Legends of the Vengeance : The First Adventure (9781310742866) (23 page)

“
Mileon…” Joseph shook his head. With
debts canceled, his friend would be financially devastated. “Are
all debts canceled?”

“
I don’t think so, Papa Joseph. I think
only the ones secured by land—the aristocracy. I am not sure
though. I could not hear to ask questions.”

“
He will be ruined then, for certain.
Mileon considered all debts secured by landed gentlemen, knights,
or aristocracy to be the safest of loans.”

“
You were fortunate as to when you led us
from there—like Moses almost. The ‘Egyptian army’ will not hurt us
here, will it?”

“
No. We are safe—for now.”

Eager to be the first to share the news with
his wife and his brothers-in-law, Aaron bade them goodbye and
hurried out into the night. The moment the door shut behind him,
Rebekah spoke from the chair where she sat with hands clutched
around her star.

“
You knew. How did you know this was
coming?”

Joseph came and stood before her, his hands
clasped behind his back and his long beard bobbing as he spoke.
“Charles de Gyll heard something of it months ago. That is when I
began making plans.”

“
Why did you not tell our friends! How
could you do this to them? We sit here in this new place with our
wealth intact—”

“
Intact!” Joseph roared, his hands
gesticulating wildly. “Intact? We have come here with half what we
would have had in ten years in England. Half! Our sons have come
dependent upon that half when at home they earned their own money.
This is financially devastating to us, and you say we came here
wealthy?”

“
We can earn again. How will our friends
earn without the means to do so? What do they know about farming or
being merchants?”

“
Farming, I do not know, but as
merchants, it is a similar business. Instead of selling money for
more than you receive, you sell food, cloth, gold, or other goods
for more than you paid. It is similar. They will learn.”

“
How?” Rebekah cried. “How will they
learn when they have badges marking them as Jews? Will people buy
from a Jew now? Will they live near them? Who will they sell
to?”

“
You are angry then? Angry that I
protected our family? Angry that I ensured we were out of there
before worse occurred? Do you know what will come next? If this
statute is not repealed within five years, then within thirty, Jews
will be forced from England and probably France. Spain will follow.
Anywhere the Catholic Church has political power, we will be driven
from. My father saw it when I was just a boy. I saw it when more
and more nobles found themselves in our debt. Only Charles de
Gyll’s desperation saved us from finding out too late.”

“‘
It pays to have spies.’ How many times
have I heard you say that?” Rebekah asked as tears ran down her
face.

“
And we have seen it is true. We came out
with half of what I would have left to my sons in my death. Our
friends will have less than a tenth of what they are entitled to
because of this thievery.”

Rebekah stood and placed a hand on each side
of his face. “You are a good man, Joseph. You are wise. I should
not question, I know. It hurts though—hurts to think of our friends
in such a state. If we could only have told them…”

“
Had we told, the King would have gotten
wind of it. We would have lost more—if not everything.”

Discouraged, she kissed his cheek and
shuffled out of the room. Joseph watched her go, standing rigid
until the door shut behind her. He dropped on to the bench at the
table and mopped at the perspiration on his brow. His chest
clenched, trying to draw out a cry of pain, but he refused. Again,
he mopped his forehead, again the wave of pain returned, more
intense this time than before. His hands clutched at his chest and
his eyes squeezed shut, fighting back the pain that ripped through
him.

Decisions

At Trinidad,
The Vengeance
was met
with hostility. They sailed completely around the island, stopping
several times, but each time, the natives drove them back to the
ship. Nicolo watched for signs of a settlement, but each bay, each
potential port, every attempt to breach the beach failed. The men
conferred in Nicolo’s cabin— Sebastian hiding at his listening
post.

Hector stood slightly behind the others— a
visible and clearly deliberate choice to show deference and
respect. Nicolo saw it and appreciated the change in the man. “What
do you think, Hector? Do you have a preference? Should we try to
follow this line of islands, or do you want to go over here— maybe
to Venezuela?”

“I don’t know. Is there a reason to choose
one or the other?”

A slow smile crept over Jaime’s face as he
listened. “Other than being a target of pirates on those islands,
not a thing.”

“Now, Jaime. Pirates will be a problem here
soon no matter where it is. If they export, then there will be
someone here to take the spoils. That is how it works.”

“So, you think Venezuela?” Eduardo sounded
unsure. “I don’t know. I thought Trinidad would be settled by now.
There’s Santiago. I think I’d want to go there.”

“Chile?” Nicolo shook his head. “We will not
sail so far south unless forced. What about Caracas?”

“That is a small settlement, but it might
have the potential for a good enterprise.

Nicolo turned to Hector, smiling. “You could
build a plantation—grow whatever it is that they grow there—and
become a wealthy man.”

“He is already a wealthy man.”

“Yes, well now he will be a much more
wealthy man than ever,” Nicolo persisted, glaring at Eduardo.

Hector cleared his throat before speaking.
“I think Caracas sounds good. If not there, it seems there are
other potential settlements here and here,” he pointed to places on
the map, including the island of Aruba. “Here or Curacao surely
will have something if Caracas does not work.” Though his hands
twisted his shirttail into knots, he spoke up hesitatingly. “You
have already risked much for me—suffered much. Men died to get me
here and to provide me with the means to live. I think it best you
be rid of me as soon as possible.”

Humility became Hector; though something
none of them expected, he wore it well and honestly. The others
exchanged glances and then Jaime nodded. “We’ll find a safe place
for you. We promised when we took you on.” He glanced around at the
others for support before he continued, “You forget that this is
what we do. Remember, we’ve all bound together for this
purpose.”

“Well, and the purpose of filling our own
purses,” Nicolo interjected. “Why don’t you go take over in the
crow’s nest, and we’ll make our plans. We will want to be sure to
leave you some place where you can be protected from
injustice.”

The moment the door Hector shut the door,
Eduardo shook his head. “That is the coward who we found shivering
in the hold after the storm. We’ve made a man of him.”

Jaime pointed to the map. “I think
Cartagena. I’ve heard it is well fortified now. It seems like a
safe place. No one will have heard of Hector Castillo there. He’s a
wealthy man in Spain—or was. He’ll be considered an adventurer who
paid some rogues to take him across the ocean.”

It would take weeks now. They’d have to stop
along the way to replenish supplies. Then again, they could use the
opportunity to learn the area, to get a feel for how the seas were
different. Nicolo sent Eduardo to the wheel. “Let’s make for
Caracas first—get supplies. It is some two hundred leagues, but
we’ll make it.”

Left alone in the cabin, Nicolo stared at
the maps, wondering at their accuracy and if he’d made the right
decision to try for Cartagena. How cruel it would be to rescue a
man from torture only to send him somewhere to be imprisoned all
over again. They must appear respectable in ports—for a while. They
would buy food and other supplies—behave as respectable men.

A knock came and Sebastian’s head peeked
through the doorway. “May I come in, Papa?”

“Yes, and how did you like our
conversation?” The comical look of shock and dismay amused Nicolo
greatly.

“I—that is how—but w—”

“Fathers know more than their sons think and
less than they will ever admit.”

“I just was curious about him. He sounded
sorry for his bad behavior.” Sebastian’s toe dug at a knot in the
wood. “Actually, I thought he sounded like me when I have been
disrespectful and wish to apologize.”

“He is sincere, yes. It doesn’t change my
opinion of his courage, but he might have a chance to correct that
as well.”

“What is Cartagena like?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been there—never
seen it. We might be unknown here.”

The moment he spoke, Nicolo regretted it.
The hopeful look on his son’s face told him the true purpose of the
visit. Sebastian wanted to start a new life there too—one on
land.

~~~~~~~~~~

His father spoke the words Sebastian had
hoped to hear. “We might be unknown here.” If they
were
unknown, there would be no one ready to hang them for piracy. A new
life waited for them—waited for them to seize and hold fast to it.
Why should they not begin that in a place like Cartagena rather
than on their familiar ship in unfamiliar waters?

“Maybe—” The fierce look on his father’s
face made him pause, but Sebastian overcame his fear and tried
again. “Maybe we could try a new life there or even on the island
where we first landed—Barbados. We could go back there. It would be
different, but…”

“I know you do not like the sea or my—”
Nicolo choked over his next word, “profession. I understand your
desire for a new life. In fact, Many of my boyhood friends dreamed
of going to sea for their entire lives. Why should not a seafaring
boy yearn for land?” His father bent to meet his eyes. “But it
cannot be, Sebastian. Pining for what I cannot give you only hurts
yourself and—”

“I am sorry, Papa.” Despite his
disappointment, Sebastian could not help the pleasure of realizing
that no longer did his father have to hunker down on his heels for
their eyes to meet. And, though it pained him to admit it to
himself, his father did seem to try to understand his distaste for
all the ship’s crew did. Of course, the great pirate Nicolo Soranzo
could not possibly understand it fully; he thought it a matter of
change of scenery. But that he tried to understand did help.

“What do we do, Sebastian? On this ship,
what do we do?”

The question confused him. What kind of
question was it? “We… well, we live.”

“But why here instead of in Italy or
Spain.”

“You don’t like Spain, Papa.”

“Ok, this is true. Why do we live on sea
instead of land?”

“To protect us from
El Cazador
?”

“Yes, that is part of it. Why as pirates
though? Why not as legitimate merchants or adventurers?”

The answer to that question Sebastian had
never understood. The revulsion he felt for the theft and bloodshed
made him fear the reasons for it all. He’d never asked, the answer
being more than he desired to know. “I don’t know, Papa.”

“Justice—revenge. We give others what the
law cannot or will not.”

“But if the law does not agree—”

“The law can be corrupted by power and
wealth. Innocents can be tortured like Hector or killed like—others
that I have known. Someone must advocate for the helpless. I do
this, Sebastian. I do it.”

“You cannot do it better from within Europe
than so far away over here?”

“I will not be helping many Europeans
anymore, I grant you. However, I imagine that there are those here
who are imposed upon by the governors from Spain, Portugal, or
France. I will be their advocate and restore their fortunes.”

“Is that why you only fired on Spanish ships
on our way here? I heard Hector complaining, but Spain took his
fortune, did it not?”

“That is correct. Why should Portugal or
France pay for the sins of their enemy? I did not steal from Spain
to further my own lust for gold. I stole to return that which was
already taken…” He shrugged, with a hint of chagrin. “Well, and for
a fee. I must be able to feed my crew and provide for my son. I
consider it interest.”

He had not asked in many years what caused
his mother’s death. Rumors about the ship had left him with various
theories—foremost being that she died in childbirth. Now he
wondered if there was more to it than that. “Papa?”

“Yes?”

“What—that is, how did my mama die?”

The moment he asked the question, Sebastian
regretted it. The pained look in Nicolo’s eyes, the way
his shoulders
slumped and his hands shook
as he moved to sit on the bed told Sebastian that some things
should not be asked. Perhaps someday he would know but not
today.

“I can’t talk about it, son. Someday, maybe,
but I don’t—I can’t—”

“I’m sorry, Papa. I’ve heard so many things,
but it doesn’t matter. You loved her… didn’t you?”

“That I did, Sebastian. I can’t talk about
it, but know that I did love her more than anything or
anyone—except perhaps you.”

The look in his father’s eyes cut him. He
left the cabin, calling out that he’d return in just a moment, and
ran for his charred stick. He slowed after nearly impaling himself
as he tripped over his own feet.

“Look what I can draw.”

It felt like a diversionary tactic—perhaps
because it was—but it worked. Nicolo watched with apparent interest
as Sebastian drew the hull, deck, masts, sails, and even oars of
the ship. The oars didn’t have the polish or accuracy of other
elements of the drawing, but the rest looked very good, even to his
own inexperienced eyes.

“That is very good. What do you think is
wrong with those oars?”