the Court, the prettiest face to amuse the Queen.”
“Indeed, he has a pretty face and Elizabeth likes to surround herself with beauty in the hopes it might be contagious. He also knows how to sail a ship, damn his soul; I can’t fault him for lack of skill or experience. It was the only reason I agreed to take Bloodstone on, and in the beginning he did not disappoint. We sailed for Veracruz like two hungry wolves stalking fresh meat.” He hesitated and stared blankly out the darkened gallery windows. “Do you know the Spanish harbor at all?”
Spence shifted in his seat, obviously not wanting to appear ignorant, but at the same time not wanting to admit he had never risked so deep a foray into Spanish waters. Veracruz was a terminus for the mule trains that carried gold and silver out of the mountains of Mexico. It had confidently been declared by the Spanish to be out of reach and impregnable to any foreign sail, as heavily fortified as any madman would expect a treasure depot to be.
“At any rate,” Dante continued, talking now to his rum, “thanks to Lucifer, we knew of a secluded bay on the Island of Sacrifices, not five leagues from Veracruz. It was big enough to hide two ships and easily within striking distance of the harbor. We each carried the framework for several pinnaces in our holds on the voyage down, and when we reached the inlet, it was a small matter to assemble the vessels and launch our tiny fleet on a surprise nighttime raid.
“No one expected us, No one raised an alarm, for we looked like harmless fishing boats. We landed a mile or so up the coast and went overland into Veracruz; eighty men in all, and each came away with as many bars of gold as he could load onto a mule. Christ, the cocky bastards even left the stables unguarded.
“By morning, of course, all hell broke loose, for we had not exactly been tidy with the bodies at the treasure house. As luck would have it, however, a squall blew up and delayed their pursuit by a full two days—plenty of time for two nimble wolves to slink away and use those same winds to blow us clear across the Caribbean. We were successful too. We broke into open sea and were more than halfway home before misfortune struck. A gale, the likes of which I had not seen in twenty years, swept us along like spindrift for seven days and nights. It battered the Virago so badly, she ended up on a reef with a hole in her hull wide enough to swim through.
“Our first thought was to find someplace safe where we could haul her over and make repairs. We were as yet unsure of where we were but the lookouts spied a small island and we made for it, hoping for time to make repairs. Once there, we lightened the
Virago’s
burden by off-loading our weight of gold bars along with every spare barrel and crate we carried—including most of our food and fresh water.
We had the cables attached and the men on shore to careen her when we saw sails on the horizon.” He stopped and snorted at some terrible irony, which he shared a moment later with Spence. “They were bloody zabras. Six India guards unluckily driven off course by the same storm that ripped at us.”
“Blow my ballocks,” Spence muttered. “What did ye do?”
“The only thing we could do: We stood and fought. The
Virago
was wounded, aye, but we had Bloodstone at our back; we should have taken them in a trice. He was to remain out of sight behind the island while we drew fire and led the zabras away. The intention was to catch them with their eyes looking forward, not back, and while the
Talon
bore some damage to her mainmast, she still had full steerage and an equally full battery of guns to call upon.”
Dante’s voice grew brittle and a tremor appeared in the hand that gripped the pewter cup.
“The zabras took the bait, as we expected they would, and came on, all six of them bristling with their own importance. We sallied forth to meet them, feigning we were in worse straits than we were, knowing that
“Indeed, he has a pretty face and Elizabeth likes to surround herself with beauty in the hopes it might be contagious. He also knows how to sail a ship, damn his soul; I can’t fault him for lack of skill or experience. It was the only reason I agreed to take Bloodstone on, and in the beginning he did not disappoint. We sailed for Veracruz like two hungry wolves stalking fresh meat.” He hesitated and stared blankly out the darkened gallery windows. “Do you know the Spanish harbor at all?”
Spence shifted in his seat, obviously not wanting to appear ignorant, but at the same time not wanting to admit he had never risked so deep a foray into Spanish waters. Veracruz was a terminus for the mule trains that carried gold and silver out of the mountains of Mexico. It had confidently been declared by the Spanish to be out of reach and impregnable to any foreign sail, as heavily fortified as any madman would expect a treasure depot to be.
“At any rate,” Dante continued, talking now to his rum, “thanks to Lucifer, we knew of a secluded bay on the Island of Sacrifices, not five leagues from Veracruz. It was big enough to hide two ships and easily within striking distance of the harbor. We each carried the framework for several pinnaces in our holds on the voyage down, and when we reached the inlet, it was a small matter to assemble the vessels and launch our tiny fleet on a surprise nighttime raid.
“No one expected us, No one raised an alarm, for we looked like harmless fishing boats. We landed a mile or so up the coast and went overland into Veracruz; eighty men in all, and each came away with as many bars of gold as he could load onto a mule. Christ, the cocky bastards even left the stables unguarded.
“By morning, of course, all hell broke loose, for we had not exactly been tidy with the bodies at the treasure house. As luck would have it, however, a squall blew up and delayed their pursuit by a full two days—plenty of time for two nimble wolves to slink away and use those same winds to blow us clear across the Caribbean. We were successful too. We broke into open sea and were more than halfway home before misfortune struck. A gale, the likes of which I had not seen in twenty years, swept us along like spindrift for seven days and nights. It battered the Virago so badly, she ended up on a reef with a hole in her hull wide enough to swim through.
“Our first thought was to find someplace safe where we could haul her over and make repairs. We were as yet unsure of where we were but the lookouts spied a small island and we made for it, hoping for time to make repairs. Once there, we lightened the
Virago’s
burden by off-loading our weight of gold bars along with every spare barrel and crate we carried—including most of our food and fresh water.
We had the cables attached and the men on shore to careen her when we saw sails on the horizon.” He stopped and snorted at some terrible irony, which he shared a moment later with Spence. “They were bloody zabras. Six India guards unluckily driven off course by the same storm that ripped at us.”
“Blow my ballocks,” Spence muttered. “What did ye do?”
“The only thing we could do: We stood and fought. The
Virago
was wounded, aye, but we had Bloodstone at our back; we should have taken them in a trice. He was to remain out of sight behind the island while we drew fire and led the zabras away. The intention was to catch them with their eyes looking forward, not back, and while the
Talon
bore some damage to her mainmast, she still had full steerage and an equally full battery of guns to call upon.”
Dante’s voice grew brittle and a tremor appeared in the hand that gripped the pewter cup.
“The zabras took the bait, as we expected they would, and came on, all six of them bristling with their own importance. We sallied forth to meet them, feigning we were in worse straits than we were, knowing that
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