Birds of Prey (73 page)

Llewellyn smiled at him coldly. ‘I will delay my thanks until I feel the weight of your purse in my hands.’ Cumbrae saw the purpose in his level gaze and, without another look at the
Golden Bough
’s row of gunports and the handy businesslike lines of her hull, he knew that they were evenly matched and it would be hard pounding if it came to a fight between the two
ships, just as it had been four years previously in the Bay of Trincomalee.

‘I don’t blame you for trusting no man in this naughty world of ours, but dine with me today, here ashore, and I will place the purse in your hands, I swear it to you.’

Llewellyn nodded grimly. ‘Thank you for that offer of hospitality, sir, but I well remember the last time I availed myself of one of your invitations. I have a fine cook on board my own
ship who can provide me with a meal more to my taste. However, I will return at dusk to fetch the purse you have promised me.’ Llewellyn bowed and returned to his longboat.

The Buzzard watched him go, with a calculating look in his eyes. The longboat headed up the lagoon towards the stream of fresh water that flowed into its upper end. ‘That dandy bastard has
a nasty temper,’ he growled and, beside him, Schreuder nodded.

‘I have never been so pleased to be rid of somebody unpleasant and to be standing here on this beach and appealing to your friendship, as I am now.’

Cumbrae looked at him shrewdly. ‘You have me at a disadvantage, sir,’ he said. ‘What indeed are you doing here, and what is it that I can do for you in good friendship?’

‘Where can we talk?’ Schreuder asked.

Cumbrae replied, ‘This way, my old friend and companion in arms,’ led Schreuder to his hut in the grove and poured him half a mug of whisky. ‘Now, tell me. Why are you no
longer in command of the garrison at Good Hope?’

‘To be frank with you, my lord, I am in the devil’s own fix. I stand accused by Governor van de Velde of a crime that I did not commit. You know well how bitterly he was obsessed by
envy and ill-will towards me,’ Schreuder explained, and Cumbrae nodded cautiously without committing himself.

‘Please go on.’

‘Ten days ago the Governor’s wife was murdered in a fit of lust and bestial passion by the gardener and executioner of the Company.’

‘Sweet heavens!’ Cumbrae exclaimed. ‘Slow John! I knew he was a madman. I could see it in his eyes. A blethering maniac! I am sorry to hear about the woman, though. She was a
delicious little muffin. Fair put a bone in my breeches just to look at those titties of hers, she did.’

‘Van de Velde has falsely accused me of this foul murder. I was forced to flee on the first available ship before he had me imprisoned and placed on the rack. Llewellyn offered me passage
to the Orient where I had determined to enlist in the war that is afoot in the Horn of Africa between the Prester and the Great Mogul.’

Cumbrae’s eyes lit up and he leaned forward on his stool at the mention of war, like a hyena scenting the blood of a battlefield. By this time he was heartily bored with digging for Franky
Courtney’s elusive treasure, and the promise of an easier way to fill his holds with riches had all of his attention. But he would not show this posturing braggart just how eager he was, so
he left the subject for another time and said, with feeling and understanding, ‘You have my deepest sympathy and my assurances of any aid I am able to render.’ His mind was seething
with ideas. He sensed that Schreuder was guilty of the murder he denied so vehemently but, guilty or not, he was now an outlaw and he was placing himself at Cumbrae’s mercy.

The Buzzard had been given ample demonstration of Schreuder’s qualities as a warrior. An excellent man to have serve under him, especially as he would be completely under Cumbrae’s
control by virtue of his guilt and the blood on his hands. As a fugitive and a murderer, the Dutchman could no longer afford to be too finicky in matters of morality.

Once a maid has lost her virginity she lifts her skirts and lies down in the hay with more alacrity the second time, the Buzzard told himself happily, but reached out and clasped
Schreuder’s arm with a firm and friendly grip. ‘You can rely on me, my friend,’ he said. ‘How may I help you?’

‘I wish to throw in my lot with you. I will become your man.’

‘And heartily welcome you will be.’ Cumbrae grinned through his red whiskers with unfeigned delight. He had just found himself a hunting hound, one perhaps not carrying a great cargo
of intelligence but, none the less, fierce and totally without fear.

‘I ask only one favour in return,’ Schreuder said. The Buzzard let the friendly hand drop from his shoulder, and his eyes became guarded. He might have known that such a handsome
gift would have a price written on the underside.

‘A favour?’ he asked.

‘On board the
Golden Bough
I was treated in the most shabby and scurvy fashion. I was cheated out of a great deal of money at Hazard by one of the ship’s officers, and
insulted and reviled by Captain Llewellyn and his men. To cap it all, the person who cheated me challenged me to a duel. I could find no person on board willing to act as my second, and Llewellyn
forbade this matter of honour to be pursued until we reached port.’

‘Go on, please.’ Cumbrae’s suspicions were beginning to evaporate as he realized where the conversation was heading.

‘I would be most grateful and honoured if you could consent to act as my second in this affair, my lord.’

‘That is all you require of me?’ He could hardly credit that it would be so easy. Already he could see the profits that might be reaped from this affair. He had promised Llewellyn
his five hundred pounds, and he would give it to him, but only when he was certain that he would be able to get the money back from him, together with any other profit that he could lay hands
upon.

He glanced out over the waters of the lagoon. There lay the
Golden Bough
, a powerful, warlike vessel. If he were able to add her to his flotilla, he would command a force in the oriental
oceans that few could match. If he appeared off the Great Horn of Africa with these two vessels, in the midst of the war that Schreuder had assured him was raging, what spoils might there be for
the picking?

‘It will be my honour and my pleasure to act for you,’ he told Schreuder. ‘Give me the name of the dastard who has challenged you, and I will see to it that you obtain
immediate satisfaction from him.’

When Llewellyn came ashore again for dinner, he was accompanied by two of his officers and a dozen of his seamen, carrying cutlass and pistols. Cumbrae was on the beach to welcome him. ‘I
have the purse I promised you, my dear Christopher. Come with me to my poor lodgings and take a dram with me for loving friendship and for the memory of convivial days we passed in former times in
each other’s company. But first will ye no’ introduce me to these two fine gentlemen of yours?’

‘Mr Arnold Fowler, first mate of my ship.’ The two men nodded at each other. ‘And this is my third officer, Vincent Winterton, son of my patron, Viscount Winterton.’

‘Also, so I am informed, a paragon at Hazard, and a mean hand with the dice.’ Cumbrae grinned at Vincent and the young man withdrew the hand he was on the point of proffering.

‘I beg your pardon, sir, but what do you mean by that remark?’ Vincent enquired stiffly.

‘Only that Colonel Schreuder has asked me to act for him. Would you be good enough to inform me as to who is your own second?’

Llewellyn cut in quickly, ‘I have the honour to act for Mr Winterton.’

‘Indeed, then, we have much to discuss, my dear Christopher. Please follow me, but as it is Mr Winterton’s affairs we will be discussing, it might be as well if he remained here on
the beach.’

Llewellyn followed the Buzzard to his hut, and took the stool that he was offered. ‘A dram of the water of life?’

Llewellyn shook his head. ‘Thank you, no. Let us come to the matters at hand.’

‘You were always impatient and headstrong.’ The Buzzard filled his own mug and took a mouthful. He smacked his lips and wiped his whiskers on the back of his hand.
‘You’ll never know what you’re missing. ’Tis the finest whisky in all the islands. But, here, this is for you.’ He slid the heavy purse across the keg that served him
for a table. Llewellyn picked it up and weighed it thoughtfully in his hand.

‘Count it if you will,’ the Buzzard invited him. ‘I’ll take no offence.’ He sat back and watched with a grin on his face, sipping at his mug, while Llewellyn
arranged the golden coins in neat stacks on the top of the keg.

‘Five hundred it is, and fifty for the interest. I am obliged to you, sir.’ Llewellyn’s expression had softened.

‘It’s a small price to pay for your love and friendship, Christopher,’ Cumbrae told him. ‘But now to this other matter. As I told you, I act for Colonel
Schreuder.’

‘And I act for Mr Winterton.’ Llewellyn nodded. ‘My principal will be satisfied with an apology from Schreuder.’

‘You know full well, Christopher, that my lad will no’ give him one. I am afraid that the two young puppies will have to fight it out.’

‘The choice of weapons lies with your side,’ said Llewellyn. ‘Shall we say pistols at twenty paces?’

‘We will say no such thing. My man wants swords.’

‘Then we must agree. What time and place will suit you?’

‘I leave that decision to you.’

‘I have repairs to make to my rigging and hull. Damage we sustained in the gale. I need Mr Winterton on board to help with these. May I suggest three days hence, on the beach at
sunrise?’

The Buzzard tugged at his beard as he considered this proposal. He would need a few days to make the arrangements he had in mind. Three days’ delay would suit him perfectly.

‘Agreed!’ he said, and Llewellyn rose to his feet immediately and placed the purse in the pocket of his tunic.

‘Will you not take that dram I offered you now, Christopher?’ Cumbrae suggested, but again Llewellyn declined.

‘As I told you, sir, I have much to do on board my ship.’

The Buzzard watched him go down to the beach and step into his longboat. As they were rowed back to where the
Golden Bough
was anchored, Llewellyn and Winterton were in deep and earnest
conversation.

‘Young Winterton is in for a surprise. He can never have seen the Dutchman with a sword in his hand to have agreed so lightly to the choice of weapons.’ He swigged back the few drops
of whisky that remained in his mug, and grinned again. ‘We shall see if we cannot arrange a little surprise for Christopher Llewellyn also.’ He banged the mug onto the keg top, and
bellowed, ‘Send Mr Bowles to me, and be quick about it.’

Sam Bowles came smarming in, wriggling his whole body like a whipped dog to ingratiate himself with his captain. But his eyes were cold and shrewd.

‘Sammy, me boy.’ Cumbrae gave him a slap on the arm that stung like a wasp, but did not upset the smile on the man’s lips. ‘I have something for you, that should be much
to your taste. Listen well.’

Sam Bowles sat opposite him and cocked his head so as not to miss a word of his instructions. Once or twice he asked a question or chortled with glee and admiration as Cumbrae unfolded his
plans.

‘You have always wanted the command of your own ship, Sammy me laddy. This is your chance. Serve me well, and you shall have it. Captain Samuel Bowles. How does that sound to
you?’

‘I like the sound of it powerful well, your grace!’ Sam Bowles bobbed his head. ‘And I’ll not let you down.’

‘That you won’t!’ Cumbrae agreed. ‘Or not more than once, you won’t. For if you do, you’ll dance me a merry hornpipe while you dangle from the main yard of my
Gull
.’

T
he riverbanks were lined with wild willow and dark green acacia trees, which were covered with a mantle of yellow blossom. The river ran broad
and deep, slow and green between its rocky piers. The sandbanks were exposed and, as they looked down upon them from the steep slopes of the valley, Sukeena shuddered and whispered, ‘Oh, what
foul and ugly creatures! Surely these are the very dragons we spoke of?’

‘They are dragons indeed,’ Hal agreed, as they gazed down on the crocodiles that lay sunning on the white beach. There were dozens of them, some not much larger than lizards and
other brutes with the beam and length of a ship’s boat, massive grey monsters, which surely could swallow a man whole. They had found out how ferocious these creatures were on their first
attempt to ford the river, when Billy Rogers had been seized by one and dragged beneath the surface. They had not recovered any part of his body.

‘I tremble at the thought of trying to cross again, with these creatures still guarding the river,’ Sukeena whispered tremulously.

‘Aboli knows them from his own land to the north, and his tribe have a way of dealing with them.’

On the rocky bluff, high above the river where the crocodiles could not reach, they stacked the piles of eland meat, which were already beginning to stink, in the hot sunlight. Then Hal sent
some of the men to search the forest floor for dried logs that would float high in the water. Under Ned Tyler’s instruction they shaped them with the cutlasses, although Hal hated to see the
fine steel edges dulled and chipped. While this was being done Althuda, with Sukeena helping him, carefully slit the wet eland hides into long tough ropes as thick as her little finger.

Aboli sought out the species of tree he needed, and then chopped short supple stakes from its branches and carried bundles of these back to where the others were working. Big Daniel helped him
to sharpen both ends of these short, resilient pieces of green wood into spear points, and harden them in the fire. Then, using a log of the correct circumference as a template, the two powerful
men bent each stake around the log until it formed a circle, the sharpened points overlapping. While they held them in place, Hal lashed the ends together with strips of the raw eland hide. When
they gingerly released the tension the coiled stakes were like the loaded steel springs of a musket lock, ready to fly open if the retaining strip of hide was severed. By sundown they had finished
work on a pile of these snares.