hunting shirt, and my knife as well. My sword and my musket were in plain sight.
The ship hove to, then dropped her hook and put a boat over the side. We waited,
standing on the beach.
There were seven men in the boat. The man in command was a burly, smiling fellow
with a cheerful face. “Well! Isn’t this a pretty sight! English, I’ll wager, and
castaways.”
“We’ve furs to trade,” I said. “And we are here willingly, and do not wish to be
picked up.”
“Ah? Well, of course not. But the master asks that you come aboard … be his
guests. Have a meal, and then back to the shore you shall come.” He glanced
curiously up and down the empty beach. “Although why you’d like this better than
old England, I can’t guess.”
He looked around. “Furs, you say? Well, the captain’s the man for that. He’ll
trade. Come! Supper is waiting, and the captain ordered up the best when he saw
you through his glass. ‘Women,’ the captain said, ‘it’s a bit of time since
we’ve seen the whisk of a skirt, and two such lovely wenches—women—I’ve never
seen!'”
We scrambled up the ladder and over the side, and as I came over, a hand reached
out for my musket. I pulled it back, smiling. “I will keep that,” I said.
“There’s redskins ashore and there might be pirates as well.”
A huge man, as large as two of me and fat, came down the deck. “Let it be,
Joshua! Let it be! The man’s a guest aboard here, and welcome to his arms if he
wishes!”
He held out a huge hand. “Wilson here! Captain Oldfast Wilson, master of the
Lion, out of Portsmouth! How do you do? Your name would be?”
“Barnes,” I said, “and this is Mrs. Barnes. We are,” I lied, “settlers on this
shore. Is this one of Raleigh’s ships?”
“It is not. It is my own ship.” He glanced from me to Watkins and Glasco.
“Settlers, you say? I did not know there were any such, since Grenville’s men
were lost and the Raleigh settlers vanished from Roanoke.”
“Our ship was a Flemish galleon—”
There was a movement behind me, and then a man stepped around to face me. It was
Emmden.
“He lies! That is Sackett! Barnabas Sackett, and it is the Queen herself who
wants him!”
“Of course, it is!” Wilson was smiling smugly. “I glimpsed you once in London,
m’boy! Saw you fair! Even from the glass I was certain sure ’twas you. By all
that’s holy, this is a good day! A reward from the Queen herself, and—”
“Cap’n?” Joshua said. “He said he had furs to trade.”
“Ah? Furs, is it? Well, a fair trade we’ll have. Do you be telling us where the
furs are now. You tell us, and you’ll eat well and sleep well aboard this ship!
Otherwise, it’s the blackest corner of the hold and a weight of chains for you,
and certain drowning if we sink. What’ll it be m’boy? Irons or the furs? Treat
me right, and I’ll do the same by you!”
“Well,” I said reluctantly, “do I have your word on that? I have but six bales—”
“Six?” The greed shone in his eyes. “Why, of course! For six bales you have my
word on it, and the best of quarters for you and your lady as well. Even for the
wench yonder.” He indicated Lila.
“There’s no hope for it, Abby,” I said, shrugging. Then I added, “There’s a
ship’s boat across the island, and the bales on the shore hard by. If you send a
boat, I’d be glad to show them—”
“Na, na, m’boy! I’d not be troublin’ you.” He pointed a finger at Black Tom
Watkins. “We’ll send that one. He’ll know where they are, an’ he’ll lead us
right to them. He will if he wants to live without fifty lashes a week until he
dies.
“Do na think I’m a hard man, m’boy, but there’s a world of deceit and evil about
us, an’ a man does have to protect himself, now doesn’t he?”
He glared at Tom. “What’s your name, man?”
“Watkins, and I’ll gladly show you where the furs lie If you’ll let me become
one of your crew or drop me in the nearest port. I’ve had my fill o’ that,” he
jerked his head toward the shore. “Savages by night an’ no drop of ale by day.
I’ll show you, certain sure I will!”
“Joshua,” Wilson turned on us, “do you take them below. Keep them together for
the non, and if there’s no furs, well, we’ll have a bit of their hide. Hers,
too.” His eyes glinted. “No doot ’tis a pretty hide, but will show the better
for some blood on it. Do you take them below.”
They had taken my musket and a hand had jerked away my sword, but there was no
further search and I’d the knife handy and two pistols.
Pistols were not that common thing about and I doubt they gave it a thought,
with me so obviously armed with musket and sword. Put us all together, they did,
and in a small cabin near the main one, and we stood crowded there, scarce room
to turn about.
“What now?” Lila said. ” ‘Tis a brave man I know you are, but what is one
against all, and only Glasco aboard to help.”
“And what of Tom?” Abby asked, holding Kin close. “Is it true that he’s turned
upon us?”
“Of course, the blackg’rd has!” I spoke loudly, and then, ever so softly, “I’d
trust him with my life!”
“You have,” Lila said. “Be sure of that!”
“Aye,” I said, “and I’m trusting another man as well, a wise and a shrewd one,
that Jeremy Ring!”
27
Two pistols I had, but that meant but two shots, and then it was the knife until
death.
Where had they put my sword and musket? In the main cabin, I was sure. That
sword had been my father’s, and I wanted it back again. Yet now I would have
accepted any sword, any weapon.
Looking quickly around the small cabin, I saw nothing. Yet they had put us
hastily there, not thinking, and there might be something about. Leaning toward
Lila, I urged her to look.
Softly, she began, feeling the man’s bunk, searching the drawers of his small
cabinet. A compass, a Bible, a small, much-worn booklet on navigation, a sewing
kit… nothing more.
“Lila,” I said, “the pillow.”
She looked. Pillows were a not often thing aboard ship, but this man loved his
comfort, slight as it was, and he had a pillow, a soft, downy pillow with a
faint, fishy smell. Gull feathers, no doubt, and made by himself.
She looked under it, but I shook my head and made a move to indicate holding it
over her face. Lila got the idea at once and took up the pillow, placing it on
the small stand near her.
Jeremy Ring was a quick-thinking and shrewd young man, and I was guessing he
would at once surmise something wrong when he saw the boat returning without us.
Truly, my life and those of my family and Lila were in his hands. His, and those
of Tom Watkins.
Yet I had no wish to trust to any man when so much was at stake, and there was
every chance we might ourselves do something. I liked not the look of the man
Oldfast Wilson.
Well, I’d two shots. If the worst came for it, he would get the first one. If we
could get a guard to open the door, and I could distract his attention, then
Lila and her pillow might well do the rest.
If a man or woman is inclined to murder or violence, owning a gun is not
important. There are always a dozen things about with which a man can be killed.
For myself, I’d no wish for any of it. I’d been controlling my temper better
these days, with hopes I might someday conquer it altogether. For I’d always
been inclined to go into fierce although not unreasoning rage. It was a serious
fault, and I’d worked hard at controlling myself, for giving away to anger is a
weakness in a man.
We heard no sound except those made by the ship herself, and occasional
movements above deck. Abby clutched my hand. “Barney,” she whispered, “what will
happen?”
“Trust to Jeremy,” I suggested. “If there’s a fight we’ve some likely lads
ashore there, and if they fail, then we’ve to do something ourselves.”
Waiting was a hard thing. Abby put little Kin down on the bunk, and he seemed
happy enough, unaware of what was taking place.
A long time passed, and then we heard steps upon the deck outside, and the door
was opened. It was Joshua, and he held a pistol in his hand. “Cap’n Wilson wants