That afternoon she took her basket and, the conical straw Hat on her head, went up into the mountain. Although any watcher would not have understood her intent, she made certain that she was out of sight, hidden in the forest that filled the great ravine below the summit. There was a dead tree that she had noted on many previous outings. From the rotting pith sprouted a thicket of tiny purple toadstools. She pulled on a pair of gloves before she began to pick them. The gills beneath the parasol-shaped tops were of a pretty yellow colour. These fungi were toxic, but only if eaten in quantity would they be fatal. She had chosen them for this quality she did not want the lives of innocent men and their families on her conscience. She placed them in the bottom of the basket and covered them with other roots and herbs before she descended the steep mountainside and walked sedately back through the vineyards to the residence.
That evening Governor van de Velde held a gala dinner in the great hall, and invited the notables from the settlement and all the Company dignitaries. These festivities continued late, and after the guests had left the household staff and slaves were exhausted. They left Sukeena to make her rounds and lock up the kitchens for the night.
Once she was alone she boiled the purple toadstools and reduced the essence to the consistency of new honey. She poured the liquid into one of the empty wine bottles from the feast. It had no odour and she did not have to sample it to know that it had only the faintest taste of the fungi. One of the women who worked in the kitchens at the castle barracks was in her debt. Sukeena's potions had saved her eldest son when he had been stricken by the smallpox. The next morning she left the bottle in a basket with remedies and potions in the carriage for Aboli to deliver to the woman.
When Aboli drove the Governor down to the castle, van de Velde was ashen-faced and grumpy with the effects of the previous night's debauchery. Aboli left a message in the slot in the wall that- read, "Eat nothing from the garrison kitchen on the last evening."
That night Hal poured the contents of the stew kettle into the latrine bucket before any of the men were tempted to sample it. The steaming aroma filled the cell and to the starving seamen it smelled like the promise of eternal life. They groaned and gritted their teeth, and cursed Hal, their fates and themselves to see it wasted.
The next morning at the accustomed hour the dungeon began to stir with life. Long before dawn outlined the four small, barred windows, men groaned and coughed and then crept, one at a time to ease themselves, grunting and farting as they voided in the latrine bucket. Then, as the significance of the day dawned upon them, a steely, charged silence gripped them.
Slowly the light of day filtered down upon them from the windows and they looked at each other askance. They had never been left this late before. On every other morning they had been at work on the walls an hour earlier than this.
When at last Manseer's keys rattled in the lock, he looked pale and sickly. The two men with him were in no better case.
"What ails you, Manseer?" Hal asked. "We thought you had changed your affections and that we would never see you again." The gaoler was an honest simpleton, with little malice in him, and over the months Hal had cultivated a superficially amicable relationship with him.
"I spent the night sitting in the shithouse," Manseer moaned. "And I had company, for every man in the garrison was trying to get in there with me. Even at this hour half of them are still in their bunks-" He broke off as his belly rumbled like distant thunder, and a desperate expression came over his face. "Here I go again! I swear I'll kill that poxy cook." He started back up the stairs and left them waiting another half-hour before he returned to open the grille gate and lead them out into the courtyard.
Hugo Barnard was waiting to take over from him. He was in a foul mood. "We have lost half a day's work," he snarled at Manseer. "Colonel Schreuder will blame me for this, and when he does I'll come back to you, Manseer!" He turned on the line of convicts. "Don't you bastards stand there smirking! By God, you're going to give me a full day's work even if I have to keep you on the scaffold until midnight. Now leap to it, and quickly too!" Barnard was in fine fettle, his face ruddy and his temper already on the boil. It was clear that the colic and diarrhoea that afflicted the rest of the garrison had not touched him. Hal remembered Manseer remarking that Barnard lived with a Hottentot girl in the settlement down by the shore, and did not eat in the garrison mess.
He looked around quickly as he walked across the courtyard to the foot of the ladder. The sun was already well up and its rays lit the western redoubt of the castle. There were less than half the usual number of gaolers and guards. one sentry instead of four at the gates, none at the entrance to the armoury and only one more at the head of the staircase that led to the Company offices and the Governor's suite on the south side of the courtyard.
When he climbed the ladder and reached the top of the wall he looked across the parade to the avenue, and could just make out the roof of the Governor's residence among the trees.
"God speed, Aboli," he whispered. "We are ready for you Aboli brought the carriage round to the front of the residence a few minutes earlier than the Governor's wife had ordered it, and pulled up the horses below the portico. Almost immediately Sukeena appeared in the doorway and called to him. "Aboli! The mistress has some packages to take with us in the carriage." Her tone was light and easy, with no hint of strain. "Please come and carry them down." This was for the benefit of the others whom she knew would be listening.
Obediently Aboli locked the brake on the carriage wheels and, with a quiet word to the horses, jumped down from the coachman's seat. He moved without haste and his expression was calm as he followed Sukeena into the house. He came out again a minute later carrying a rolled-up silk rug and a set of leather saddle-bags. He went to the back of the carriage and placed this luggage in the panniers, then closed the lid. There was no air of secrecy about his movements and no furtiveness to alert any of the other slaves. The two maids who were busy sweeping the front terrace did not even look up at him. He went back to his seat and picked up the reins, waiting with a slave's infinite patience.
Katinka was late, but that was not unusual. She came at last in a cloud of French perfume and rustling silks, sweeping down the stairs and scolding Sukeena for some fancied misdemeanour. Sukeena glided beside her on small, silent, slippered feet, contrite and smiling.
Katinka climbed up into the carriage like a queen on her way to her coronation, and imperiously ordered Sukeena, "Come and sit here beside me!" Sukeena gave her a curtsy with her hands to her lips. She had hoped that Katinka would give her that command. When she was in the mood for physical intimacy, Katinka wanted her close enough to be able to stretch out her hand and touch her. At other times she was cold and aloof, but at all times unpredictable.
"Tis an omen for good that she does what I intended, Sukeena encouraged herself, as she took the seat opposite her mistress and smiled at her lovingly.
"Drive on, Aboli!" Katinka called and then, as the carriage pulled away, gave her attention to Sukeena "How does this colour suit me in the sunlight? Does it not make me seem pale and insipid?"
"It goes beautifully with your skin, mistress." Sukeena told her what she wanted to hear. "Even better than it does indoors. Also it brings out the violet lights in your eyes."
"Should there not be a touch more lace in the collar, do you think?" Katinka tilted her head prettily.
Sukeena considered her reply. "Your beauty does not rely on even the finest lace from Brussels," she told her. "It stands alone."
"Do you think so, Sukeena? You are such a flatterer, but I must say you yourself are looking particularly fetching this morning." She considered the girl thoughtfully. The carriage was now bowling down the avenue at a trot, the greys arching their necks and stepping out handsomely. "There is colour in your cheeks and a twinkle in your eye.
One might be forgiven for thinking that you were in love."
Sukeena looked at her in a way that made Katinka's skin tingle.
"Oh, but I am in love with a special person," she whispered.
"My naughty little darling," Katinka putted.
The carriage came out into the Parade and turned towards the castle. Katinka was so engrossed that for some while she did not realize where they were heading. Then a shadow of annoyance crossed her face and she called sharply, "Aboli! What are you doing, idiot? Not the castle. We are going to Mevrouw de Wool."
Aboli seemed not to have heard her. The greys trotted straight on towards the castle gates.
"Sukeena, tell the fool to turn round."
Sukeena stood up quickly in the swaying carriage then sat down close beside Katinka and slipped her arm through that of her mistress, holding her firmly.
"What on earth are you doing, child? Not here. Have you lost your mind? Not in front of the whole colony." She tried to pull away her arm, but Sukeena held it with a strength that shocked her.
"We are going into the castle," Sukeena said quietly. "And you are to do exactly what I tell you to do."
"Aboli! Stop the carriage this in stand Katinka raised her voice and made to stand up. But Sukeena jerked her down in her seat.
"Don't struggle," Sukeena ordered, "or I will cut you. I will cut your face first, so that you are no longer beautiful. Then if you still do not obey I will send this blade through your slimy, evil heart."
Katinka looked down and, for the first time, saw the blade that Sukeena held to her side. That dagger had been a gift from one of Katinka's lovers and she knew just how sharp was its slender blade. Sukeena had stolen it from Katinka's closet.
"Are you mad?" Katinka blanched with terror, and tried to squirm away from the needle point.
"Yes. Mad enough to kill you and to enjoy doing it." Sukeena pressed the dagger to her side and Katinka screamed. The horses pricked their ears. "If you scream again I will draw your blood," Sukeena warned. "Now hold your tongue and listen while I tell you what you are to do."
"I will give you to Slow John and laugh as he draws out your entrails," Katinka blustered, but her voice shook and terror was in her eyes.
"You will never laugh again, not unless you obey me. This dagger will see to that," and she pricked Katinka again, hard enough to pierce cloth and skin, so that a spot of blood the size of a silver guilder appeared on her bodice.
"Please!" Katinka whimpered. "Please, Sukeena, I will do as you say. Please don't hurt me again. You said you loved me."
"And I lied," Sukeena hissed at her. "I lied for my brother's sake. I hate you. You will never know the strength of my hatred. I loath the touch of your hands. I am revolted by every filthy, evil thing you forced me to do. So do not trade on any love from me. I will crush you with as little pity as I would rid my hair of lice." Katinka saw death in her eyes, and she was afraid as she had seldom been in her life before.
"I will do as you tell me," she whispered, and Sukeena instructed her in a flat, hard tone that was more threatening than any shouting or raging.
Aboli drove the carriage through the castle gates, the usual stir of activity heralded its Arrival. The single sentry came to attention and presented his musket. Aboli wheeled the team of greys and brought the carriage to a halt in front of the Company offices. The captain of the guard hurried from the armoury, hastily strapping on his sword-belt. He was a young subaltern, freshly out from Holland, and he had been taken by surprise by the unexpected arrival of the Governor's wife.
"The devil's horns!" he muttered to himself. "Why does the bitch pick today to arrive when half my men are sick as dogs?" He looked anxiously at the single guard at the door to the Company offices, and saw that the man's face still had a pale greenish tinge. Then he realized that the Governor's wife was beckoning to him from her seat in the carriage. He broke into a run across the courtyard, straightening his cap and tightening the strap under his chin as he went. He reached the carriage and saluted Katinka "Good morning, Mevrouw. May I assist you to dismount?"
The Governor's wife had a strained, nervous look and her voice was high and breathless. The subaltern was instantly alarmed. "Is something amiss, Mevrouw?"
"Yes, something is very much amiss. Call my husband!" "Will you go to his office?"
"No. I will remain here in the carriage. Go to him this instant and tell him that I say he must come immediately. It is a matter of the utmost importance. Life and death! Go! Hurry!"
The subaltern looked startled and saluted quickly, then bounded up the steps two at a time and shot through the double doors into the offices. While he was gone Aboli dismounted, went to the panniers at the back of the carriage and opened the lid. Then he glanced around the courtyard.
There was one guard at the gates and another at the head of the stairs but, as usual, the slow-match in their muskets was unlit. There was no sentry posted at the doors to the armoury, but from where he stood he could see through the window that three men were in the guard room. Each of the five overseers in the courtyard carried swords as well as their whips and canes. Hugo Barnard was at the far end of the yard and had both his hounds on the leash. He was haranguing the gang of common convicts laying the paving stones along the foot of the east wall. These other convicts, not part of the crew of the Resolution, might be a hazard when they made their attempt to escape. Nearly two hundred were working on the walls, the multihued dregs of humanity. They could easily hamper the rescue attempt by blocking the escape route or even by trying to join in with the Resolution's crew and mobbing the carriage when they realized what was happening.
We will deal with that when it happens, he thought grimly, and turned his full attention to the armed guards and overseers who were the primary threat. With Barnard and his gang, there were ten art ned men in sight but any outcry could bring another twenty or thirty soldiers hurrying out of the barracks and across the yard. The whole business could get out of hand quickly.
He looked up to find Hal and Big Daniel watching him from the scaffold. Hal already had the rope of the gantry in his hand, the tail looped around his wrist. Ned Tyler and Billy Rogers were on the lower tier, and the two birds, Finch and Sparrow, were working near Althuda in the courtyard. They were all pretending to carry on with their tasks, but were eyeing Aboli surreptitiously.
Aboli reached into the pannier and loosened the twine that secured the rolled silk carpet. He opened a flap of it and, without lifting them clear, revealed the three Mogul scimitars and the single kukii knife that he had chosen for himself. He knew that, from their vantage point, Hal and Big Daniel could see into the pannier. Then he stood immobile and expressionless at the back wheel of the carriage.
Suddenly the Governor burst hatless and in his shirt sleeves through the double doors at the head of the staircase and came down at an ungainly lurching run.
"What is it, Mevrouw?" he called urgently to his wife, when he was half-way down. "They say you sent for me, and it's a matter of life and death."
"Hurry!" Katinka cried plaintively. "I am in the most terrible predicament."
He arrived at the door of the carriage, panting wildly. "Tell me what ails you, Mevrouw!" he gasped.
Aboli stepped up behind him and hooked one great arm around his neck, pinning him helplessly. Van de Velde began to struggle. For all his obesity he was a powerful man and even Aboli had difficulty in holding him.
"What in the devil's name are you doing?" he roared in outrage. Aboli placed the blade of the knife at his throat. When van de Velde felt the cold touch of steel and the sting of the razor edge, his struggles ceased.
"I will slit your throat like the great hog you are," Aboli whispered in his ear, "and Sukeena has a dagger at your wife's heart. Tell your soldiers to stay where they are and throw down their arms."
The subaltern had started forward at van de Velde's cry, and his sword was half-way out of its scabbard as he rushed down the stairs.
St opP van de Velde shouted at him in terror. "Don't move, you fool. You will have me killed." The subaltern halted and dithered uncertainly.
Aboli tightened his
lock around the Governor's throat. "Tell him to throw down his sword."
"Throw down your sword!" van de Velde whinnied. "Do as he says. Can't you see he has a knife at my throat?" The subaltern dropped his sword, which clattered down the steps.
Fifty feet above the courtyard, Hal sprang out from the scaffold, hanging on the rope from the gantry, and Big Daniel belayed the other end, braking the speed of his fall. The sheave squealed as he plummeted down and landed in balance on the cobbles. He leaped to the rear of the carriage and seized one of the jewelled scimitars. With the next leap he was half-way up the steps where he stooped and swept up the subaltern's sword in his left hand. He placed the point under the officer's chin and said, "Order your men to throw down their weapons!"
"Lay down your arms, all of you!" the subaltern yelled. "If any man among you brings harm to the Governor or his lady, he will pay for it with his own life." The sentries obeyed with alacrity, dropping their muskets and sidearms to the paving stones.
Wilbur Smith - C09 Birds Of Prey Page 45
