by Duncan Lay
“Come on then, what are we waiting for?” he cried.
“We’ll all go down together,” Dad said, looking over towards Feray, Asil and Orhan.
“Do they have to leave us?” Kerrin asked wistfully. Not seeing his two friends, maybe ever again, took the edge off his excitement at seeing Mam again.
“They want to go home. Just like Mam. And, once she is home, you probably won’t want to spend all day running around with Asil and Orhan.”
Kerrin thought about what life would be like. “Will we go home now? Leave Berry? Will it all go back to the way it was before?” he asked.
He saw his dad’s face twist at that. “I don’t think things will ever be the same,” he said sadly. “And we can’t really leave the people here now. But, we get Mam back! And that makes it all worthwhile.”
Kerrin laughed aloud at the thought. He had so much to tell her! “I have to get my crossbow!” he cried.
But dad’s hand tightened on his shoulder. “We might leave that for tomorrow, eh?” he said. “Take it easy for the first time we see her.”
Kerrin grinned at that. “Don’t worry, Dad. I won’t say anything bad!”
Dad laughed too. “Well, if you are going to say it, make sure it is on the first day, when she’ll be so happy to see us, she won’t care!”
*
Every man from Baltimore, except for the handful, like Murphy, who had been killed fighting the Fearpriest, was there. Fallon felt a pang for Ena and the other widows who would return only to discover their husbands had died trying to get them back. He also planned to ask a few hard questions of Sean and Seamus, the two lazy bastards he had left to watch the harbor that fateful night, as to why the Kottermanis had been able to surround Baltimore and capture everybody without any warning.
But with the Baltimoreans came another four companies of his best recruits, just in case. With Feray, Asil and Orhan at his mercy he did not think Kemal would try anything foolish, but he was not about to take the risk.
And with all of them came hundreds of townsfolk, wondering what all the fuss was about and eager to see what was happening. Fallon tried to discourage them but it was hopeless. It gave the march down to the harbor even more of a feel of a triumphant procession.
Kerrin was almost skipping along beside him, chattering away to Asil and Orhan, all three of them excited.
“You must be looking forward to seeing your husband again,” Fallon said to Feray, who was but a yard away from him.
But she did not seem nearly as excited as the boys.
“What is it?” he asked, moving across so he did not have to speak loudly.
Feray smiled briefly. “I long to see my husband again. But I worry about what will happen between our countries now. I have seen you take on a roomful of dreadful men to save me and my sons, then watch you overthrow an evil King and try to give your country new hope. My husband has seen none of that and, as far as he knows, Aidan still rules, and defies him. Kemal’s father, the Emperor Yonetici, wants Gaelland in his Empire, and Kemal is sworn to do his father’s bidding.”
Fallon felt a pulse of anger at the thought. “Things have changed. Prince Kemal will have to see that,” he said. “I have an army now and by the time spring is here and it is safe for him to sail his soldiers towards us, I will have even more men trained and the whole country behind me.”
“It is not that simple,” Feray warned. “You would do better to negotiate a deal with my husband to give you some freedom and accept your fate.”
Fallon ran his fingers through his hair. None of these choices looked good. How was he supposed to pick the one that saved Gaelland, when all appeared to doom it?
“Please, Fallon, think about it,” Feray urged.
“I do little else,” he growled. This was spoiling his happiness, taking away his thoughts from Bridgit’s return. “Gallagher, watch them,” he ordered and signaled to both Kerrin and Caley. “Come, let us see where these ships are.”
By the time they reached the docks, the ships were only a couple of miles out from the harbor and obviously Kottermani.
Please, let Bridgit be on one of them, he prayed.
CHAPTER 50
“Is everything ready?” Bridgit demanded.
Dermot and his small group of men, which included Fitz, brandished sharpened axes and swords and nodded. They would cut the ropes that tied their ship to Kemal’s.
The other men and boys also gestured their agreement. They had studied how the Kottermanis tied down their sails to get the most out of the wind and Bridgit was confident they could, if not match Kemal’s ship, certainly get far more speed up than they had previously.
“Will our friends in Berry be ready for us?” Dermot asked the question that had haunted Bridgit since she thought of this idea.
“I pray so. Anyway, we cannot be led in there like a dog. We shall sail in under our own power. Once we are in the harbor, they cannot touch us,” she said, with far more conviction than she felt. “One more effort and we shall be safe, back with our families.”
The sight of Gaelland had lifted them all and they were more than ready to listen to her.
“Listen for my call and then give it everything,” she said and they hurried off to their positions.
“What do you think the Kottermanis will do?” Nola asked worriedly.
“Who cares? They cannot hurt us, for fear of losing Prince Kemal’s family. And once we are safe in a Gaelish harbor, we can use the Prince’s family to get rid of the Kottermanis once and for all.”
“He did save us. We were dying out there. Do we not owe it to him to see his family returned?” Riona asked softly.
Bridgit snorted. “He was the one who took us in the first place. We owe him nothing. Our first duty is to our people, and I know he will want his slaves back. The only thing that can stop him is a threat to his family.”
“But will King Aidan listen to you? The stories we’ve heard about him do not make it sound good,” Nola said.
Bridgit smiled. “But he will listen to his son, Prince Cavan. And we know that Cavan will listen to Fallon. All I have to do is make Fallon listen to me. Once I convince Fallon, the rest will be easy.”
“He didn’t exactly listen to you about not hunting the Kottermanis,” Riona said.
“All the more reason for him to listen now,” Bridgit said briskly. “He made one mistake; he won’t make another. Now, no more nonsense. We need to judge this right to give Kemal the slip.”
Berry eased agonizingly closer but she knew distances were deceptive at sea. Things moved much more slowly than on land. She had watched enough boats and ships sail around the hook of Baltimore to know that you could not make your move too soon.
She could feel the tension coming from the others, people willing her to give the order. But she ignored them and tried to judge the speed of both ships, while the entrance to Berry harbor loomed ever larger. The temptation was there to go but she quelled it ruthlessly. They would have one chance at this and she would not fail.
Men were glancing at her now, looking around from the bow like so many anxious squirrels, but she kept her eyes on Berry. They were muttering now, their noises getting louder as they fretted, but still she waited.
“Bridgit!” Nola whispered and she held up a warning hand. As her friend drew breath to make more of a complaint, Bridgit waved up to the men already up the masts, who were watching intently, and the first new sails were dropped and tied into place, where they billowed with the afternoon wind – this all achieved with a speed that revealed the men’s long-suppressed tension. But she was not watching that, instead signaling to Dermot at the stern, who swung the tiller over so that the ship hooked out to the right. Even more sails were unfurled, so the ship picked up more speed. The ropes at the bow, which had been tight with pressure, now hung slack. She watched them carefully as they came out of the water and began to tighten again, holding her ship back.
“Cut it!” She slashed her hand downwards.
> The men at the bow fell on the ropes with a fury and the tough fibers parted swiftly under their attack.
“Give it everything!” Bridgit shouted. “Then get under cover!”
The sails were tied down and white water frothed at their bow as they swiftly overtook Kemal’s ship.
She held her breath as they surged past. The Kottermanis were reacting, sailors scrambling up the masts to raise their own sails. But they were almost inside the harbor and she could see they would be too late to catch them. Yet the deck was still packed with bowmen who could do fearful damage.
“Get down! And stay close to me!” she ordered. She knew Kemal had to keep her alive but men up the mastheads might be seen as fair game if the Prince was in a vindictive mood. It was his move now.
*
Kemal stared at the entrance to Berry harbor with a mixture of fear and relief. Those three days sailing back towards Kotterman, his fleet going in all directions, had been terrible. He had reproached himself again and again for losing Bridgit and the rest of the Gaelish. He had even found himself desperately praying to Aroaril that he found them. Coming across them had been both a stroke of luck and a huge relief. He suspected they might have sailed more north than east, taken that way by the current, and so it had proved. Getting them safely under his control had felt like a huge victory. He hoped with all his heart that he would soon see Feray and his boys again and yet he was consumed with the thought that bastard Fallon had hurt them or, worse, had handed them over to King Aidan. At least with Fallon he had the leverage of the Baltimore families. Aidan was completely unpredictable. If anything had happened to them … He promised himself he would have his revenge. True, his fleet was scattered across the sea looking for Bridgit’s ship but in less than a quarter moon they would all be there and he could make the Gaelish pay for what they had done. The transfer was going to be difficult. He wanted to get Feray back safe and then somehow snatch back Bridgit before she was away. That way he could get his revenge on Fallon while he waited for the rest of his fleet to arrive. He longed for a final reckoning with the Gaelishman almost more than he longed to see his family.
He was occupied with these thoughts as they slowed down to enter the harbor. Next moment, there was shouting all across the deck and he spun to see sails bloom on Bridgit’s ship as it overtook them, the tethering ropes falling into the sea.
“What are they doing?” Gokmen cried.
Kemal did not bother to reply. It was obvious. Bridgit wanted to escape him, to give all the power to Fallon. “Full sails! Stop them!” he bellowed.
Footsteps thundered as the crew raced up the masts, while soldiers poured up from below to form ranks on the deck.
Kemal saw Bridgit’s ship move smoothly past them and into the harbor mouth, sails tied correctly and full of wind. There was not enough time to catch them. Although his sailors were some of the best the Empire had to offer, the trap had been sprung perfectly. For one horrible moment, Kemal admired Bridgit’s courage for waiting until the last possible moment to strike. She had some nerve. Then he was consumed with fury at the thought of Fallon having his families back and still holding Feray.
“High one, do I give the order?” Gokmen asked, pointing down to where the bowmen were poised to deliver a withering volley onto Bridgit’s ship. It was still close enough that each of his highly trained men could land six arrows apiece on the deck before it was past. He was dangerously tempted. If he could not have his family, then nobody would get theirs back.
He was about to give the order when he heard Feray’s voice in the back of his head, urging him to think before he acted in anger.
She was right. He only had three companies of men aboard, not nearly enough to punish the Gaelish. He would give them a chance to do the right thing. If they failed, then he would leave the entire country a smoking wreck. They would regret harming his family for the rest of their miserable lives.
“Stand down! But hit the docks right after them! Prepare to either attack or take us out of there at a moment’s notice,” he ordered.
Bridgit had outwitted him this time. But it was but the first move in a larger game.
*
Bridgit cringed: the Kottermani bowmen looked ready to begin loosing at her ship. But no arrows came down and she sighed with relief as they slipped into the harbor and charged towards the docks.
“Do we slow down?” Dermot shouted.
She glanced backwards and saw Kemal’s ship still hard on their heels. “Just get us into the docks! I don’t care if this ship never sails again!” she cried back.
He looked startled but waved acknowledgement.
“Get all the children up. If we’re holed, I don’t want anyone below,” Bridgit ordered.
Nola and Riona rushed to obey and she looked for a likely spot on the docks. There were many spaces on the jetties, for few merchant ships sailed as the weather turned, but she wanted to be as close as possible to the city. Then she saw a familiar sight – the Duke of Lunster’s ship – and an empty space on the main dock near it.
“Over there!” She pointed. It was a feeling, rather than a considered choice, but she stuck with it. “Stand by to drop all sails!”
Now, where was Fallon?
Then she caught sight of a crowd surging forwards on the dock and her eyes misted with tears and it took her three attempts to speak. “Let go the anchors and furl all sails!”
The ship slowed dramatically as the men frantically hauled in the sails and the anchors bit into the soft harbor bottom. Dermot and two others threw their weight against the tiller and the ship swung around sharply, robbing it of more speed. But it was still dashing too quickly towards the stone dock; the crowd at the docks, who had been rushing closer, surged backwards in fear. All except a handful. Bridgit knew she should be looking for Kemal and seeing what he was doing but all she could look at was the two figures on the dock, one tall, one short – and the dog jumping around their feet. All the strength that had filled her since she had hidden Kerrin and gone out to face the Kottermanis seemed to be draining out of her. All she wanted to do was hold them again and the fact the ship looked as though it would slam into the dock did not concern her.
*
Fallon’s first thought was a horrible reminder of the Duke of Lunster’s ship and how it had crashed into Baltimore. As before, the crowd was backing away but, unlike last time, they could see men hauling in the sails and – best of all – they recognized the faces along the ship’s rail.
Fallon did not even think of backing away once he caught sight of Bridgit. Devlin and Brendan stepped forward to be right there beside him, just as Nola and Riona were beside Bridgit.
“There she is!” Kerrin shouted excitedly, jumping up and down beside him. “It’s mam!”
Fallon grabbed his son’s arm and made sure he was safely behind the bulk of Brendan. Who knew what would happen when the ship hit the docks? Brendan was heedless of that, sobbing helplessly as his daughters waved frantically at him while Devlin just stood silently, tears trickling slowly down into his beard. Fallon could feel the tightness in his own throat and his eyes burned as he fought to keep control. Sometimes it had seemed as if this moment would never arrive and he had to pinch himself to make sure it was not a dream.
“Gangplanks! As many as you can find!” he shouted over his shoulder. The thought of having to wait to get them off the ship was too much to bear.
Behind Bridgit’s ship, another Kottermani vessel was coming in under full sail, which made him wonder how many Gaelish had been taken. And where was Prince Kemal?
Next moment the ship scraped along the side of the dock with a hideous screech and crunch, the impact making everyone on board stagger, and he forgot all about the second ship.
Ropes were thrown down and Baltimore men on the docks raced to make them fast and bring the ship to a complete stop, while others hauled over the gangplanks and sets of steps on wheels, thumping them into the side of the ship and racing up to find their families,
heedless of anything else.
Fallon and Kerrin hurried down, Brendan and Devlin at their shoulders, to where their wives and children stood nearer the stern of the ship. The gangplanks only reached to where the ship’s side was lower at its belly and there a dozen joyful reunions were happening, with more every moment as men clambered on board and women and children ran or jumped down to the dockside.
“Jump!” Brendan shouted to his daughters, his voice ragged.
They flung themselves on their father, who caught them easily, then held them as if he would never let them go.
Bridgit and Riona were helping Riona’s smaller children step and jump down; Will, the youngest boy, clambered over the rail and jumped to the dockside, stumbling as he landed but racing to his father at the same time, so that he tackled Devlin around the legs and brought him down as well.
Devlin lay on the ground, Will on top of him, with his older boys leaping on top of the pile.
“Sorry, Dad!” Will cried. But the farmer just laughed, the noise booming out, sounding as if he could not stop.
*
Bridgit helped Riona over the side and then swung over herself. It was a drop to the dockside, easily six feet and she knew she would never have tried it a few moons ago, never mind the last time she’d been pregnant. She would have imagined herself falling and breaking something or, worse, landing on Kerrin and hurting him. But now she bent her legs and jumped, landing lightly.
Next moment Kerrin was there, hitting her with the force of a missile, his arms around her and squeezing with a strength she did not remember. She leaned down and took a deep breath of his hair, just smelling him and kissing the top of his head hard, just as she had done the last time. That was enough and she let the tears come. She lifted his head up, seeing his own tears, and cupped his face in her hands, not wanting to break contact with him, drinking him in, feeling him nourish her as if she had been starving all these moons without him. Wordlessly he clung to her and she hugged him back, feeling solid muscle in his shoulders and back where before there had been none. At least he smelled and looked clean, and he seemed to have grown incredibly since that terrible night in Baltimore. She wanted to tell him how proud she was and how he must have done as she planned that night but her throat simply wouldn’t form the right shape for talking. She kissed his face, his cheeks and his head, making up for all those days without him.
