“Sure, the more the merrier,” the uncomfortable man replied. “Although I was really leaving, I only came to see if I could see an old friend.”
“Come on, Langley! I didn't know you do friends now. I need your help,” I replied bluntly.
“My help? I think the lady would do better to find another. I am useless, a ship rat without merits,” he said, running his nervous hand over his head where no hair was growing.
“A rat that knows everyone and has ears everywhere. And a rat that had very long hands and dedicated himself to steal from its captain. Nothing that others have not done before, of course, only that in your case your captain was nothing less than Henry Morgan. The first time they caught you it cost you your hand and the second one did not cost you your life just because it was me who interceded for you. Therefore, we are going to stop this nonsense and you will do your best to help this old friend or else, your new captain will have to know about your adventures and business with the rest of the island corsairs which will make him understand why there is always another ship that arrives before him to any Dutch ship that he intends to attack.”
The man went pale after my string and realised that he had no way out. I looked sideways at Helel and saw how he was smiling.
“It's fine, it's fine! There is no need for threats, my lady, we have always been friends and friends help each other when in need,” he replied showing a three-teeth smile. “But could I know who is the gentleman here? He is here like a schooner parrot, without saying a word and I prefer to know who I deal with.”
“He’s nobody, ignore him! Your dealings are with me,” I released without giving Helel a choice to respond.
“As my lady says,” said the old sailor without conviction. “What’s the matter, then?”
“I need to find a person, one who knows how to hide well. Mama Obeah.”
The man's face was immediately transformed into a mask of terror.
“Don't go that way, my lady, don't do it, really! I don't know what business you have with that bitch, but they will only bring you misfortunes!”
“My business is only my business, Langley, all I need is to know her whereabouts.”
“But nobody knows that. That black bitch is missing and better stay that way. Too many things have happened because of her. If all that is heard is true, that woman is the devil's whore.”
“Let me doubt it,” Helel said without even looking at Langley.
“That's nonsense,” I interrupted. “That woman is flesh and blood, you can believe me. And therefore she needs to eat, sleep and shit. And I want to know where she does it so stop going in circles and talk. I am convinced that you have heard something.”
The man hesitated a moment more, but finally he took his felt hat and adjusted it to his head causing the wing to fall slightly over his face as if that were to make the conversation more discreet.
“I have heard rumours that she has gone to live with the Indians, the last ones left in the north of the island. Some sailors say they have some kind of contact with the Arawaks and that they have set up a town in that area with some of the escaped black slaves or those left by the Spaniards. They have survived thanks to the few crops they have, what they hunt in the woods and what they steal from the farms. Apparently one morning she arrived with a white man and without giving further explanations she killed the town chief and appointed herself queen, nothing less. Apparently that bitch did things only the devil can do if you want to understand me. She has powers, and now the Indians venerate her as a divine creature, poor ignorant fools. They believe that she is I do not know what goddess of their tales that one day would come to take revenge on the conquerors. So now she is the big boss, not only of the blacks, but also of the Indians. That is what I have heard.”
“And where exactly is that town supposed to be?”
“I don't know that.”
“You lie, Langley, and I don't like being lied to. It would be a shame if you would also lose this hand, don't you think?” I said stroking his hand lightly so he knew what was at stake.
“Don't torture me like that, ma'am, you know I've always been good to you.”
“Then don't make me think now that you want to stop being good. Speak!”
“I repeat that I don't know. What I have told you came to me from one of the Indians of the town that I found half dying in the mangroves. Apparently he had escaped from that town because that bitch Obeah had begun to make strange rituals and sacrifices. Sacrifices of men, do you understand me? Well, and of women and children, any creature was good for her monstrosities. The poor unfortunate one escaped as he could, but he arrived in the mangroves very wounded and without strength. It did not last even half a day.”
“You're lying again, Langley!” Helel interrupted. “I don't think little Lucas is going to be very proud, don't you think?”
“How the hell do you know that?” he replied with a disheveled face. “Who the hell are you?”
“That doesn't matter,” Helel replied without letting me intervene. “What matters is that I know it, just as I know that the Indian you are talking about had the mission to bring you that bastard you had with an indian woman five years ago. The woman, frightened by everything she saw, sent the boy with his father hoping you would keep him safe. A boy who is currently living in one of the brothels in the city with a whore who you pay weekly a misery for her support.” Langley went pale when he heard Helel and made the threat of escape, but Helel's gaze was enough for him to understand that was not an intelligent decision. “So my friend Langley,” Helel continued, “as things stand, you have only two options. One is to accompany us to the damn town, the other is to invest the same time in picking up your bastard's guts that I intend to scrub through all the walls of the brothel with my own hands.” His words left me surprised by the seriousness with which they had been made and Langley knew, like me, there was no doubt that Helel was the kind of man who would execute his threats. Finally, the man broke down and sobbed.
“Do not touch the little one, I beg you! He has enough misfortune having a father like me, he is not to blame for anything! I will take you to the village, I will do what you ask, but leave him out of all this.”
“Very good. We will wait for tomorrow at dawn on the outskirts of the city, on the north road. If you do not appear, I will know where to find you and little Lucas. And in case you have any doubt this is bluffing, you may want to return this to your boy.” Helel threw on the table a small wooden toy in the form of pirate ship that Langley recognised immediately.
“I ... I made that for him!”
“I know. In fact, he sleeps with it every night, you better give it back to him.”
Langley stared at Helel without knowing what to say, but fully understanding that he could not win that battle and that this man was not one of those who did not keep his promises. Without saying anything else, he took his ragged cape and left the tavern like a bat out of hell.
“Would you mind explaining what was that?” I asked Helel when we were alone. “How did you know about the boy?”
“I just read his mind. We could have saved a lot of time if you had left me handle it from the beginning.”
“You read his mind. As simple as that. And the toy?”
“You won't expect me to tell you all the secrets of the lord of hell's, will you?” he replied with a mock
ing smile and immediately got up and left the tavern and I didn't see him again that night.
We met at dawn on a curve of the northern road on the outskirts of Port Royal as we had agreed. When I arrived, Helel was already waiting for me riding a thrush horse and wearing the same clothes as last night. We had to wait a long time for Langley to the point of doubting whether he was really going to appear or not, but Helel was convinced he would and finally the one-handed man showed that he was right and appeared before us riding a white mule.
“You shouldn't have brought those fancy horses, we will have to leave them as soon as we enter the mountains and I can assure you that when we return they will not be there. There is a lot of hunger in the mountains.”
The northern road began straight and uncomplicated, but after several hours of rather boring riding Langley took a detour to the West and the terrain began to become stony making the road to take more curves and sudden changes of direction to get around the big rocks scattered all over the land. We moved through that maze for several hours and the road ended up disappearing which made me think that the area should not be very busy. It was hard for me to understand how Langley was able to find the right path in that expanse of rocks and earth, but he kept going with absolute security, so I kept my thoughts to myself and simply followed him. On a couple of occasions, I suggested that we stop to rest a little and eat something, but Langley flatly refused with the excuse that this area was too uncovered and the sooner we reached the mountains, the sooner we would end with that crazy trip which we had forced him into. Throughout that journey Helel did not say a single word, he only smiled maliciously every time Langley complained that we were leading him to certain death and other similar complaining strings.
The sun began to descend when the terrain suddenly changed. The rocks began to be replaced by increasingly dense and frequent groups of low trees until suddenly we came across a green barrier that blocked the road. Langley got off the mule he left tied in a tree.
“Well, we have got this far! The rest of the way must be done on foot and uphill.”
“Maybe we should stop to spend the night here then?”
“Here? We would be crazy! We would be discovered, we have to walk a couple more hours, get lost in the thicket of the mountain. There are some waterfalls where we can rest, but here, no way.”
Seeing the little success of my proposal and the lack of support from Helel, I gave up and just took the saddlebag I had prepared with a blanket and some food, I threw it on my back and started the climb behind my two companions.
The road became really hard. The slope was considerable, and the overabundance of vegetation made it difficult to climb it. Langley was making his way with a machete, but in his attempt not to attract too much attention, he only removed the most insurmountable obstacles leaving us the effort to push forward with everything else. In a few moments my hands were full of cuts and my clothes were completely dirty due to the times I had fallen. My mood was getting worse by the minute and I had to make an effort not to get carried away by my anger and make the whole forest burn like a pile of straw. Helel didn't complain at all and that frustrated me even more. I knew he could transport himself to the top of the mountain whenever he wanted and yet there he was making the road like all of us without complaining. So much pedantry made me sick. Finally, and almost when I was about to swallow all my pride and say that I could go on no longer, the ground levelled off and I began to hear the sound of running water. A few moments later we arrived at a kind of tiny clearing where the trees had left a space through which the sunlight, almost disappeared by then, filtered in. In the center of the clearing a not too wide river saved a slope not much taller than a man generating a small waterfall that filled all the air with its sound.
“Here we can rest. Indians never come to this waterfall. They say that here lives their goddess of death who likes to bathe naked in these parts. I've been here many times and I've never been lucky enough to meet her,” Langley said, sitting on a rock by the water. For my part I did not wait a second to throw my duffel bag down and let myself drop flat on the floor.
“Don't tell me you're tired,” Helel said visibly amused.
“Bastard!” It was the only thing I had the strength to answer.
When I was finally able to move, I looked around for something to light a fire that would keep us warm during the night. I couldn't use my powers in front of Langley, so I would have to manage that in the traditional way or, better yet, have one of my companions turn it on for me. But if I thought I was going to spend a warm and comfortable night I was wrong.
“No fire at all, my lady,” Langley said vehemently. “A fire in this forest and at night is seen and smelled miles away. If we want to wake up with a sliced throat it is the perfect solution.”
I had no choice but to throw the blanket I had over me and press against a tree preparing for a really long night. Langley tried his way to compensate me for that cold night by giving us some dinner in the form of a pair of squalid fishes that he had managed to catch in the river, but the idea of eating raw fish made my guts stir, so that night I ended up being cold outside and inside. I tried to fall asleep, but in those conditions, it was impossible, and I did not seem to be the only one. Langley was still sitting on his stone, by the river where the moonlight was now reflected while playing with something in his remaining hand. I looked better and realised that it was the ship that Helel had got from little Lucas. I approached him trying to start some conversation in the hope that it would distract me from the icy night we were suffering.
“I thought you were going to give it back to Lucas,” I said without raising my voice too much, but I still scared him, and he looked at me with an unfriendly face for having invaded that intimate moment.
“I did, but when I told him that I had to leave for a few days, he asked me to take it so I had something to play with. Children stuff!”
“He's really important to you, right?” His eyes looked at me with great grief.
“You have a son, ma'am, so you'll understand me. Children are like a copy of ourselves, just without evil or any of the shit that adults take over. Every time I see my boy, I realise that he's the only good thing I've done in my whole life,” he told me with an unexpected sweetness. “My mother was a whore from the Bristol docks, so you can imagine that she had little interest in giving me any education, much less affection and father, as you will suppose, I had a few dozens to choose from. I grew up in the street, eating what I could steal and sleeping in any dry corner I could find. I never knew what a family was. So, at the age of thirteen I got tired of so much misery and got into a slaves ship bound for the Caribbean thinking that I could make a living this way. I barely survived that first trip, but I managed to get here and soon I began to relate to the worst companions. From there to end up being a drunkard and a player it was only a matter of months. At that point nobody wanted me in his crew, so the only option I had left was to join one of the pirate and buccaneer boats that abound here. And so, I ended up on Morgan's ship. The rest you know well. At one of the stops to replenish food I met my Indian goddess, Teresa. She had been raised as a slave at the home of a Spanish priest, so the name. The bastard had put her in his bed since she was eight years old. I guess we got together because we both had been through a lot of misery and somehow that attracts. And as a result, Lucas came. The best and sweetest child in the world. If two spoils like her mother and I have been able to create something so beautiful, I really tell you that priests and nuns are right when they say we can all redeem ourselves. Lucas is my redemption, ma'am, so tell me if I have no reason to love him and do anything for his safety and happiness.”
That reasoning left me speechless and I did the only thing that came out of me at that moment, bending down to kiss his cheek which made him blush.
“Fuck, if I would have known about the rewards, I would have become a poet before!” he replied with a sneer and I answered him with a stink in the head for being an idiot.
I left him on his stone, thinking about his Lucas and headed back to my tree passing behind Helel who was standing looking at the moon that was seen through the little open sky of the clearing.
“Did you ever think of them?” he spitted at me as I passed by. “Have you ever thought about Niel and Narmesh?” Those names nailed to me like two daggers upon hearing them from his lips and I had trouble finding the strength to answer him.
“I was another woman then, Helel. Now I am not necessarily better, but today I would not do many of the things I did.”
“Is that what you tell yourself to comfort yourself at night when their faces come to your mind? Do you remember their faces?” he asked with a sudden rage that caught me by surprise.
“Do you remember the face of the son whose heart you ripped out, Helel?” I said returning the attack and making him not know what to answer. “Never dare to accuse me of anything, Helel, because everything I have done, you have done it too. Your sins are as big as mine. I have sacrificed many things to achieve power, but you have sacrificed many more to recover it, so never dare judging me again.” I turned around and walked away, but after taking two steps I couldn´t but turn and look him in the eyes with mine full of tears. “I remember their faces, their smell, their caresses and every minute I spent with them. I don't know if you can say the same thing, dear husband.”
We set off the next morning as soon as the sun made its appearance. The road we had to walk was even steeper than the day before and my body still resented the exhaustion of not being able to sleep all night, but the rage I felt for Helel's comments about our children still burned with strength inside me and gave me the thrust I needed to ascend the rest of the slope.
Langley explained to me that the town where his Teresa lived was located on the other side of the mountain, in a valley hidden in the thicket. No one who did not know the area would ever be able to find it and for that reason it was the perfect hiding place for the men and women who had found refuge there, all of them slaves escaped from their masters or Indians who refused to be enslaved. The morning was tremendously cold, but the climb effort soon warmed our members. Langley was in the lead followed by Helel with me closing the parade. Not once did Helel turn to speak to me, nor did I do anything to start a conversation. There were too many wounds on the part of the two that the conversation last night had only reopened. Langley noticed the tense and rarefied atmosphere between us and tried not to comment. Several hours passed before we reached the top. I had thought that we would head down the slope immediately towards the valley that Langley had spoken of, but, to my surprise, he looked for a place to shelter among some leafy trees and told us that we should wait for the night to come. I didn't like that situation at all, I didn't feel like having to spend several hours with Helel without saying a word, but I had no choice. To my surprise, my body thanked the stop and managed to fall asleep helped by the warm temperature of the day that removed the cold form the night before out of my body. I woke up suddenly when I noticed that someone was shaking me and opened my eyes to meet Helel's face that told me we should get back on track. The sun began to hide behind the mountain and the cold threatened us again. I dressed as I could with the cape, and we set out again. The new section of the road was easier. Although the vegetation was equally dense, the slope was downhill, and my legs appreciated the change. After a long while I noticed how the ground began to level off. The sunlight was almost non-existent and the man stopped to take something out of his bag. It was three short torches that he lit with the help of some flint.
