Ill Wind and Dead Reckoning: Caribbean Pirate Adventure (Valkyrie) (12 page)

‘We’re making good
progress with the clearing, Mevrouw van Ecken, although work has slowed down a bit without Wilbert.’ Rensink was beginning to slur his words.

‘Shouldn’t you let him out of the cage if the work’s suffering? I’m sure Erik would agree clearing the jungle for more sugarcane is more important than punishing one man.’ My spirits soared at the possibility of freeing Wilbert legitimately. ‘We’re already busy watering and weeding the existing fields, I’m sure I heard my husband saying the new field should have been cleared by now, surely we need all the workers we’ve got?’

I looked up and smiled at Klara who was pouring Rensink more adulterated rum, but she gave me such a look of pity my heart sank again.

‘He has . . . has . . . warehouses full of them.’ Rensink confirmed Klara’s expectations. ‘He’ll no doubt be bringing more slaves back with him to get the . . . the . . . work done.’

I nodded. Of course he would. Rensink put his hand to his head.

‘Excuse me, Mevrouw . . . Mevrouw . . . I’m not feeling well.’ He tried to get to his feet and stumbled.

‘Oh, Mijnheer Rensink, I hope you’re not sickening for something, the jungle fever is relentless. Of course I excuse you, you must go and lie down.’

‘I can’t, Mevrouw van Ecken. I must deal with the slaves for the night.’

‘I can do that for you, you really don’t look well at all. You must lie down and leave everything to me.’

‘Dank u Mevrouw Ecken, I . . . I think I will.’ He gave me his keys, grabbed hold of the rail and made his unsteady way towards his hut. I looked at Klara and heaved a sigh of relief. I’d been worried he’d demand she help him to bed, but he was too fuddled to think of it.

‘Belinda?’ I asked.

‘Dead to the world,’ Klara replied. ‘She’ll know nothing until morning and have a most undeserved head, but it can’t be helped.’

‘Does Jan know what to do?’

‘Yes, he’ll wait till the moon’s over the house, then go through Mijnheer Erik’s study window and back out to bring us the keys. He’s a good boy, he won’t let us down.’

I nodded. At nine years old, Jan was expected to do the work of a man, yet he was always full of energy and laughter. Klara was right to be so proud of him. I looked at the bunch of keys on the table. I had no idea if the key to the cage was on there. We had to make sure we could free Wilbert, which meant Jan still had to take that risk.

‘You might as well sit down, Klara, there’s no one else here to see you. We have to wait to be sure Rensink is too deeply asleep to stir, and hope Erik stays away.’

We looked at each other. I did not expect Erik back that night, but he enjoyed doing the unexpected purely to catch people out, and I could never be sure of his movements. We could only hope. If he stayed away, we had a chance. If he came home, we’d die.

‘I’ll clear this rum away first.’

I settled back on the chair and tried to relax. So far everything was going well. Erik was still absent. Rensink and Belinda were asleep and wouldn’t wake before morning. I stared out at the jungle and the road to Eckerstad. Dark and overgrown, I wasn’t looking forward to that walk, but it was the best way. We couldn’t ride; if we met anyone on the way we wouldn’t be able to hide the horses, and Klara wasn’t confident enough in the saddle to survive a chase. On foot, we could dive into the undergrowth until they passed, or even walk through the jungle; we’d have a much better chance of escaping undiscovered.

I started as Klara came back out on to the veranda wearing hat, shirt and breeches. I’d almost failed to recognize her. I smiled,
This might work
. She carried the same for me, along with a bottle of wine and two fresh glasses. I took a glass of wine, fiddled with my favourite necklace – a large teardrop of amethyst that Mam had given to me – and stared at the clothing.
Are we really going to do this? We can still call it off with no harm done, it isn’t too late. Rensink will assume jungle fever or a bad bottle of rum. Belinda may be a little harder to placate, but she’ll protect us. If I get changed and Erik arrives, he’ll know. Once I put on a man’s clothing, I’m committed to escape and all the perils that entails. Stay or go?

I downed the wine, picked up the clothing and went inside to change. There really was no other choice.

‘
Jan, no! Gabriella
!’

I gasped in fear at the panic in Klara’s voice. Erik? Had he come home?

‘Gabriella, hurry, it’s Jan!’

I rushed back outside, tucking my shirt into my breeches, and saw Jan disappear into the treeline.

‘What’s he doing? I thought you said he knew what to do?’

‘He does, he’s trying to be a hero and rescue Wilbert himself. Oh, the stupid boy!’

‘We have to go after him, come on!’ I rushed down the veranda and ran after the child, cursing. There was danger enough in following the plan without this, and chances were that the key we needed was on Rensink’s bunch anyway. We should have known better than to involve Jan; he was too eager to please.

‘Klara!’ I shouted. She was still on the veranda, frozen in place with her hands to her mouth. I ran back and grabbed her. ‘Come on! We have to go
now
!’ I grabbed the knapsack she’d prepared with food and weapons, and dragged her after her son, then stopped at the sound of gunshots and stared at the trees.

‘No.’ Klara spoke quietly and sank to her knees. ‘No.’

I stared at her. Her son or lover was dead, maybe both, and we hadn’t left the plantation yet.

‘Klara, come on, we have to go,’ I urged, tugging on her arm to drag her back to her feet.

‘Wilbert.’

I turned to see Wilbert stumble out of the trees, followed by one of Erik’s pirates: Sharpe. He raised a pistol in his left hand, took aim and fired. Wilbert and Klara screamed at the same instant, and Wilbert fell to the ground. Sharpe stared at us for a moment, turned and walked back towards the trees. I watched him go in disbelief, unable to comprehend that the man hadn’t stopped us.

‘Klara! Klara! Quick, we have to go now! Stand up!’ I pulled at her again as I spoke, and she got to her feet. I hugged her quickly. ‘He’s letting us go, but if
he’s
here, Erik won’t be far behind. If we don’t go now, we’ll die too. Come on.’ I picked the knapsack back up and led her to the trees, although to a different path than the one Sharpe had taken. We’d have to follow the cliff tops to Eckerstad. We’d be more exposed, but hopefully would miss anyone approaching the house. I had no desire to get lost in the jungle, so it was the only feasible option we had left.

‘Mistress Gabriella?’

‘Hans.’ I turned to the man who’d approached from the direction of the slave huts. ‘Jan and Wilbert are dead. Rensink’s asleep, but Erik will be on his way home. Let everyone know: if anyone wants to make a run for it, this is the night to do it, but they have to hurry!’ He looked at me as if I were mad, than saw Wilbert’s body, nodded, and rushed back the way he’d come.

‘Klara, can you walk?’ She nodded, took one look back, then ran towards the cliffs and the jungle.

In daylight it was beautiful here: a riot of every shade of green contrasting with the profuse red trumpet flowers of bromeliads and rich with fruit: naseberry, passion, mango, pawpaw and, my favourite, mammee apple; plus the intoxicating perfumes of a myriad of flowers: oleander, hibiscus, begonia. Now the riot of colour was dark, the trees guardians of the night. Their foliage protected the land with thorns and spikes, and hid all sorts of creatures I’d rather not think about. It was noisy too – nearly as discordant as during the day, but different sounds, frightening sounds: the scream of a tropicbird, a sudden dashing run of a large lizard away from the noise of our passage, and the ever-present cacophony of tree frogs and crickets. It seemed another world without the sun.

*

‘
What was that?
’

We’d been walking about an hour and had at least another two to go. This was the sixth time Klara had heard a pursuit.

‘I didn’t hear anything.’

‘There it is again.’

‘It’s an animal.’

‘But what if it isn’t?’

I looked at her. She was right. We couldn’t afford to lose our caution. I looked around for the best place to hide.

‘In here.’ The thickest undergrowth I could see was just ahead, and we forced our way through banana fronds and bromeliad spikes. I settled down and tried to get comfortable. I didn’t know how long it would take for Klara to be ready to start moving again, but I knew I’d have to wait for her. It was a tight fit, and I couldn’t be sure we’d be out of sight if she was right this time.

I caught my breath. Klara
was
right. I could hear it too now; it wasn’t an animal, it was the sound of men slashing at the undergrowth, accompanied by orbs of light – lanterns.

‘They must have come this way. They’re not on the road; they’ve not taken any horses and won’t have risked the jungle. She must have come this way.’ I shivered at the sound of Erik’s voice. ‘Find her. I’ll reward well the man who returns my wife to me – no one defies me like this!’

I wondered what Erik would do if he found me; or what he would do if he did not, and to whom he would do it; but I couldn’t think like that. What about the slaves? Did he realize they’d gone too? Were they safe? Or did he think we were all together?

Closer. I could see him now through the greenery, still wearing his expensive frockcoat, slashing indiscriminately at the flora with his cane. I shuddered, I couldn’t help myself; I was used to being on the receiving end of that cane. Klara clamped her hand on my arm so tightly I almost cried out. Someone had come to a stop just in front of us.
Can he see us? Hear us? Who is it?
I felt a kick on the sole of my boot, knocking my foot further into the tangle of green, out of sight of the men. I grabbed hold of Klara and we clutched each other. Her eyes were wide and terrified. I knew my own looked the same.

‘Nothing here!’ Sharpe shouted. I gasped.
That’s twice he’s helped us, but why?
If Erik realized what he was doing, he’d kill him without hesitation. I looked at Klara and squeezed her hand. It didn’t matter why, the fact was we had an ally and he’d already probably saved our lives.

‘They’re here somewhere!’ Erik shouted back. ‘They can’t have got much further, keep going!’

They were gone; we were safe. Klara’s hand was still painful on my already bruised arm, and I slowly pried her fingers loose. I clamped my hand on her mouth as she sobbed in terror.

‘Shh, shh,’ I comforted her, and did my best to get my arm around her and rock her to silence. ‘They might still hear us. Just a little while longer, Klara, just a little while longer till we’re safe.’

‘Jan!’ she sobbed. ‘I left him there alone.’

‘I know, Klara, I know. You couldn’t do anything else. Try not to think of him or Wilbert, not till we’re safe. We have to get away or it’s all been for nothing!’

‘I don’t care any more! I don’t care if he kills us, they’re both gone!’

‘You know as well as I do he won’t just kill us, he’ll make us suffer first. Both Wilbert and Jan want you to be free; they died trying to make that happen, Klara. Shh, shh.’ I rocked her again despite the discomfort. I could no longer hear Erik or the others.

‘Can you carry on? If we go quietly and slowly we should be safe, they’re ahead of us.’

‘What if they ambush us?’

‘Erik would never believe he’s missed us, he won’t ambush us, he’ll press on ahead to Eckerstad. Anyway, Sharpe’s with them and helping us, he’ll find a way to warn us if we get too close. Are you ready? Let’s go.’ I didn’t know if what I’d said was true, and had no idea of Sharpe’s motives, but I had to get her moving again.

I went first, easing myself out of the vegetation and back on to the path. I held my hand out to help Klara.

‘We should be safe now until we get to Eckerstad.’ I wished I felt sure of my words.

We’d been in the jungle all night, and I was exhausted. Yet I was in better shape than Klara. She kept stumbling, and I was worried she’d lost too much tonight and wouldn’t be able to see this through. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t do this alone.

We’d sneaked past the gun on the cliff and the coconut palms Erik was so proud of without incident – if there’d been any men with the great gun then they had been focused out to sea, not on jungle. At least we had a little light now: the trees were thinning and letting the dawn through. We were close to Eckerstad and would soon be in more danger than we had been in all night. If Erik had decided to stage an ambush or even a simple lookout, it would be coming up. And despite what I had said to Klara, we could not rely on Sharpe. Even if there was no one lying in wait, we would soon be in the open, dressed in men’s clothing, amongst people who knew me. The chances of being discovered were high.

‘Aaargh!’

I stopped dead at Klara’s cry.
What now?
The path was not quite wide enough to stand two abreast, but I got as close as I could.

‘What is it?’

She pointed, and I squinted at the path ahead. A snake, three feet long and darkly coloured with red on its belly – a Sayban racer. Was it poisonous? Erik had told me it was, but he loved to exaggerate the dangers of the jungle that surrounded Brisingamen. I did not know how deadly it really was, nor how aggressive, but we could not risk it striking and biting one of us; there would be no help for us if it did have poison in its fangs. We would have to go around it. I sighed and looked into the darkness of the thick undergrowth. The path had been hard enough to walk, I did not relish the prospect of leaving it. I was aware of the increased noise as the birds and tree frogs greeted the dawn. At least their cacophony would drown out any sounds we made.

‘Follow me,’ I said, drew my knife and started to clear a way through, thankful that I would not have to do this for long. We would be back on the path after a few feet. I was so tired, I hardly cared any more if we were discovered. I wanted to get out of this jungle; I never wanted to see another tree or vine again.

*

The sun had risen over the horizon by the time we were finally free of green, and we had a clear view of our next challenge. Eckerstad was not a large town, but it was sizeable enough and centred on the wharf. There were a handful of estates and plantations further inland – none as large as Brisingamen – but most of the houses here were lived in by Erik’s men: merchants and their workers and families. The municipal buildings, where Erik had his offices as Governor, lined the cobbled square, but the largest properties hugged the waterfront itself. I knew they warehoused the people Erik stole and sold off all around the Caribbees. There was also a sizeable sailortown full of inns, bawdy houses and gambling dens.

The harbour itself was full of small supply vessels and three seagoing ships. I recognized one as Hornigold’s ship,
Freyja
, and my heart sank. Of course I knew Sharpe’s presence meant that not all the pirates had sailed, but I had still hoped. I did not recognize the other two, but they both flew the red, white and blue colours of the Netherlands, so I knew they were Erik’s. Were they slavers or did they carry cacao, molasses or rum? I had no way of knowing until we were aboard, by which time it would be too late.

Which one should we pick anyway? The smaller would probably be easier to board, but the larger would be easier to hide on; although it would have a bigger crew and likely a more competent captain. Or a more brutal one. I did not know. I did not know what to do for the best.

*

I looked at Klara and tucked her hair back under her hat, then she did the same for me.

‘Are you ready?’

She looked as tired as I felt, but smiled and nodded. I hugged her, nearly moved to tears by her shaky smile after the night’s events. We were still on the cliff top, but the ground started to slope down to the town now and we had a choice.

‘Can you swim if we make our way down to the beach?’ I asked.

Klara stared at the stretch of water between the beach below and the harbour. We were both good swimmers – I had taught Klara myself at the small secluded beach below Brisingamen – but it was a long way and we were both shattered. She looked at me, stricken, and whispered, ‘No, I’m sorry Gabriella, I don’t think I can.’

I nodded, secretly relieved. I did not think I had the strength left either.

‘Then we have to brazen it out and walk into town. If we keep our heads down, don’t look anybody in the eye and keep to the shadows, we might get away with it. We’ll look for a rowing boat or something.’

‘How are we going to get aboard one of those ships from a rowing boat?’

I did not answer. I did not know. One thing at a time. We had to get down to the wharf. Then I would think of something.