Skull and Bones js-3

by John Drake

  "I'll see the liver of you, you bastard!" said Silver.

  "Does that mean swords?"

  "It does, God damn you," said Silver. "One o' you swabs give him a blade!" and he threw off his hat and baldrick and coat, and rolled up his sleeves, and drew his cutlass from its sheath and tried the blade on empty air, balancing neatly on his one leg and crutch. He was a fine, big man who towered over all present, and there were few that would choose to fight him. But still… he hopped on one leg while Flint danced nimbly on two, and all who cared for John Silver begged and implored him not to fight, and Selena hung on his arm shouting loudest of all.

  But Flint, oblivious, breathed deep, calmed his thundering heart, and stood up in shirtsleeves, with Tom Morgan's cutlass in his hand, and bowed to Silver like a French fencing master, and saluted with the heavy blade.

  "Bollocks to that, Joe Flint," said Silver, and "Argh!" he cried, and swung a blow at Flint that would have split him to the breastbone had it landed, which it didn't because Flint was elsewhere and slashing at Silver's one leg, which blow Silver blocked with a grinding of steel and a shower of sparks in the moonlit room, and Flint leapt back, surprised at his own slowness, for he was still tired from fighting Billy Bones.

  Then clash-scrape-clang, the blades met in the air, to left and to right, and Silver laid on with incredible speed for a crippled man, and Flint slid back in the face of his attack, but tired as he was, still he met Silver's blade at every stroke. Then:

  "Ah!" cried the room, as Silver swung the oaken length of his crutch and caught Flint a cracking blow on the knee that sent him hopping out of range with Silver following but slipping from going too fast. He nearly measured his length but, clang-bang, saved his throat from Flint's slash with a swift recovery in the uttermost split second before the death-stroke fell.

  And then it was hammer and tongs, thunder and lightning, blood and sweat and a fight that leapt, barged and rolled around the room, more nearly equal than any man could have dreamed between two such opponents, except that Silver was losing the flush of his strength, while Flint, by hanging back just a little, and relying on the uncanny reactions that God — on a very bad day — had given him, was recovering. And the more John Silver faded, the more Flint rejoiced.

  Because Flint knew that he must win.

  And John Silver knew it too.

  And so did every creature in the room.

  Chapter 42

  Night, 20th July 1754

  Jimmy Chester's house

  Savannah, Georgia

  Silver slipped and skidded. He was barely upright and the notched, dinted cutlass was heavy in his tired hand. He took a grip of his crutch. The sweat was blinding his eyes, and Flint was grinning. He was pointing his blade at Silver's face, poised and ready to strike.

  "Where shall it be, John?" he said. "Shall we take off an ear or two? Or a piece of nose?" Then he laughed. "Or shall we put out your eyes?"

  "Cap'n!" cried Mr Joe, leaping forward with his cane cutlass.

  "No! No! No!" cried Silver, and he beat the floor with the oak of his crutch. "None but me, say I!"

  "But he'll kill you, Cap'n!"

  "Aye!" said the men at his side, bristling with arms.

  "Stand back, by God!" said Silver. "None but me!" And he surged forward again, and Flint laughed, and stepped aside from Silver's charge, all slippery smooth and easy, and struck a blow that sent Silver's cutlass spinning and ringing from his fingers, and Flint laughed, and laughed and laughed… and then blinked… and his face froze into hatred, and Silver looked at death, and raised a feeble hand against it, and

  Flint's eyes went white, and Flint took a grip of his blade, and drew back to strike…

  Boom! A heavy pistol thundered loud in the room, spitting fire and smoke and glowing fragments of cartridge paper … that and a lead ball that smashed into Flint like a horse- kick, and sank him to his knees, and then full-length, facedown on the floor, with Tom Morgan's cutlass still firm in his hand, and such a look of hatred on his face as froze the souls of those who saw it.

  Silver gasped. He turned to see who'd fired. Mr Joe turned. They all did. They saw Selena, in swirling powder smoke, with one of Silver's own pistols held out in two slim hands. Her arms trembled at the weight of it, and she let it fall, to clatter and bump on the floor.

  Silver looked at her, and looked at Flint's body, and drew a great breath, and had the sense to be honest, and grateful, and not a hypocrite blinded by pride.

  "God bless you, my lass," he said. "He'd have slit an' gutted me!"

  "John," she said, and her limbs shook in the dread of what she'd done, and Silver took her in his arms, and closed his eyes, and gasped and trembled.

  No one spoke but Billy Bones.

  "Cap'n!" he moaned, and hauled himself up on to unsteady legs, his face disfigured and raw. And he stumbled across to Flint, and knelt beside him. "Cap'n," he said again, and he raised Flint's limp hand and kissed it, and the tears flowed in rivers down Billy Bones's dirty cheeks.

  "We got to be gone from here," said Mr Joe. "Too much noise!"

  "Aye!" said Silver, and he wiped the sweat from his eyes and looked at the package and the porte-crayon on the little table. "But I'll bring them!" And he picked them up.

  "No," said Selena, pushing herself away from Silver.

  "What?" he said.

  "No! I'll have none of it. And neither shall you!"

  "What?"

  "John! D'you want it to be as it was… between us?"

  "Aye!" he said, from a full heart.

  "Then listen to me! There's much that's gone wrong. We've quarrelled. We've lost trust. You've lied!" Silver bowed his head. "And you brought me away from London…" she looked down at Flint "… you and him together, for you're part of each other!"

  "Never!"

  "You are!" she cried. "You stole me like sack of goods! Both of you!"

  "Not I, by thunder!"

  "Yes, you! For you're as bad as him!"

  "Cap'n!" said Mr Joe. "There's men in the street!"

  "So what do you want, girl?"

  "No! What do you want? Because if you want me — "

  "Which I do!"

  "It's Spaniards, Cap'n," said Mr Joe. "White-coats — them what we drove off!"

  "Then here's my offer, John Silver," she said. "I'll go with you wherever you go, and I'll be your wife, if-"

  Gunshots sounded from outside. There were voices and shouting.

  "Cap'n," said Mr Joe, "they're coming back — driven back! We'd best be gone!"

  But Silver wasn't listening.

  "— if you give up this trade… and Flint's treasure!"

  There came a rumble of feet and shouting in Spanish.

  "They're in the house!" said Mr Joe. "Spaniards, with redcoats after 'em!"

  "Redcoats?" said Israel Hands. "But they're hiding in the fort!"

  "Not now, they ain't!" said Mr Joe, and muskets roared and a drum rolled. "It's a battle! We got to go!"

  Then some fool, carried away with excitement, fired from within the room, followed by a ringing volley from outside and bullets thumping into the ceiling through the window, and men running to get out of the room and away.

  But all Silver could see was her face. As Flint had done, he looked into his heart and saw what was important and what was not.

  "Come on!" cried Mr Joe, beckoning furiously. For, other than Silver and Selena, the rest had gone, save only himself, Tom Morgan, and Billy Bones — who remained bent over Flint's body.

  "The treasure!" said Silver at last, and he drew the porte crayon and the package from his pocket.

  "Cap'n! Cap'n!" said Mr Joe, pulling Silver by main force towards the door, while muskets roared from the grog shop, and Billy Bones grovelled on his knees, sobbing in his grief, gently turning Flint over and stroking his cheek, and laying his arms across his chest. Then as Tom Morgan ran for the door, Billy Bones reached out and grabbed him.

  "Gerroff you swab!" cried Tom Morgan. But Billy Bone
s gripped like a gorilla.

  "Have you got two coins, mate?" said Billy Bones. "For to close the cap'n's eyes?"

  Morgan struggled to be free, but looked down and shuddered at the sight of Flint's open eyes glaring up at the ceiling.

  "Here!" said Morgan, finding a pair of English pennies.

  "Thank'ee, messmate!" said Billy Bones, and crouched over Flint's body, laying the coins on his eyes, before clutching his own massive fists together in prayer. Morgan gaped, then ran. And Silver shook off Mr Joe's arm, who cursed and ran after Morgan, and then, with his crew gone, and Billy Bones blinded with grief, and none to see but Selena… Silver made his decision.

  "Bad luck to it, say I," said Silver, in cruel remembrance, "for I was an honest man once, that never told lies, nor shot young lads, nor mad Scotchmen neither, nor betrayed my own kind to the enemy!" And he threw the precious papers to the floor. "Be gone!" he said, and put an arm around Selena, and made best speed after Mr Joe, into a dark room where men milled around in ignorance, not knowing where to turn.

  "This way!" said Silver. "I knows this house. It's this way, then out the window in Jimmy's counting house. There's few buildings on that side, and then it's the woods."

  "Aye!" they all said.

  And soon the house was empty, for Silver and his men vanished into the dark, and the battle went in favour of the Savannians, who fought the Spanish, butt and bayonet, and drove them out of the grog shop and chased them down the street… leaving Billy Bones alone inside.

  He sat all night next to Flint. He said whatever prayers he remembered, which wasn't many. He wallowed in melancholy, thinking of the wretched life that he'd led. He thought of Livvy Rose. He shed more tears.

  At dawn, he sniffed and got up, and stretched his cramped limbs, and blew his nose mightily on his handkerchief. Then, thinking at last of himself, he searched the house and found a considerable sum of money, which he took.

  Finally he went back to say goodbye, and felt the crackle of paper in Flint's coat when he picked it up to cover the body. There was something sewn into the lining. He opened his clasp knife. He slit the silk. He found a map.

  Huh! thought Billy Bones. That bugger ain't no good. Not without…

  And then his heart began to pound. For there, right next to Flint's left foot, was the oilskin package and the porte- crayon, nestled together like old pals. Billy Bones was amazed that he'd not noticed them before.

  Chapter 43

  Dawn, 21st July 1754

  Aboard Walrus

  The Savannah River

  "Looks like the Savannians have won!" said Silver, studying the anchorage through his glass from Walrus's quarterdeck.

  "Yes," said Selena, "British colours flying from every vessel afloat, including La Concha, and redcoats on board of her, and no more fighting!" She had her own telescope. "The Savannians were lucky."

  "We were lucky too!" said Silver, and he looked at the hands on the maindeck, still exhausted and raw from heaving the ship from one dolphin to the next all night. "We got clear o' that battery, and now the wind's come round in our favour and we can 'vast hauling and be gone!"

  "But the crew is split," she said.

  Silver shrugged. "Why should you worry?"

  "Because you're lying to them, John!"

  "What else can I do?" Silver sighed.

  All hands knew that Flint's papers were lost and Flint's treasure with them. He told them it'd happened in the heat of the moment and shared out the remaining store of McLonarch's coin as compensation. With that small store of wealth, some of the hands found that they wanted no more fighting, and thought they'd try honest seafaring in Savannah, where no questions were asked. These stood ready to go over the side, with John Silver's blessing, and into the waiting launch. Others though, had laughed and said they could always beat up and down and find new prizes, especially with a fine new war coming on, and Long John for their captain! So he'd laughed along with them, and slapped their shoulders and promised to lead them to new riches.

  Of those who were leaving, most were hands before the mast. But two were not. Dr Cowdray and Mr Joe were standing alongside in their best shore-going clothes, with their trugs packed — which in Dr Cowdray's case included a great bundle of books and several boxes of instruments.

  "Are you set on this, Doctor?" said Silver.

  "Yes, Captain," said Cowdray. "I had plenty of time to think, when I was secured below, in irons!" He sighed and hung his head. "And I am ashamed that I was struck down, a useless wretch, when Flint came to steal your lady." He looked at Selena with hopeless feelings that he knew could never be returned. Then he smiled a little. "You know, I found myself happy when we sailed under articles, even if they were false, because I wanted to believe in them, but…" he looked Silver in the eye "… Captain, I know that I was wrong to serve Flint, and I know I was a better man when I served you, but I can't live this life any more."

  Silver sighed, and shook Cowdray's hand.

  "Thank you for this!" he said, looking down at his lost limb.

  "You are not a bad man, Captain," said Cowdray.

  "Nor a good one, neither!" said Silver, and grinned.

  "Good bye, Doctor," said Selena, and she kissed him. Cowdray blushed.

  "A-ha!" said Silver, Israel Hands, and Mr Warrington, looking on.

  "A-ha!" said the crew, and nudged each other.

  "Goodbye, ma'am," said Cowdray.

  Now Silver turned to Mr Joe: the clever, talented lad who'd come to them as an illiterate runaway with a violent temper and a cane-cutlass, and was now the ship's best navigating officer.

  "And you, Mr Joe?" said Silver. "Shall you leave us, as well?"

  "Aye, Cap'n," said Mr Joe. "An' the lady knows why!"

  "Oh?" said Silver, and frowned. "Him, too?"

  But Selena shook her head.

  "It's not me, John." She looked at Mr Joe. "It's him. He doesn't like slavery."

  "That I don't," said Mr Joe.

  Silver shook his head. "It's a trade, my son!" he said. "A trade, just like any other!"

  "Aye!" said Israel Hands and Mr Warrington.

  "Aye!" said all the rest, even the blacks among them.

  "No!" said Mr Joe. "We are all God's children. From Adam and Eve onward!"

  "Hmm," said Silver. "So what're you going to do, Mr Joe?"

  "Stop it. Fight it!"

  "Shall you, though?"

  "That I shall!"

  Silver shrugged. "Then good luck to you, lad, for I wish you'd stay among us, I truly do!"

  "Aye!" they all said.

  "Thank you, Cap'n… And there's a thing I'd ask for to take with me."

  "What's that?" said Silver warily.

  "A name, Cap'n. Something better than 'Mr Joe'!"

  "Is that all?" said Silver. "Why, take mine and be Joe Silver!"

  "No," said Mr Joe solemnly. "I'm asking Mr Hands for his name. He who taught me my letters and my numbers, and raised me up." He turned to Israel Hands and took off his hat. "Mr Gunner… may I be Joe Hands?"

  Israel Hands gulped and swallowed. He blinked and wiped his eyes. Then he threw his arms around the serious, earnest lad of whom he was more fond than he knew.

  "My beautiful boy! My lovely lad!" he said. "Take my name and leave me proud! And if never again I see you on Earth, please God I should see you in Heaven."

  So the boat was manned and pulled for the shore, and all those whose will it was to stay aboard stood silent and watched it go.

  When it returned, with just two men pulling, they hoisted it aboard, made all shipshape, and set sail in the freshening wind. Within hours they were past the new batteries at the river mouth, which they saluted and were allowed to pass, for they sailed under British colours, and no man had reason to doubt them.

  By nightfall, the mouth of the Savannah River was under the horizon, and Walrus was free and the whole world before her. Her people were happy, Mr Warrington was no more than decently drunk and well capable of setting course for
Upper Barbados, where Captain Silver planned — so he said — to raise a new crew, new luck, and new riches.

  "You're a skilful liar, John," said Selena as they stood together at the taffrail, with the ship heeling sweetly under sail. "Just don't ever lie to me again."

  "I told you, my lass," he said, "once we drop anchor in Upper Barbados, then you and I can hop ship, and these lads can find themselves a new captain!"

  "Why Upper Barbados?"

  "Because that's where Charley Neal sent my earnings, in the old days."

  "How much?" she said, and he winked and tickled her ribs so she laughed.

  "Ah! You ain't so lily-white pure yourself, when it comes to money."

  "But how much?"

  "Enough to keep you and me cosy for life!"

  "Doing what?"

  "Running a business in England, the which I shall buy."

  "An honest business?"

  "Oh yes. No more gentleman o' fortune! Maybe a tavern? Maybe in Bristol? And how about 'The Spyglass' for a name?"

  "Why that name?"

  "So's we'll always be on the search… for opportunity!"

  And John Silver put his arms around her, and kissed her, and for the moment was at peace, and the great green bird on his shoulder nibbled the ears of man and wife together, and chuckled in contentment.

  Chapter 44

  Morning, 21st July 1754

  Chester's Grog Shop

  Savannah

  The Royal Colony of Georgia

  "This is Doctor Cowdray!" cried Jimmy Chester. "He's John Silver's surgeon, and was Flint's before, and has Latin and Greek and all the tools of his trade, and is qualified at all the universities of England!"

  "No," said Cowdray, protesting, "I am self-taught… Ex uno disce omnes… I learn from each case. My teacher was practice, not scholarship."

  But nobody listened, for cries and groans arose from the horrors of the grog shop, which being the biggest public building in the town, and lavishly furnished with tables… was now its hospital, where five whores, three washerwomen, a man- midwife and the fort's horse-doctor were trying to attend nearly three hundred wounded men, some already dead in their bandages, others bawling loudly, still others shivering in pain, and the stink, noise and squalor beyond all contemplation.