She came along up to us, taking in sail as she approached, and there were faces
at the bow rail and aft, and there was Captain Tempany, and Corvino!
Corvino as well, and Jublain … good old Jublain!
And then another face. I was startled and blinked my eyes, but it was she. It
was Abigail.
Her hair blowing in the wind, smiling at me, her eyes bright with welcome.
“See her, Sakim?” I said, half-turning. “That is why I dream.”
“I see, I do indeed. But she is not to dream about, my friend, she is the
dream!”
Chapter 13
An hour later, in the cabin, and over a glass of sack, I explained our
situation.
Tempany did not interrupt, only nodding from time to time as he paced the deck.
“So we suspected,” he said, “but there was no chance. The Jack slipped from her
moorings and was well down the river before we discovered that you were
missing.”
He paused. “You have furs, you say?”
“Getting them will not be easy. I am afraid it cannot be done without alerting
Bardle. He has you outgunned, Captain.”
“Perhaps. And we want no trouble.” He frowned. “We should recover your furs,
then sail up the coast. There’re the Spanish below us.” He glanced at me. “What
would you suggest?”
“Move now … at once. Recover the furs and get away before Bardle is prepared.
Once he knows your vessel is in these waters, he will be alert.”
Tempany moved to the companionway and called. In a few minutes he returned.
“You’re sure of the water’s depth?”
“We are … and Sakim and I will go in after the furs.”
He went on deck and Abigail smoothed her skirt with careful hands. “I was
dreadfully frightened,” she said quietly. “I was afraid something terrible had
happened to you.”
“How do you happen to be here?” I asked.
She laughed. “I convinced him I’d not be safe in London! I think he wanted to
bring me, anyway, and all he needed was an excuse.”
“Have you been ashore?”
“Oh, no!”
“It’s beautiful,” I said. “So many kinds of trees, and flowers everywhere. Of
course,” I added, “there’s alligators and bears and Indians.”
“We saw some alligators, and once some Indians came out and tried to get us to
come ashore. We did not go, although we traded with them for some dried meat and
a couple of huge turtles.”
“I am glad you came,” I said suddenly. “I have been thinking of you.”
She glanced at me. “Really? With all those alligators and Indians to think of, I
am surprised.”
“From alligators and Indians there is always a chance of escape,” I said
smiling.
“And from me?”
“A much smaller chance, but I am not sure I would try.”
Tempany called down the hatch. “Sackett? Come on deck.”
He had land on his starboard bow. It was the passage from the northern sound to
the southern. I stood by him as we started into the passage, for we had passed
it before.
“That man you have with you? He’s a Moor?”
“Aye, a good man, and an educated one.” I told him about Rufisco and the sudden
attack by Indians.
“I’ve been told some are friendly,” Tempany commented.
“Some are, but others are as different as Europeans, either as individuals or
tribes. We are at war with the Spanish, or on the verge of it. A ship at sea is
in danger from whatever ship it encounters. Indians may be friendly one time,
enemies another. They respect strength, and very little else.”
When we had passed into the southern sound and saw no sail, we went below, and
for the first time in many weeks I sat down to a civilized meal with well-cooked
food.
As we ate, I told him of my thoughts of the land. “It is beautiful, and there is
nothing in England that surpasses it. I think I may well continue to venture
here, to trade with the Indians, perhaps even to buy land from them.”
“It is soon,” Tempany objected. “It is too soon. A fancied slight can turn them
against you. I have no dealings with these Indians, as they are called, but I
have dealt with others of a similar kind, and they are easily offended. One can
create trouble through misunderstanding, for their ways are different than
ours.”
“Granted … but I shall learn.”
“You had best come back to England first,” Tempany said, “there is the matter of
a gentleman who would make you his heir. And no small thing it is.”
For a moment I was silent. How to tell him the spell those empty rivers had cast
upon me? Or the vastness of that land out there? The mystery of it?
“I must go beyond the mountains,” I said.
“There are always mountains,” Tempany said grimly, “of one kind or another.
Think, before you decide. What future is there here but a life among savages,
until you become savage yourself?”
Later, Jublain and Corvino were waiting on deck. “We have traded a little along
the coast,” Corvino said, “and we have done well.”
They had already met Sakim, and the three were friends. I gave a thought to
Rufisco, buried under the sand. He wanted the sun, and the wine and the girls. I
would drink a toast to him, someday, in some such place as that of which he
dreamed.
“Sakim! You have done many things, but have you ever built a ship?”
“I have. And several I have rebuilt after battle or storm.” He looked at me
thoughtfully. “You are thinking of a ship?”
“I am … and a cargo of potash.”
“Potash?”
“It’s used in making glass, and soap, too. I shall burn oak wood, perhaps some
other hardwoods as well. Leach the ashes and ship them to England.”
“They will pay for that?” Jublain was skeptical.
“Aye,” Corvino said. “A glassmaker would pay ten shillings per hundredweight,
and here there are forests of oaks. All it takes is work.”
“I am a warrior,” Jublain said contemptuously.
“And a poor one,” Corvino agreed. “A warrior who will not soil his hands, but
does not have a bit for wine or ale? Or one who works a little and buys what ale
and wine he needs?”
“If it comes to that,” Jublain admitted.
The weather was fair and the wind held steady. The three-master moved along
smoothly, yet slowed by the current, and when we were abeam of the rocks, Sakim,
Jublain and I shoved off in the gig, which had been towed astern. It needed only
a short time to retrieve our first cache of furs, load them into the gig and
start back. There was no sign of Nick Bardle or his crew, nor of any Indians.
We moved upstream to the mouth of the first branching stream of size. There we
put the wheel over and, using great care, let the current strike our starboard
bow and slowly swing the ship around. There was room enough and to spare, and
when we had turned we started downstream, moving toward the farther bank.
The low island to which we came looked no different than it had. I went down the
ladder into the gig, followed by Sakim and Jublain again, and once more we
pushed away from the Tiger’s side toward familiar land.
Despite our previous visit, it was no easy thing to find the hulk again, and a
slow, burdensome task to carry the furs all the way to the gig. Yet carry them
we did, and again we pushed off. At the Tiger, Sakim climbed aboard and the furs
were hoisted.
Suddenly, there were shouts from above, frantic cries, then the boom of a
cannon. The Jolly Jack had rounded the bend. A shot struck the water nearby and
as the sails went up on the Tiger the wind caught them and she gave a lurch,
turning quickly and thrusting sharply forward.
As her bows thrust forward, she bumped hard against the gig. Standing in its
bow, having just made fast the towline, I was pitched headfirst into the water.
I went down, down, down. My lungs struggled for breath, my hands lashed at the
water and I shot up. The gig, trailing behind the Tiger now, was a good dozen
feet away. I heard the boom of another cannon and saw the Jolly Jack closing,
yet there was a sudden concussion, a nearer shot, and I saw the ball hit the
rail of the Jack and throw splinters high into the air.
There was a scream, then the Tiger, firing at will, let go with another. The
Jack, heading upstream then, passed the Tiger and I could see men racing along
the deck to bring the stern gun to bear.
Treading water, I suddenly, realized the Jolly Jack was abreast of me and not
fifty yards off. The Tiger was sailing away. Instantly, I dove, swimming under