HF - 01 - Caribee (10 page)

The man spoke to his companions, and now his language was quite different, and seemed nothing more than a series of grunts. Then he came forward as noiselessly as ever, and extended one hand to touch Edward on the chest
t
nglese,' he said. 'Har-court.'

"That's right,' Edward cried. 'We are like Mr Harcourt. We are living at his village. I am Edward Warner.' He checked, for the
Indian
was frowning uncertainly. 'Edward,' he said. 'English.'

The
Indian
almost smiled. He tapped himself on the chest. 'Tuloa,' he said. 'Arawak.' He pointed, and without waiting set off into the trees, in the opposite direction, Edward was sure, to that in which he had come. But the other
Indian
s were also heading that way, and he had no intention of being left behind. He hurried with them, tripping and stumbling, where they seemed to glide through the trees, and then checking as he heard the explosion. Someone had managed to keep his powder dry.

'My father,' he said instinctively, and looked around him in horror. The Arawaks had disappeared. 'No, wait,' he shouted. 'We are friends.'

'Edward.' The undergrowth crackled, and half a dozen men came through the trees, led by Tom Warner and Tony Hilton. 'Where have you been? You know you are not supposed to leave the village.'

‘I
saw a man, Father,' Edward explained. 'And there were others.'

The Englishmen insensibly accumulated into a huddle, gazing around them at the forest, their swords looking punily useless when directed against the silence of the great trees. For the men were back, standing amidst the fems and leaves, their spears thrust forward, staring at them.

'That one, Father,' Edward whispered. 'The one with the feather. His name is Tuloa, and he speaks Spanish.'

Tom hesitated, and
then
sheathed his sword and stepped forward. 'We are friends,' he said in Spanish. 'Englishmen come only to farm tobacco.'

'We know the English,' Tuloa said. 'We remember Harcourt. The Spanish are evil men. The English are good men. Welcome.'

'Our thanks to your people,' Tom said. 'We would trade with you. We have no food, but many goods. You have food?'

Tuloa nodded. 'We have food. We will come to the river.'

'Good men,' Tom Warner mu
tt
ered. 'And how long, do you think, will they consider us good men?'

As if to celebrate the coming of the
Indian
s, the rain had stopped. Or perhaps the
Indian
s only ventured forth when they knew the rain was about to stop. In any event, the sun had come out, and from endless gloom the afternoon had become startlingly bright. Only an hour's burning sun had been necessary to end the damp; they had watched it disappear in clouds of steam, rising from every bush and every tree, from the very river. Even the ships had steamed, and the men with them. And the
Indian
s had brought dry wood, unbelievable after a week's downpour, and had lit a fire in the middle of the village. Now it blazed, and smoked, and sent showers of sparks in every direction, without risk, for the huts still remained too soaked to bum. And now they ate.

The
Indian
s had come in strength, men and women, and children, near a hundred of them, carrying fish and various root vegetables. Strange fish, with names like queriman and haussa, and even stranger vegetables, eddoe and cassava. But all good to taste when smoke-roasted on an open fire.

And they drank, not the last of the mouldy beer and stale wine, but piwarrie, a clear liquid made from the cassava, which burned the bellies of the seamen and had them roaring with song and laughter.

And lust. For the women and the children were as naked as the men, nor did they find in embraces or even fornication anything more than a natural end to an evening's amusement. Tom sat somewhat apart, next to the chieftain, Tuloa, with Edward on his left, and watched the men, rolling about in their drunkenness, discarding their clothing, reaching for pouting breast and wide spread crotch, to the accompaniment of shouts of laughter and high pitched giggles from the girls, while their men folk similarly enjoyed themselves, with each other, with homosexually inclined white men, or with their own women, as the mood took them. The forest had suddenly become a place of pointed genitals and slobbering mouths, of semen and saliva.

On which Tuloa looked with benevolent pleasure. Unlike the others, he had drunk the last of North's wine, and now swayed to and fro, eyes half shut, humming to himself.

' Tis a scene from hell itself,' Tom said. 'And God will not help us when these savages awake and remember what happened here tonight.'

'God's blood, Tom Warner, but you are very nearly a Puritan,' North complained from the other side of the chieftain. He still sat, at the least, and his clothes were still intact, but he eyed the women with much a
tt
ention. 'Can you not see that these Arawaks are but children, to whom every natural act is no more than a natural act? I see us living here happily, man, in a very Eden. And they spoke to us of savages.'

'You could hardly describe them as civilized,' Berwicke observed. He sat on the other side of Edward and had also refrained from joining in the festivities, perhaps out of loyalty to Tom Warner, perhaps because he was one of the older men present, and therefore felt less of the sexual urge.

The urge to... to do what? Edward wondered. He gazed at Tony Hilton on the far side of the huge fire. Tony had drunk a great deal of piwarrie, and lay on his back. His breeches were off and a brown leg was entwined with his, while brown hands searched his body with gentle insistence, and a black head of hair nuzzled his shoulder. The
Indian
s did not appear to kiss, but this was the only physical contact they rejected. And Tony's hands were also busy, sliding from pointed, high-nippled breast, down rounded belly to seek the damp warmth which lay between the girl's thighs. Edward's throat was dry. Manhood had grown upon him during this voyage. But to lie, naked, with an
Indian
girl in front of all these people—and these girls were no more handsome than their menfolk, really. In England they would not be spared a glance. But they were women, and it had been upwards of two months since any of the colonists had seen a female, much less been granted access to their bodies.

Edward glanced at his father. Tom Warner was flushed as anvone, and his bad temper was growing. Because he was not old. And he would know what it was like to hold a soft body in his arms and find a soft receptacle for his anxious manhood. That he refrained was a conscious act of will, a decision made because he was a leader and a gentleman. Was Tony Hilton, then, not truly a gentleman?

Tuloa was swaying across, his arm thrown round Tom's shoulders, mu
tt
ering in slurred Spanish. His face seemed to rest on Tom's back, and he gazed at Edward, mouth drooping, saliva dribbling out of each comer. Truly he was an unprepossessing sight; the idea that this man could on occasion glide with silent ease through the forbidding forest was ridiculous, at this moment.

Tom replied brusquely, more brusquely, indeed, than Edward had ever heard, a combination of outrage and anger, accompanied by a push which sent Tuloa rolling over on to North. Not that the
Indian
seemed disturbed. His mouth continued to loll open, and he nuzzled the admiral's chest, while there could be no doubt about his erection; he sought to sustain it with his own fingers.

'Easy, Tom,' North whispered. ‘We cannot afford to antagonize him.'

"You heard what he wanted? The boy? Why, by God ...'

Edward gazed at the chieftain in horror. Or was it excitement? He had a peculiar lightness in his chest. He too had sampled the piwarrie. Why not, he thought. How can it be wrong, if we both wish to enjoy it?

The forest echoed. The noise swept up the river and struck the tree wall, to go bouncing around the village, an endless boom, slowly dwindling into a mammoth silence, as men dropped cup and woman, and stared at each other, at the sky, at the very ground, in stupefaction.

North was first to recover. 'Cannon, by Christ,' he shouted, scrambling to his feet in such haste he upset the Arawak chieftain. 'We are a
tt
acked. To arms. Man the ships. Quickly now.'

Tom had also regained his wits, and ran round the circle of drunken lovers, kicking and slapping. 'Get your armour. Man the ships.'

The men got up, slowly, reluctantly. Naked girls were laid on the grass, trodden on as the seamen searched for their weapons. The
Indian
s were themselves alarmed, and the men gathered by the water's edge, looking past the anchored vessels towards the bar, pointing and mu
tt
ering amongst themselves. Edward ran down to join them, and stared at the ship, which felt its way into the river, propelled by a faint breeze. ' Tis only one ship,' he shouted.

'None the less, she is afloat and we are ashore,' Berwicke said. 'She could sink our fleet.'

'But she won'
‘I
.' Tony Hilton jumped up and down, and waved, holding his breeches up with one hand. 'She flies the cross of St George.'

'John Painton, at your service, Mr North. Captain Warner, I am happy to make your acquaintance.' Painton was the very picture of the seadog Niles the boatswain had described, a short, thickset man, with a heavy black beard and tremendous eyebrows; they seemed to protrude like windows. He was clearly a seaman pine and simple, affected no fine clothes, and carried a cutlass rather than a rapier; he kept his hand on the hilt as he eyed the Arawaks, and his followers were careful to prime their pistols most ostentatiously, and remain close to their pinnace.

'Oh, fear them not, Mr Painton,' North said. 'They are the most friendly people conceivable, if entirely lacking in manners. But what brings you to this desolate place? No accident, I would wager.'

'No accident, Mr North. I have urgent despatches, from the Court of St James.'

'Despatches?' North took the sealed wallet, glanced uneasily at Tom. 'Despatches. Hm. You'll take some of our refreshment, sir? And your crew?"

'Willingly, Mr North.' Painton raised the cup of piwarrie brought to him by an
Indian
girl, tasted it, the while eyeing the naked body in front of him. 'By God, gentlemen, but you have very much of a paradise here, I do declare. You'll be sorry to abandon it.'

'Abandon it?' North turned the wallet over once again. "You have read these documents, sir?'

'You'll observe that the seal is unbroken, Mr North,'

Painton pointed out. 'But there is sufficient rumour in Plymouth.'

'You'd best open them,' Tom recommended. 'And put us out of our doubt. What news of England, Mr Painton?’

'None, sir. You'll realize that I left but a few days after yourselves. I was delayed on the way by a storm which set me some distance off course, or I would have been here sooner.'

'Would that you had,' North mu
tt
ered. He gazed at Tom, his face pale. 'The grant is revoked.'

‘It
is no more than you anticipated, sir,' Ashton said.

'Revoked,' North said. 'Revoked,' he shouted. 'Gondomar's doing.' He looked at the men, who had formed a vast circle, in many cases still a
tt
ached to their
Indian
friends; these had not been sobered by the arrival of the English ship, and seemed entirely bemused by the incident. 'Would to God you had come sooner, Mr Painton. While we yet despaired.'

‘I
carried out my duty to the best of my ability, sir,' Painton said.

'Why so sad, Mr North?" demanded Tony Hilton. He had accumulated a second girl, and held one in each arm. 'Scotch James is no less than four thousand miles away from us. So is Gondomar. As for the Dons, would it make any difference to them whether you held the King's Patent or not, should they discover us here? I'd say nothing has changed'

'By God, sir,' North declared. 'You are nothing less than a pirate at heart. A drunken, debauched buccaneer. By God, sir, I've a mind to hang you from that tree. What you said was nothing less than treason.'

‘Yet the lad is right,' someone mu
tt
ered.

'Aye,' said another voice. 'To what should we return, Mr North? All our wealth is sunk in this venture.'

'By God,' North said. "That I should unknowingly have associated myself with such a pack of mutinous traitors. The King bids us return. There can be no answer to that, other than obedience. What, would you set yourselves up greater than the King?"

He is a man, as we, and dies, as we, Edward wanted to say. But he dared not. And yet, to abandon everything, and go crawling back home, because of a Spanish Don. He gazed at his father, and to his surprise found that his father was staring at him.

'Disobey,' North said, 'and you think nothing will change? We'll be men without a country. I see you already, after one evening's debauch, men without religion,
without concept of good or evil
. I would not interfere. You have suffered long and hard. But has life nothing more to offer you than a brown belly? What of your wives and families at home? Your mothers and fathers, your sisters and brothers? And what of your tobacco? Suppose we raise a fine crop? Where'll we sell it? Or shall we degenerate into white
Indian
s, here in this swamp'

'Knowing His Majesty,' Tom Warner observed, "he'll forgive you anything should you brine; him back something of value. That were the sum of Raleigh's crime.'

'Tom,' North cried.
‘I
'd not have expected to hear you u
tt
ering treason. No, no. This was an ill-fated venture, from the very start. It is my fault. I admit it freely. It was my decision to go rushing off before waiting for the King's final decision. I take the blame. But now we must return, as we are true-born Englishmen.'

There was a moment's silence. But the crew's decisions were evidenced by the way they slowly released their
Indian
girls, the manner in which they straightened their clothing. No, Edward wanted to shout. No. I do not want to abandon the venture. I want to stay here.

‘I
think the men, having suffered so much, both in ge
tt
ing here and in staying here this while, deserve to have a free choice in the ma
tt
er,' Tom said.

'Am I not admiral of this expedition? And governor of this colony?" North demanded, going very red in the face.

'You have just elected to abandon your responsibility, sir,' Tom said.

'Do you seek to impugn my judgement?’

‘I
would impugn your very courage, Mr North. Certainly your fitness for so arduous a post. And you may take offence if you will, sir. This good right arm of mine is disposed to give you satisfaction.'

North hesitated, but there could be no question of his opposing his inexperienced blade to such a man as Tom Warner. He turned away,
arms outstretched. 'Captain Warner wishes the ma
tt
er to be se
tt
l
ed by a popular vote,' he cried. "Very well. I show you the King's command.' He waved the paper. 'And as the ships are mine, I show you an empty river, an empty coast, once I have left. I show you the lad, Dick, sweating his life away in that hut. And be sure, too, that I will make a full report of these events to His Majesty, as I am in duty bound to do. Now make your decision, and quickly.'

The men shuffled thi
eir feet, and cast glances at Tom.

'And I say as we are here, so let us stay, and do what we came for,' Tom declared. 'We have found a se
tt
lement. And we have found friends in these good savages. Providing we remember always to treat them as friends we have naught to fear. There will be other ships. Failing that, we shall build our own. And as for His Majesty's displeasure, I promise you that he acts now under pressure from Spain. Did not Her Majesty in days gone by disavow Drake and
Hawkins, and issue orders for th
eir recall from more than one expedition, never meaning them to be obe
yed? Are we less men than they?’
He walked away from North's side, stood close to Tuloa. 'Let those who would look to the future rather than the past join me here.'

Edward ran to stand beside his father, panting, watching the other men w
ith, growing apprehension, as th
ey shuffled their feet, glancing from the Arawak girls to the ships to Painton, standing by with an amused expression.

‘I
w
ill stay, of course, Captain Warn
er,' Ralph Berwicke said, joining them.

'And I'll not desert my friend Edward,' Tony Hilton said. 'Faith, there's more
life in one of these charmers th
an in all London's whores added together.'

Which raised a laugh, but did
noth
ing to dispel the tension in the atmosphere.

North smiled. 'Well, Captain Warn
er, I'll wish you good fortune with your colony. You've all of a nation there, two men and a boy. No doubt you'll be sending for your wife and family.'

t
ll stay with Captain
Warn
er.' Ashton detached himself from amongst the crew of the Great St George. 'Because he's right. There's more future for us here than ever in England, with Scotch James and his favourite lads breathing down our necks.'

'And good riddance to you, Mr Asht
on,' North declared. ‘Y
ou were ever a revolutionary. Well, who else? You have my leave. Anyone? What, no one? Well, then, man those boats and let's get back to the ships. Captain Warner, you'll do us the courtesy of asking the chief to supply us for the voyage.'

Tom Warner hesitated, and then addressed Tuloa in Spanish. The chieftain listened, frowning, and seemed to expostulate. But Tom insisted, and finally the
Indian
shrugged and agreed.

'He will see to it,' Tom said. 'When his folk have recovered from their debauch. But it will take some days.'

'This is reasonable enough,' North agreed.
‘It
will give me time to change your mind.'

‘I
'll
not return to England like a whipped dog with my tail between my legs.'

'And how will you stay here, with but five of you all told? That would be to commit suicide.'

'Well manage,' Tom said stoutly. But instinctively he cast a glance at the silent forest.

'Aye, 'tis a grim place, this Guyana,' Painton said, for he had come across to overhear their conversation. 'They say a man lives but a short while, here, and then contracts a kind of shaking sickness which rapidly brings him to his grave.'

'Sir, you seek to alarm my companions and myself,' Tom said angrily. 'You'll not succeed, so you had best take yourselves off.'

‘I
intend to, Captain Warner,' Painton said. 'The moment I have filled my water casks and o
btained some fresh food. If I th
ought to discourage your impression of this place, it was mainly in the hope that you and your men, and the boy, would sail with me.'

'What?' North demanded. 'You are not returning with my fleet?'

'No, Mr North,' Painton said.
‘I
am with messages as well for the Virginia colony, and will take myself thither.'

The Virginia colony,' Tom said. 'Well, then, if that is to be our destiny, so be it. Gladly will we accept your offer, Mr Painton, as all other avenues seem closed to us.' He glanced past North to where Ashton was shaking his head and going red in the face. 'What is troubling you, Mr. Ashton? ' Tis a fact we cannot remain here by ourselves; Mr North is right about that.'

Ashton opened his mouth, and then closed it again.
‘It
is of no account, Captain Warner. I shall be happy to accompany you wherever you choose.'

El Dorado. It was, then, no more than a dream. But he would return. Edward swore this, as he tossed in his narrow bunk. Where Walter Raleigh and Thomas Warner had failed, he would succeed, the moment he was grown to manhood. It was not so very far from Virginia to Guyana.

Meanwhile, it was good to be at sea again, and in so fine a ship as the Plymouth Belle, manned by seamen rather than would-be colonists, well found and equi
pped, and more heavily armed th
an any of Mr North's vessels. Edward found this out the first day, and hastened aft next morning to ask Father if there was any chance of a set-to with the Dons.

He found Tom staring at the empty horizon, for the low coastline of Guyana, and even the brown water off the coast, had dropped from sight during the night; there had been a land breeze to blow them along.

'Aye, boy,' he said. 'You have told me nothing I did not suspect, after a word or two with Mr Ashton. It appears that he was trying to warn me against this step,
before we embarked. Well, gentl
emen?'

Their th
ree companions had also come on deck.

'She's a strong ship, all right, Captain Warner,' Tony said. 'She'd make a meal out of any Spaniard.'

'But strays are not so common in these waters,' Berwicke said.
‘I
hope this Painton is not a rash man.'

'Rash man or not,' Tom growled. 'He will end his life on the gallows, and those who sail with him.'

'But , sir,' Edward said. 'He is but a seadog who wars on the Dons. Nil
es the boatswain told us of him
on the voyage. Tis said he is a first-rate seaman.'

'Hush, boy. See him there. We must face this thing
out now. There'll be no backslid
ing, gentlemen. You'll stand by me to the end. Ralph?'

'You know me well enough for that, Captain.'

'So I do. Mr Ashton?'

'To the death, Captain.'

'Mr Hilton’

Tony hesitated. 'And should he offer to put us i
n a way to making our fortunes?’

'By God, boy, you're all of a buccaneer, as Mr North suggested. Those days are finished, Mr Hilton, at least with any justice on the pirate's side. This Painton will break every law of man as well as God. And as I said, he'll dangle before long. Believe me, boy, I regret having placed you, and ourselves, in this position, but as we are here, we shall only escape the consequences by staying close together.'

'But, Father,' Edward began again.

'Hush, lad. Here, take this, and if necessary, use it.'

A pistol was pressed into his hand, and he turned, his back against the rail, to watch Painton approach.

'By God, Captain Warner,' he cried, gazing at their swords and pistols with mock alarm. 'But you're expecting to be a
tt
acked by the Dons at this early hour? We'll not encounter them much before the Bahama Passage, and that's a good week away, even with the benefit of the Florida Current'

'And do you, sir, not expect to be assailed by the Spaniards?' Tom demanded. 'As you sail their waters.'

'God made these waters for all, Captain Warner,' Painton insisted. 'Besides, it is the most direct route to the Virginias.'

'And is it your intentio
n to go to the Virginias, Mr Pain
ton?"

Painton glanced from Tom to Berwicke, and then to Ashton.

'Aye,' Tom said.
‘It
seems I was rash in accepting your invitation. Some of my companions have heard of you before.'

'And you thought I'd force a man? Especially one of your reputation, Captain Warner?" Painton guffawed. 'Come now, man, I'm no pirate. But it seems to me, sir, that should we encounter a Don in the Bahama Passage, and it Is more than likely that we shall do so, we'd be fools not to take what we can and send him to the bo
tt
om.'