The next morning was a beautiful one, a nearly cloudless sky above a calm sea. A good easterly wind was blowing, ideal for the Predator to set sail. There was a sense of festiveness to the morning, not merely because of eager throngs excited to see the ship begin its journey to Bristol, its prizes following behind.
Captain Reynard was at the harbor, shaking hands and giving chaste kisses to the various ladies in the crowd who had come to wish him well, to tell him they would pray for a safe journey, or just wanted an excuse to say a few final words to this remarkable man who had swept the seas of some of the most feared pirates of the day. He made his way through the crowd, always wearing his most disarming smile, until he came across Governor Lawes and his attendants, who were joining in the festivities.
“Good morning, Your Excellency,” Reynard said cheerfully. “Come to see me off?”
“And to wish you well, Captain Reynard,” the governor responded. “What you have done cannot have been easy, and I am most grateful to you for what you’ve been able to accomplish.”
“It was my sincerest pleasure, Your Excellency,” Reynard said with a gracious bow. “You were a good friend to me, always supportive in my efforts to reform, and I appreciate that a great deal.”
“I admit I had my doubts, to be honest, but you disproved them,” Lawes responded kindly, although there was a bit of gruffness in his voice. “A man certainly has the right to a new start in life.”
Reynard could detect a troubled tone in Governor Lawes’s voice. “Is everything all right, Your Excellency?” he asked.
“Oh, just some local trouble, Captain. A marine sergeant was shot during a tavern brawl last night. Witnesses have come forward, but their statements have been very contradictory, and we still haven’t been able to identify the murderer.”
“My sincerest condolences to his family,” Reynard said, fighting back the smile that threatened to spread across his face.
“Thank you. Is Lord Edmund already aboard? I was hoping to be able to speak with him one last time.”
“He is, but he’s indisposed at the moment,” Reynard said, looking somewhat embarrassed. “He’s asleep in his cabin. There was a private celebration last night, and I fear His Lordship was… how shall I say this… overindulgent. I’m sure you’ll allow him to maintain his dignity and rest up for the voyage?”
“Yes, of course,” Lawes said. “I do hope he recovers soon.”
“Oh, he’ll recover soon enough,” Reynard answered, laughing. “A few hours rest and one of my cook’s hearty breakfasts and he’ll be strolling the decks like a born sailor.”
“And your charming fiancée? It would be a pity for her to set sail without gracing us with her delightful presence.”
“She and her servants are occupied at the moment,” Reynard said. “The Predator and her crew aren’t used to accommodating ladies of quality on long ocean voyages, especially one bringing all the belongings she’ll need to start our new life together, so she’s tending to that. I fear, Your Excellency, that it will only be me you will be able to bid farewell to.”
The governor gave a disappointed sigh. “Well, as much as I would like to see her again, I am sure you are eager to be underway, so I will not detain you further. God be with you, Stephen, and I expect to hear great things of you.”
“I certainly hope you do, Your Excellency,” Reynard said with a smile and a final bow. “Goodbye, Your Excellency.”
Waving to the crowd as he marched to the Predator’s gangplank, savoring the adulations, he boarded the ship. Within a few moments, as the masses watched with ever-increasing excitement, the Predator was sailing out of Kingston Harbor, her captured prizes following behind, one after another, sailing with her into the horizon on their mission of destruction and death.
* * *
Throughout the voyage to Bristol McNamara and Catalina were mostly left undisturbed, although never alone. The door to the hold was guarded by two men, always armed, and they were rotated every few hours. As Captain Reynard insisted that they were to be well taken care of, they were fed regularly, and even their latrine buckets were collected regularly, a task loathed by any man assigned to it. Dr. Noiret also periodically examined them to make sure they were in good health and not being molested by their guards. McNamara, for his part, was careful with regards to Catalina’s privacy, averting his eyes whenever necessary.
Being confined grated on them both, but they made the best of it however they could. McNamara would sometimes practice fencing drills, going through the basic footwork and arm movements, and Catalina would often mimic his movements from her own cell. In addition, while they were careful about openly discussing plans for escape and stopping Reynard in case they were being spied on by their guards, they would still converse with each other about a number of things, everything from discussing books to theater. Thoughts of escape were never far from their minds, but they forced themselves to accept that it would be chance rather than craft that would give them the opportunity to do so, and they would need to be patient. Especially as they had no allies they could turn to.
They were actually wrong in this last regard. From the moment McNamara and Catalina had been abducted from her mansion, Robert Hale had cursed himself for siding against a man he’d called friend, who had saved his life and who had raised a glass with him in honor of a fallen comrade. Seeing Sabatini brutally murder one of his messmates had further caused him to turn his thoughts towards helping McNamara somehow, and eventually he had to act on them.
As he and Jones were making their daily inspection of the gun deck, Hale said to Jones in a low voice, “We’ll need ta talk soon.”
“About McNamara?” Jones whispered back.
“Aye. It ain’t right, our leavin’ ‘im ta rot in th’ hold. ‘Specially since it’s part my fault ‘e’s in there in the first place.”
“No, it isn’t right,” Jones said. “But we can’t discuss it on board. Too many prying eyes and ears, and it would be impossible to find a secluded spot to talk without raising suspicions.”
Hale thought for a moment. “Lisbon,” he said, snapping his fingers. “We’ll be makin’ port there ta get new supplies. The cap’n won’t object ta th’ two of us havin’ a drink wiv our friends while on shore leave, right?”
Jones nodded. “We’ll have to be careful, though. We might be watched. Should we let all of them in on it?”
Hale nodded. “Why wouldn’t we? Knowles thinks th’ world o’ Michael – like ‘e was ‘is own brother. McNally’ll stand wiv us through thick an’ thin.”
“And what about Cregar and Thatcher? They embraced the pirate life quite eagerly, and may not be inclined to give it up.”
Hale thought for a moment. “They’ll need convincin’. But we can turn ‘em ta our way o’ thinkin’. They won’t betray us ta th’ likes o’ Reynard.”
“I hope you’re right,” Jones muttered.
* * *
Over a month later, The Predator and its companion ships had arrived in Lisbon, to all of the crews’ relief. Supplies, particularly water, had gotten low, and were in dire need of replenishing. Most importantly of all, they were looking forward to some time in Lisbon spent in the first tavern they could find. Despite some misgivings, Reynard had reluctantly agreed to allow them shore leave, insisting that his men keep their eyes and ears open for any of their crewmates who might feel inclined to share the true purpose of their voyage to Bristol. With the flogging still burned into their memories, not to mention the riches and glory awaiting them should their mission succeed – that success depending on their silence – none of the crew was willing to risk their captain’s displeasure.
None except for the men of the Keighley, none of whom were told by Hale or Jones why they were meeting in privacy as they hunted for one of Lisbon’s more secluded alehouses. When they had found a place that suited their needs and McNally had made sure they weren’t being spied on by any of Reynard’s men, they hunched their shoulders and began to talk.
“All right, mates, we ‘as a decision ta make,” Hale whispered. “Michael an’ Catalina are locked up in the brig, an’ we all know that once we’re done in Bristol, he’s gonna kill ‘em. Most likely, ‘e’s gonna take ‘is time about it too.”
“More importantly, Rob and I have had second thoughts about this whole caper,” Jones continued. “We’ve partaken in bad business before, but this feels different. The raid on Bristol will be more ruthless, more savage and wanton than any of the other atrocities we’ve helped Captain Reynard commit. We can’t let it happen.”
“Can’t?” Cregar said, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “You suggesting raising a mutiny?”
“No, there would be no chance of that,” Jones said. “The six of us can’t do it ourselves, and there’s nobody else we can trust to support us. But we have to find a way to thwart the captain. We’ll have to be very careful about it, working in complete secrecy to put a stop to this madness. We shouldn’t expect any other allies in this except Michael and Catalina. We’ll have to help them get free somehow, then do what we can to stop Reynard.”
“Why should we do that?” Cregar hissed. “Just because he was navy like the rest of us, that’s reason to cross the captain on his account? What do we owe him, anyway?”
“My life,” Hale growled. “I’d be a dead man if he ‘adn’t risked his neck ta save mine. An’ I repaid ’im by keepin’ silent about what the cap’n was really up to an’ forcin’ ‘is surrender.”
“And as for me, I simply don’t want to be a party to another massacre,” Jones said.
“You never said anything against it before,” Thatcher said.
“I’m saying it now.”
“And what about the Merchant Ventures in Bristol?” Thatcher asked Jones. “It’s their kind what sold your people into slavery. Why wouldn’t you want to see to it that they got what they deserved?”
Jones glared at Thatcher. “I’m not going to let thousands of innocent people die just to settle a score. And you can go to hell for thinking otherwise.”
“We ain’t men of honor, Arthur,” Thatcher said with an ugly snarl. “We’re pirates an’ cutthroats now. It’s what we’ve been ever since we signed with Reynard. Why try and be heroes now?”
“The only reason we joined with Captain Reynard was to spare our own lives,” Jones said harshly. “And perhaps we’ve paid too high a price for them. We did what we had to in order to survive, although it meant forfeiting our souls to the Devil himself. We can’t undo what’s been done, but we have a chance to reclaim the honor and dignity we sacrificed the day we became part of the pirate menace we once were pledged to destroy in the king’s service!”
“Settle down, damn ye!” Hale muttered. “Do ye want the whole bloody town ta hear us? Now look - Jonesey’s right. We’ve been livin’ on borrowed time ever since the cap’n spared us. We’ve all stayed alive longer than we ‘ad any right to, given what we’ve done since. If we don’t make it through this, at least we’ll ‘ave died for somethin’ worthwhile.”
“I’m in,” Knowles said in a low voice. “For Michael’s sake.”
“As am I,” McNally joined in. “Someone’s going to have to watch your backs if you’re determined to do this.”
“And what if I don’t see it that way?” Thatcher retorted, folding his arms. “What if I feel like staying alive and in Captain Reynard’s good graces?”
“That depends,” McNally said coldly. “Would that involve simply not helping us, or selling us out to Reynard?”
Thatcher looked down at the table for a moment before looking Hale in the eye. “Neither,” he said. “We’ve been through hell together; I’m not turning my back on you now. I’m with you.”
“Me too,” Cregar replied. “Do you have a plan?”
“Nah, not yet,” Hale said. “It ain’t likely we’d get word ta England wivout the cap’n findin’ out about it. But maybe Michael an’ Catalina might have some ideas.”
“We’d best be getting back to the ship,” Jones said.
The rest of the men nodded, and the group headed for the exit, only to find Esau Tynan blocking their way, arms folded.
“What were the lot of you doing drinking by yourselves?” the boatswain growled.
“Beggin’ yer pardon, Mr. Tynan,” Hale said as innocently as he could manage. “But we’ve always drunk together since we first joined this crew. Always been our custom, it ‘as. There ain’t no ‘arm in that, is there?”
Tynan appeared to be unconvinced. “And talking to each other in whispers? Is that your custom as well?”
Cregar gave Tynan a sly grin. “I was merely reminiscin’, Mr. Tynan, about a girl I knew the last time I was in Lisbon.”
“Were you now?” Tynan said, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “Just why, exactly, does that require you to speak so secretively?”
Cregar gave Tynan a scandalized expression. “With all due respect, Mr. Tynan, it ain’t gentlemanly to go bandyin’ a lady’s name around in public! I might impugn her dignity, and Margarida would never forgive me if I were to - !” He cut himself off as he clapped his hands over his mouth in horror.
Tynan rolled his eyes. “Get back to the Predator,” he snarled.
“Aye, Mr. Tynan,” Hale said. “Come on, lads, time ta go.”
They made their way back to the Predator as quickly as they could, holding in their sighs of relief at their narrow escape.
* * *
The Predator left Lisbon that night, and the next morning McNamara and Catalina got a surprise as they awoke to Hale and Jones, each bringing a plate of food and a tankard of rum. “Hope you two are decent,” Jones said cheerfully before stepping through the door.
McNamara fixed the two of them with a pointed stare. “What are you doing here?”
“Why, we’ve come to bring you your breakfast,” Jones said, smiling cheerfully. Then, in a lower voice, he added, “And while we’re here, we thought now might be a time for a chat.”
“A chat?” McNamara scoffed. “And what makes you think either of you have anything to say I’d want to hear right now?”
“What about comin’ up wiv’ a means ta get you two outta her an’ help us prevent a massacre,” Hale replied.
“What happened to your loyalty to Reynard?” McNamara snarled. “Or do I need to remind you that it’s thanks to you, Mr. Hale, that we’re locked up to begin with?”
“We had a change of mind,” Jones said, as Hale looked down at his feet. “Some loyalties don’t deserve to be kept, and others do. You were our friend, and we lied to you about Reynard.”
“An’ ye saved me life,” Hale added, looking up. “An’ I did ye a bad turn ta thank ye for it, for which I’m truly repentant an’ wishin’ ta make amends.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you?” McNamara said coldly. “You had plenty of chances to tell me the truth about your mission while we were messmates. If you’d said something sooner, Reynard might be swinging from a gallows right now, and Bristol wouldn’t be in any danger.”
“Look, mate, I don’t blame ye for bein’ sore,” Hale said. “But if I wasn’t tellin’ th’ truth, why would we be down ‘ere offerin’ ta help?”
“He has a point, Michael,” Catalina said.
“Aye, you do,” McNamara muttered. “But if the watchman heard you saying that…”
“It’s McNally’s turn to watch the door, just as it’s our turn to bring you your meals,” Jones grinned. “And he’s come around to our way of thinking. You remember Odalis Cortez, right?”
McNamara nodded. “We played cards together quite often.”
“And we played him last night. He and a mate of his were supposed to be bringing you your breakfast today, but over cards, we wagered over having to do his morning duties. Wouldn’t you know it, luck just wasn’t with us. So we get to be your caretakers while Cortez and the others get some extra sleep. I was never so happy to lose a card game in my life.”
“I can’t let you involve yourselves,” McNamara insisted. “Reynard will flay you alive if he finds out you’ve even talked to me about helping us.”
“I’m afraid you still ain’t learned, mate,” Hale chuckled. “We an’ our other friends from the Keighley put it to a vote, an’ it was unanimous. We decided we ain’t gonna let you two rot here, and we ain’t gonna let Reynard murder anyone else no more.”
“But…”
“Ye’re once again outvoted, Michael,” Hale said. “It ain’t up to ye whether we risk our necks or not to help ye.”
“Still, if you’re discovered...”
“We managed to keep our true intentions hidden from you and the rest of the crew well enough this entire voyage,” Jones said. “We know a thing or two about keeping secrets. Now, getting you two out of here shouldn’t be too hard if we time it right. But we need a plan for what would come next.”
“We’ve been thinking of one since we’ve been locked up in here,” Catalina said. “Obviously there’s no way to send a warning to Bristol that could possibly arrive in time. So somehow we have to find a way to disperse the fleet before it ever reaches England.”
“How?” Jones asked.
“We need to somehow achieve a breach of trust between Reynard and the other pirate captains,” Catalina continued. “The threat to Bristol is all of their forces combined in a unified attack. Break the fleet and the raid can’t happen.”
“Sounds easy enough,” Jones said thoughtfully. “But again, the question is how?”
“You’ll particularly like this, Rob,” McNamara said with a crafty smile. “We’ll capture one of the chambers of the gun deck. Then we’ll open fire on the ships nearest us. Do they sail in gun range of us?”
“The way me mates an’ I shoot, they do,” Hale said.
“Excellent. Even if we don’t hit anything, just by firing on them, they’ll suspect treachery on Reynard’s part. They’ll either fire on the Predator in turn, or they’ll run. And if the Predator is attacked, which will probably be the more likely scenario, Reynard will have no choice but to fight the other ships off. That will distract everyone else enough for us to make our getaway in a longboat. With luck, the Predator will be blown out of the water, and the rest of the ships will scatter. Maybe we’ll even sink one or two in the ensuing battle. Either way, the fleet and the threat to Bristol and the king is finished.”
Hale laughed at the idea. “Ye’re right, I do like that. But the cap’n will suspect what’s ‘appened, though, an’ send his men after us. With all our friends from th’ Keighley, we make eight against a crew o’ one hundred an’ sixteen. Those ain’t good odds, mate.”
“The whole reason he set up the bulwarks in the gun deck the way he did made it easy for just a few men to defend, didn’t he?” McNamara answered. “We can fight the pirates off as long as we need to. Eventually, if the plan works, things will get so chaotic that nobody will have any chance to pay attention to us. That will be our opportunity to escape.”
“That will take a lot of rowing,” Jones observed dryly. “Unless you’re planning to wait to spring this little surprise attack until we’re closer to England?”
“Precisely,” Catalina said. “We’re going to have to wait until the day we reach England. There are certain to be some ships from the Royal Navy in Bristol Harbor, and if we’re close enough to land that the sounds of cannons can be detected, it might alert them, thereby spoiling the surprise of Reynard’s attack. They can sail in to the rescue. Besides, Stephen might be overconfident that day, if we don’t make any trouble until then.”
“Not bad,” Hale muttered. “Not bad at all. Worthy o’ the cap’n.”
Catalina grimaced at the comparison. “We need that kind of plan, with a man like Stephen. If we’re going to beat him at his game, we need to play it by his rules: anticipating his movements, knowing his state of mind and what he’d respond to.”
“Still, you’re right that the biggest risk comes when we try to make our escape,” McNamara observed. “Getting the ships to fire on each other should be quite easy. Once the crew realizes what we’ve done, though, they’ll all be out for our hides.”
“That would be true of any plan we came up with,” Jones replied. “We’ll just have to be quick making for the boats after shots have been fired. And if we can’t escape... well, it wouldn’t be a bad way to go, would it? Dying to save an entire city from utter destruction?”
“If that price must be paid, so be it,” McNamara answered solemnly, glancing at Catalina. For himself, he did not care if he died if it meant saving Bristol, but he was still adamantly against risking her safety, or that of his friends. “But I’d rather we not have any martyrs among us if we can avoid it.”
“We’re all prepared to accept that we can’t,” Jones said. “I’ll pass the word to our friends, let them know what the plan is. Is there anything else we can do for you two?”
“Better not,” McNamara said. “We don’t want Reynard to suspect you.”
“I hate leavin’ ye down here,” Hale said sadly. “An’ it’s on my account ye’re locked up.”
“We’ll simply have to endure it,” McNamara replied. “And look at it this way, Rob. If you hadn’t, maybe Reynard might have killed us both, and we wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop him. Now you two had better leave before someone starts wondering where you are.”
Hale nodded and rapped on the door. McNally opened it for them, and they walked out. The door closed again, and it was once again just McNamara and Catalina. They were still locked away, and still outnumbered, but they had allies and a plan to thwart Reynard. All they needed now was patience.
* * *
“Well?” McNally asked as Hale and Jones emerged from the hold.
“We’ll talk later,” Hale whispered. “If we can. If not, we’ll just ‘ave ta surprise ye.”
The three of them climbed the steps to the forecastle, where a surprise was already waiting for them: Odalis Cortez. The gambler was leaning against a bulkhead, idly shuffling a deck of cards.
“And how are McNamara and Dona Catalina this morning?” he asked.
“The same as every morning, I imagine,” Jones said.
Cortez chuckled. “And did you have a nice little chat?”
Hale folded his arms. “An’ what would we ‘ave ‘ad ta say to them?”
“Don’t play the innocent with me, Rob,” Cortez said as he leaned in, lowering his voice. “You can’t bluff a gambler. You think I can’t tell when someone’s deliberately trying to lose? You lot were planning something with them. Perhaps a means of spoiling the captain’s plans.”
Jones’s hand immediately went to his sword, but Cortez held up a free hand. “No need for that, Arthur. We’re friends here.”
“Then what do you want?” Jones asked. “A bribe to keep quiet?”
“No,” Cortez said. “I want to be a part of whatever you and your friends are planning to help McNamara and the señorita.”
Hale and Jones glanced at each other skeptically. “Assuming we were planning such a thing, why would you throw in with us instead of Captain Reynard?” McNally asked.
“It could have been me he’d chosen to flog to death as an example to McNamara the night we left Kingston,” Cortez growled. “I was standing right next to poor Patrick Ross. All the captain would have had to do was look slightly more to the right, and it’d have been me whose back was cut to ribbons. Besides, McNamara’s the best card player I’ve ever met since I joined this crew.”
“But you won every time you played,” Jones said.
Cortez grinned. “Exactly. How often do you think I’m that lucky? He showed spirit, the way he kept coming back for more, no matter how many times he lost.”
“How do we know you won’t tell the captain?”
“If I wanted to inform Captain Reynard, I’d have done so by now,” Cortez said. “Is there a plan in place?”
Hale nodded warily.
“Surprise me with it,” Cortez said. “I don’t want to know until it’s about to happen. Less chance I’ll make a mistake that way.”
“All right, Cortez, ye’re in,” Hale said gruffly. “But if ye betray us, I’ll ‘and ye over ta Cregar and Thatcher. Ye remember Maracaibo, right?”
Cortez swallowed. “I remember, Rob. I’ll keep my distance for now, and you’d best do the same. And for the love of God, do a better job of being discreet. You’re already raising eyebrows, and Mr. Tynan is still suspicious after your ‘chat’ in Lisbon. So what say we get back to our duties before anyone else starts asking questions?”
Without waiting for an answer, Cortez exited the forecastle, but the others stayed behind.
“You sure we can trust him?” McNally muttered. “What if he likes Reynard’s odds better than ours? What if he’s already warned him?”
“We have no choice now,” Jones said.
“Of course we do. We can arrange an accident for him one night.”
“You sound like Thatcher,” Jones snorted. “No, we’ll watch him carefully, just to be sure, but let’s not do anything rash. If he’s telling the truth, that’s another sword on our side. Against odds like these, we can use all the help we can get.”