HF - 01 - Caribee (55 page)

He remained by the rail all night, doing no more than drink a glass of wine. Not even his father came near him. They could appreciate his feelings even if, no doubt, they could not exactly share them. But his was a position in which any one of them could find themselves, should they not complete this task with dreadful certainty.

In the hour before dawn he dozed, his knees buckling so that he knelt on the deck by the gunwale, to be awakened with a cry of 'Sail ho' from the masthead, to struggle to his feet, muscles cramped and head swinging, and watch the three masted ship bearing down from the north east.

Tom Warner hurried on deck, accompanied by John Painton and the French officers. 'A Spaniar
d, you thi
nk?
’

Painton levelled his glass. 'No. Why be God. . . .' he frowned into the eyepiece. 'The Caribee Queen. Tony Hilton.'

Edward snatched the telescope. Tony? By God....' he did not recognize the ship. But there was no doubt about its strength. Fif
teen cannon bristl
ed at him from each broadside. She cou
ld have blown the Plymouth Belle
clear out of the water. 'You'll shorten sail, John, and speak with her?'

‘I
shall, Ned. But I doubt we need to, as she is catching us in any event. My bo
tt
om is too foul for speed.'

They lined the rail and watched the privateer approach. Even at a mile distance they could see the tall figure in the rigging. 'Ned Warner, by God,' Hilton shouted.

'What brings you south?' Edward called, Ins whole body throbbing with hope.

'The Dandy sloop put into Tortuga yesterday afternoon,' Hilton bellowed. 'We heard there was work to be done.'

'By God,' Tom mu
tt
ered. 'He must have close on a hundred men in that ship. With his force.. ..'

Painton slapped him on the back. 'Well knock a few
Indian
s on the head, for sure, Tom. Aye, we're back where we started, by God. Wapisiane will not stand before us.' He pointed forward, to the massive deep green slopes of Dominica. 'There's our enemy.'

There were no natural harbours in Dominica. As the breeze held in the north east the two ships stood on for the south western comer, and there dropped their anchors close to an open beach, and disembarked their men.

'Mon Dieu,' mu
tt
ered Jean Solange, one of the Frenchmen. 'But this is sand?
’

The beach was black.

Edward was first ashore. "Volcanic ash. This island is hardly more than a large volcano, 'tis said. As are St Lucia and St Vincent and Martinique, to the south.'

Solange stared at the tree-clad slopes rising above them, and crossed himself.

‘I
hope there is no chance of an eruption during our stay,' remarked his companion, Lafi
tt
e.

‘It
'd be rumbling and smoking already,' Painton pointed out. 'Come on, lads, let's get those weapons ashore.'

Edward walked down the beach to greet Hilton as he landed. 'Tony. I could hardly believe my eyes. But this is not your fight.'

'Any Warner fight is Tony Hilton's fight as well, Ned. You kept Susan safe for me. I'll do no less to get Aline back safe for you. If it is possible.'

His face was solemn. Edward nodded.
‘I
am prepared for the worst. And Susan?
’

Is queen of the largest commun
i
ty of cut-throats ever assembled in one place.' Hilton's face split into that enormous grin. 'And beloved by all, so that she enjoys every minute of it.'

'And she was safely delivered?'

'And again. Both sons. We called the eldest Edward.'

And what colour hair has he got? Edward wanted to ask.
‘I
, too, had a son. The
Indian
s dashed out his brains.'

Hilton's fingers ate into
his shoulder. 'You will have oth
ers, Ned, when there are no more
Indian
s to trouble you. Why, Brian Connor, you old devil. Back to the fighting, eh?
’

'And proud to serve under Captain Warner again, Mr Hilton, seeing as how ye're at his side.'

That goes for all of us. Well, Ned, your
Father
is looking anxious.'

They joined the other officers, who were peering upwards at the forested mountains, glowing in the midday sun; but already there were heavy clouds ringing the horizon, pr
omising rain before night.

'You've a plan of campaign, I have no doubt,' Tom suggested.

‘It
is dictated for us,' Edward said. 'We cannot use the forests as do the Caribs, so we must persuade them to a
tt
ack us, and rely upon our superior strength at close quarters. You may be sure they know we have landed, and are at this moment watching us. Nor will they permit us a free passage through the forest, you may also be certain. So through the forest we shall go. We rely on the dogs for a while, and then, I have no doubt, our nostrils will guide us to the sulphur. We'll leave adequate crews for both vessels, but no one on the beach. John, will you take charge here?"

‘I
had hoped to be in at the death.'

‘
You may well be yet. I'd have you keep your cannon loaded, and should we return in haste, which could well happen, your fire will cover our embarkation. How many men will you need?"

'Give me thirty to each ship, and I'll fight them, and sail them home, too, if need be.'

Then our numbers are se
tt
led
at four score for the expediti
on. Brian, your Irish will form the advance guard, with myself. Father, I'd be pleased if you'd command the main ba
tt
le in the centre, with the people from John's ship. Tony, will your buccaneers bring up the rear, with yourself?' 'Willingly, if that is how you wish it.'

'Now there are things we must remember. First and foremost, we must keep up. We can afford no stragglers. Secondly, at the first alarm, drop to the ground and fire your pieces from there. The
Indian
s' weapons have no long range, and should an arrow strike any one of us, be sure that our muskets, if fired soon enough, will send a ball twice as far as the archer. And there are enough of us to make the forest hum. The third point is a melancholy one, but is the most important of all. No man of us must be taken alive. Should anyone be too badly wounded to continue on the march, he must be prepared to end his own life on the instant. Believe me, the alternative is far more terrible.'

'But by the same token, we take no prisoners either,' Hilton growled.

'We are about a war, not a parade,' Edward agreed. 'Well,
then
, sha
ll we fall to
"

Without giving time for further argument, or further fearful glances at the forest, he commanded the dogs to be loosed, and followed them on the path leading upwards through the trees. Brian Connor imme
di
at
ely took his place at his shoulder, bearing the standard with the cross of St George, and the
other
five Irishmen were close behind.

' 'Tis strange how the wheel turns a full circle, Ted,' Brian mu
tt
ered. 'Now we could be the Dons, armour and all.'

'Saving that we shall fall for no shallow devices. And that we must be certain there is a Carib village at the end of our march, and our dogs will find it.'

He spoke more confidentl
y than he felt. And yet, was there not cause for confidence? The dogs ran in front of him, maintaining a steady baying as they cast from side to side of the path, and yet always scurrying upwards. Enough there to terrify the
Indian
s, apart from the armoured mass coming behind. Yet surely Wapisiane would have anticipated nothing less than this, and would have made his preparations.

First of which, undoubtedly, was this forest. There was nothing like it in the more northerly islands. Here was a combination of the wet, clinging, Guyanese jungle with the unending, wearisome slopes of Mount Misery, only these hills did not even go uniformly upwards, but rather rose and then fell, sending the column up and down, undulating like a steel clad snake, while swords and pikes and muskets clanked against armour, and men cursed, and above the column there rose a cloud of steam as sweat dribbled down their faces and bodies and rose into the still air. After no more than an hour he was forced to call a halt, and permit the men to drink from the gourds of water they carried, and to rest for ten minutes, or he had no doubt they would be far too weary to carry out any command competently. So then, he decided, there can be li
tt
le chance of deciding the issue this night.

'An empty forest,' Tom said. 'They will be waiting behind some easily defensible position, farther on.'

‘I
doubt
that
, Father,' Edward said. 'The dogs show too much interest in the forest, on either side of this path.'

'No doubt because the forest is full of game.' Hilton had removed his helmet and emptied water over his head. ' 'Tis certain to me
that
our severest casualties will be caused by heat stroke.'

'Aye.' Tom mopped his brow. This is not a march I'd consider for longer than a day.'

Edward went back to the Irish, who were already on their feet.

'Ye'd think the varmints would have hit us by now,' Connor grumbled. 'We're well away from any support the ships can give us.'

Edward stared at the empty tree wall. Suppose Wapisiane did not mean to fight at all, but just to have them march forever, until they dropped from exhaustion and lack of food and water? But surely that was u
tt
erly unlike the
Indian
? The Carib fought wherever he could, but also whenever conditions were most suited to his style of fighting. So then, what conditions could be be
tt
er than this concealing forest? Unless ... he discovered
that
the sun had disappeared, although it was yet only the middle of the afternoon. But the entire sky had become blo
tt
ed out by the heavy black clouds. It was not the hurricane season, so the
Indian
s could hardly be expecting more
than
a li
tt
le rain. A li
tt
le rain, by Christ, he thought, and hurried back down the column.

"You'll keep your powder dry should it rain,' he told the musketeers.

They gazed at him, and panted, and sweated. He must bring them to action soon, or what discipline they possessed would very rapidly disintegrate.

'We'll move on,' he told his father and Hilton, and took his place once again at the head of the column. The dogs were released, and went baying up the path. Now it was cooler, and yet not sufficiently so for true relief. And now the clouds were something to fear, as they stumbled forward.

'By Christ,' Connor said. 'But what is that?"

The dogs had smelt it too, and checked their baying, although they continued to cast around, as the dreadful, dead stench of the sulphur began to drift towards them.

The people of the smoke,' Edward said. 'Why, we are at their volcano.'

Tom had hurried forward, his face crimson, his breath coming in great pants. 'And it wants yet two hours to dark. 'You'll command a general assault, Ned.'

‘I
suspect it is farther off than we hope or think,' Edward said. The smell will get stronger. But at least we know we are on the right path.'

Something struck him on the helmet with such force that he thought he had been hit by an arrow. He half turned, and looked up, and was hit another stinging blow on the face.

'Rain, by God,' he shouted. 'Halt. Halt the march. Stay close. Guard your powder.' But already he doubted his words were being heard, as the entire afternoon seemed to dissolve.

He had known ram like this, in Guyana. But only his father and Hilton were similarly experienced. For as in Guyana, there was no wind. Just the solid sheets of water which came pouring down, thudding on then helmets to shut out even the possibility of thought, much less conversation, crashing on to breastplates, driving into necks mid thighs,

trickling down boots, filling scabbards, and turning the earth beneadi
their
feet into a swamp as they crouched beneath the trees. Even the dogs had come scurrying back to their masters, and sat with hanging heads, bays exchanged for mournful wails. Again as in Guyana, time became irrelevant. They might have sat in the forest for an eternity, for days or months, or merely for a few minutes. The noise was incessant, seeming to raise a curtain around them, shu
tt
ing out the rest of the island just as the teeming water shut out the heavens and most of the daylight. There was no hope of powder staying dry in this heavenly waterfall, and li
tt
le hope of it drying for some hours afterwards, either. As the
Indian
s would have known.