The Pirates and the Nightmaker (7 page)

Much later I discovered Mr Wicker standing on the poop deck. He was gazing over the stern rail into the darkness, brooding, I thought. The night was clear with a hooked yellow moon and a great bowl of stars.

‘This news of Admiral Vernon’s defeat has you feeling in low spirits?’ I asked.

Mr Wicker turned and saw me there.

He nodded. ‘More than you can possibly know, little Loblolly Boy,’ he said.

‘Why?’

He did not reply.

‘You wished to visit there?’

Mr Wicker turned away and returned to the darkness.

‘Where is Cartagena?’ I asked. In truth, until this evening I had no knowledge of this place.

This was apparently a question Mr Wicker was prepared to answer. ‘Cartagena? Cartagena is a town with a great fort defending the Spanish territory of New Granada. It is probably the greatest stronghold in the whole Spanish Main.’

‘So?’

‘If the admiral had been successful, as he had been in Portobelo, we Englishmen would have commanded this entire sea.’

There was silence for some time, and then I said softly, ‘Mr Wicker, did you know that before she recognised you in the bow of the jolly-boat, Mistress Blade was considering blowing the boat out of the water?’

Mr Wicker gave a short laugh. ‘Was she now?’

‘You don’t seem surprised?’

‘I’m surprised she didn’t!’

‘Why?’

There was another long silence and I thought that once again he would not deign to respond to my question. However this time he did. ‘I’m surprised she didn’t, little Loblolly Boy, because I’m quite certain that the vessel that attacked the
Firefly
was none other than the
Medusa
, and that it was the commander of the
Medusa
who threw the
Firefly
’s captain and a few others upon the dubious mercy of the ocean.’

I looked at him in disbelief. ‘But she knew you!’

‘I’m prepared to believe that, in the darkness, she did not realise that one of her acquaintance was on board.’

‘But the other men? The men who stayed on board?’

‘I suspect most had signed on to the arrangement even before we left Portsmouth.’

I stared at him in the darkness. Jenny Blade was suddenly a much more alarming creature than I’d imagined, more ruthless and more powerful.

And her daughter? Sophie? Sophie claimed not to have known Mr Wicker, and I believed her, but Sophie could surely not have been unaware of the capture of the
Firefly
? Had I been too trusting, too callow and inexperienced a little loblolly boy to swim in these dark, mysterious waters?

‘But where is the
Firefly
now?’

Mr Wicker shrugged in the darkness. ‘Who knows? I expect it is moored off some pirate town somewhere. This sea is full of islands and coastlines given to shelter these raiders and to ease them of their booty.’

‘What will happen to us?’

For some reason I was still counting myself among the crew of the
Firefly
.

‘For the moment that is out of our hands … Mistress Blade and Mr Griff will no doubt have some thoughts. We must bow to those.’

‘So Jamaica?’

‘I doubt it, especially with Lightower on board. He is no fool and possibly already suspects. The loss of the
Firefly
has stung him deeply and he could well be cashiered for it. His best hope is to discover who stole it and bring the perpetrator to justice.’

‘That won’t be easy …’

Mr Wicker gave a dry laugh. ‘Not easy at all … Mistress Blade is no fool either and I imagine she will have more than the measure of Lightower. Just as he suspects her, she will suspect him and right now she has the upper hand.’

‘She did not want complications,’ I said.

‘Indeed,’ said Mr Wicker meaningfully, ‘and if one
complication puts you in danger of hanging, then it must be addressed and urgently.’

Again, there was a silence and in that silence I was trying to build up the courage to ask Mr Wicker what must be asked. Eventually, somehow, I found the words I needed to say.

‘Sir,’ I began.

‘Yes?’

‘We have now been rescued from the jolly-boat.’

‘Yes?’

‘I mean, there is now no need …’

‘What do you mean, little Loblolly Boy?’

‘I mean that there is no longer any need for me to remain invisible, to wear these strange garments, no need for these wings …’

He was quiet for some time and then he said, ‘So you would once more be the little loblolly boy who would have been a meal on the jolly-boat?’

‘I would, sir.’

‘And not fly?’

‘I would like to be me again.’

Mr Wicker sighed. ‘I see two problems,’ he said. ‘The first is whether I
could
change you back into what you were, and the second is whether I
would
, even if I could …’

With growing horror, I was able to comprehend what Mr Wicker was telling me. It was something a very deep part of me had dreaded and anticipated all along.

‘But …’

‘You see,’ added Mr Wicker, ‘I was very grateful for your
invaluable help in allowing me to escape from the
jolly-boat
. Indeed, I’m sure escape would not have been possible without that help. I’m sure, too, that at the time you were more than happy to evade the knives of your crewmates …’

That much was true, at least.

‘However, it must not be supposed that your use for me is therefore at an end, little Loblolly Boy: quite the contrary. This devastating news from Cartagena leads me to suspect that my need for your help is now greater than ever.’

Once again I had a flashing image of the slave ship we had encountered.

‘So,’ he concluded, ‘I could not possibly contemplate returning you to the being you once were, to return you to the custody of that drunken fool Hatch. Personally, I’m astonished that you could desire such a thing given the wonders of your current situation.’

I stared at him, knowing with a sinking certainty that further argument would be utterly useless.

‘You see,’ said Mr Wicker, ‘we are bound together, you and I. I have need of you, and you have need of me.’

Not true, I thought bitterly. There was no doubt that Mr Wicker had need of me although I could only guess for what future purpose. But did I have need of him? I doubted it, except for one compelling thing: only Mr Wicker, I believed, could give me back my life.

I left him then. I leapt into the air and for the first time flew in the night sky. Earlier I had flown in a world of blue. Now I flew in a world of darkness, a darkness that suited my feelings of despair. I had thought at first that my new
existence was a dream, a strange exhilarating dream from which sooner or later I would wake.

Now, I had discovered myself in a nightmare and, I feared, a nightmare from which I might never awake.

I allowed myself to soar gull-like in the realisation that I was doubly invisible: invisible in the darkness and invisible to the darkness. The knowledge made me increasingly disconsolate and eventually I could bear flying no longer and wheeled back towards the vessel even though the human contact I craved could be satisfied by only two other beings: the frightening Mr Wicker, my new master, and Sophie Blade, a pirate’s daughter whose loyalties I was no longer sure of.

This time, rather than encounter Mr Wicker again, I landed on the foredeck. The ship lifted and dropped in the very gentle swell and the faint slopping of the sea against the boards was the only sound. Somewhere there would be a watch and a sailor at the helm despite the complete absence of a breeze.

And, then, there was another sound, and I strained to listen.

It was a faint muttering. I glanced towards the prow and saw two shapes huddled there in the moonlight. Quickly, I moved towards them and soon realised that Captain Lightower and Dr Hatch had yet to retire for the night. I guessed they had sought somewhere private to discuss their situation and I moved even closer in order to eavesdrop.

‘There’re six of our men,’ whispered Captain Lightower, ‘and the two of us …’

‘And Mr Wicker?’

‘Don’t be a fool, Hatch,’ said Lightower. ‘He’s in league with that damned woman.’

‘He’s in league with the devil, more like,’ whispered Hatch.

‘They’re both in league with the devil,’ said Lightower.

There was a silence, a long silence interrupted only by a loud hiccough from Dr Hatch.

‘Quiet, damn you,’ hissed Lightower, glancing around apprehensively.

The doctor gave a small belch and fearing the captain’s wrath quickly and clumsily excused himself.

There was a long pause, and then, ‘It’s not enough,’ said Lightower.

‘I agree.’

There was a measure of relief in Dr Hatch’s agreement. It was clear to me that the two were discussing their chances of perhaps taking over the ship. This, I thought, was most foolhardy. I did not know the complement of the
Medusa
, but even though the ship would not be so well-manned as a navy vessel there could well have been more than thirty on board outnumbering the potential mutineers by five to one.

‘Not enough yet,’ murmured Captain Lightower.

‘What do you mean “yet”, sir?’

‘I mean that it’s possible some of this Blade woman’s men could be persuaded to join us …’

‘Persuaded?’

‘They could be offered a king’s pardon for coming to the aid of king’s officers,’ said Captain Lightower. ‘That could
well be a more attractive proposition than hanging by the neck, wouldn’t you say?’

‘We would need to be sure of them.’

‘Of course we would. We should not act impulsively, but only when we are sure of our numbers. This means that we should talk quietly to our men at the earliest opportunity. We must impress on them the importance of caution and circumspection else we would be given away before we’ve begun.’

‘Agreed.’

‘We must trust the men to gain the confidence of their new shipmates and then quietly, gradually, sound them out and only when sure make our offer.’

‘This could take time.’

‘I think, Dr Hatch, that with no wind in the offing, time is the one commodity we have more than enough of.’

I had heard enough and backed away. Mutiny was certainly on their minds. This knowledge placed me in a difficult situation. While flying in the darkness I had questioned myself whether I could trust Sophie Blade, whether I could be sure of her loyalty. But where now did my loyalties lie? To Captain Lightower, who surely was still my captain? Or to Sophie Blade, my new friend whose mother’s ship was threatened by the captain’s possible uprising, but whose mother, according to Mr Wicker, had cast us away in the jolly-boat in the first place? And, with a sinking heart, I remembered that there was yet a third conflict of loyalty, for I now had a new master to whom I was beholden. Should I impart this important information first of all to Mr Wicker,
or should I hide it from him? This last question, of course, presumed that I
could
hide it from him. I was beginning to fear that I could hide nothing from Mr Wicker, that his control over me was complete, body and soul.

While I was pondering these dilemmas, Captain Lightower and Dr Hatch detached themselves from the shadows in the prow of the vessel and returned along the deck, I presumed to retire for the night. I remained standing where I was, still considering the problem, until they had disappeared.

And then, once they were out of sight and hearing, my problems were resolved. There was a sudden noise and I turned to find Sophie Blade standing right beside me. She had jumped from a hatch cover where she had been hiding in order to listen to the conversation of the officers from the
Firefly
.

‘Good evening, Loblolly Boy,’ she greeted me. ‘Have you been hearing what I’ve been hearing?’

‘I cannot deny it,’ I said.

‘My mother was right not to trust those men,’ Sophie said.

‘I think what they are planning is foolish,’ I said carefully.

Sophie laughed. ‘Foolish? There is not a man among my mother’s crew would rather not die than betray her. If any of those fools think they could bribe them to treachery, they would be thrown to the sharks before they could catch breath!’

‘What will you do?’ I asked her.

‘Report to my mother, of course,’ said Sophie airily. ‘I was, after all, spying on those two on her express orders.’

‘And what will she do?’

‘You are curious, this evening,’ said Sophie. ‘I could well ask what will you do?’

I shrugged in the darkness. ‘What
can
I do?’ I replied. ‘After all, I can talk to no one except you and Mr Wicker. And there is no love lost between Mr Wicker and Captain Lightower.’

‘You can be trusted then,’ said Sophie, ‘by nature if not by choice.’

‘But your mother?’

‘My mother?’ resumed Sophie. ‘She could clap them in irons, I suppose. She could maroon them on an island or she could return them to the jolly-boat. But I rather think she will do nothing at all except keep a close watch on them.’

‘But they are plotting mutiny,’ I said.

Sophie laughed again. ‘One unarmed man and a drunken sot of a doctor against Jenny Blade and her loyal crew?’

‘And Mr Wicker?’

‘The mysterious Mr Wicker? As you say, he would not join with the doctor and the captain. Besides, he needs my mother’s help to get his precious astrolabe. He would not betray her.’

I was not so sure. I felt that Mr Wicker was loyal only to one creature on earth and while he might not betray Jenny Blade while he had need of her, I would not vouch for his loyalty beyond that.

Something else had been puzzling me, though.

‘Sophie,’ I asked, ‘what
is
an astrolabe?’

I had heard talk of this thing, but had no real knowledge of it. I had an idea it was some kind of device to help in navigation, but I had never seen one.

‘I am not sure. Old-time sailors used them I think to read the stars and measure latitude.’

‘Does your mother use one?’

‘I think nobody uses them anymore,’ said Sophie. ‘I have not seen one.’

‘Then why would Mr Wicker want one?’