Buccaneer hl-2

by Tim Severin

  Sharpe had already brought his vessel close enough for a shouted conversation across the water, and when Hector explained what he had found, the captain told him to return to Trinity, bringing the documents, valuables and the female prisoners.

  But when the young man explained these instructions to Dona Juana, he was met with a flat refusal.

  'I have not the slightest intention of going aboard your ship,' she announced imperiously. 'If your captain wishes to speak with me, he can come across here.'

  Hector wondered for a moment whether he should get Jezreel to pick up the woman and carry her into the cockboat, but Ringrose came to his rescue. Stepping across to the rail he bawled out to Sharpe, 'It would be easier if you would come across with a prize crew.'

  To Hector's relief Sharpe agreed to this suggestion and before long the buccaneer captain was standing on the deck of the Santo Rosario and Hector was introducing him to the wife of the senior magistrate of the Criminal Court of Paita.

  'I am most honoured to make your acquaintance’ Sharpe said, making a bow. His Spanish was slow and clumsy, and from the way he was looking at the young woman, it seemed that he was very much taken with her beauty as Ringrose had been.

  'You are the leader of these people?' Juana asked. She managed to put her question as if she and Sharpe were superior to everyone else, should he prove to be in command.

  Sharpe preened himself. 'Indeed I am the captain of that ship over there, senora, and at your service’ he confirmed.

  'No doubt your own vessel is well appointed but it is hardly likely to offer the same quality of accommodation as this one. My companion and I have managed to make ourselves as comfortable as possible in such trying and cramped conditions. I have informed your assistant here that I have no intention of leaving the Santo Rosario.

  Sharpe was positively fawning. 'I would not wish you to be put to any inconvenience, senora. By all means you may stay here. I will instruct my men not to disturb you.' Hector wondered if Bartholomew Sharpe knew what a spectacle he was making of himself.

  'Come, Maria, it is time we withdrew,' said Dona Juana and without another word she swept back into her cabin in a swirl of green silk, followed by her companion.

  'She should fetch a choice ransom,' observed one of the buccaneers.

  Sharpe rounded on him in a fury. 'Keep a civil tongue in your head’ he snapped. 'What happens to the lady will be decided by the council, and in the meantime you have work to do. For a start you can help dispose of the dead bodies, and clean this deck.'

  Then Sharpe turned to Hector, who was still holding the bundle of ship's documents, and asked, 'What did you find out?'

  'The vessel was bound for Panama. This folder contains a chart for the final approach. There are also general maps for all the entire coast. Her captain was an important man, a friend of the governor there, and Dona Juana was on her way to stay with him.'

  'Lucky fellow,' commented Sharpe.

  'There's also a considerable quantity of cash on board, and Ringrose believes that the ship's ballast could be turned into musket bullets.' Hector would have continued but the captain was scarcely listening to him.

  'We must show her that we are not barbarians,' was all Sharpe said. 'Confine the ship's officers to the forepeak, and have them give their word that they'll not make trouble, and this evening we will entertain the senora and her companion. On this ship of course. Perhaps your friend the Frenchman can prepare a special meal.'

  'What about the captain's son? He's over there.' Hector nodded towards the young man still standing miserably at the stern rail.

  'Put him in the forepeak with the last of them.' 'His father possessed some fine tableware; solid silver.' 'Good. We'll use that. Later we can have it broken up and divided among the men.'

  'Sharpe seems utterly smitten,' Hector commented to Jacques in the galley of the Santo Rosario that evening. The wind had died away and the two ships lay becalmed on a quiet sea. The Frenchman had been rowed across to the prize, bringing his preferred cooking utensils and dried herbs and a large tuna which he had been marinading in a mixture of sugar and salt. Jacques lifted the lid of a chafing dish, dipped a tasting spoon in the sauce, and said, 'Never underestimate the power of a beautiful woman. Particularly on men who have been so long at sea. Their heads can be set spinning until they are dizzy.' Jezreel, who was listening in, was sceptical. 'I still think that there's something not quite right about this ship. Maybe her crew put up a fight because they had a brave captain and he did not want to surrender a judge's wife. But there's more to it. I watched how she twisted Sharpe around that elegant little finger of hers. Our captain rolled over on his back and wagged his tail.'

  Hector had to agree with him. He was full of admiration for the resolute poise of the two women, but he sensed a hidden reason for the women's attitude, and he was puzzled what it might be. 'If I hadn't read those despatches, I'd have said that Dona Juana was deliberately delaying us because she knows that the Spaniards are assembling a squadron of warships and will soon be here to rescue her,' he said.

  Jacques blew on a spoonful of broth to cool it. 'Maybe she didn't know what was in those despatches.'

  'Her husband would never have allowed her to set sail if he thought that Trinity was still operating in the South Sea.'

  'Then you have to ask yourself exactly what Dona Juana wants.' Jacques took a sip from the spoon, then added a pinch of pimento powder to the broth.

  'To be allowed to stay on this ship.'

  'Anything else?'

  'That we weren't to interfere with their private possessions.' 'Then that's where you need to look.'

  'But they have been promised that we would do no such thing,' Hector objected.

  Jacques shrugged. 'Then make sure that neither they nor Sharpe get to know. Dinner is to be served in the open air, out on the quarterdeck. I suggest while the two ladies and our gallant captain are enjoying my cuisine, someone searches their cabin. Dan climbs like a goat. He can get in through the stern window, examine the cabin and get out again before they finish my dessert - it will be a syllabub of coconut, worth lingering over.'

  'I have a better idea,' said Jezreel. 'There's a small hatch in the floor of the stern accommodation. I found it when we were checking the cargo hold. It's normally used by the ship's carpenter when he inspects the tiller trunking. Someone small - either Dan or Hector — should be able to get into the cabin that way.'

  In the end it was decided that it would be quicker if both Dan and Hector carried out the search together, and they managed to squeeze their way into the cabin without much difficulty. There they found nothing suspicious except that the large clothing trunk was firmly locked.

  'I can't imagine that the ladies feared the crew would steal their dresses,' said Dan. He felt in his pocket and produced the priming wire he used for cleaning the vent of his musket. Slipping the end of the wire into the lock, he gave a twist and a moment later was easing back the lid.

  'Jacques would be proud of you. I doubt he was quicker in his time as a Paris burglar,' whispered Hector.

  The trunk was stuffed with gowns, skirts, petticoats, mantuas, capes, chemises, gloves and stockings, all so tightly packed together that Hector wondered if it would ever be possible to shut the lid again. He plunged his arms into the mass of taffeta and silk and lace, and began to feel down through the layers. Two-thirds of the way through the excavation his fingers met a solid object. It felt like a large book. Carefully easing it out of the hiding place, he saw that it was another folder, very similar to the one in which Captain Lopez had kept his charts. Hector stepped across to the stern window where the light was better, and turned back the cover. He knew at once that he was holding in his hands the dead captain's private book of navigation. It was filled with his daily drawings and observations. There were diagrams of anchorages marked with their soundings, drafts of harbour approaches, dozens of coastal profiles, sketches of islands, observations of tides and currents. The folder contained a lifetim
e of Captain Lopez's experience as a navigator. Quickly Hector riffled through the pages. There must have been almost a hundred of them, covered with drawings and notes. Some were many years old. They were sea-stained and frayed, the ink fading, and probably drawn when Lopez first went to sea. Other pages were drafted by a different hand and appeared to have been copied from official books of sailing instructions. 'So it was not all in his head,' Hector muttered to himself as he replaced the folder, burying it deep within the scented garments. Then Dan relocked the trunk, and Hector followed the Miskito down through the little hatchway.

  'That's why the captain risked our musket fire. He was trying to get to the cabin to reach the folder,' said Hector when he and Dan got back to the galley and found Jezreel running a large thumb round the salver on which Jacques had served the coconut syllabub. 'He must have known that his ship was likely to be captured and he was determined not to let his navigation notes fall into our hands. He would have dumped the folder into the sea the moment he decided to surrender.'

  'But what about those other charts, the ones in the oilskin folder?'

  'Those were much less detailed. They provide only the general outline of the coast. To use them properly, Lopez would be relying on his detailed navigation notes.'

  'Ringrose is going to be happy. It's going to save him a lot of paper and ink. He's been scribbling away at that sort of stuff ever since we came into the South Sea,' commented Jezreel, licking his thumb.

  'Ringrose has been mapping only a small portion of the coast,' Hector corrected him. 'I didn't have time to check just how far Captain Lopez's navigation notes extend, but he was exceptionally well travelled. He may have had precise sailing and pilotage directions all the way from California to the Cape.'

  'Is that important?' asked Dan.

  'I worked for a land surveyor in Port Royal for a few days, copying maps for him. One day when he was drunk he said to me that really good charts of the South Sea would be priceless. They would be the key to enormous riches. I remember him saying that the Spaniards would murder to prevent such information falling into the wrong hands.'

  'Sounds as though they are as dangerous as they are valuable,' joined in Jezreel doubtfully. 'Captain Lopez's charts would be handy for us now, but we've been managing pretty well without them, thanks to you and Ringrose as our navigators. If Dona Juana and her companion are released back to their own people, what happens then? The Spaniards will know we have the folder, and they will redouble their efforts to hunt us down.'

  'And anyone they caught would be tortured to learn just how much was known, who else had the same information, and then strangled to silence them.' Jacques added.

  Hector thought for a moment before replying. 'Then we'll keep quiet about our discovery ... At least for now.'

  'What about Sharpe? Do we tell him what we've found?' Jezreel asked.

  Again, Hector paused before replying. His mistrust of Sharpe made him cautious. 'No. He'll be outraged if he learns that Dona Juana has made a fool of him. We'll do what Jacques did with those dice he retrieved from the bushes. He guessed they would come in useful at some time. These maps could be the same for us when it comes to dealing with Sharpe.'

  'And how do we prevent the two women from knowing that we have the charts?'

  'We copy them,' said Hector firmly. 'Dan can help me. There was a time when we both drew maps and charts for a Turkish sea captain. Dan's a quick and accurate draughtsman.'

  'Even so, it will take time,' Jezreel objected.

  'Captain Sharpe seems in no hurry to part company with the beautiful Juana,' said Hector. 'He will be cosying up to her for the next few days. I already have a supply of paper and ink for helping Ringrose. Every time we have the chance, we remove a few sheets from the folder, copy them, and return them. I doubt that Dona Juana or Maria do more than check that the folder is still safe in their trunk. They won't have time to count the pages.'

  'How long will all this take?' asked Jezreel.

  'Dan and I should be able to complete the job in less than a week. We don't have to make fair copies, only quick sketches and notes. I'll keep the results safe in that bamboo tube I've been carrying so no one will even suspect what we are doing.' He looked at his friends. 'Are we all agreed?'

  Dan and Jacques nodded, and Jezreel with a glance at the Frenchman added, 'Jacques, here's your chance to shine. Let's hope you can come up with seven days of dinner dishes and never repeat the same menu.'

  In the end it took a full ten days to copy the contents of the folder. Hector had failed to anticipate how often he would be needed to act as interpreter for Sharpe. In his infatuation for the delectable Dona Juana, Sharpe took every excuse to visit the Santo Rosario, and Hector had to be on hand to untangle the buccaneer's clumsy gallantry. So it was left to Dan to burgle the cabin while Hector remained outside on deck, deliberately prolonging his captain's flowery compliments to the Alcalde's wife. By the time all the pages had been copied, the crew of Trinity were at breaking point with their captain's dalliance. They demanded a general council and insisted that the two women be sent on their way. Reluctantly Sharpe agreed.

  'We will sail to Paita, contact Dona Juana's family and arrange an exchange,' he told the crew assembled on Trinity's maindeck.

  'What sort of an exchange?' someone had called out.

  'The lady in return for a pilot who can guide us in these waters. In addition we'll demand a ransom to be paid in ship's supplies. We are running short of sail cloth and rope.'

  'But we can take the sails and rigging from the Santo Rosario,' objected one of the older men.

  'That is not sufficient for what I have in mind,' said Sharpe. He paused for effect, then called out, 'We need that material if Trinity is to make a long voyage. I am proposing that we return back to the Caribbean by sailing around the Cape!'

  There was a widespread murmur of approval. Many of the crew were heartily tired of the South Sea. Sharpe looked towards where Hector was standing with his friends.

  'I am appointing Lynch as our go-between. Off Paita we will intercept a local fishing boat, and put Lynch aboard so that he can go ashore. He will conduct negotiations on our behalf.'

  'What am I to say?' asked Hector. Sharpe was manipulating the situation, and might even be seeking to get rid of him.

  'Tell the Spaniards that once we have the pilot safely aboard and received the supplies, we will hand back the Santo Rosario and the lady, unharmed. We'll leave the vessel at a suitable rendezvous which we decide.'

  Hector voiced his misgivings. 'Why should the Spaniards believe me? They might just execute me out of hand.'

  Sharpe smiled cynically. 'The Spaniards will do anything to speed us on our way, and we still have Dona Juana.'

  'And how can they be sure that Dona Juana has not been harmed?'

  'Because you will go to Paita with her companion Maria. She will tell them that Dona Juana has been very well treated. Maria will serve as your security.'

  Again there was a murmur of approval from the crew clustered around Hector, and before he could raise another objection, Sharpe treated him to one of his sly looks and added in a voice loud enough for all to hear, 'I was very impressed with how you dealt with the Spaniards at La Serena. I'm sure you will do just as well on this occasion.'

  SIXTEEN

  A week later, Hector was uncomfortably aware of how thoroughly he had been out-manoeuvred. Sharpe had disembarked him and Maria, Dona Juana's companion, onto a small fishing smack out of Paita, and already Trinity had dwindled to a tiny dark shape on the horizon. The galleon, which had been his home for the last fifteen months, would soon be lost from view in the gathering darkness, and Maria was taking pleasure in baiting him.

  'Your new shipmates don't seem to like you,' she said mockingly. She was seated facing him on the centre thwart and had noted the surly looks of the smack's crew. They were understandably sullen. Trinity had robbed them of their catch of mackerel and anchovies and, to make matters worse, the wind had turned f
oul. It was going to be a long hard slog for them to sail back into Paita.

  'One word from me when we land in Paita and the governor could have you garotted,' Maria added maliciously.

  Hector said nothing. A burst of spray struck the back of his neck and he pulled his cloak around him.

  'It's no more than you and your companions deserve. They are nothing but arrogant brigands of the sea. Blood-soaked murderers.'

  The young woman had a low, musical voice, and the harsh words sounded strange coming from her.

  'If the Santo Rosario had not opened fire on us, we would not have been obliged to take the vessel by force,' Hector replied.

  Maria wrinkled her nose in disbelief. 'You would have pillaged the ship, and not touched us?'

  'You call us brigands. So think of us as highwaymen who stop and rob travellers on the road. If the travellers are sensible they offer no resistance and are merely relieved of their valuables and allowed to go on their way. But if there is opposition, and someone fires a pistol, there is bloodshed. The travellers seldom come out best.'

  'And why do you choose to make your living by such theft and piracy rather than by honest toil? You don't look or talk like a cut-throat.' Her tone was a little softer, and there was a hint of curiosity in her voice.

  'There were special circumstances . . .' Hector began, and was about to explain how he came to be in the South Sea when he thought better of it and instead looked out towards the horizon. Trinity was no longer visible. The daylight was almost gone, and the first stars were appearing through rents in the rapidly moving clouds. It was threatening to be a wild night. The little boat was beginning to pitch and lurch on the blackness of the waves. The swirl of bilgewater beneath his feet released the smell of rotten fish. He wondered about Dan and the others.

  Maria seemed to read his thoughts for suddenly she asked, 'What about your friends? There's one very big man, I think his name is Jezreel. I saw you often talking with him, and there was the Frenchman who was our cook, and a man who looked like an Indian.'