Pirate Wolf Trilogy (126 page)

Gabriel nodded. “One of
them was listing badly and unable to follow into the bight.
Muertraigo’s crew was making temporary repairs to the mainmast of
the
San Mateo
when we last saw him, but we can’t count on that delaying him
too long. He will have realized by now that we were not a ship
owned by a preening nobleman returning to Spain, and he will be
making all haste to the Wells.”

“They’ll find nothing along
the way but a few old huts and some even older women selling the
bitter, thick brew they call
xocolati
. ‘Tis almost undrinkable
the way they mix it with hot peppers and ground maise, but they
swear it gives them long life. Billy here stirred up a pot with
cane sugar to make it sweet instead of spicy, and it made for a
much finer drink.”

He studied the flames for a
moment then added, “That was what I was trying to do when we
stumbled across the
Victorio
. I was having the natives
show me how they pick and roast the cacao beans, then grind them
into a fine powder. I was planning to fill a ship with barrels of
the beans in the hopes it would restore our fortunes back
home.

“One day we were invited to
watch a ceremony blessing the sun and giving thanks for the year’s
harvest. One of the priests wore a robe decorated with silver
coins, and when I looked up close, be damned if they weren’t off
the
Nuestro Santisimo
Victorio
. Took almost a full year before
they could be persuaded to show me where they found the
coins.”

“So then they would be able to lead
Muertraigo to the wreck?”

William shook his head. “No. The village was
well north of here and most of the men were carried off in a raid
last spring. Only women and cripples were left behind and most of
them, when they see a white man, scatter like a school of fish when
they see a shark. When I wrote to Lawrence Ross to arrange a
rendezvous, I chose Spanish Wells on purpose, thinking if anyone
did intercept the letters, they could search for another twenty
years without finding the treasure. Little did I know it was Ross
himself I had to be wary of for his treachery.”

“It does solve another piece of the puzzle,
however,” Eva said quietly. “If Lawrence told him of the
rendezvous, it explains how Muertraigo knew to come here, to
Espiritu Santu.”

“Aye, Daughter, to my sorry regret.”

“They were at least a full day behind us,”
Dante said. “Another hard day’s march will see us to the Wells
where we will have the advantage of surprise.”

William frowned. “An ambuscade? To what
purpose? Men have searched for the broken lady for twenty years and
not found her tomb. Ross may have the scent of gold in his nose,
but he’ll not know where to begin to look.”

“We didn’t know where to look, but we found
you,” Dante pointed out. “Happy reunions aside, I have my own
reasons for wanting to arrange another meeting. Muertraigo will
know as well.”

“Eh? Your own reasons?”

“Personal ones,” Dante said. “As soon as we
opened fire, I made certain he knew exactly who he was
fighting.”

This was news to Eva, who glanced over with
a questioning look in her eyes.

Gabriel smiled. “I sent him my calling
card.”

“Even so,” William said, “three full
crews…roughly a thousand men against the hundred you brought
overland with you?”

“Fair odds, I would say.” Gabriel grinned.
“We managed to bring some small casks of black powder with us, but
I noticed you have barrels of it in your stores.”

“Aye. Enough to arrange a warm welcome if
you have the knowledge to use it.” Chandler glanced across the
fire. “Billy likes to play with the stuff and ‘tis a wonder he’s
not blown us both up before now. But if a man knew where and how to
lay a charge against the hull, it would make the work go a deal
faster.”

“I might have just the
man,” Dante said. “He enjoys blowing things up as well. But for
now, I need his expertise at Spanish Wells. If I can pare
Muertraigo’s numbers down it will buy us time—enough, hopefully,
for the
Endurance
to return from Pigeon Cay with a few others eager to meet
Estevan Quintano Muertraigo.”

William’s bushy eyebrows came together over
his nose as he imagined his years of solitary work being loaded
into the holds of the Dante ships.

“I will personally vouchsafe my family’s
disinterest in your treasure ship, Master Chandler,” Dante said
again. “Help us, and we will gladly help you and leave here with
our pockets as empty as they were when we arrived.”

William studied the younger man with a
cryptic eye. “You’ve an odd manner for a pirate.”

Dante’s mouth curved slightly. “I am content
with a sturdy deck beneath my feet and the freedom to follow the
sea to the far edge of the horizon. I need nothing more.”

“Nothing?”

The amber eyes flicked briefly to where Eva
sat studiously avoiding his gaze.

“A challenge or two to keep me from becoming
too complacent,” Dante said, amending his requirements with a
broader smile. “And an ample supply of food. I am hungry enough to
hear my belly moaning to my spine.”

William chuckled. “Follow your noses to the
capon, then, before young Billy devours what’s left of it. We’ve
coconuts and mangos, maise biscuits and a full jug of fine red wine
to empty while I feast my eyes on my daughter and she tells me all
that has been happening back home in my absence.”

~~

Three hours and three bottles of Madeira
later, William placed his hands on his knees and made to rise.
“Rest a while, Good Captain, then we’ll get you into a boat and row
you to your camp before the day breaks. Daughter… you’ll forgive an
old man if he lays his head down for a spell? I’m that happy you’re
here, but the day has been too full of surprises and tomorrow
promises even more.”

He swayed a little as he stood and Eva
jumped up quickly, supporting him under his arm. “Are you all
right, Father?”

He patted her head and kissed her forehead,
then bellowed through wine-soaked vapors. “I’m fitter than ever I
was sitting behind a desk watching my ships sail out of port. But I
have spent the last four years worrying day and night about that
damned treasure and I’m both relieved and happy to share the burden
with younger, stronger shoulders. You will have to pinch me in the
morning to prove I’ve not dreamt all of this.” He cradled her face
between his hands and pressed a heartily affectionate kiss to her
brow. “And if I have… well… I pray I don’t wake at all. Now… show
me to my bed. Billy, you rapscallion, lead the way! Then fetch
blankets for the good captain, for I warrant he’ll not be sleeping
much over the next few days.”

With the young giant holding a lantern on
one side and Eva on the other, they managed to steer the weaving
William Chandler to a thick pile of blankets laid in a niche in the
cavern wall. By the light of the dim lantern, Eva saw rough shelves
with books against one end of the niche, a small writing table and
stacks of loose papers covered with her father’s tightly scrolled
handwriting. There was a small iron brazier beside the pallet,
which Billy filled with hot coals from the fire.

“Home sweet home,” William said, struggling
to remove his boots and failing miserably.

Eva shooed his hands aside and accomplished
the task for him. “I’m just happy that I found you; I wouldn’t care
if you were living in a tree and wore a grass skirt.”

Light glinted off the locket as she leaned
over to kiss him on the brow and William smiled. “I gave that
locket to my dear Elizabeth the day I asked her to marry me, and it
took all I had to scrape up enough money to buy it. She loved me
true, Daughter, and gave up everything for me… court life, favors
from the king, even a rich handsome fellow who could have given her
the life she deserved. Took me near a decade to build up Chandler
Shipping and she never made a squeak of protest. As much as I loved
her, I often wondered, if she had been in the country with a rich
husband, the fever might not have caught her…”

“Father, hush.” Eva smoothed a hand across
his forehead. “Mother loved you and knew she was loved in return.
That mattered more to her than all the riches in the world.”

“Aye. Maybe so.” A tear sparkled in the
corner of his eye. “But now that we have all the riches in the
world, she’s not here to share them, so they mean far less.” He
paused and his gaze roved slowly over her face. “You look so much
like her. And aye, if she’d been alive, I warrant she would have
climbed aboard a ship and travelled halfway around the world to
find me too.” He patted her hand and gave out a great, long sigh.
“Now let me sleep girl. The floor is twirling around like a
spinning top and I’d as soon not puke into my boots.”

Eva kissed him again, then covered him up to
the chin with a blanket. She sat with him until he had mumbled
himself into a deep sleep and only then did she return to the
firepit.

Dante was still there, hunched forward, his
head propped between his hands. His eyes were closed and for a
moment she thought he was asleep. Billy was nowhere to be seen, but
he had placed a stack of folded blankets beside the fire.

Looking at the blankets, she realized how
utterly exhausted she was. It seemed like days ago, not just that
morning, they had set out to march across the island.

“Your father is a fine man,” Dante said, not
moving or opening his eyes. “I like him.”

“I suspect he likes you too.”

One of Gabriel’s eyes opened and looked up
at her. “You should try to get some rest.”

“I will.”

“It works better if you lie down.”

“I… can’t. My legs don’t seem to want to
bend.”

Dante, who surely had to be as tired as she
was, stood with an ease that almost made her whimper. He shook the
folds and dust out of several of the woolen blankets and spread
them into a thick nest on a smooth patch of dry ground. He scooped
her into his arms and set her gently down on the bedding, then
stripped off her boots and set them beside the makeshift
pallet.

“Better?” he asked.

“I am a little cold,” she said in a small
voice, muffled to the chin in the last blanket.

Gabriel smiled at the transparent pretence
and stretched out carefully beside her. He gathered her into his
arms, letting her share his body heat and use his shoulder as a
pillow.

“Is this better now?”

She nodded and pressed her face into the
side of his neck, breathing in the scent of his skin. “Are you
really going to set an ambush for Muertraigo?”

“I am, yes.”

“Would it not be wiser to wait until your
ship returns with more men and more guns?”

“Wiser? Perhaps. But if there is the
smallest chance of Muertraigo getting away, then I can’t risk
it.”

Eva wormed her hand up his chest and slid it
under his shirt. “I don’t suppose—?“

“No. You can’t. You most
definitely, emphatically cannot come with us. And this time, madam,
I
will
put you in
manacles, hand and foot, and leave you locked to a
post.”

She merely nuzzled deeper into his neck and
murmured, “Yes, Captain. Manacles and a post.”

“I am quite serious,
Evangeline. You are
not
coming with us.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Gabriel awoke to the sound of a boot
treading softly across the ground beside him. He had his dagger in
hand so fast that Billy Crab nearly stumbled into the firepit.

“Cap’n Will told me to come wake you,” he
whispered, holding his hands high and spread wide. “Not quite
sunrise yet but best to leave while the tide be out.”

Dante lowered the knife and, after a moment
needed to chase the sleep out of his eyes, glanced beside him. Eva
was still asleep… as was his right arm where she was wedged up
tight against him.

Taking great care not to jostle her too
much, he slid his shoulder out from under her head and replaced it
with a wadded blanket. She made a purring sound and shifted
slightly on the bedding, but she did not waken and for that Dante
was thankful. He studied her profile for a long moment and curled
his fingers against the urge to brush aside some of the soft yellow
wisps that had fallen over her cheek. It happened rarely—if
ever—that he spent the night with a beautiful woman held close in
his arms, with both of them remaining fully clothed. The thought
put a rueful smile on his lips and he hoped he would be able to
make up for the oversight in the near future.

~~

Glencairn Rowlandson was enjoying a stretch
and a full-bodied yawn when two dark figures loomed up out of the
shadows. The eastern sky was barely showing a rime of pink along
the horizon and it was sheer luck that he had set his arquebus
aside while he was relieving himself against the base of a palm
tree, or he might have shot off his own toes. One of the figures
was a giant, with massive shoulders made to appear even more so by
the thick rounds of cable he carried slung crosswise over his
chest. The other, he recognized with a curse of relief, was Gabriel
Dante.

“Ye near got yer heads blowed off,” he
scowled, keeping one wary eye on the giant. “Where did ye find this
one?”

“This is Billy Crab,” Gabriel said. “And he
more or less found me. Rouse the men, we have work to do.”

He walked past Rowly and followed the stream
to the rise he and Eva had climbed the previous night. With the sky
growing lighter by the minute, there were no blue-green streaks to
use as a guide and it took Dante well over half an hour to
carefully search the many overgrown cracks in the limestone rock
before he found the one that opened into the cavern below. Once it
was located, Billy started tying knots in the cable every two feet
or so and lowered the end through the crevice. By then Rowly and a
dozen others had climbed the rise and were watching with
ever-increasing curiosity.