Admiral (7 page)

“I don’t,” Ned interrupted. “Apart from Sir Thomas, you are the first buccaneers I’ve ever met!”

Leclerc looked startled and then laughed. “The irony of that escapes you for the moment, but I will point it out later. Well, we buccaneers are a mixture, but in the case of those of us here, we have fallen foul of the governments in our own countries – for religious or political reasons. And our attempts to trade in the West Indies have, as you know only too well, brought us up against Spain, which always says ‘No peace beyond the Line’ and refuses to allow us to trade. Legally, you understand!”

Thomas chuckled. “The Spanish authorities’ actions keep the prices up for those of us who care to smuggle! If they allowed merchant ships to trade freely, it would bring in dozens of our countrymen, and prices would tumble rapidly!”

“Aye, I’d have to go back to England and carry sea coal down to London,” Brace said lugubriously.

“
Alors
,” Leclerc said, “We must not forget we are by no means the only buccaneers afloat. To resume my narration, M. Yorke, we happened to hear that some of Cromwell’s soldiers had captured Jamaica, so we sailed over to investigate and met Sir Thomas, whom we already knew.”

Ned held up his hand to interrupt Leclerc. “Where are the other buccaneers, then?”

“Their base? At La Tortue – Tortuga, you call it, the turtle, a small island off the northwestern corner of Hispaniola. Not far from here – just across the Windward Passage. It’s sheltered, and because that end of Hispaniola is thick jungle and mountains, the Spanish cannot attack us by land, and they certainly don’t have the ships.”

“Yet,” said Thomas, “the good King Carlos may spend some money on new ships.”

“We should get a warning in good time,” Leclerc said. “That is the least of our worries.”

“What is the biggest of them?” Ned asked, curious.

“Leave that for a moment,” Leclerc said. “Let me finish describing the buccaneers. There are about twenty-one other ships, mostly English or French, but some Dutch, two Portuguese and one Spanish, with crews varying between twenty and a hundred.”

“I’ve heard the name ‘The Brethren of the Coast’ mentioned,” Ned said.

Leclerc smiled. “That’s the name given us originally by our enemies and which we have adopted – with pride! And that brings me to your question. Our biggest worry at the moment is finding a leader.”

Aurelia did a quick sum in her head. They had twenty-five ships altogether – the twenty-one in Tortuga and the four here – with between twenty and a hundred men on board each of them… Say an average of fifty. That meant about 1,250 “Brethren of the Coast”. She knew now why Thomas had given no details and why they were sitting here in
Perdrix
’s cabin.

“No leader among more than a thousand men?” Ned sounded incredulous.

“No. The four captains here – myself, Gottlieb, Coles and Brace – have all been asked to become the admiral of the Brethren.”

“Why did you all refuse?”

“Speaking for myself – but I know it is the same for my fellow captains – we do not have the necessary courage to make decisions which affect the lives (and possible deaths) of more than a thousand of our fellow buccaneers. We will gladly follow; we are reluctant to lead. To decide, rather.”

Ned pointed to Thomas, who promptly shook his head. “I’ve been asked and refused,” he said. “Leclerc was speaking for me too.”

“One of you is going to have to take the job or else the buccaneers will fall apart like a leaderless flock of –” Ned broke off.

“Sheep,” Leclerc said. “You are quite correct. That is why only four ships left Tortuga to see what was happening at Jamaica: the rest could not make up their minds. I’m happy to say that now there are fewer to share the purchase!”

Aurelia saw that Ned was considering the question in the same way he had considered the attack on Santiago: that it was a puzzle which must have a solution, if only one thought hard enough.

Leclerc coughed and Ned looked up as the Frenchman said: “Whoever we recomend to the Brethren would of course be elected. Would
you
become our admiral, M. Yorke?”

Back on board the
Griffin
Ned was angry, although far from sure why. He told Thomas, for the fifth or sixth time: “You might have warned me that they intended to propose this straight away!”

“What difference does it make?” said an exasperated Thomas. “You don’t have to give an answer until tomorrow.”

“I know but –”

“But what?” Aurelia asked innocently. “You just have to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”

“Just ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – it isn’t as easy as that!”

Diana said sympathetically: “Why not just think aloud, Ned? It always seems to help Thomas reach a decision.”

Ned stood up abruptly and began pacing the length of the cabin. “It’s not just a question of saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to being the leader of the Brethren. It’s deciding whether to go back to Barbados as a planter or stay here to be a pirate.”

“I say, ‘pirate’ is a strong word, Ned,” protested Thomas. “We’re fighting the Spaniards. Don’t forget you might settle down in Barbados and then have your estate burned down by the Dons and no one could do anything about it. What the Brethren do is buccaneering, Ned. And as far as I can see, the buccaneers are going to have to defend Jamaica and the rest of the islands for the next few years. The King won’t be able to send out any frigates for a long time: his Treasury is empty and anyway the navy doesn’t have many seaworthy ships left – that much I discovered from the
Convertine
’s captain.”

“You sound as though you’ve made up your mind to stay out here buccaneering,” Ned said.

“Buccaneering or buying land in Jamaica,” Diana said, answering for Thomas, and Aurelia felt he was being told. “We are not going back to England, whatever grand ideas Thomas might parade in his cups.”

Aurelia nodded because Diana had already explained to her while they changed their clothes after returning from the
Perdrix
. The Trade winds were kicking up a lop in the anchorage which had soaked them in spray, and Aurelia had lent her a dress which, since the Frenchwoman was much slimmer, emphasized Diana’s more voluptuous figure.

Although Thomas would never admit it, Diana had said, he could never settle down in England, no matter what he thought now. He needed an active life and plenty of challenges, and would be forced to seek the excitement on horseback, hunting, and in the gaming rooms. Here Diana had commented: “I persuaded him that chasing a stag or rolling dice hardly compares with blowing up castles or fighting the Dons, and furthermore it costs money, while buccaneering gives us a good income.”

Aurelia realized that Thomas was lucky to have a woman who not only understood him, but loved the life he needed to live. Who had really made the final decision, Diana or Thomas? One thing was sure: Diana was not going to let Thomas get near enough to the gaming tables to lose the
Peleus
in a rash bet! Lose the ship and perhaps their lives in a raid on the Spaniards, yes; lose a penny at the gaming tables to some pallid youngster whose bets were backed by an inherited fortune, no!

Aurelia also realized that Diana, like her, had guessed what London must be like during this first year or so of the Restoration: a sudden surge of gaiety to make up for the years of enforced Puritan dreariness; a false and brittle brilliance because most of the aristocracy had spent years in exile and were now almost strangers in their own country: Englishmen and women with a veneer of French or Spanish manners and attitudes, impatient with those who had stayed in England and must now be stunned at the swift change from gloom to gaiety.

So the decision was made for Diana and Thomas, but Ned was still wrestling with it, and he was wrestling alone because since they had all returned from the
Perdrix
, he and Aurelia had not been able to talk. Aurelia could have made an opportunity – and Diana and Thomas were sensitive people who would need only the gentlest of hints. Yet Aurelia had deliberately not made the opportunity; she wanted Ned to reach his decision alone.

Barbados or the Brethren…

Leclerc, she recalled, had said that if Ned chose to be their leader, they would be preparing almost at once for an expedition against the Spanish the like of which the Caribbean had never seen…

At first, Aurelia had been surprised at Leclerc mentioning it (whatever it was) at this stage, when Ned was still undecided, but she realized, during the row back to the
Griffin
, that the Frenchman and his companions only wanted Ned as their leader if he knew he could lead: the attack on Santiago had been his first and perhaps, from the buccaneers’ point of view, there
might
have been an element of chance; he
might
have been carried along by events.

Ned suddenly stopped his pacing and, glaring down at Thomas, exclaimed: “There’s not just one plantation at Barbados, you know! There are two, Aurelia’s and Kingsnorth.”

“I know, I know,” said Thomas calmly, “and every day the land is getting more overgrown and the termites are eating up the houses. But tell me, all those Roundhead gentlemen who were after your blood and your land while Uncle Oliver was alive – have they miraculously turned Royalist now the King is back and decided to welcome you back with roisterous parties and offers of help?”

“How do
I
know?” Ned snapped.

“You can guess, Ned,” Diana said quietly, and Thomas said: “It doesn’t seem to have changed people here. Changed their official allegiances, yes; Heffer’s a good example of that. But Heffer and his ilk are still Puritans and Republicans at heart. Once a psalm-singing hypocrite, then always a psalm-singing hypocrite. Here in Jamaica,” he pointed out, slapping his knee for emphasis, “you and I have power because this island needs ships for its defence, and we’ve got ’em. Or at least Heffer thinks he needs ’em, which is the same thing, so what we say matters. But what sort of a mess is there in Barbados, which has a House of Assembly and political parties to complicate matters? It will take a year or two to settle down.

“You can be sure that the
Convertine
’s captain calling in and giving a hail that the King is restored to the throne has not yet made the island safe for Royalists. Why, if you go back within the next year – before more Royalists have come out from England, and that’s going to take time – I wouldn’t put down a bet that they won’t arrest you the moment you land on the island, Restoration or no.”

“What the devil for?”

“Come
on
, Ned,” Thomas growled. “You and Saxby fought your way out with the
Griffin
. Were no Roundhead soldiers killed? They could charge you with the murder of each and every one of them, wounding Aurelia’s late husband, treason…the charges are limited only by an attorney-general’s imagination… Don’t let’s fall into the trap of trusting politicians, whether Republican or Royalist.”

Diana said quietly, “Remember, Ned, the Commonwealth still has the power among the islands. Yes, the Roundheads now know the King is back. They also know they have plenty of time to settle a few old scores before they have to give up power. If Heffer wasn’t frightened of a Spanish attack, you don’t think he would be so friendly, do you?”

Aurelia said a silent prayer of thanks to Diana and Thomas. They had explained flatly and firmly what was frightening her; that for many months the Roundheads would still have the actual power, if not the legal authority, in Barbados: Ned could be charged, tried, sentenced to death, strung up on a gibbet and buried in an unmarked grave within twelve hours of setting foot in Bridgetown, and who but Roundheads would know? No Royalist remained in Barbados after all these years to be able to take over effective command of the island in the King’s name. And even if it was revealed afterwards that Edward Yorke had been executed, who in the excitement of the Restoration in England would care what happened in a remote island in the West Indies?

Suddenly Ned turned to her. “What do you think?”

“I think Thomas and Diana are right. Barbados is not safe yet.”

“What about your plantation? What about Kingsnorth?”

“Both were overgrown with forests at the beginning. A year’s neglect won’t do much harm! Or two or three years.”

“So what do
you
want me to do?”

It was a naked plea; the tone of Ned’s voice made it clear that, in front of Thomas and Diana, he was asking her what he should do – or, rather,asking her to confirm what she wanted to do – and telling her he would abide by her decision. She paused a moment, thinking of his natural pride and sensitivity. For the past two hours the four of them had been so serious, like churchmen plotting politics. They needed to laugh, and then they could sit down to dinner with a good appetite.

She fluffed out her hair and ran a finger along her eyebrows, and then looked down demurely. “I think I would make an excellent wife for an admiral,” she said. “We can marry here just as well as in Barbados.”

In the
Perdrix
’s cabin next morning Diana noticed that everyone had taken the same place as yesterday, but there was a definite tension. Leclerc’s occasional laughs as he ushered everyone down the companion-way tended to end as nervous giggles; even more than ever Gottlieb looked as though he had been dazzled by a bright light. Edward Brace quickly took out his comb and ran it through his beard, and then resumed twirling the tip in his fingers. Only Coles sat still and silent, avoiding staring at Ned. But occasionally glancing at Thomas, as though hoping his expression might reveal Ned’s decision.

Diana guessed that Thomas knew no more about it than the other buccaneers and, she suspected, Aurelia. In fact, Diana was far from sure that Ned had even yet reached a decision, and she was basing this on Aurelia’s behaviour: the Frenchwoman was being remarkably patient with Ned; the kind of patience, Diana recognized, that was the result of complete exasperation.

Diana could understand the exasperation. She had managed to persuade Thomas to do what she wanted – not, she admitted, that he had much choice. She held the purse strings and knew his weaknesses: few men played a worse game of backgammon; no man, she was certain, could so consistently roll dice and get the wrong number; yet no man loved gambling more. She had two weapons, her money and her body, and Thomas needed both. She had no hesitation in withholding either. But was Aurelia so well armed? A gorgeous body, yes, but Ned had his own money.