Текст книги "Lion Triumphant"

Автор книги: Philippa Carr

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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 24 страниц)

In the kitchen they had started to prepare for the feast we should have. Jennet had never had so much made of her before.

The days slipped away. I said to Honey: “As soon as Jennet is safely wed I will begin to make preparation for my journey home.”

“The scene is set,” said Honey. “Jake Pennlyon is on the high seas; his father is laid low; there is great excitement about the wedding. It would not be noticed for some days if you decided to leave. Heaven knows I shall hate your going. It will be so dull here without you, Catharine. But if he cut short his voyage and returned then it would be too late and we could not hope to fool him again.”

“If he ever knew how he had been fooled he would never forgive us.”

“His vengeance is something I would not wish to encounter.”

I shivered. “Yes, as soon as the wedding is over I will leave. Do you think Richard will be a good husband to Jennet?”

“He is a quiet, good-mannered boy.”

“He is strange. It is difficult to imagine his seducing Jennet.”

“I’d wager most of the seducing came from her.”

“Well, he is good and truly caught. I think she will be a good wife, though. She was overpersuaded by Jake Pennlyon to betray me, but I have forgiven her that, for I am sure she deeply regrets it.”

“For a girl like Jennet, Jake Pennlyon would be irresistible,” Honey said.

I changed the subject. I did not wish to think of Jake Pennlyon persuading Jennet. I had given too much thought to that matter already.

There came the night when for the third time I saw the Spanish galleon.

Such an ordinary day it had been—warm and sunny for the time of year, “unseasonable” they called it—a quiet, peaceful day. How was it that we could have lived through such a day unaware of the tremendous events which were awaiting us?

I was pleasantly tired when I went to bed and was asleep almost immediately.

I was awakened as I had been on other nights by unusual sounds below. I lay still listening. Shuffling footsteps, a scuffle. Some serving wench creeping out to meet a lover? I rose from my bed and went to the window.

There she was in all her glory. Closer than I had ever seen her—the mighty and magnificent Spanish galleon.

I must go down. I was not going to allow anyone to say that I had imagined my galleon this time. I would awaken Honey and Edward and insist that they look. I picked up a robe and wrapped it around me, but as I crossed to the door it was opened suddenly. John Gregory stood there.

I said: “What is wrong?”

He did not answer. He was wearing a long cloak with a hood; his face was pale, his eyes brilliant. He spoke then in a tongue I did not know and then I saw that there was a stranger with him.

“Who is this?” I demanded. “What do you here?”

They did not answer me.

The stranger had stepped into my room. John Gregory nodded toward me and spoke again.

The stranger seized me. I tried to throw him off, but he held me firmly. I struggled. Then I screamed and immediately John Gregory’s hand was over my lips. In a few seconds he had taken a kerchief and bound it around my mouth. I was powerless to make a sound. I was put onto my bed. The thought flashed into my mind: Have I saved myself from Jake Pennlyon for this?

But there was no lust about these men, only a determination to complete a task. My arms were pinioned. They had ropes for the purpose. Likewise were my ankles strapped together so that I was trussed and helpless.

Then they carried me from my room.

Down the spiral stairs we went … out into the courtyard.

I saw a figure lying there. There was blood everywhere. I wanted to cry out, but I could not make a sound. I was limp with horror and fear.

As they carried me past that wounded figure I saw that it was Edward.

Honey! I wanted to call out. Honey, where are you?

Edward’s carriage was waiting there. Richard Rackell was holding the horses—three of Edward’s best and most fleet.

Richard Rackell! Traitor! I wanted to shout, but there was nothing I could do.

I was placed in the carriage. Lying there were two other figures. My heart leaped with an emotion of relief, yet horror, for they were Honey and Jennet.

They stared at me as I did at them. We could only communicate by looks. They were as bewildered as I. I wondered if Honey knew that Edward was lying in his own blood in the courtyard.

There were voices—foreign voices. Instinctively I knew that they were speaking the Spanish tongue.

The carriage had begun to move. We were going toward the sea.

We had been abducted as women sometimes were by marauding pirates. There had been traitors in our midst and the result was that Edward was lying in his own blood in the courtyard and Honey, Jennet and I were being taken out to the Spanish galleon.

Journey to an Unknown Destination

THEY CARRIED US INTO the boat which was lying ready. I saw Richard Rackell’s face clearly in the light of the lantern which he held. Traitor! I wanted to cry and felt a physical pain in my throat which was frustrated fury.

I was lifted into the boat and lay there helpless. They put Honey beside me, then Jennet. We could not see each other’s faces clearly because it was a dark night. There was no moon, only the faint light of the stars that were visible where there was no cloud.

I tried to think of a means of escape. I guessed what was happening to us. We had been abducted as women had been throughout the years. Pirates descended on the land; they plundered; they stole; they burned down villages and townships and they took the women for their pleasure.

If only I could talk to Honey! If only I could think of some means of escape! But I was helpless, trussed and on a boat which was being rapidly rowed out to sea by strangers, and two men who had posed as a groom and a false priest were watching over us.

A wild fantasy came to me. The Rampant Lion would appear suddenly—returned unexpectedly from the voyage; the galleon would be discovered. Jake Pennlyon would board her; I could see his eyes flashing, see him standing there, legs apart, a bloodstained cutlass in his hands; I could hear his laugh as he uncut my bonds.

But these were but dreams.

Relentlessly the little boat pushed its way through the water to the Spanish galleon.

The men had shipped oars. We had arrived and there was no Rampant Lion to sight us, no Jake Pennlyon to cut our bonds.

John Gregory was bending over me. He cut the rope about my ankles and removed the gag from my mouth. He pulled me to my feet, for my arms were still bound behind me.

I stood unsteadily; the galleon loomed over us.

Honey and Jennet were beside me, pinioned as I was.

“Honey,” I said, “we have been betrayed.”

She nodded. I wondered again if she had seen Edward’s body. Poor Edward, so gentle and kind.

I was aware of Jennet, who would have no wedding now.

A rope ladder was dangling from the side of the ship.

John Gregory said: “You will climb it.”

“Without use of our hands, traitor?” I asked.

“I shall untie you now, but do not attempt to do anything but climb the ladder.”

“For what reason?”

“You will discover.”

“You rogue!” I cried. “You came to our house… You deceived us. …”

He said gently: “This is not the time for talk, Mistress. You must obey.”

“Board that ship? For what reason? It’s a Spaniard.”

“Please do not force me to hurt you.”

“Hurt me! Have you not brought me here by force … and you talk about hurting me!”

Honey said: “Don’t lose your temper, Catharine. It won’t help.”

There was hopelessness in her voice and I believed then that she had seen Edward in the courtyard.

But I was incensed. “You are no priest,” I said to John Gregory.

He did not answer. He released my hands and propelled me toward the ladder.

Richard Rackell was waiting to guide me to the rope; I made out faces above looking down.

Someone called out in Spanish and John Gregory answered in that tongue.

The boat dipped. It would not be easy to climb that ladder. I looked down at the dark water and I thought of death by drowning. Perhaps it would be preferable, I thought, but not seriously. Whatever life was I would always cling to it. The rope was put into my hands and I started to climb. Hands stretched out and I was pulled onto the deck. There were dark faces about me; I heard the excited babble of voices. Then there was silence. A figure came forward. He spoke in an authoritative voice. He must have given an order, for I was seized by two men who dragged me forward; we were followed by the man who had given the order and I was taken to a cabin in which a candle in a horn lantern gave a dim light.

A door was locked on me and I was alone. I was shivering because I was in my nightclothes and it had been cold on the boat; and even now I was not sure whether it was the temperature or fear which made me tremble so. It was incredible that yesterday Honey and I had been calmly making plans for Jennet’s wedding and now all three of us were prisoners on a pirate vessel.

They had taken us—three women, for what purpose there seemed to be no doubt. But why three of us and why had they not burned down the house and robbed us? Perhaps they had. Perhaps they took us first. They had, I feared, killed Edward. It was not the first time the coasts had been raided. This was the sort of thing that Jake Pennlyon and his men did in foreign lands.

I should never have come to Devon. I should have stayed at home.

I looked into the future which all reasoning told me was looming ahead of me. I who had stood out so fiercely against marriage with Jake Pennlyon would now be used to satisfy men—any men—who were on a long journey from home and needed diversion.

I felt ill at the prospect. I wondered whether I would not have been wiser to refuse to climb the ladder: to have chosen death rather than this.

On the floor was a rug. I lay on it because my legs were shaking. The ship rocked on the water and I lay watching the horn lantern swing with the motion of the vessel.

I thought of my mother and of what she would do when she heard that I had been abducted. How she had suffered! And now this. And not only me but Honey too and she loved us both dearly.

I thought of Honey then, beautiful, dignified Honey, who was carrying Edward’s child; and to consider her submitted to a hundred indignities hurt me as deeply as did the contemplation of my own fate. I would fight. I would kick and scream. If I could find a knife I would defend myself. I would no doubt be powerless against strong men, but I would make it so that they never felt safe from me. I would make it so that when they slept they would never be sure that I might not plunge a knife into their hearts or drop some poison into their ale or whatever they drank.

I was sustained by thoughts of what I would do.

Wild cat, Jake Pennlyon had called me. They would learn that wildcats were dangerous.

The motion of the ship had changed. I knew that we had shipped anchor and were sailing out of the harbor.

The door of the cabin was opened and Honey was thrust in. She, in her night robes as I was, was clutching them about her. I saw that her robe had been ripped down the front.

Already, I thought.

The door was locked on her. I had stood up. We ran to each other and just stood holding each other tightly.

“Oh, Honey, Honey,” I cried. “What have they done to you?”

She said: “They have done nothing. There was one man…” She shivered. “He took me to a place like this. He tore my gown from my shoulders, then he saw the Agnus Dei. I always wear it about my neck, and he drew back as though afraid and I was brought here.”

“Honey,” I said, “this is a nightmare. It can’t be true.”

She didn’t answer.

I said: “Edward…”

She remained mute and suddenly put her hands over her eyes. It was a gesture of despair.

I touched her arm gently.

“He tried to stop them,” I said. “Where was the rest of the household? Are they all traitors like John Gregory and Richard Rackell? What are we going to do, Honey? What can we do? They have brought us here to be as camp followers are to the army. But they go willingly. We are abducted against our will. They will use us … until they are tired of us. Then perhaps they will throw us overboard. Perhaps it would be better to cheat them. To take that plunge ourselves first?”

Still she didn’t answer. She only stared ahead of her. I know she was seeing Edward lying in his own blood on the cobbles of the courtyard.

I went on because I had to go on talking: “Perhaps even now Jennet is being forced to submit … to who knows what?” I could picture Jennet, wide eyes, perhaps a little expectant. Perhaps she would take to the life. She was different from us. How easily she had agreed to betray me when Jake Pennlyon had asked her to. And where was he? Somewhere on the high seas. Perhaps he was raiding some foreign port and forcing women as we were being forced.

Oh, why had he gone so soon? Why had he always been there to plague me when I did not want him and away at the only time he could have been of use?

“Honey,” I said, “speak to me, Honey.”

“They killed Edward,” she said. “Edward tried to save me and they killed him. I am sure of it.”

“It may be that he did not die. It may be that he will come after us. They will give the alarm. They will come in search of us. We shall be rescued. If Jake Pennlyon were to come back…”

“He has gone on a long voyage. It will be months before he returns.”

“We may meet him at sea.” I saw him boarding the Spanish galleon, his eyes gleaming. He would kill on the spot any who had dared lay hands on me.

“No one has come near you, Catharine?” she asked.

“No. I was left here.”

“They are waiting until we are out of sight of England.”

“And then you think … ?”

“What else can I think? I was saved because I am a Catholic. You must feign to be of that faith, Catharine. It will go ill with you if you do not.”

“I will feign nothing.”

“Be reasonable.”

“I feel I have lost my reason. I have walked into a nightmare.”

“This is no uncommon happening, Catharine. You should know that. Piracy on the high seas is becoming more and more commonplace. Treasure and women. That is what men go to sea to seek.”

“We have to think what we can do.”

“I have escaped so far. You must too. When I prayed to the Holy Mother as that man attacked me he was afraid. John Gregory came along then and must have told him that I was with child—Catholic child—and he desisted and John Gregory led me here. I believe he would be a friend to us.”

“A friend … who betrayed us!”

“He betrayed, yes, but I believe he is uneasy to have done so.”

“Uneasy. He is a deceitful liar.”

“Guard your tongue, Catharine. Remember we have need of all the friends we can find. I am concerned for you. I believe you are being kept for someone … perhaps the Captain. You were taken away from us and brought here. If that should be so try to talk to him. He may speak our tongue. Beg him not to act rashly. Tell him that any harm done to you will be avenged.”

“That might arouse in him a determination to do me harm.”

“Tell him you will become a Catholic. You wish for tuition.”

“In fact,” I said, “betray my beliefs, go down on my knees and implore these dogs to treat us with respect. It would be of no avail, I assure you, Honey. If you had an Agnus Dei to hang about my neck I would not take it. I will see if I can lay my hands on some weapon. If I could find a knife I would at least put up a fight.”

“It would be useless.” She was staring into the gloom, her face strained with grief, and I knew she was thinking of Edward.

I was not sure how long we lay there in that cabin. I think I slept a little. I was exhausted by my emotions. I started up and wondered where I was. The swaying of the ship and the creaking of its timbers quickly reminded me.

I could just make out the figure of Honey beside me. The horned lantern was swaying from side to side, its light feeble; and the horror of our position dawned on me afresh.

I knew Honey was awake, but we did not speak. There was nothing of comfort that we could offer each other.

It might be morning; how could we know? There was nothing against which to measure time. My tongue was dry, my lips parched. I supposed I was hungry, but the thought of food revolted me.

We may have lain there for another hour or more when the door opened.

We started up in terror. It was a man carrying bowls of something which looked like soup.

He said: “Olla podrida,” and pointed to the bowls…

I wanted to take them and throw them in his face, but Honey said: “Food. We’ll feel better when we’ve eaten. We’ll feel able to face whatever we have to.” I knew she was thinking of her unborn child.

We took the bowls. The food smelled good. The man nodded and left us. Honey was already drinking the concoction. Her appetite had increased since she had become pregnant. She used to say it was her hungry baby demanding to be fed.

I tried it too. It was savory and warming and I found I was glad of it.

We set down the bowls and waited apprehensively. It was not long before we had another visitor. This was the man I had heard addressed as Capitàn.

He came into the room and stood at the door, looking at us. There was a dignity about him, a courtliness which aroused my optimism.

He said in halting English: “I am the Captain of this vessel. I have come to speak with you.”

I said: “You had better tell us quickly what this means.”

“You are on board my ship,” he said. “I am taking you on a voyage.”

“For what purpose?” I asked.

“That you will discover.”

“You have abducted us from our homes!” I cried. “We are gentlewomen unaccustomed to rough treatment. We…”

Honey laid a restraining hand on my arm. The Captain noticed and nodded approvingly.

“It is no use to protest against what is done,” he said.

“Nevertheless, I protest. You have done a wicked thing.”

“I have not come to speak of such things or to waste my time. I come to tell you that I am obeying orders.”

“Whose orders?”

“Those of one who commands me.”

“And who, pray?”

Again Honey restrained me. “Listen, Catharine,” she said.

“You are wise,” said the Captain. “I am sorry you were taken. That should not have been.” He was looking straight at Honey. “A mistake, you understand.”

“If you tell us what this means we shall be grateful,” said Honey humbly.

“I can tell you that if you are wise no harm will befall you on this ship. There are sailors here who have been at sea many months … you understand. They could be rough. So you must take care. I would not have you submitted to indignity on my ship. That would be against my wishes and those of one who commands me.”

I said: “There was another taken with us. Jennet, my maid. What has become of her?”

“I will discover,” he promised me. “I will do my best to ensure your comfort … all of you.”

I was intrigued by him. His gaze kept straying to Honey in a manner which was familiar to me. With her hair hanging about her shoulders she could not fail to look beautiful; she looked vulnerable too; all men were seized with the desire to protect her. I suppose that applied even to Spanish Captains of pirate ships.

“You are uncomfortable here,” he said. “I would talk with you in more suitable surroundings. Come with me and we will eat. You have had a little food, I believe.”

Honey and I exchanged glances. The manner in which the Captain had spoken to us had brought us a little comfort. He was no rough sailor, that much was clear; and he was treating us as though we were guests on his ship, which was reassuring.

The smell of grease and cooking was strong in the alleyway. The ship lurched so that we had to cling to a rail which ran from one end of the alley to the other. We stumbled after the Captain as best we could and he opened a door and stood aside for us to enter.

This was his cabin. It was spacious and the bulkheads were paneled. It was like a small room. There were books and instruments everywhere. Dominating the cabin was the long wooden table which was bolted to the floor; I noticed also a piece of ordnance which was mounted on a carriage and pointed out through a gunport. A tapestry hung on the paneling. I was later to discover that it represented the surrender of Granada to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand.

At that first view I was astonished that there could be so much comfort on a ship.

“Pray be seated,” said the Captain. “I will order food.”

We sat down and a barefooted sailor came in and prepared the table. It was not long before steaming plates of something like beans and salted meat was brought in.

The Captain held the chairs for us as we sat down.

“You do not perhaps feel hungry,” he said, “but it is well to eat a little.”

“Can you tell me why you struck down my husband?” asked Honey.

“I cannot tell you. I did not leave the ship.”

“You knew others had come to take us away?”

“It was the purpose of our mission.”

“To raid our coasts to take women …” I began.

“No,” he said. “To take you. You will understand in due course.”

Honey spoke gently then: “And you will understand that we are bewildered. We want to know what this means. We fear you have brought us here to…”

He smiled at her courteously. “No harm shall come to you on my ship if you obey my orders. I have issued a command that no one is to touch you.” He was looking at me. Then he turned to Honey. “I will command the same immunity for you.”

“She has already been attacked,” I said.

“I trust…”

Honey touched the Agnus Dei. “This saved me,” she said. “This and John Gregory.”

“Any man who dares touch either of you will pay for it with his life,” said the Captain.

“Then I demand to know for what purpose we have been brought here,” I said.

“This is something you will know in time.”

“You have snatched us from our homes,” I began, but again Honey restrained me.

“For Heaven’s sake, Catharine, let us discover all we can. The Captain is anxious to help us.” Pregnancy had brought a serenity to Honey which in the circumstances seemed unnatural. She was thinking of her baby and playing for time.

He gave her a grave smile.

“It is my duty to see that you shall not be harmed. I shall do my duty. But I ask your help. You will not go where I do not wish you to. You will never go unescorted. The man Gregory will be with you. Do not go on deck without him. The men will have been warned, but it is not always possible to control them, and although they know they risk their lives there may be some wild enough to thrust their attentions on you.”

“Where are we going?”

“I cannot tell you. It is not a long voyage. You will understand when you reach our destination. There you will learn the purpose of your coming. If you are wise you will forget what has happened and look forward. As far as this ship is concerned I offer my protection and any comforts I can give you. The ship resembles a castle, some say—a floating castle—but it is not a castle, you must understand. We are at sea and life at sea is not like that on land. There are luxuries we cannot have. Nevertheless, I would wish you to be as comfortable as I can make you. Clothes, for instance. You have come ill prepared for a journey. I must find some cloth for you. Perhaps you can make it into gowns. You will eat in this cabin—sometimes with me, sometimes alone. My advice is that you accept what has befallen you—accept with serenity and understanding that on this ship if you follow my instructions no harm can come to you.”

He applied himself to the meat and beans on his plate. I could not eat much, nor could Honey.

I could not believe that this was really happening to me. I would wake up soon, I promised myself, the Spanish galleon would become the Rampant Lion, the Captain change to Jake Pennlyon and it would be just another dream of which I had had several, about that domineering character.

But this dream—this nightmare—went on and on and it was reality that had faded.

Very soon after Honey became violently ill. It was small wonder. We were unused to the roll of a ship; we were exhausted mentally and physically; we were bewildered and uncertain of what was happening to us. And Honey was pregnant.

I looked after her and that was a good thing to do because it made me forget everything but that I feared she would die.

John Gregory was never far away. How I hated that man who had slyly come to our house, posing as a priest, and who had led our captors to the house and to us. A spy! A traitor! What could be worse? But he was now our protector. I could not bring myself to look at him without expressing my contempt. But he was useful.

I said to him: “I fear you are killing my sister. You know the state of her health; this shock has been too much for her, as indeed was to be expected. I should have believed those who had been befriended by us would never have betrayed us, but I was mistaken. We had liars and traitors in our midst.” When I berated him he would stand before me, his eyes downcast, contrition in every gesture. Honey always tried to stop me, but I couldn’t stop myself and there was some relief in giving vent to my feelings.

On the second day when Honey was so sick and I feared for her life I said to John Gregory, “I need our maid here. She must help me nurse my sister.”

He said he would speak to the Captain and very soon Jennet joined us.

She looked much the same. Is it possible, I asked myself, that she could adjust herself so soon?

She was in an old gown which she had snatched up before she was taken; and already she was regaining that complete placidity which was a feature of hers.

The sight of her face irritated me once I had felt the relief that she was alive and well. She looked as though she were satisfied with her lot. How could she be? And what had happened to her?

I said: “The mistress is very sick. You must help with her, Jennet.”

“Oh, poor lady,” she said. “And in her condition.”

Honey’s pregnancy was visible now. I thought anxiously of the child and I fervently wished that we had both gone home to my mother the day after Jake Pennlyon had sailed.

Honey seemed comforted because the three of us were together, and Jennet was undoubtedly a good nurse. There were rough stools on which we could sit and we were beginning to grow accustomed to the roll of the ship and the smell of cooking. Honey slept a great deal during those first days, which was a good thing for her; and Jennet and I talked together as we watched over her.

I learned that Jennet had been seen by one of the men who had raided the house. He was strong and lithe and had come upon Jennet on her way to my room. He had seized her and spoken to her, but she could not understand what he had said. He had picked her up and carried her under his arm as though she were a bundle of hay.

Jennet giggled and I knew what had followed on the ship.

“Just him,” said Jennet. “There were others that wanted me, but he brought out a knife. And although I couldn’t understand what he said, I knew he meant I was his and he’d use that knife on anyone that touched me.”

She cast down her eyes and blushed and I wondered that she so wanton—for it was clear that she was not displeased with her state—could appear so coy, for she was not assuming modesty; she was too simple for that.

“I do think he be a good man, Mistress,” she murmured.

“He was not your first either,” I said.

Her blush deepened. “Well, Mistress, in a manner of speaking, no.”

“In a manner of acting either,” I said. “And what of Richard Rackell, whom you were going to marry?”

“He were but half a man,” she said scornfully.

Jennet was undoubtedly satisfied with her new protector.

She talked a good deal about him as we sat watching Honey. It took my mind off what was happening to us all as I listened.

She had not in truth been eager to marry Richard Rackell, only it was good for a wench to be married; and having given in like, well, there might be results.

“And what if there are results now?” I asked.

She said piously that that was in the hands of God.

“Rather in yours and your pirate lover,” I reminded her.

I was glad to have her with me. I said we should keep together, the three of us; she should help to look after Honey because Honey was going to need care.

So she was with us during those uneasy days though she crept away at night to be with her lover.

It is strange how quickly one can grow accustomed to a new life. We could only have been at sea for three days when I was no longer filled with incredulous dread on awakening, when I had grown accustomed to the creaking of timbers, the pitching and tossing of the ship, the sound of foreign voices, the nauseating smell which always seemed to come from the galleys.

Honey began to improve. She was suffering from the sea rather than any dreadful disease, and the color began to return to her face and she looked more like herself.

When she was able to stand we went to the Captain’s cabin and ate there. We did not see him again for some days, and that cabin, strangely elegant among its surroundings with its paneled walls and tapestry, became familiar to us. Jennet ate with us and we were waited on by the Captain’s own servant, dark and dour, who never said a word in our hearing.

After meals, which consisted mainly of biscuits, salted meats and a kind of crude wine, we would go back to our sleeping quarters and there would speculate on what this strange adventure meant.

John Gregory brought us some cloth—two or three bales of it—so that we could make ourselves some gowns, and this was a good occupation, for we grew quite animated discussing what styles we would make.

Jennet and Honey were good with their needles and we all set to work.

Honey used to talk a great deal about the baby, which would be born in five months’ time. It was quite different now. She had dreamed of the child’s being brought into the world either in Trewynd or the Calpertons’ place in Surrey or perhaps she would do as my mother wished and go to the Abbey for the birth. That was all changed. Where would her child be born now? On the high seas or in whichever mysterious place for which we were destined?

“Edward and I planned for this child,” said Honey. “We used to say we shouldn’t mind whether it was a girl or a boy. He was so good and kind, he would have been such a loving father and now… I dream of him, Catharine, lying there. I can’t get him out of my mind.”