Fair Blows The Wind Part 4

My heart was beating heavily, and I was perspiring, but not from the work I had done. I had no need to examine the chests. I knew what was in them.

If I could only get away with what I had here beside me, there need never again be hunger, thirst, or cold.

I would have my fortune...

6.

Holding as close to the sh.o.r.e as was practical, I rowed the heavily laden boat westward. Along the sh.o.r.es were great stands of cypress and swamp gum festooned with Spanish moss. Behind the clumps of trees in some places lay swamp or shrub bogs covered with evergreens, all low-growing.

Somewhere I had to find solid ground, or a river leading inland, up which I might take my cargo. Now that I had a boat loaded with supplies and wealth, I was a worried man, for fear that I might come upon Indians or even pirates, many of whom haunted these sh.o.r.es, lying in wait for Spanish vessels.

As I moved, I kept alert for whatever might come, yet a part of my mind worried over yet another question. There had been but little water in the s.h.i.+p's hold that I could see, and not much damage that was visible-surely not enough damage to cause the pa.s.sengers to abandon s.h.i.+p in such a quiet sound. Something or somebody must have frightened them. There could be but one reason I could think of: They wanted the s.h.i.+p's treasure. If such was the case, then I could expect them to come searching for the s.h.i.+p ... and soon.

The wind was rising, yet I hesitated to hoist my sail. With the sail I could move faster and easier, but my boat would be more visible.

I worked the boat among some small islands, most of which were strips of sand and mud covered with low growth. Many of these, I suspected, would be temporary, to be flooded out by the next big Atlantic storm, with heavy rain or snow. Yet now they offered concealment, and a sort of backwater where I might feel safe a moment.

My eye caught a break in the end of an islet near me. I moved up around the end of the island to see that it was cleft from the end almost to the middle. The cleft was walled to the water's edge by a thick growth of willows and swamp gum. Deliberately, I trailed one oar and pulled on the other, turning the bow of my boat into the cleft.

The green walls closed about me. Catching at branches, I eased the boat to a stop before it hit into the mud at the bank, then I made it fast to a small tree. Now, unless someone came right past the end of the islet, I was hidden, lost to the world. Filling a shot pouch and powder horn, I checked the loads on another pistol and a musket, and stepped ash.o.r.e.

Now to find a place to hide my fortune, if such a place could be had. Hidden well, and above high-water level.

Catching hold of a slim tree, I swung myself ash.o.r.e. The islet was no more than a hundred yards long, perhaps less, and like its neighbors it was covered with low brush and small trees. Near the upper end of the islet there was a ma.s.s of driftwood, a tangle of roots, branches, and bark that had floated down the river and piled up here. Several of the logs offered a convenient bridge to the next little islet and from there it might not be difficult to get ash.o.r.e.

I returned to the boat and found bread and cheese, enough to make a meal. Slipping a few squares of s.h.i.+p's biscuit into my s.h.i.+rt, I crossed to the neighboring islet, then waded through the shallow water to the sh.o.r.e.

For an hour I walked steadily inland or what I believed was inland, for with the number of water courses, streams, and swamps, it was impossible to be sure. Yet finally I came to higher ground and a thick stand of cedar giving way to pine. Turning to look back, I found only a few steps from me an edge of the forest with a view of the sound from which I had come. At first I saw nothing, and then I did ... the s.h.i.+p was moving!

She had somehow worked herself free of her position and the wind and tide were moving her inland toward the sh.o.r.e. Slowly, gracefully she moved. She was down in the water, all right, but not very much, and the tide, coupled with the rising wind, was moving her along. I watched her, thinking of those tons of silver, yet I had no way of moving them.

Still ...

Watching her, my eyes caught something else, something closer to me. I s.h.i.+fted my gaze. Had I been mistaken? There was nothing. Yet even as I turned away my eyes caught the movement again.

A moment I waited, looking. Faint ... yes, it was smoke. Only a suggestion, and it was some distance off, perhaps two or three miles, but there was smoke.

Savages? Perhaps. And perhaps, too, it was my former Spanish acquaintances. My excitement caused me to consider. After all, what were they to me? Had they not left me, abandoning me to my fate?

They were no business of mine. None at all. What I imagined was a mystery about Guadalupe Romana was nothing to be concerned about. She was to be married. She was probably looking forward to it with some excitement, even though she did not know the man. And she had protectors ... of a sort.

Yet I could not completely convince myself. Suddenly I became aware that I was walking, I was already headed toward that smoke.

"Feet," I said aloud, "you lead me to trouble. For as surely as I go back to them, there will be strife."

Yet, when I stopped to think of it, when had I not known trouble? And was not struggle the law of growth?

It took me more than an hour to get close to the smoke, though it was little more than a mile away.

The camp was on high ground among the pines, and I could see their fire a good hundred yards before I was expecting it. They were less than careful, which did not surprise me, but they had company, which did.

I paused behind some brush and looked them over carefully. At the distance I could only make out the fire, some smoke, and several more people than I had expected to see. I had started to approach closer for a better look when I heard, close by me, a faint c.h.i.n.k of metal on metal.

Instantly, I was immobile, my hand on my sword. The brush was thick, so I squatted to peer through the stems where there might be fewer leaves.

I found myself looking into a pair of squinting brown eyes belonging to a man who was crouching not six feet from me.

"Captain Tatton Chantry," I said, "and may I be of service?"

He blinked. He had the advantage of me, for his blade was in his hand. "That you may," he replied grimly. "I'd like to know who the b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l you are and what you think you're doing?"

"Merely a pa.s.sing wayfarer," I replied cheerfully, "left ash.o.r.e by the s.h.i.+p the Good Catherine when we were attacked by Indians. And you?"

"The Catherine was a s.h.i.+p, y' say, and not a woman? 'Twould not be the first time a man had been left high and dry by a woman."

"It was indeed a s.h.i.+p, and carrying all I owned it was. Gone now, and here I stand."

"And here you squat, y' should say, because that's what you're a-doin'. I am wondering if your story's a true one."

"Do you question my word? If so, stand up like a man, call me a liar, then make your peace with the Lord."

"Ah, you're the c.o.c.ky one, aren't you? Ready to fight, are you? Well, I am not. Unless cornered, that is, or there's gold in it. I'd fight then. Once I'd have fought for a woman, but no more. They aren't worth it.

"Fought for 'em often, I did, until oncet the two of us stood to our weapons nigh an hour with no benefit one side or the other, and when we stopped to draw breath, be d.a.m.ned if the woman had not gone off with a man not half of either of us. It shows a man. It shows him."

"You have the advantage of me. There's a woman by the fire yonder I'd fight for. Now, tomorrow, or any day."

"Ah? That fire? That woman? Well, you'd have to fight, my friend, but you'd lose. That man yonder who stands beside that fire is a swordsman. He's one of the best."

"Only one of the best? Then perhaps we shall see what 'best' is where he comes from."

The man slowly stood up and unlimbered himself. He was a good two inches taller than I, and perhaps twenty pounds less in weight. He had a long, haggard face and half an ear missing. His hands were extraordinarily large and his feet as well. He was clad in rags, the merest remnants of clothing.

"Who am I, you ask? Just a poor sailorman who's been ash.o.r.e these past months, dodging redskins an' keeping a weather eye out for a s.h.i.+p, any kind of s.h.i.+p to take me back where there's Christian folk."

"What about those people?"

"A bad lot! A mighty bad lot, if you'll be takin' my word for it."

Had he seen my boat? If he had not, I was wishful that he would not, yet such a one as this might easily stumble upon it where a larger party would have small chance of doing so.

"You've been down to their camp?"

"That I have not, nor shall I, for they're a bad lot, as I've said. They're folk to fight shy of."

As briefly as possible, I explained how I came to be here, and what my intentions were-as far as I knew them. "Aye," I said at the last. "It is a s.h.i.+p I want, too, and a means to get back to England. But there's a girl yonder that worries me. I think she is in trouble."

"Hah! It's the youth in you speaking! In trouble, is she? I'll warrant if she's not she will be. Trouble goes with women, walks hand in hand with them, and he who goes among them shall expect nothing else."

"I believe she'd like to be free of them," I said, irritated.

"Did she tell you that? Is it her husband she'd be free of? Well, I'm not surprised. The trouble with women is they're always looking over the fence where the gra.s.s is greener."

"She would not be looking at me then," I replied, "for I've nothing more than what you see. I'd put by a bit, and made a venture with the Good Catherine, and it is lost to me ... gone."

"Aye, y'll see nothing more of that cargo. The good captain of the Good Catherine will add your portion to his and grow the fatter for it."

He glanced at me shrewdly. "The girl is it? The Injun girl or that proud and devil-be-d.a.m.ned Spanish la.s.s?"

"It is the Senorita Guadalupe Romana," I said, with what I hoped was dignity. "She is a lady, and a lovely one."

"Oh, I doubt it not! Them's the worst kind! She'll invite you to come forward in every way a woman has, then scream if you put a hand on her! I know the kind."

"You do not know her," I replied stubbornly, "but we'll get nothing done standing here. Go you about whatever it is you do. I am going to see if that girl needs a.s.sistance."

"Now what would I have to do in this G.o.dforsaken place besides saving my skin? What, I ask? You'll not be rid of me so easy as that. I think you've a means to a s.h.i.+p, so I'll stand hard by. And I'll listen t' your troubles, I'll share whatever it is you eat, I'll drink at your wake, but I'll have nothing to do with your fancy women!"

He turned his head, looking for all the world like a big bird, and then shook his open hand at me. "Don't get me wrong! I like a woman as well as the next man. But find them, have your hour with them, an' leave them, that's what I say! If they speak of love, put your hand on your poke and keep it there. If they start worrying about you catching cold or not eating right or drinking too much, catch the first vessel out of port. Believe me, when it comes to women, I know them! Oh, do I know them!"

My gesture indicated his sword. "Can you use that thing? Or is it just hung there for show?"

"Show, is it? Aye, I can use it! Well enough, I can use it! I've fought my battles by sea and land and used every sort of weapon, and I am alive to see this day. I've been a rich man twice, left for dead once, twice a slave, and many times a prisoner. I know when to fight and when to run-and run I will if the time is not right or the numbers too great." He glanced at me. "Don't look for me to be a hero. That I am not. I will fight as long as it looks like winning and if there's a bit to be had, I'll fight the harder, and longer, too!"

"Do you have a name then? I've told you mine."

"Captain Tatton Chantry, he says. Now there's a name! It has a sound to it, all right. Well, mine does too, for I'm known as Silliman Turley."

"All right, Turley, come along with me if you wish, but if trouble comes, you stand to that sword or I'll have no part of you."

"Well now! Captain, he says, and captain he acts! So be it. You lead and I will follow and you'll not find me lacking. But if you fail me, I'll be off, and you can lay to that."

My attention had been on the camp as we talked. We were some distance off, and had kept our voices low, but I didn't want them to know we were about until I had some idea of what was happening.

It was clear enough what my intentions should now be: to find a s.h.i.+p, or some way in which to return to England and open proceedings that would establish my claim to some of the profit from the voyage of the Good Catherine.

A thought occurred to me. "Turley, how long have you been here?"

He shrugged. "Two years ... I think. A man loses count of time when the days are alike and he has no need to be anywhere at a certain moment. It was a late summer when I came ash.o.r.e, and there was a winter, then another winter."

"No trouble with Indians?"

"Aye ... with some of them. Mostly I keep shy of them." He pointed. "I've a place in the swamp ... deep inside."

Moving with infinite care, we edged closer to the camp. Turley was like a ghost in the woods. His body seemed to glide between leaves and branches, or under them, stirring scarcely a leaf in the pa.s.sing. I was more clumsy, yet watching him, I learned to do better. Soon he paused, lifting a hand.

There were voices, a faint smell of smoke. First, I saw Armand and Felipe. They stood together, off to one side.

Don Diego and Guadalupe Romana stood together; Don Manuel sat on a log not far from them. A large man was facing them, a huge, enormously fat man but one who moved with that curious ability some fat men seem to possess.

"Do not repeat to me this fiction, this romance! I do not believe in your mysterious Englishman! I think he is a lie, but no matter! Tell me this only: where is the San Juan de Dios?"

"I repeat," Don Diego replied, with dignity, "the galleon was sinking. Don Manuel acted quickly, getting us into the boat and away. Without him we all might have been lost."

"Ah, yes! Don Manuel! Very heroic, no doubt! But do you not ask yourselves why he hurried you? Was the vessel actually sinking? Was he saving your lives or merely getting you off the s.h.i.+p and away?"

"Of course, she was sinking!" Don Diego protested. "She was lying well over when we made the deck."

"I acted to save them." Don Manuel replied coolly. "As for the San Juan de Dios, she undoubtedly lies on the bottom of the sea."

"Hah!" The big man turned in such a way that I could see a part of his face. It was a bearded but brutal face, the face of a strong, ruthless man, but an intelligent one-or such was my immediate estimate. "Very neat! Very tidy, indeed! And does the distinguished Don Diego know that your own vessel, the Santiago, is soon to sail up this coast?"

"Is that true?" Don Diego spoke in a lower voice and we could scarcely hear the words.

Don Manuel shrugged. "But of course! It was to sail to Florida, then to come along up the coast to spy out the presence of any French settlements. Or any English settlements, for that matter, for our people in England tell us that Sir Walter Raleigh is planning some such venture. It is a service to the King."

"And you?" The big man spoke with sarcasm. "Were not you to be here to meet your vessel?"

"I would have been in Spain," Don Manuel replied. "I took pa.s.sage on the San Juan de Dios expecting it would take me to Spain."

"But you are not in Spain, Don Manuel," the big man said, "you are here, a galleon loaded with gold is near here, and your rescue s.h.i.+p is coming. How very convenient, Don Manuel!"

7.

For a moment there was silence in the camp, then the large man turned abruptly away from the dons and gestured to two armed men who stood nearby. "They are not to leave camp. They will be guarded every minute, and if either escapes-"

The guards obviously understood the uncompleted sentence. Ignoring Guadalupe, the fat man strode across the camp to confront Armand and Felipe. "This Englishman ... you spoke with him?"

"We did."

"Who was he? What was he?"

"A man cast away. He had come ash.o.r.e for water. His party was attacked and he was abandoned when the others fled."

"Ah, yes. So he said." He paused, as if thinking. "This captain ... what sort of man was he?"

"A gentleman, and unless I mistake not, a swordsman."