Birds of Prey - Smith Wilbur (версия книг TXT) 📗
"Light the lanterns," Hal said quietly. "Mister Tyler, come around to due south. We will make a good offing."
The silence persisted, then a voice from the main yard yelled down, "Lord love you, Captain! We're through." Then the cheering swept down the deck.
"For Sir Hal and the Golden Bough." They cheered him until their throats ached, and Hal heard strange voices calling his name. The seamen he had released from the hold were cheering him as loudly as the others.
He felt a small warm hand creep into his and looked down to see Sukeena's sweet face glow in the lantern light beside the binnacle.
"Already they love you almost as much as I do." She tugged softly on his hand. "Will you not come away to where I can see to your wounds?"
But he did not want to leave his quarterdeck. He wanted to revel longer in the sounds and the feel of his new ship and the sea under her. So he kept Sukeena close beside him as the Golden Bough ran on into the night and the stars blazed down from above.
Big Daniel came to them at last, dragging with him an abject figure. For a moment Hal did not recognize the creature but then the whining voice made his skin crawl with loathing and the fine hairs at the back of his neck rise.
"Sweet Sir Henry, I pray you to have mercy on an old shipmate."
"Sam Bowles." Hal tried to keep his voice level. "You have enough innocent blood on your conscience to float a frigate."
"You do me injustice, good Sir Henry. I am a poor wretch driven by the storms and gales of life, noble Sir Henry. I never wanted to do no man harm."
"I will deal with him in the morning. Chain him to the mainmast and put two good men to guard him," Hal ordered Big Daniel. "Make sure that this time he does not eel his way out of our hands and cheat us once again of the vengeance that we so richly deserve."
He watched in the lantern light as they shackled Sam Bowles to the foot of the mainmast and two of the crew stood over him with drawn cutlasses.
"My little brother Peter was one of those you drowned," the older of the two guards told Sam Bowles. "I beg you for any excuse to stick this blade through your belly."
Hal left Daniel in charge of the deck and, taking Sukeena with him, went below to the main cabin. She would not rest until she had bathed and bandaged his cuts and wounds, although none were serious enough to cause her alarm. When she had finished, Hal led her through into the small cabin next door. "You will be able to rest here undisturbed," he told her, lifted her onto the bunk and, though she protested, covered her with a woollen blanket.
"There are wounded men that need my help, "she said. "Your unborn son and I need you more," he told her finfily, and pushed her head down gently. She sighed and was almost immediately asleep.
He returned to the main cabin and sat down at Llewellyn's desk. In the centre of the mahogany top lay a great black leather-covered Bible. During all his captivity Hal had been denied access to the book. He opened the front cover, and read the inscription, written in a bold sloping hand. "Christopher Llewellyn esq, Born 16th October in the year of grace 1621."
Below it was another, fresher inscription. "Consecrated as a Nautonnier Knight of the Temple of the Order of St. George and the Holy Grail 2nd August 1643."
Knowing that the man who had captained this ship before him was a brother Knight gave Hal a deep purpose and pleasure. For an hour he turned the pages of the Bible and reread the familiar and inspiring passages by which his father had taught him to steer his course through life. At last he closed it, stood up and began to search the cabin for the ship's books and documents. He soon discovered the iron strong-box below the bunk. When he could not find the key he called Aboli to help him. They forced open the lid and Hal sent Aboli away. He sat the rest of the night at Llewellyn's desk, studying the ship's books and papers in the lantern light. He was so absorbed by his reading that when Aboli came down to fetch him, an hour after the sun had risen, he looked up in surprise. "What time is it, Aboli?"
"Two bells in the morning watch. The men are asking to see you, Captain."
Hal stood up from the desk, stretching and rubbing his eyes, then crossed to the door of the cabin where Sukeena still slept.
"It would be best if you spoke to the new men as soon as you can, Gundwane,"Aboli said, behind him.
"Yes, you are right." Hal turned back to him.
"Daniel and I have already told them who you are, but you must convince them now to sail under your command. If they refuse to accept you as their new captain, there is little we can do. There are thirty-four of them, and only six of us."
Hal went to the small mirror on the bulkhead above the jug and basin of the toilet stand. When he saw his reflection he started with amazement. "Sweet heavens, Aboli, I look such a pirate that I do not even trust myself."
Sukeena must have been listening, for she appeared suddenly in the doorway with the blanket draped over her shoulders.
"Tell them we will come in a minute, Aboli, when I have made the best of his appearance," she said.
When Hal and Sukeena stepped out onto the deck together, the men gathered in the ship's waist stared at them with astonishment. The transformation was extraordinary. Hal was freshly shaved and dressed in simple but clean clothing from Llewellyn's locker. Sukeena's hair was combed, oiled and plaited and she had fashioned a long skirt from one of the cabin's velvet drapes and wrapped it around her girlish waist and hips. They made an extraordinary couple, the tall young Englishman and the oriental beauty.
Hal left Sukeena at the companionway and strode out in front of the men. "I am Henry Courtney. I am an Englishman, as you are. I am a sailor, as you are."
