Kitabı oku: «Devil In Tartan»

CHAPTER TWO

Two weeks later

The North Sea

THE WIND OUT of the west was light, but brought with it heavy clouds. Nevertheless, the Reulag Balhaire was sailing along just as she ought to be, the sedative dip and rise of the ship’s bow into the rolling waves a steady reminder that all was right.

Captain Aulay Mackenzie listened to the sound of his crew calling out to each other as they manned the sails. He closed his eyes and felt the mist of the sea on his face, the wind ruffling the queue of his hair. It was days like this—well, he preferred those glorious, sun-filled days—days at sea, when he felt most himself. When he was most at home. He was in command of his ship, of his spirit, of his world. It was, perhaps, the only place in his life that was so.

It had been too long since he’d been at sea—a few months, but to him, a lifetime. Aulay chafed at life at his family’s home of Balhaire. He had lived his entire adult life at sea, and every day away from his ship was a day something was missing. He was useless at Balhaire. His father was chief of the Mackenzie clan. His older brother, Cailen, was his father’s agent, his face to the world. Rabbie, Aulay’s younger brother, managed the day-to-day business of the sprawling estate of Balhaire, along with his youngest sister, Catriona. His mother was engaged in the social aspects, as was his sister Vivienne. And Aulay? He had no useful purpose there. Nothing worthwhile to occupy his days. He was merely an observer on land.

His father had begun the Mackenzie sea trade when he was a young man, and it had flourished under his clever eye, and as his sons grew, with them as well. Their trade had suffered in the wake of the Battle of Culloden some seven years ago. After the brutal defeat of the Jacobite uprising, the Highlands had been decimated first by English forces, and then by economics. The new economy was moving the Highlands from small croft farms to wide-ranging sheep herding. Great numbers of Highlanders, having lost their livelihood, were leaving for greener fields in Glasgow and beyond.

The Mackenzies of Balhaire had not been involved in the conflict, but nonetheless, they’d lost half their clan to it, had seen their livestock and a second ship seized by the crown. Still, they’d hung on to this ship and with it, a dwindling trade. With the last round of repairs, his father had wanted to end their trade business altogether. “It’s no use,” he’d said. “It costs more to sail than we bring, aye? We’ve lost ground to the MacDonalds, we have.”

Aulay had panicked slightly at such talk. He didn’t know who he was without a ship. He didn’t know what he’d do.

But then a miracle had happened. Aulay, chafing at the loss of some trade, had gone in search of more. He’d struck an agreement with William Tremayne of Port Glasgow. William was an Englishman, but he was an agent with goods to trade and in need of a vessel to carry them. Aulay was a captain with an empty ship. It seemed a perfect match. And yet, his father and brothers had argued against the deal. It was too much risk, they said, to carry another man’s cargo. Aulay had assured them there was no risk. Was he not a fine captain? Had he not delivered and brought home countless holds full of goods? He had prevailed in the end, but his father’s skepticism was quite evident.

This was his maiden voyage for Tremayne. The ship was loaded with wool and salted beef, en route for Amsterdam, and then on to Cadiz where they would load cotton for the return.

The men aboard were in high spirits, as Mackenzie seafaring was their livelihood, and they needed the work. So was Aulay in a fine mood. He’d not been to Amsterdam in some time, and there was a wench there, a lass who had eyes like two obsidian rocks and a lush mouth upon whom he intended to call.

He was thinking about the way she moved beneath him when a boom startled him. It sounded a bit like thunder, but not quite that.

“Got a light on the starboard side, Captain!” one of the men up on the masts called down.

Aulay turned to the starboard side and was joined by his first mate, Beaty. It wasn’t a light, precisely, but a glow. “That’s fire, aye?” he asked Beaty, who was peering through a spyglass.

“Aye,” Beaty grunted.

“Wind is rising, too,” said Iain the Red, who had come to the railing to have a look. “They’ll be naugh’ they can do to stop the spread if it rises much more.”

“Och, she’s sailing toward land,” said the wizened old swab, Beaty. His looks were deceiving—he was thick and ruddy, but still as nimble as he’d been as a lad some forty years ago. He hiked himself up onto a batten of the main mast, one arm hooked around a thick rope in the shroud as he held the spyglass with the other to have another look. “She’s sailing at five, six knots if she’s moving one. She’ll make landfall ere it’s too late if the cap’n keeps his bloody head.”

“Is there a flag?” Aulay asked.

“Aye, a royal flag, Cap’n. Ship looks too small for navy, it does, but that’s the Union Jack she flies.”

Aulay gestured for the spyglass. He hopped upon the mast shroud with a sureness of foot that came from having spent his life at sea, and peered into the thickening gray of sky and ocean. He could make out men trimming sails to better catch the wind while others lowered buckets into the sea and threw water on the flames to douse them. Ships didn’t generally catch fire on their own, not without a strike of lightning or some such, and they’d not seen any hint of that. Aulay studied the horizon, casting the spyglass in the opposite direction of the burning ship’s course, trying to discern wave from sky—

“Aye, there she is, then,” he said. He’d marked another, smaller ship. It appeared that it had lost the top half of its main mast. He pointed and handed the spyglass to Beaty, then hopped down from the shroud.

“My guess is a fly boat,” Beaty said, peering at it.

“A fly boat!” Iain exclaimed, snorting at the idea of the small Dutch ship. “Ought no’ to be in open sea, no’ a fly boat. They’re for sailing the coast, they are.”

“We’re no’ so far from the coast,” said someone else. “Perhaps she’s adrift, aye?”

Aulay glanced around at his men, who had gathered round to have a look. It felt good to be on board with them again. It put him in good spirits, in need of a bit of adventure. “Shall we have a look, then?”

* * *

THE REULAG BALHAIRE was not in the business of saving other ships. It was generally considered unwise to approach another ship unless one was prepared to have a hull shattered by cannon fire. But their curiosity was aroused. The burning ship was just a spot in the distance now, so they’d set course for the starboard side of the smaller ship, a gun pointed at the forecastle in the event there was trouble.

Aulay watched the smaller ship slowly come into view, its outline muted against the darkening sky, the clouds weighing down on the masts. It wasn’t until they were almost on the ship that they could see it was listing.

Iain the Red was studying it as they approached. “No’ a fly boat, no,” he said. “A bilander.”

“A bilander!” Beaty blustered. “What nonsense!”

Whether a fly boat or bilander, neither were particularly well suited for the open seas. “Is there a flag?” he asked.

“No.” Iain the Red paused, then laughed. “Look at them now, trying to lower the sail.” He laughed again with great amusement. “They look like children romping around a bloody maypole! Look at them trying to untangle those shroud lines, aye? They’re twisted up every which way—oof, there went one, down on his arse!”

The men gathered at the railing to watch, and laughed at the blundering of the crew on the other ship as they tried to free a sail from a broken mast with what looked like a lot of pushing and shoving. “Aye, give it over, Iain, let’s have a look,” one said, and they began to pass the spyglass around, all of them doubling over with mirth.

The spyglass came back around to Iain, but when he held it up, he stopped laughing. “Diah, de an diabhal?” he exclaimed and lowered the instrument, turning a wide-eyed look to Aulay.

“What, then?” Aulay asked, feeling a mild tick of alarm, imagining a gun pointed at them, or a pirate’s flag being raised.

“A lady,” Iain said, as if he’d never seen one.

A lady? It was not unheard of for one to be on the high seas; wives of captains sometimes sailed with them. If it were anyone else, a lady of importance, she’d not be sailing on a rickety boat like that.

“In a proper gown and everything,” Iain said, his voice full of awe.

Aulay didn’t know what a proper gown meant to Iain, so he motioned for the spyglass to have a look. He could scarcely make her out, but it was definitely a woman standing at the railing, holding a white flag that almost matched the color of the hair that whipped long and unbound about her face. There were a few men beside her, all of them clinging to the railing, all of them looking rather desperately in the direction of his ship.

Aulay instructed Beaty to maneuver closer, and when there was nothing but a small bit of sea between the two ships, the men’s frantic attention to the sail on the other ship was forgotten in favor of lowering a jolly boat down the hull. There was more chaotic shoving among them until four men scrambled down a rope ladder into the boat and began to row with abandon toward the Reulag Balhaire. The woman remained behind on the ship’s deck with a few men, including one that was the size of a small mountain, towering a head above all the others.

When the smaller boat reached them, one of the men grabbed on to the rope ladder to steady them, and one rose to standing, bracing his legs apart to keep his balance. “Madainn mhath,” he called up, and with an affected swirl of his hand, he bowed low. And very nearly tipped over the side when a swell caught him unawares.

“Scots, then,” Beaty said. “That’s something, at least.”

“We are in need of your help, kind sirs!” the man called up, having managed to right himself. “We’ve been set upon by pirates, aye?” He spoke with a strange cadence, as if he were a town crier delivering this news to a crowded venue.

The men did not carry swords or guns that Aulay could see. It seemed all they could do to keep the jolly from tipping too far to one side. “That ship flew the colors of the king,” he called down.

The spokesman looked startled. He squatted down to consult the other men in his small boat. A flurry of shaking heads and talking over one another ensued, until the man stood up again and said, “She flew no such flag when she fired, on me word, sir! She fired with no provocation from us!” He pressed his hand to his chest quite earnestly.

“No’ bloody likely,” Iain muttered.

“Why do I feel as if I am watching a theatrical performance?” Aulay asked idly. “What do you think, then, Beaty? Could a freebooter put his hands on a royal flag?”

“More likely a privateer,” Beaty said, referring to those private ships holding a royal commission. “They’re no’ above a bit of pirating, are they? Might have nicked a flag, I suppose.”

Perhaps. It was hard to argue who’d advanced on whom when they’d not witnessed it. But it seemed unlikely that a privateer or pirate would have engaged this ship. It was too small to hold anything of quantity or value.

Aulay leaned over the railing. “What have you on board that invited attack?”

“Naugh’ but a lady, Captain!”

“Who is the lady, then?”

That question prompted more spirited discussion on the jolly boat.

“What, then, they donna know the lady?” Iain snorted.

Once again, the man straightened up, put his fist to his waist and called out, “Our Lady Larsen, sir! We are carrying her home to her ailing grandmamma!” He paused, put a hand to his throat and said, “’Tis a journey of great and intolerable sadness, as the lady’s grandmamma is no’ expected to live!”

Larson. Aulay did not know the name.

“An ailing grandmamma my arse,” Beaty muttered.

Aulay was likewise suspicious. These men seemed to have no idea what they were doing, who was on board, or even how to mount a sail and sally forth to dear old Grandmamma. Moreover, the man had the peculiar habit of speaking as if he were acting in a play. “Where is your destination?” Aulay called.

“Denmark, Captain. Her grandmamma is a Dane, she is, but we are Scots, like you.”

“Never knew a clever Dane,” Iain mused. “No’ a single one.”

“Aye, she has the look of an heiress,” said one of the crew, holding the spyglass to his eye. The man next to him punched him in the arm and grabbed the spyglass as if he’d been waiting too long for his turn and was cross about it.

Apparently, the men had been passing it around to view the woman while Aulay, Beaty and Iain focused on the men below.

“Been sailing long?” Beaty called down.

“A day,” the man said.

“No, lad, I mean, what sort of seaman are you, then?”

“Well that’s the interesting thing, sir, aye? We are no’ seaman. No’ a one of us a sailor, save our captain. We’re but Christian soldiers on an errand of mercy. Able-bodied, aye, willing to try. But no’, as such, sailors.”

“Bloody damn curious,” Beaty muttered, his thick brow furrowed.

“Agreed,” Aulay said.

Billy Botly, the youngest and smallest of the crew, was the last to receive the spyglass, and he had to fight for it. He was so slight that a good, strong wind would knock him overboard if he weren’t careful, and as he swung one leg over the edge of the hull to have a look, Aulay feared precisely that. “Aye, an heiress,” the lad said, a wee bit dreamily.

Aulay reached over Billy’s shoulder, took the spyglass from him and had a look himself. The lady was still standing there, still clutching the white flag against her chest, her hands crossed over it as if she feared she would lose it.

He lowered the spyglass again and peered down at the man. “Aye, and what do you want from me, then? I’ve no time to ferry anyone to her ailing grandmamma.”

His crew chuckled derisively in agreement.

“The ship, sir, she’s taking on water, that she is. We’ll no’ last through the night.”

“Should no’ have sailed in a ship no’ meant for open water, then,” Beaty called down. Apparently, Beaty was the only man aboard who was not moved by the sight of a comely lady in dire circumstances.

“Aye, but we’ve the miss and her father, wounded in the fight, he was. She’s no one to look after her.”

“You expect me to do the looking after?” Aulay asked and laughed roundly with his crew. He was bound for Amsterdam, and he’d not be late. This voyage was crucial for his family, and he firmly believed it had the potential to grow into something quite lucrative for the Mackenzies, in spite of his father’s misgivings. After years of scraping by, Aulay was resolved to prove they could restore their trade.

“Just need a port, sir, that’s it,” the man called up as he gripped the hem of his waistcoat in a nervous manner. They all seemed slightly agitated, each of them stealing looks at their damaged ship, as if they expected her to slip under the water while they had their backs turned.

“You’ll make landfall by night,” he called to them. “Go back the way you’ve come, aye? That’s what your attacker has done. You’ve two good sails yet and the wind will carry you if you trim them properly. Gun déid leat,” he said, wishing them the best of luck, and turned away from the railing, his intent to be done with this unusual event at sea.

“Captain, sir!” the man shouted frantically. “She’s taking on water too fast, can you no’ see with your own eyes? It’s a miracle of heaven that you’ve come at all, and we rejoice in our fortune! We were drawing straws to see who would take the lady and her father in the jolly and who among us would be doomed to drown! Will you turn your back on us now?”

“Aye, Cap’n, she’s sinking,” Billy said anxiously.

“What is the matter with him, then?” Iain asked curiously, eying the man in the boat. “Why does he speak in that fancy manner?”

Why indeed did he speak in that manner, and who set sail with no experienced hands? It all seemed rather odd, but as Aulay was mulling it over, they heard a groan of wood from the other ship. The winds were picking up, and a strong wave had rocked it, making it list even more. He lifted the spyglass. The woman was clutching the arm of the mountain of a man beside her.

Bloody hell. The ship was sinking.

“How many of you are there?”

“Ten!” the man said.

One of the other men punched his leg and spoke. They exchanged a few words and then he said, “I beg your pardon, only eight!”

“Are they so inept they canna count the souls on board?” Aulay muttered.

“Fools,” Beaty agreed.

Aulay debated. He was a man of the sea and he understood that sometimes, the sea won. All of them, to a man...well, with the exception of Billy, perhaps...understood the risks involved every time they made sail. The thrill of that risk drove them. But there was something about that woman clinging to the man across the way that tugged at Aulay’s conscience. An unwelcome and disturbing image of his younger sister, Catriona, popped into his head, and he inwardly shuddered at the thought of her standing in that lady’s shoes. “Verra well,” he said. “Bring the lady and your men, then. Bring what provisions you have, aye? I donna intend to feed the lot of you. And you can expect to work for your passage.”

“Of course. Thank you, Captain, thank you,” the man said, and quickly motioned for the men to row.

As they turned the small boat about, banging into the ship’s hull as they did, Beaty sighed loudly and gave Aulay a sidelong look.

“What, then, you’d have the lady drown?” Aulay asked.

“No!” Billy cried.

“No,” Beaty admitted reluctantly. “But there are too many of them, and one of them so large that he’ll be as much trouble as three, he will. Where will they sleep, then? Have we enough water for them all? And what of these fools?” he asked, gesturing to Aulay’s crew, all of them still at the railing, still chattering about the woman. “You’d think they’d never seen a lass.”

“We’ll put them in the hold with a night guard, aye?” Aulay said.

“Shall we arm ourselves?” Beaty asked.

Aulay glanced at the listing ship. “They are no threat to us.”

Beaty’s response was muttered under his breath.

It took two trips to bring all of them. When the first batch of men was delivered, along with a crate of food, Beaty demanded irritably, “Why’d you no’ bring the lady, then, if you’re so fearful of her drowning?”

“She willna come until her father can be brought,” said the man who had first spoken to them from the jolly.

They watched the second batch of men come, and when they were delivered safely on board, they stood with the first batch at the rail in an anxious cluster, their eyes on the jolly as two of them returned to the listing ship.