Ill Wind and Dead Reckoning: Caribbean Pirate Adventure (Valkyrie)
Read Ill Wind and Dead Reckoning: Caribbean Pirate Adventure (Valkyrie) Online
Authors: Karen Perkins
Ill Wind
&
Valkyrie Series 1 and 2
by
LionheART Publishing House
Ill Wind
and
Dead Reckoning
first published individually in Great Britain in 2012 by
LionheART Publishing House
Copyright © Karen Perkins 2014
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention
No reproduction without permission
All rights reserved.
The right of Karen Perkins to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
LionheART Publishing House
Harrogate
UK
www.facebook.com/lionheartpublishing
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the LionheART Publishing House, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of Karen Perkins’ and LionheART Publishing House’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Caribbean, 17th Century, United States, Pirates, Women Pirates, Adventure, Sea
Cover Design by Cecelia Morgan
Gabriella Berryngton is an unhappy and oppressed fourteen-year-old girl living in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1683. She dreams of escaping her bitter, ambitious stepfather and sailing off into the unknown.
Her dreams come true when her stepfather sells her into marriage.
Aboard
Freyja
, she is hopeful that her new life in the Dutch West Indies will be an improvement – a hope that dies when she is given a slave, Klara, and a whip. She discovers that her soon-to-be father-in-law is a ruthless slave trader in league with pirates, and her fiancé is cold, unfriendly and disinterested in Gabriella. She is little more than a vessel to provide the next generation of van Eckens.
Largely ignored and desperately unhappy, she and Klara develop a friendship which makes life bearable – at first. Once married, Gabriella’s life takes a turn for the worse and she descends into a world of horror and abuse until tensions finally explode. Life will never be the same and she has no choice but to take fate into her own hands.
31st May 1683
‘What do you think he wants, Mam?’
‘I don’t know, Gabriella.’ Mam frowned at me. ‘Just hear him out and don’t react. You know how he hates it when you answer back.’
‘But he’s never summoned us to work before!’ Father was the chief customs officer in charge of all shipping in and out of Massachusetts Bay, and was very proud of his position – nobody could trade in the colony without his consent. He usually forbade us from bothering him at the docks, although that was no hardship – the sheltered water there stank with all the waste thrown overboard from anchored ships, and turned my stomach, although it would be worse in a couple of hours when the sun warmed and rotted the putrid filth.
‘Very well,’ I agreed.
We looked at each other, worried, and Mam reached up to tuck a wayward curl behind my ear, then gave me a nervous smile.
‘Elizabeth!’ Father called. I smiled back at Mam; everybody but Father called her Ellie.
‘About time. I want you to meet Mijnheer van Ecken.’ He presented the tall, distinguished-looking gentleman standing by his side. Father hadn’t looked at me yet, but this stranger hadn’t taken his eyes off me since our arrival. I looked back at him. He didn’t smile; neither did I.
‘And this—’ Father said with a flourish, ‘is my beloved daughter, Gabriella.’
I jerked my eyes away from the stranger and stared at Father in shock. He’d never described me as ‘beloved’ before, never mind introduced me as such. I glanced at Mam; her normally rosy cheeks had turned pale. I tried to swallow, but my mouth was dry.
What’s happening here?
‘She’ll do.’ The stranger, Mr van Ecken, spoke for the first time, and my eyes darted back to him. He still didn’t smile.
‘John?’ Mam asked, warily.
‘Great news, Elizabeth, I’ve procured for our beloved daughter,’ – that word again – ‘a most suitable match. Mijnheer van Ecken here is one of the West Indies’ most successful merchants, and his son, Erik, is looking for a bride.’
Mam gasped and turned paler still. I just stood there. Had Father said ‘bride’?
‘You must remember my mentioning Mijnheer van Ecken,’ Father continued, oblivious to our reactions. ‘He’s one of my best customers.’ He laughed, slapping Mr van Ecken on the shoulder. The man attempted a smile, but it failed.
‘He has done us a great service by selecting Gabriella as his son’s bride, and this is the start of a very lucrative partnership between our families.’
I looked at him and cringed at the delight on his face. I knew I should say something, but nothing came to mind.
Bride? West Indies? Married?
But I was to marry Peter! We’d been talking about it for ages, Father knew that. My breath hitched in my throat and I pressed my hand to my chest, trying to stop the panting – all of a sudden I found it hard to catch any air. He couldn’t do this. He would
not
.
‘John, no—’ Mam tried.
‘Elizabeth!’ Father reprimanded, and Mam said nothing more, just stared at the ground. We both knew he didn’t like to be contradicted, especially in public. Our arguments would have to wait until we were in private, and I shuddered at the thought of the scene to come.
‘Mijnheer van Ecken has been more than generous and Gabriella will want for nothing in her new home in Sayba. She should be pleased.’
New home? Sayba? Where on earth is Sayba?
I looked at Mam, stepping back in my panic, but she stared at the ground, too used to doing Father’s bidding.
‘Stay where you are, Gabriella, it’s all agreed, so calm yourself and do as you’re told. You’re flushed, you know that makes you ugly – all those freckles! You will marry Erik van Ecken and be a good wife to him – be ready to sail on the tide.’
That’s three hours away.
I looked at his eyes. Dark and wrinkled from working outdoors, there was no emotion there. He’d sold me to a stranger, was packing me off to God knew where, and he felt nothing.
‘John!’ Mam exclaimed, her shock overriding her fear. ‘You can’t, it’s too soon, she’s only fourteen!’
‘Elizabeth!’ Father thundered, his square jaw set, and I knew it was only the stranger’s presence that stayed his fist. ‘I’ve made my decision.’ He glared at her, and her shoulders slumped in resignation. I gritted my teeth in frustration.
Why can’t she stand up to him? Why can’t she stand up for me?
Tears rolled down my face – of anger, frustration, despair. I wondered when they would stop.
Mam had been incapable of words since Father had silenced her at the docks. I looked at her in frustration; she was my mam, she should be standing up for me, not breaking down like this and allowing Father to do what he wanted with me.
I’d packed my few belongings myself, breaking off frequently to comfort her, but had finally finished.
‘What’s going to happen to me?’ I whispered.
She shook her head. ‘Just do as your husband instructs and make the best life you can – it’s all you can do.’
‘Maybe I should run away.’
‘Oh, Gabriella, where would you go? What would you do? A worse life awaits you if you flee. You have to do as your father instructs!’ She opened her arms and I fell into her embrace. She stroked my hair and I knew I’d have a devil of a job to tame my wild, dark curls back into some sort of order. I shrugged.
What do I care about that, now?
A knock at the door jolted us apart. I opened it to one of Father’s wharfmen.
‘It’s time,’ he said.
I nodded at him. He sounded upset as well. He came in, picked up my small chest, and we followed him. Mam was still crying. My own tears had dried. I couldn’t believe I had to leave her and all I knew, to live with a stranger as his wife. I still didn’t know what that would entail.
We walked through the Massachusetts Bay Colony in silence. I wanted to run, but heeded Mam’s warning. There was nothing outside the colony, just wilderness with all its dangers – unless I ran to the sea, and I could see no way of doing that.
Past the meeting house, the small wooden cottages of our neighbours, fields full of crops, woodlots and pasture. My heart leapt when I saw Peter. We’d known each other since we were babes and were best friends, but Mam’s hand on my arm stayed me and I could only stare until I’d left him behind.
‘Gabriella.’ Mam stopped and grabbed my arm. Words failed her again and, sobbing, she stretched her arms behind her neck and unfastened her necklace. I’d never known her take it off before.
‘Your father gave me this – your true father,’ she said, ‘the earl.’ Mam had been a housemaid he’d taken a fancy to, then shipped off to the New World when she – or rather her belly – had become too much trouble. She’d met John Berryngton on the passage out.
She fastened the necklace around my neck and I looked down at the purple teardrop of amethyst, then held it up to the light. My own tears started to fall again and Mam hugged me.
‘Get a move on! The tide won’t wait for you!’ We sprang apart at Father’s words and Mam kissed me, then we continued our walk towards the docks – towards my future. I watched Father stride ahead and felt a glimmer of hope. My future could only be an improvement on my past.
*
He was there, my soon-to-be father-in-law; looking at his pocket watch, obviously impatient. He stooped slightly and wore a grey curled periwig over a face full of angles – nose, cheekbones, jaw. His clothes were of good quality, although of a cut that was unfamiliar, just like his accent – Dutch I assumed from his name, but nobody had bothered to confirm it.
‘About time,’ he snapped. ‘The tide’s about to turn, we need to on it be.’
‘Yes, yes, she’s ready,’ Father said. ‘Take her chest to that longboat,’ he added to the wharfman. I watched him obey, though he avoided my eyes as he took everything I could call my own away from my home. I knew I’d have to follow. I turned to Mam and hugged her. I had no words, and joined her in sobs.
‘Gabriella!’ Father pulled me away. ‘It’s time to go. Don’t embarrass me, the van Eckens are important merchants. Don’t forget you’re representing this family! Now go.’
‘No!’ I tried to wrench myself free of him. ‘I won’t and you can’t—’ His slap made me stumble before I’d finished my protest and I huddled on the ground, shocked. I raised my hand to my stinging cheek, but he grabbed my arm again and hauled me to my feet, then pushed me towards the boat.
‘Goodbye, Gabriella,’ Mam managed through her sobs. ‘Keep well and safe.’
I ignored her. Even now she wouldn’t fight for me. I turned at Mr van Ecken’s hand on my other arm, and allowed him to lead me to the boat.
What else can I do?
I looked out at the bay and the ships anchored there.
Which one will take me away?
I turned. ‘Mam!’ I cried, and almost fell when Mr van Ecken pulled me into the boat.
*
By the time we’d left the wharf, I’d calmed. Mam and Father were still visible on the quayside, but they were small now – far away. I was sure Mam was still crying, and shuddered. Father hated tears; Mam would not have a pleasant afternoon, or evening.
I watched Father grab her arm and pull her away, dragging her back to the house like a naughty child. I sighed and twisted on my seat to look ahead.
I looked up at the bulk of the ship we’d approached. I’d never been aboard one before but had spent hours watching them arrive and leave Massachusetts Bay, dreaming I was sailing away in one of them. My wish was about to come true. I’d just never imagined these circumstances.
What will become of me?
*
The boat bumped alongside the larger vessel and a rope was thrown down to us. I stood up.
‘Not yet, stay where you are, I’ll tell you when to stand,’ Mr van Ecken snapped. I sat back down. I had no fight left in me.
‘Now, come here and on this sit,’ he said a few moments later. I looked at him in surprise at his strange English, but supposed I’d get used to it.
A wooden plank, held by rope at either end, had been lowered to us. I looked at the basic seat, then at the hull, and pointed at the battens nailed on to the side like a ladder. ‘I’d rather use those,’ I said.
‘You’ll do as you’re told! Your father told me you obedient were, though I have not much evidence of that seen. Be warned – I do not tolerate disrespect.’
I looked at him in dislike, but I didn’t want to go back to Father, whatever that might mean for my future. I sat on the wooden seat and allowed myself to be hauled up the side.
A thin bald man with the most startling black eyebrows I’d ever seen offered me a hand to step on to the deck.
‘Greetings, Mistress Berryngton,’ he said, kissing my hand. ‘Welcome aboard
Freyja
, I’m Captain Edward Hornigold.’
‘Enough of that, Hornigold, get this tub moving, I don’t time to waste have.’
Captain Hornigold nodded and smiled at me before walking away, shouting. His men scurried around the decks.
‘This way,’ van Ecken barked at me, and I followed him to a hole in the deck and below. I clambered down the ladder and kept following him – I think towards the back of the boat. I was nervous, my belly twisting.
What does he expect of me? Am I really to marry his son, or was that a ruse?
Light flooded over us when he opened a door, and he stood aside for me. I walked into a cabin – a bank of windows in the back wall provided the light. There was a bunk, table and chair, my chest, and an African woman.
‘This is Klara. She’s yours to do with as you will. Here.’ He gave me a small silver-handled whip. ‘You might need this to remind her of that, though.’ He turned and left. I looked at the woman in shock, but she kept her eyes on the floor.
‘Hello,’ I said tentatively. No reaction. A shudder made me step to one side as the floor moved beneath my feet, and I braced myself against the wall. We were off.