When James Silver had split the men up, the first of the pirates he had chosen to lead one of the other groups was Richard Tyler. Silver could no longer stand the sight of him, and sending him off with his own team of pirates was one sure way of getting rid of him.
Tyler was an accountant, not a pirate. He had no experience of battle. With any luck, Tyler would get into a fight with some local inhabitants, and they would kill him. Problem solved.
As Richard Tyler stood with his group of thirteen pirates facing the trees and the paths around the lagoons illuminated by the devil's fires, he began to wonder what exactly he had got himself into. For a moment he began to panic. He knew the eyes of the other pirates were on him now, and he realised this was an opportunity to demonstrate leadership, and gain their respect. Yet, the truth was, he had never led men before, especially not on a raiding party into Spanish territory.
He closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Focusing.
"Think man, think..." he said to himself.
Did Tyler lack the courage to take his men straight into the heart of the local village, or was such a move just plain crazy? Surely, the sensible thing to do would be to first ascertain the size and strength of the village before attacking it? Forewarned was surely forearmed?
"This way men," Tyler said quietly, indicating that instead of going deeper into the village, they would first go along the beach and then cut inland when they passed the last house. "First we will go around the village, and then cut back into it from the other side!"
The first rays of the sun were just beginning to crawl up the beach when Tyler and his team set off to the left, hurrying along the sand in the shade of the trees. After about two hundred yards, they saw that they had passed the last of the buildings and came to a large and solid metal net about three yards tall that was strung between regularly spaced posts and which extended from further inland down to the tree-line, leaving the beach clear. The posts were driven deep into the ground, and when Tyler pushed on the net he discovered that to his surprise it was solid and immoveable: it looked like a net, but was more like a metal wall with hundreds of large holes punched out of it. How could the Spanish build such a thing? It was truly impressive. Several of the other pirates were also mesmerized by it, and stood staring at it and touching it gently with their fingers.
"Ahoy, this way, men!" Tyler called after them, urging them to follow him, and he turned and headed inland following the line of the metal wall. Instinctively Tyler knew that this wall was a form of protection put up by the villagers to protect them from the outside world, and he guessed that it would run all around the village. If Tyler and his men followed the metal wall, they would be able to discover just how large the village was, and what the defenses were.
They followed the metal wall directly inland for about two hundred yards, until abruptly it connected to a large, solid wall made out of stone or bricks but which had been covered with plaster and painted gold. The wall was four yards tall, and every twenty yards there was a small turret built into the top, giving the impression that it was a defensive wall for a castle.
As they hurried further inland, they passed large, three-storied buildings on their right, but kept well away from them.
Slowly the wall began to curve to the right, and they found themselves bent double running around it on a path that was illuminated here and there by the same bright fires of the devil that they had seen before near the lagoon at the beach.
The men stared at the fires as they passed, but word of the death of Mr Wright had spread like wildfire amongst them, and no man dared approach or go near them.
A few minutes later they heard the first large report of musket fire. It came from the right, bouncing around and echoing off the buildings. It was swiftly followed by several other loud volleys of fire, and then the sound of continuous screaming.
It had begun.
Time was now of the essence.
Twenty yards further on, the wall curved sharply to the right, and as they approached, they could see that it ended in a large, thick tower, beside a tall wooden gate which was standing open across a road that led out of the village. Or was this a palace? This was no ordinary village gate. This was far too grand. On the other side of the gate, there was another tower, linked by a section of wall that ran across the top of the gate and connected the two towers together. Beyond the second tower the wall continued, and in the distance Tyler could see that it began to curve around to the right, back towards the sea.
As they approached the first tower, several men dressed in black ran out and made haste towards the sound of where the musket fire had come from. Tyler immediately gave signals for the men to drop flat on the ground amongst the fauna and flowers that decorated the grass on the inside of their path.
After a few minutes, with no further men emerging from the tower, Tyler and one of the other men crept forward, leaving the other pirates behind.
At the base of the nearest tower, there were several large, clear windows. Inside there was a small room, and Tyler could hear voices coming through the window.
Slowly he stood up, leaving the cover of the fauna and crossing the path, pressing himself hard against the wall, and edging along it until he came to the base of the tower.
The tower itself was round, like the turrets at the top of English Castles - in fact there was much about this palace that reminded him about an English Castle. With his body pressed hard against the wall, he took a deep breath, and poked his head out, taking a quick look into the room.
A single man in a black uniform sat a table. He was looking at a set of boxes which were stuck to the wall. For a moment, Tyler was dumbstruck by what he saw, and momentarily feared that he may be about to lose his reason. There was already much that was very strange about this village or palace, but looking now at the sight of the little boxes on the wall which were full of little people, talking and shouting, he had to steady himself and take a deep breath.
Tyler stared at the boxes and at the tiny people inside them. What magic was this? This was final proof that the devil was at work here!
In disbelief Tyler suddenly recognised several of the images: James Silver and Paddy O'Brian.
They had been caught and the devil had put them in the little boxes! Tyler immediately knew that it was down to him to rescue them!
He ran quickly back to the other pirate and told him his plan.
It was simple.
On the far side of the room in which the palace guard was keeping watch over the now tiny Mr Silver and his fellow pirates, captured and now imprisoned by the devil King, Tyler had seen an open door, probably left open in haste as the guards had run into the palace.
As Tyler crawled along the ground around the edge of the tower towards the door, the other pirate knelt before the window.
After counting to ten three times - the pirate could not count higher than ten, he suddenly stood up and knocked on the window, smiling.
Inside the tiny room the palace guard jumped to his feet, and hurried across to the window to the pirate who was demanding his attention. At that exact moment, Tyler jumped up and ran through the open door, raising his pistol and bringing the metal ball at the base of the handle down on top of the guard's skull.
The man immediately fell to the ground, unconscious or dead, Tyler did not know or care.
His next thought was to rescue James Silver and his men, and to set them free from the boxes on the wall.
Turning to them and reaching out to wrench the doors to the boxes open, a surge of fear rushed through him.
The boxes were closed with a strange form of glowing glass. He would have to break the glass to let James and the others out. Raising his pistol one more time, he smashed the glass with the butt of the handle.
There was a loud bang, and the box went immediately black. Smoke came out from within, and suddenly the images of James Silver and Paddy and the others were gone.
Tyler peered into the hole in the glass and realised that he had been t
ricked. There was no space beyond the glass. There were no small people trapped or imprisoned behind it. It had just been an image, a picture or illusion conjured up by the devil himself! Tyler shook his head and stepped backwards in shock and fear away from the magic trick. His foot met the head of the guard lying on the floor and he tipped backwards, almost falling over, but catching himself at the last moment on the edge of the table.
Richard Tyler pulled himself up, and stared again at the other boxes on the wall, in which images of other tiny people could still be seen and even heard, their voices muffled but loud enough to hear.
Just then a sharp, shrill, whistling sound came from behind him, and as he turned and urgently sought its source, he realised that it was coming from an object on the table.
Instantly, Tyler drew his cutlass and brought his blade down across the top of the ringing object. Part of the object bounced onto the table under the impact of the blade upon it, a cable running from its base to another object which had survived Tyler's attack and still remained atop the table.
What happened next was most strange: a voice spoke loudly from the object on the table. By now the other pirate had entered the room, and together they both stared at the talking object: two small hemispheres connected together by an arch.
"What is it?" the pirate asked.
Tyler shook his head. He took a step closer, cautiously, then bent over it, lowering his ear closer to the sound of the voice which came from one of the small hemispheres.
"Hello? Hello? Winston, are you there?" the voice said, loudly.
Curiosity was now beginning to overcome Tyler's fear. He could not resist it any further. Slowly he began to extend his hand towards the arch that connected the two small hemispheres, and gently his fingers wrapped themselves around it.
He was still alive!
Emboldened, Tyler carefully picked the object up, bringing it closer to his face and examining it.
"Winston? Did you hear gunfire? Can you see anything on your CCTV? Are you okay, man? Shall I send a Response Team over to help? Answer man, answer!"
The voice urged Tyler to answer.
Gingerly he put the speaking hemisphere to his ear so that he could hear it more clearly.
"Winston, for the last time, man, shall I send a Response Team over to help? Is everything okay, man?"
Before he knew what he was doing, Tyler shouted back at the object:
"Everything is okay, -man-! Do not send a 'PONSE' team. ?Man."
Tossing the talking box back onto the table, he ran out of the tower, shaking with fear and excitement.
Tyler knew they were in real danger now. Someone was sending a 'PONSE team'. What that was, Tyler didn't know. But it did not sound good.
"When I say push, PUSH!" Tyler shouted loudly, instructing the other pirates in his team to close the large wooden gates, and help block the entrance to the palace. "Push!"
The wooden gates were large, but they closed surprisingly easily, responding to the combined strength of Tyler's pirates.
Once closed, Tyler and a few of the other pirates lifted several wooden planks up and put them across the gates, inserting them into supports built into their back.
In the center of the gates there was a large, ornate lock. He turned the lock, and pulled out the heavy key. It was a large key, exactly like any other he would expect to see. It was perhaps the only 'normal' thing about the whole experience so far.
Tyler then instructed several of the men to close all the windows in the towers, and block all the doors, making it as difficult as possible for anyone outside the palace walls to find a way in.
He then ordered one of the pirates to climb up inside the steps of the first tower, and keep a look out for any signs of trouble, which Tyler was sure would soon head their way.
He stationed half the others inside the towers, their muskets and pistols primed and ready to defend their position from any advancing guards.
It was their job to defend the rear guard of their attack on the palace.
With the main gate to the palace now secured, Tyler led the rest of the men down the entrance road that led from there into the palace itself.
He had never been so frightened in all his life.
Time Ship (Book One): A Time Travel Romantic Adventure Page 20
