The War of the Four Isles

by Andrew McGahan

How had it come to be there? So far Dow had heard only a brief account, concerning merely the ship’s escape from the sandbank, by a means no one, not even Emmet Bone, had foreseen. Yes, the tide had returned, but as the pilot had predicted the water was too low to refloat the Snout, only lapping about the ship’s keel. But then the miracle; the slope of the sandbank itself had suddenly given way – strained by the weight of the vessel – and before anyone knew it, the Snout had ridden the landslide down into deep water and freedom.

  But of course that was only part of the riddle. And now, as the Franklin thrust steadily along, Dow pressed Johannes for more details. Why had Captain Fletcher changed his mind and brought the ship to Banishment, after swearing he would never do so? How had they managed to sail so close to the island?

  Johannes shook his head, his voice low so as not to be overheard by the Heretic passengers crowded on the deck. ‘It was not the captain who wanted to come, no matter how much I – for one – argued that we should. Of course, I wanted to go after you on foot, even before we floated free, but Fletcher forbade it. Oh, how furious he was, when we found those tracks of yours in the sand. But in the end it was not I that convinced him to sail for Banishment – it was Colonel Oliver, at the point of a gun, no less.’

  ‘Colonel Oliver!’ Dow echoed in surprise. ‘I wouldn’t have thought—’

  ‘I know. He has never seemed a friend of yours. Nevertheless, he insisted we try for Banishment in pursuit of you, and when the argument grew heated he and his soldiers seized control of the high deck with muskets drawn! Fletcher backed down, thank the deeps, before violence occurred, and notionally at least he remains in command of the ship – but he has withdrawn to his cabin ever since. In high umbrage, I gather, and not very sober.’

  ‘No one objected to any of this?’ Dow asked, hardly able to credit it.

  ‘Agatha and Jake spoke angrily against the colonel exceeding his authority – but they agreed we should come after you. As for the rest of us . . .’ Johannes’ expression turned contrite. ‘The truth is you shamed not a few of us, setting out alone like that, so we were all determined to make the attempt. The strange thing is, once we got underway, it was easy. The winds, the currents, they all favoured us. When the tide went out yesterday at dawn, we stumbled upon an unmapped lake exactly where we needed one, and then when the tide came in again, it was only a short sail to within sight of Banishment itself. And so here we are.’

  Dow glanced about at the shallows. ‘And what are our plans now for retreat? The equinox and full moon are three days passed . . .’

  Johannes nodded gravely. ‘The worst of it will be the great banks further south; we cannot hope to cross them in these lowering tides. But Emmet Bone is ever calm, as you know. He proposes that with the knowledge he has garnered of the sand and the currents in these last days, he may be able to steer our way through them – in two weeks’ time, when the new moon’s tides begin to rise.’

  King Benito, who was seated nearby, overheard this and protested, ‘Two weeks? No sooner? I’d hoped to be clear home by then.’

  ‘My apologies, Your Majesty. But unless you know something we don’t of the Banks, it will be at least that long, and maybe longer. And then how we are to land you on the mainland without detection – amid renewed enemy patrols, for surely news of your escape will be out by then – that I don’t know at all.’

  But Nell, who was also listening now, had sat up intently. ‘As to the Banks, Blacksmith, perhaps we do indeed know something you do not know. We have had a year, after all, to study them. Once we’re on board, I must speak with your pilot!’

  *

  The sun was rising as the Franklin was lifted back on board. By then the Snout’s sails were set and the ship was already turning away to the south.

  Dow found himself warmly welcomed on the main deck, many of the crew gathering around to wring his hand or pound him on the back; his crossing of the Banks had enlarged his legend in their eyes still further. But when he’d disentangled himself from their admiration, he looked up to the high deck and saw that it was as Johannes had reported; the captain was absent. Agatha Harp was in command, with Emmet Bone at the wheel.

  But it was Colonel Oliver who most drew Dow’s eye. The army officer stood erect at the high deck’s forward rail, arms akimbo, smiling down with cold satisfaction at the Heretic arrivals. Apart from his knife he was not armed, but the air of force about him, of disciplined savagery, was more palpable than ever. For a moment, Dow even had the strange sensation that he had not so much been rescued from Banishment, as recaptured . . .

  ‘A fierce fellow,’ said King Benito at Dow’s side. ‘But where is your captain? I had expected he would be the one to welcome us.’

  ‘I’m told he’s indisposed,’ Dow said, too embarrassed to explain the truth.

  ‘I see.’ Doubt clouded the king’s eyes, vanished again; the choice was made. ‘Never mind. Nell, let’s attend to our accommodation.’

  Dow went below with them, descending through all three upper decks, for the prisoners were being housed below the waterline, in the stern section of the First Lower deck – exactly, indeed, as Cassandra and Colonel Oliver had long ago planned. Some effort had been made to make the chamber habitable; the cargo cleared out, and hammocks strung. But the space was still cramped, and dim, and airless.

  Worse, this part of the hold could be accessed through only a single door in a bulkhead amidships, and posted at this same door were two of Oliver’s soldiers, muskets at the ready. The prisoners had been requested to stay in the hold in any case, lest they interfere with the Snout’s crew, which was a reasonable precaution, with so many strangers on board. But to Dow the armed guards struck an unfriendly and coercive note.

  ‘You don’t have to stay down here, you know,’ he said to Nell, who was staring about at the crowded lodgings with a certain dismay. ‘You’d be welcome to . . .’ But then he trailed off, his nerves failing him. Damn it – why was this so hard? They’d already spent a night together! ‘I mean, you could share my cabin. You’d have some privacy there. Compared to here.’

  ‘Oh.’ Her expression was surprised but otherwise unreadable. ‘Thank you. Really. But I should probably just find myself a corner here. It wouldn’t feel right, to be away from everyone else . . .’

  ‘Of course,’ Dow replied.

  ‘Not yet anyway.’ Her gaze held his deliberately a moment, charged. ‘Maybe once we—’

  Which was when a voice came cutting through the general din. ‘Dow! There you are!’

  It was Cassandra. She was pushing through the throng, her arms full of blankets for the prisoners. Dow felt a momentary flush of panic; he hadn’t known how he would handle this encounter, and now it was upon him without warning.

  But Cassandra’s smile as she came up was nothing but glad. ‘Thank all the oceans! I was so certain you were lost. But look at you!’ Before Dow could respond, she turned brightly to Nell. ‘And this must be the famous Ignella of the Cave.’

  For an instant – as Dow hesitated, still off guard – the two women surveyed each other, Cassandra with a seemingly open interest, Nell with a warier curiosity. It was impossible for Dow not to compare them; Cassandra the taller and more fully fleshed, her clothes the more colourful, her hair the more extravagant; Nell, rather small and contained in comparison, made striking only by the outlandishness of her scars.

  Then, ‘Yes,’ Dow managed at last. ‘Cassandra, this is Nell. Nell, this is Cassandra.’

  Nell gave a minimal bow. ‘I’ve heard much of you in turn, Mistress Cassandra.’

  ‘Oh, I’m no one important.’

  ‘But you are a laundress, yes?’

  ‘Quite literally, at the moment,’ laughed Cassandra, indicating the blankets. ‘I brought these down from the officers’ quarters. It’s been so cold these last few days. But I don’t suppose anyone will need them. It’s so hot in here with all these people I can hardly breathe.’

  She was smiling still, but to Dow her good h
umour seemed forced, and the brightness of her eyes had a feverish edge. Guilt bit at him. She must have had a terrible time, after he’d disappeared across the sands. She’d thought him dead, and would have blamed herself.

  ‘I’m fascinated by your Order,’ Nell was saying to Cassandra. ‘And envious of the fact that in the Twin Isles women can rise to positions of power. It would never happen in the Kingdoms.’

  ‘No, I gather not,’ Cassandra observed, with a glance around at the crowd. Dow only noticed it now, but many of the Heretics were staring at the laundress with obvious loathing. ‘Your countrymen seem to regard an Order like mine as being against the very laws of nature.’

  ‘It’s true, I’m afraid,’ admitted Nell. ‘But for my part, I’ve always thought that if something is physically achievable then how can it be against natural law? Against man’s law maybe. Anything can be against man’s law. But nature, from what I’ve seen of it, only deals with the possible or the impossible.’

  ‘I couldn’t agree more.’ Cassandra’s smile was becoming brittle. ‘And yet still we are named witches and enchantresses by our enemies.’

  ‘Well, I can see that you at least are no witch.’ Nell’s inscrutable gaze flicked to Dow briefly, then she put out her arms to Cassandra for the blankets. ‘But forgive me – let me take those. And thank you. It was thoughtful of you to bring them down.’

  The laundress gave an uncertain laugh, but handed the blankets over. ‘You’re very welcome.’ Then she looked at Dow. ‘I don’t want to drag you away, but if our guest can spare you, do you have a moment?’

  Nell smiled innocently. ‘Oh, I can spare him. But Dow, remember, I need to see your pilot as soon as possible.’ And with a nod to them both, she made off through the hammocks.

  Cassandra already had Dow by the arm and was tugging him towards the door. With an amount of impatience he let himself be led. But once they’d passed through the hatch and beyond the two guards, she pulled him into a quiet corner by the stairs, and said crisply, ‘Dow – I couldn’t be happier that you and your Nell are reunited. But you mustn’t think that all is well now. It isn’t. There’s trouble on this ship, and direct danger still to you and these Heretics.’

  Dow’s impatience vanished. ‘Is it Colonel Oliver? You warned me of him before – and I heard that he all but mutinied against the captain.’

  ‘No! Forget what I said about him. I was being foolish that night. And he was right to force the captain to go after you. Fletcher is a drunkard . . .’

  ‘Then who?’

  ‘Who it’s always been! Our first officer and the harpooner. Agatha and Jake. I’m certain now that all along they’ve meant for this mission to fail. They’ve never wanted the Heretics rescued, and now that the Heretics are here, they won’t want them delivered to the Kingdoms. Just watch, before we can reach Great Island, they’ll do something to stop it.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Dow asked.

  ‘I’m sure! They’ve been courting the crew more assiduously than ever since we sighted Banishment, and they have more and more followers. They’re plotting to take over the ship, I think.’

  ‘But why?’

  ‘Don’t you understand yet? If the Heretics return home they will push for a negotiated end to the war – but there is a faction in the Twin Isles that doesn’t want any such settlement. They want the war to continue until we win total victory – a victory so complete that we can rule over the Ship Kings just as they once ruled over us. And it’s obvious to me now that Jake and Agatha are members of that faction.’

  Dow saw it all suddenly, the answer to many recent puzzles. ‘King Benito told me the same thing!’ he exclaimed. ‘He thinks they were betrayed by someone on the Twin Islands side, someone who doesn’t want a peace settlement, just as you say.’

  Cassandra nodded vehemently. ‘Then you see the danger that remains here?’

  ‘But if there’s a threat, then we should put a guard on the prisoners, in case—’ He caught himself, understanding in a flash, and looked to the two soldiers posted at the hatchway.

  ‘Exactly,’ said Cassandra. ‘Colonel Oliver is well aware of the situation. His men are there to protect our guests, not to guard against them.’

  Of course. And the hold itself had been chosen because it was easily defended. It all made sense now. ‘What else needs to be done?’ Dow asked.

  ‘Little enough for now, I just wanted you to be warned. Be on your guard. On no account spend any time alone with either Agatha or Jake. And if trouble should erupt, seek out and stand with Colonel Oliver. He is watching and is prepared, should the others make a move. I know I’ve doubted him before now – but in this case he will be on the right side of things.’

  Dow nodded his agreement. It was a relief to learn that Oliver was to be trusted after all, and that he and his men, with their hard military competency, were watching over the Heretics. And over Nell.

  But then Dow remembered something else, and fixed Cassandra with a look. ‘That night, when you warned me about Oliver, you were talking about Nell being tortured on Banishment in a special cell . . . but none of that was true. Where did you hear it from?’

  She blinked. ‘Why, it was simply information my superiors passed on to me, from reports they’d received. It seemed reliable, but from across the widths of the ocean it’s no surprise that sometimes rumour is wrong. And gladly so!’ Her eyes were falsely bright once more. ‘As I said, I’m so happy for you both, that Nell is safe.’

  ‘Cassandra . . .’ Dow began, the guilt suddenly sharp in him again.

  Her gaze dropped. ‘There’s nothing that needs to be said, Dow. Go back and be with her while you can.’ Then she turned before he could respond, and climbed quickly up the stairs.

  *

  But there was also better news.

  A quarter hour later, Dow brought Emmet Bone down to the prisoners’ hold to meet with Nell and King Benito. The pilot hadn’t wanted to come – he was needed on the high deck – until Dow, having just learned of it from Nell himself and brimming with excitement, explained what it was she wanted.

  ‘Is it true, lass?’ Emmet Bone asked. ‘You know a way out of the Banks?’

  ‘We think so,’ said Nell. ‘It’s a path we never followed to its end, but it would be quicker than your way, and you wouldn’t need to wait for any tides.’

  The pilot looked sceptical. ‘But if you prisoners knew of an escape route all this time, and had a boat, why didn’t you use it yourselves?’

  ‘I forbade it,’ said King Benito. ‘At best, it would only have deposited us into the sea, far and away off the eastern Banks, hundreds of miles from land. For a small boat as unsound as ours, quite futile.’

  ‘But not for a ship,’ observed Nell.

  ‘I’m all ears,’ said Emmet Bone.

  ‘You know of Little Banishment?’ Nell asked. ‘It begins near there. That was the first place we sailed to in our trials, as it was the only landmark we could see. Just to the far side of it, we discovered a channel that runs east by southeast, wide and deep, no matter the lowest tide. We followed it for many miles, and it did not falter. All well and good; but the reason we think it runs to the sea is this: there are always plentiful ocean fish in it, which is not true of the lesser channels.’

  ‘East!’ said Emmet Bone, intrigued. ‘I would never have thought it – my map gives no hint of it – but the presence of sea life is a compelling argument.’ He considered the king and the scapegoat in some wonder. ‘And if we can indeed escape the Banks this way, what then? Do you also have a solution for the puzzle of how we should safely deliver you and your folk home?’

  Benito assumed a thoughtful frown. ‘Difficult. There will be a keen watch kept on all ports and landing points, no doubt, once the Banishment guards raise the alarm. But perhaps some landing points are not known by our enemies to be landing points.’

  The pilot gave a smile. ‘Where exactly did you have in mind?’

  ‘I speak of the barren coast of the kingdom of
Malmonte, far to the north. It is a hostile shore, too shallow and wild mostly for a ship to come in close enough to land a boat. The watch of our enemies will be light there. But the King of Malmonte is in our company, and he knows every inch of his own realm – and can lead us, he says, to a place where hidden deeps, narrow and unmapped, would allow the ship to make a near approach, not far from a town that is loyal to our cause.’

  Nell added, ‘It would be a long route, admittedly, far out to sea, first east and then north, to keep clear of the coastal patrols – but with luck we could reach those deeps before a fortnight is gone, when it will be the dark of the moon, and the landing can be made without great risk of discovery. All before we could even attempt to leave the Banks by your own plan, Pilot.’

  ‘Are we agreed then?’ asked the king.

  Emmet Bone had to laugh.

  And so the Snout turned east, towards Little Banishment, and Nell’s channel.

  *

  Even then, it was no simple task.

  The channel was indeed found, and led them reliably east and south for a day, but then it began to broaden and grow shallow, sandbanks rearing up beneath the Snout’s hull like old enemies. Emmet Bone was forced to slow the ship and send boats out once more, as feelers for deep water. Dow – recovered enough from his drowning to return to duty – found himself unexpectedly busy. For the three days almost his every hour, even by night, was spent on the Franklin, leading the ship forward in company with the other two boats, leaving him little time to visit Nell, or to worry about plots of which Cassandra had warned.

  Nevertheless, he was aware that even as they inched their painstaking way towards freedom, the mood on the Snout was turning darker, the crew fragmenting into factions. With the captain lost to his rum bottle, effective command had fallen to Colonel Oliver and Cassandra, but against them Agatha Harp and Jake Tooth roamed the lower decks, closeted always with certain gangs of sailors. Insurrection brewed, and it was all because of the presence of the Heretics on board. Once, Dow had likened the Snout and its mission to thieves stealing into a rich man’s home – well, now they had indeed snatched the treasure away, but like all thieves, were destined to fight over their prize.