by LeRoy Clary
The Captain didn’t sound unfriendly, but sympathetic. She looked at Raymer and avoided his smirk. “I think I need something to eat.”
Raymer said, “See the ship’s cook. He can fix you up with food . . . And drink.”
Anna ignored the barb as she turned away. She had no idea of where the cook could be found, but a curl of smoke came from a small pipe, and he should be at the other end of it. Asking directions was too much trouble, especially with Raymer nearby. When starting down another set of stairs, she found Carrion.
He was no more comfort than Raymer. “Strips of greasy pork for breakfast.”
Her stomach turned, but she tried to smile. “Do you think he might have some white wine to wash it down?”
“You’re no fun. Anybody ever tell you that?”
Carrion climbed the stairs heavily, leaving her to follow her nose to the galley. She found a small room crammed with two tables and benches fastened to the floor. A crewman was finishing a bowl of boiled grain, soft and bland in appearance. She sat on the nearest bench and eventually a cook looked out a pass-through and said, “Gruel or midday?”
She interpreted that to mean breakfast or lunch, so it must be between. “Gruel. And do you have any hard biscuits?”
“I thought only seamen ate them,” he called as his head disappeared to attend to spooning out the food. A bowl and hard bread were placed in front of her. It was about all she could eat without spewing it back, but found her appetite was better than expected. Her head was not pounding as much.
Thief took a seat across from her. As usual, he said nothing, which pleased her. As she finished eating, she asked, “The ship is leaving soon?”
“Yes.”
Instead of asking what the crew had been told, she asked, “Did the Captain speak to the crew?”
“A long time.”
“Did any sailors leave the ship because of it?”
“Two. New people came.”
Asking questions and getting definitive, short answers without embellishment made her happy that Thief had been the one to sit with her. “Did someone send you to watch over me?”
“Yes.”
It didn’t matter who. She said, “Is my backpack in my cabin?”
“Yes.”
“Who carried me to the ship?”
“Raymer. He laughed the whole way.” A smile spread across his face as if he only now saw the humor in his words.
Now Thief talks too much. She carried her empty bowl to the pass through and gnawed on the hard biscuit as she went in search of the Captain. He stood out of the way of the men working, but where he could watch it all. Now and then he shouted directions or orders, but most of the time he allowed them to perform their duties without interference.
“Feeling better?”
“If I offended you last night, I apologize,” she said, the words spilling from her without previous thought.
“No offense taken. I do have to say that you were right on all counts, and if you had tried to pacify me with softer words, I might not have listened.”
Another wagon rolled up to the side of the ship. Captain Jameson looked to the man taking notes in a log, another officer. “How much more?”
“Maybe ten wagons. We have not seen any from The Shipmaster Chandlery, yet.”
“Send Devlin on the run. If they can’t get it all here by midday, I’m canceling the order. In fact, have Develin tell them that I’m so angry that I said he’s to stop at the Dutch Brothers and see if they can fill the order by lunch.”
“Yes, sir.”
The officer walked briskly to find Devlin. Anna asked, “Those casks are full of supplies?”
Captain Jameson nodded stiffly. “Raymer said that I should ask you about payment. I have severely extended my ability to pay. If I leave port without doing so, it will leave a bad taste in the mouths of all.”
“How much do you owe?”
He swallowed, and Anna waited for the bad news. Leaning closer, he said, “I stocked far more than we discussed last night and I’ll share that burden.”
“How much for all?”
Again he swallowed, and his eyes shifted to one side as if he couldn’t look at her. “A full gold round, and two silvers.”
She understood that she didn’t fully understand the values of gold, silver, and copper, always depending on others to be fair with her, but his answer almost brought laughter. She tried to turn it into something else to protest. In each of the straps of her backpack, her Grandma, Emma had stitched four gold rounds. Silver coins were sewn into the seams of the pack, and copper elsewhere.
She said, “There will be other expenses for you to shoulder. Perhaps even damage to your ship. I will pay the one gold and two silvers. Please excuse me while I fetch it.”
Relief flooded his face, but as a true gentleman, he protested, but not vigorously. She went to her cabin again, taking the time to memorize the way. Inside were two beds, one above the other. As on the other ship she had sailed, everything was tidy and stored in ways that wouldn’t allow it to fall as the ship leaned or tilted. There was almost room to turn around without touching a wall.
Her backpack was on the other bed, and she pulled her new knife, admired it again, and carefully slit enough of the seam to work a gold coin free. The seam that held the flap also held two silver coins. She looked at the door to the cabin. No lock. Later she would take the time to free the most valuable coins and hide them. Taking chances is for fools.
Back on deck she slipped the coins into the Captain’s palm. He turned to the officer tallying what came aboard and said, “I’ll finish that. You take this and go pay the Chandlers. You know the costs better than I, but tell them we intend to sail around noon, and we insist they be paid first. It’ll leave a good impression for the next time we’re a bit short on coin.”
The officer saluted and left them. Anna asked, “You ordered extra?”
“Flour, sugar, bacon, ham, pickles, preserves, and more.”
“Preserves?”
“I like it on my bread. So do the men. It’s a treat not often found on ships. I also ordered weak beer and thin ale. Thirty kegs of it.”
“Also for the men, I hope?”
“A mug or two a day does no harm, but actually, I brought it in case the water goes bad. Beer and ale survive warm weather better. We do not want to find all our water is bad when in the middle of the Endless Sea.”
She said, “Why is it called that when there is an end?”
“It used to be called The Ocean on old charts. But then all newer charts changed the name. I think Breslau did it to keep people from crossing it. Another example of their long-range planning.”
“First, they don’t want anyone going there, and now they’re coming here?”
“All part of the same story, I think.”
“So, we’re departing today for the Mystery River?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Yes, we’re heading for the Mystery River, but we’re going to do a little sneaky maneuvering, first. An idea came to me last night. You were sleeping, and in no condition to consult, but I believe we’ve been watched daily since our return from Breslau. I turned down two potential crewmen because I thought they were spies and they couldn’t answer my questions to confirm their backgrounds.”
“Sneaky? I like that.”
“We’re obviously filling our holds for a long voyage. But when we leave we’ll sail north along the coast. I wanted to leave at midday because that gives me time to watch behind and see if any ship follows, but to be sure, I intend to turn the ship around mid afternoon and put up all sails. No ship in these waters can match The Rose in a wind off her quarter. I will get a good look at any and all ships behind us before we turn east.”
Anna decided to get one other item resolved. “Do you know we’re Dragon Clan?”
“I do not. What I think and what I know are two different things. I can deny that knowledge as long as one of you does not tell me directly.”
> “We’re fighting for your kind as well.”
“Our kind,” he corrected. “We are all the same kind.”
“You’re right. We’re just trying to save our homeland.”
He winked, then pointed. Four more wagons approached. He called to the crew to finish the one already there and to call out the counts and the contents of the arriving kegs so he could log them. He said to her, “The Rose is a cargo ship first and foremost. We’re taking on enough to make the trip there and back, and perhaps there again. Extra provisions we probably won’t need, but I’ll feel better with them aboard.”
“Where are the others?” Anna asked.
“Do you think you’re the only one who drank too much wine last night? They are mostly below. Sleeping it off. When they wake, we’ll probably be at sea.”
“Not Devlin, though?”
“Devlin and Thief do not drink, more to their credit.” Then he called out to a man on the pier, “Say again?”
The man shouted his response, and the Captain made another mark on his tally. Anna left him to his work while she explored the ship. It was far smaller than the other she had been on, but not so much shorter, as it was narrow. The masts were taller and held three rows of sails instead of two.
While she didn’t know a lot about the water or sailors, some things became self-evident. Of two equal ships, the narrower one would sail faster. Of two other ships, the one with more sails would be the fastest. And of two more equal ships, the lighter one would sail faster. The Rose was narrower, lighter, and held more sail. Like the Captain said, no other ship in these waters could keep up with her.
She liked his idea of sailing to the north before turning for the Mystery River despite the time it wasted. Knowing if, and by whom, they were followed would tell them their enemies and how intent they were on causing them trouble. She wondered if the ships would fight. The larger ships would have more men, but she pitied them if they tried to wage war on The Rose.
The armorer who made her knife had displayed longbows along one wall. She could not pull one herself, but her short bow was only advantages in close quarters. She went looking for Thief, a silver coin in her hand.
She found him standing on the deck; his neck bent so far back he looked injured as he watched men working the rigging high above. “I need you to run to the place where we bought arrows, remember where it is?”
He nodded as she gave him instructions on what to buy, and how fast to run. She handed him the silver coin. Thief darted across the deck and down the gangplank. She watched him race in and around people and cargo on the pier until he disappeared up the hill where the shops were located.
Devlin was returning from the chandlers, and she stood by the Captain as he reported that all supplies would be aboard, soon, and the Dutch Brothers were willing to make up any shortages. Anna compared the confident young man to the threadbare street urchin she’d heard about from Tanner and Carrion. It was hard to picture him lower than a slave, skin and bone, dressed in rags.
His loyalty to both Tanner and Carrion couldn’t be questioned. He also seemed to have figured out a lot about the Dragon Clan and considered anyone associated with it as a friend. In that regards, he was like Thief, and even Brix, the spinning boy that Camilla took to the Bear Mountain Family.
In times past, the secrets of the Dragon Clan were only for their eyes. In the last year, there were at least three who had been almost inducted into the family, and there were others like the two Earls and Captain Jameson. It all meant the world was changing. There were new rules, and perhaps rulers.
More wagons arrived and unloaded. Thief rushed back with an armload of arrows to fit the eight longbows he carried like kindling. A boy of around ten carried another load, obviously sent by her friend at the shop. “Put all that on the bed above mine,” she ordered.
The last of the supplies on the dock were being slung aboard, and on board, loose items were removed from the deck. Ropes were secured or coiled. Men stood by on the pier to slip the lines from the pilings. Others were already in the rigging ready to follow the Captain’s orders.
The Rose was ready to sail. Gazing across the deck from her position at the stern of the ship right behind Captain Jameson, she found each of the Dragon Clan. All were ready to face the future.
The motion of the ship changed as the lines were tossed free, and like a caged animal, The Rose sprang to life. Sails were raised as the river current carried the ship away from the pier and into deeper water. Air filled the sails, and the ship surged ahead, as if impatient to reach the ocean.
The Rose sliced through the waves when they came at her. Other ships battered themselves as they met the rollers, but not The Rose. She leaned far to the port side, moving with surprising speed and grace. Captain Jameson paced beside the helmsman, issuing orders and watching everything within sight.
Anna opted to watch the stern, or what lay beyond. Twice she thought she saw the sails of another ship. Looking up, she noticed the top sheets, or sails at the top of the masts, were not unfurled. Clever. The Captain didn’t want to outrun pursuit. He wanted to find who it was. He intentionally sailed slower than possible, letting any ship behind keep up. If there was one.
She turned her attention ahead. There were two ships up there, and she remembered something a watcher named Gray had once told her. If you suspect where someone is going, the best place to follow them from is ahead. Surely the Captain knew that, too.
Instead of going to her cabin and napping, as she was inclined to do after the night before and drinking too much wine, she forced herself to stay just to the rear of the Captain and watch. He kept the ship sailing straight north, and one of two ships ahead turned to the sea and deeper water. She counted that one out until noticing the sail never quite disappeared over the horizon. It remained just in sight, which told her the ship could still see theirs.
Finally, the Captain seemed satisfied. Turning to her, he said, “What do you think?”
“You’ll laugh.”
“No, I’d like your opinions and insights. So far you’ve been right about almost everything. I am waiting for you to be wrong once, but you defy the odds.”
“I think all three are following us. The one ahead is keeping pace. When you ordered the sails to spill air a while ago, and The Rose slowed, it did too. The distance never varied. Same with the ship behind. It never dropped out of sight, but never gained on us, either. The third is out there,” she waved a hand at the small white dot on the horizon, “and it never sails out of sight, or gets closer, but it tries to hide in the distance. If you turn to the sea and make a run to escape, it has you penned in.”
“The Rose is faster. How can it pen us in?”
“Geometry. It will see your direction and form the third side of the triangle. By that, I mean it will have less distance to sail to meet you, so speed is not as valuable.”
The Captain smiled and said, “Amazing. Not only do you identify our enemies, but you anticipate his actions. If you were me, what course would you set?”
It was similar to her teachers again. They were never satisfied with a single answer. They wanted justification and explanations. “You will face at least one ship, no matter which direction you choose. If you’re not careful, you will face two, and possibly three.”
“By facing them, you believe they want to fight?”
“I do. They know they cannot run as fast as you so what other purpose would they have? They know they have twice the crew, and this is not a warship. You have only eight crew, I believe. A warship, or pirate, knows he only has to attack, or even threaten to attack, and you will drop your sails like any merchantman. Of course, after dark, you could douse all lights and try to slip past them.”
“Try? Why wouldn’t that work? There is overcast and only a quarter moon.” The Captain seemed agitated as if that had been his intention.
Anna said, “It won’t work because soon, before dark, all three ships will close the distance and trap you. I was wonderin
g when you will make your break?”
He paused, not as confident as earlier if the delay in answering was any gauge. “If I make a break for the open sea that ship out there will cut me off. He’ll have grappling hooks and men ready to board us.”
“But we have longbows and a swifter ship. Send a man to find Tanner, Carrion, and Raymer. And Dancer, I almost forgot him, but he’s the best of them all. The bows and arrows are on the empty bed in my cabin.”
Captain Jameson called a crewman to his side and sent him running for the four men. Then he turned back to Anna. “Four archers to defeat an entire ship?”
“I know it’s not fair, but which two of our men would you suggest sitting out the encounter?”
A look of puzzlement crossed the Captain’s face until he understood what she meant. It was not fair to the other ship. But it was attacking her’s, and she wouldn’t hold back. The other ship probably held closer to twenty men, but not all of them counted. One was certainly a cook, another the captain, and one or two probably too old to be effective fighters. Another one or two were injured or ill. And one had to hold the wheel to steer. Instead of twenty foes, they faced probably fewer than fifteen. And those fifteen were probably lifelong sailors, not true warriors.
She said, “Have you ever seen an archer pull a longbow?”
“I’m not sure I understand your meaning.”
Anna said, crossing her arms over her chest as if she was a teacher of a wayward student, “A longbow has nearly twice the distance of a regular arrow, but a good archer, such as my people, can draw, aim and release an arrow in about six beats of your heart. Each of them will release a second arrow before the first strikes. I would not wish to be on the deck of a ship within range of us.”
Raymer appeared on deck carrying a bow and a fist full of arrows. “What’s the plan?” He asked, eyes on Anna.
She glanced at the Captain for permission and said, “Three ships are boxing us in and probably going to try boarding us. Instead of waiting, we’re going to make a run for the open ocean. One ship out there will try to prevent us from doing so, until their friends arrive. They’ll probably try to board us.”
