Legends of the Vengeance : The First Adventure (9781310742866) (19 page)

Just after midnight one Thursday night,
Richard Lennard appeared at the door, escorted in by a servant.
“You sent for me, Joseph? Did your payment not arrive on time? Was
the receipt I received a forgery?”

“
Silence!” He took a deep breath and
continued. “You have an uncle with ships, is this correct?”

“
It is...” Lennard looked
nervous.

“
I have an offer for you.” He smiled at
the strangled swallow Lennard forced down. “Would you like to hear
it?”

“
I have a feeling that I have no choice
in the matter.”

“
You think correctly. I will erase your
debt to me if you give my wife, daughter, her husband, and myself
safe passage to Calais under cover of darkness—and with absolute
secrecy. No one must know you did this.”

“
You’ll—that is—erase? The whole thing.
Just for passage?”

Joseph nodded. “I surmise those are
acceptable terms?”

“
I don’t know.”

Furious, Joseph struggled to keep his temper
in check. He carefully folded his hands, breathed with slow,
measured breaths, and leaned forward. “What do you not ‘know?’”

“
If the price is worth it.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The day of departure closed with the descent
of darkness over a clear night in Dover. Not a single cloud hid in
the black, moonlit sky. No threat of fog hovered and only a mild
breeze blew— everything they needed for safe passage. They loaded
four carts onto the small ship and hid them in the storerooms of
the hold. Unlike his sons and daughters before him, Joseph demanded
that the storeroom not be locked. “I will not be trapped to drown
like cats. It won’t happen.”

Lennard agreed. “That is fine. What about my
receipt.”

“
When we get to the other side. I would
not wish you to take it and run.”

“
Any man who was fool enough to run from
you,” Lennard began cautiously, “deserves what we both know he’d
get.”

“
Wise man. It’s a shame that you are not
Jewish.”

“
I think we both know that I would be a
lousy Jew.”

Laughing, Joseph slowly pushed the door
shut, squeezing out Lennard. “I wish I had known that you had a
sense of humor. It would have made your payment visits much more
enjoyable for both of us.”

“
And to think you will be deprived of my
company forever...”

They sat in the room, Miriana huddled close
to her Aaron, clutching Levi to her chest, and his Rebekah trying
to look brave as she sat stoically beside him. “We will arrive
safely, Miriana. Your father has found us safe passage. Yvo’s death
was a tragedy, but it was an accident.”

Joseph gazed down at his wife. “You are a
wise woman, Rebekah. We will not be trapped as they were. Even if
there is another accident, we will survive.”

It seemed as though hours passed before they
finally felt the ship moving. Joseph ignored the unsettled feeling
in his stomach and squeezed Rebekah’s hand. “We go.”

“
Will we ever return, Papa?”

His Miriana loved London and her prosperous
life there. Of all his children, she was the least likely to stay
true to her faith. Perhaps leaving would prove best for all of
them—particularly her. They lost much in the move; he’d sold the
properties he held to other moneylenders for half their worth.

His gut soured at the idea. He’d robbed his
brothers—possibly. If this statute came, they’d lose their
livelihood, but what about their property? Perhaps he’d left them
better off. He didn’t think so.

“
Calais will be safe ground. Like Moses,
we flee through the sea to safety from persecution.” He sounded
more confident than he felt—exactly as he hoped. He saw no reason
to worry the family. The money they’d lost galled him but it
worried him more. Money was their security in a very unsecure
world.

The boat rocked as they hit a choppy patch,
but even hidden in the storeroom, he could tell there was no
danger. They would make it. It would work. They’d be happy in
Calais. Maybe Jacob had already found them a house and set up
business.

Lennard knocked and entered. “We’re nearly
there. We’ll lower the boats in less than an hour. Do you want the
women to go first?”

“
Aaron will take Miriana and Levi. I will
go with Rebekah, but you will take our things first.”

“
If you think it is safe…”

“
What?” Joseph snapped. “Are you
threatening my family?”

“
No, your things alone there. That’s what
I meant. If you think leaving them unattended…”

Joseph stared at Lennard. The lantern in the
man’s hand made strange shadows on his face, but he looked sincere.
“We will have to risk it.”

The decision made, their things were rolled
on to the deck and lowered into the boats. Men questioned, then
complained about their jobs, but Lennard ordered the boats to land.
The trip from the boat to land took nearly as long as crossing the
channel had.

At last, they led Miriana and Aaron up on
deck. Joseph prayed as he had never prayed before, begging God for
his daughter’s life. He hadn’t felt so uncertain—so terrified for
safety—for his other children, but something about being
there—waiting—so close but so helpless to make a difference, tore
at him. Rebekah murmured soothing words, but they gave little
comfort.

After what seemed an age, Lennard came to
lead them to the boats. “They made it just fine. I suggested that
they leave immediately, but Aaron thought you might think something
was wrong if you arrived and did not see them.”

It was true. He would have assumed the
worst. He hadn’t liked Aaron at first, but the young man proved to
be a very prudent husband and father—his favorite son-in-law. Once
again, a simple forethought had saved much anxiety. He would be a
comfort in their old age.

Rebekah trembled as they helped her over the
railing and down the ladder into the boat below. When Joseph
arrived, he found her with her fingers wrapped around the star of
David, praying. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears in the
moonlight. “This star, Joseph. Thank you for it. It is such a
comfort. Is that wrong, do you think? Is it idolatry?”

He placed his arm around his wife and
murmured into her ear, “It is a reminder of who you worship and
why. As long as your comfort comes from your faith in God, as is
symbolized by the star, it cannot be idolatry.”

As they climbed the bank to where their
children stood waiting for them, Joseph fingered his own star in
the little pocket of his vest. It had been a good investment—a wise
one. His eyes scanned the strange shadows of this new place—home.
It would be good. They were home.

“
Let’s go find Jacob.”

Rage

Each day brought them closer to the
Americas. After the storm that nearly drowned them all, the little
storms that crept up seemed as if nothing. However, as they neared
the equator, more and more days passed stranded on windless
waters—becalmed. Occasionally, the crew rowed themselves onward,
giving themselves something to do, but Nicolo didn’t allow too much
of it. If a Spanish ship came close, they’d need their strength to
fire, chase, and take it. The Caribbean had never heard of Nicolo
Soranzo, but he was determined to ensure that those near Barbados
and Havana feared him just as much as he had been along the Barbary
Coast.

A stiff wind, one that made them look to the
skies for a storm approaching, sent them streaking through the
water at speeds they hadn’t reached in a long time. Nicolo watched
their progress with satisfaction. They’d arrive sooner than
expected now that they seemed to have left the doldrums.

“Ship ahoy!” Giorgio called from the crow’s
nest.

All eyes stared in the direction Giorgio
pointed, and Nicolo trained his telescope, waiting for it to come
into view. The mast appeared in his sight. Minutes later, the flag
appeared—Portuguese. “Let it go.”

“What?” Hector roared. He stormed across the
deck and flung himself at the captain. “Why? Why not—”

Eduardo stepped up to the wheel and jerked
Hector from Nicolo’s side. “Do not ever attack the captain like
that again.”

“He’s going to let the ship go past! Why?
Let’s get it. He promised me gold. All I have is a scar, and the
worst nightmare I can imagine as my worst memory as well.”

“You are pathetic,” Nicolo sneered. “You
endured the torture of the Inquisitors as an innocent man, but your
worst nightmare was a storm. Get out of my sight.”

“I demand we fire on that ship. I want gold.
I want freedom. I need it. You promised me!”

“I also promised to protect these men—to
give them a profitable run and a safe one. I have a job to do, and
I will do it. You,” he added with the merest hint of a growl, “will
trust me to keep us alive and make you a wealthy man.”

“What is wrong with that ship?”

“Portugal did not wrong you, Hector. I won’t
fire on them when they are not guilty of crimes against any of us.
If we needed to survive...”

“What are you, judge and jury? Fire and get
me off this ship!”

“Glad to do the latter, but not until we
find the right one. There is a reason that Nicolo has never been
caught. There is a reason he is so successful. Mind your own
business and go scrub the ledge of the head,” Eduardo snapped as he
pushed the other man off the quarterdeck.

“I do not scrub excrement!”

“You do if you do not want me to throw you
overboard,” the larger man growled.

Nicolo stood back and watched the
interchange, amused at Eduardo’s vehemence. Hector brought out the
worst in everyone, but Eduardo had a particular distaste for the
cowardly, sniveling, overgrown weasel. Within seconds, if Hector
did not silence himself, he would find himself with a terribly
bruised jaw or a nice black circle around his eye.

“I—I—” the man blustered and then turned and
stalked off the quarterdeck and down the gangway.

Eduardo and Nicolo exchanged glances. “He’s
on his way to the listening post, isn’t he?” With a heavy,
frustrated sigh, the quartermaster shook his head and went after
him.

Alone once more, Nicolo raised the telescope
to his eye, and surveyed the ship advancing toward them. He turned
the ship’s wheel twenty degrees to show they did not intend to give
chase. A Xebec so far out in the Atlantic would be a bold statement
of their “profession.”

As expected, the ship turned until its gun
deck faced them, in preparation. Not until they’d sailed miles past
did the Portuguese ship finally turn and return to their regular
shipping lanes.

He frowned. The Portuguese shouldn’t be this
far north. He’d heard that they were exporting sugar from Brazil,
but why would they sail so far north? It made no sense. Had they
been blown off course? Was there a storm ahead, or had they been
blown off course by the one that had nearly destroyed
The
Vengeance
? The idea made him nervous. Whatever the reason, he
should not see a Portuguese ship.

He grinned. Perhaps he should have taken
Hector’s advice. Wouldn’t the man be thrilled to have his share of
a ship loaded with sugar?

“Papa?”

Nicolo jerked. “Sebastian. You startled
me.”

“Why were you smiling? Eduardo slugged
Hector in the hold.”

“Well, that is reason to grin, I agree,”
Nicolo joked, “but no, I was imagining Hector’s face when his take
of a prize was several hundred pounds of sugar.”

Chuckles erupted from both of them as they
pictured the blustering man whining about not being able to live on
sugar alone. Sebastian pointed at the ship slowly disappearing from
site. “Is that why you didn’t chase? Portuguese export sugar
instead of gold?”

“Yes, that and they are not responsible for
Hector’s troubles.”

The boy was quiet, pensive. “I don’t think
Hector is a spy,” he murmured, almost as if to himself.

“Why is that?”

“I—” he hesitated midsentence. “I just don’t
think that a spy would make himself that disliked. He knows we’re
watching him, he knows that he irritates everyone. What would stop
someone from tossing him overboard if he keeps it up? I think he’s
just a foolish man.”

“Well thought out, Sebastian. I agree with
you, as do Jaime and Eduardo.”

As if he heard his name, Jaime hurried up on
deck. “I think Eduardo snapped. He is beating Hector and won’t
listen to me.”

Without a word, Nicolo passed the telescope
to Jaime, jogged to his cabin, grabbed his matchlock gun, strode
down the gangway, and lowered himself into the hold. As much as he
hated to do it, he had to protect Hector. His honor was at
stake.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Jaime?”

The young man stared out at the horizon.
“Hmm?”

“Your story, Joseph, is there more to his
life in Calais?”

His friend nodded, saying, “You’ll have to
wait to hear, won’t you?”

“But I don’t understand. What was the statue
thing? Why was it a problem?”

“Statute. It was an edict that said Jews
couldn’t lend money anymore. They had to live in certain places and
could only do certain jobs. All debts to Jewish moneylenders were
cancelled. They lost a lot of money.”

“How did Joseph know it would happen? It did
happen, right?” Sebastian knew that Jaime loved to put his stories
in true settings. The Statute of Jewry must have happened, even if
Joseph wasn’t real.

“Well, he was a shrewd man. He knew that
when kings start talking about limiting what Jews can do, terrible
things happen later.”

“Terrible things like what?” Sebastian
urged. “I want to know.”

Jaime laughed. “Isn’t that the point of the
story? I think your questions tell me that I am doing my job. I
have you intrigued.”