Sebastian Darke: Prince of Pirates (13 page)

Sebastian did as she asked and she ushered Cassius into the seat beside her. Then she took up a stance with the elbow of her right arm on the tabletop, her hand open. Cassius took up a similar position with his right arm extended and the two of them clasped hands. The remaining sailors gathered eagerly around the table to watch. 'Right then, Lem,' said Jenna. 'Count us in.'

Grinning, Lemuel did as he was told. 'One . . . two . . . three!' he growled. And the two contestants took up the strain and began pushing for all they were worth.

Sebastian stared in amazement. He wouldn't have given a croat for Jenna's chances against somebody as powerful as Cassius, but it quickly became apparent that she was holding her own against him; more than that, in fact. For while he was straining and sweating to make any impression on her, she looked perfectly relaxed, even breaking off at one point to lift her tankard with her free hand and take a sip from it. The surrounding crew shouted advice and encouragement to Cassius, but try as he might, he could not seem to better her. After a few moments of this, during which their entwined hands wavered slightly to one side or the other, Jenna began to apply steady pressure; and though Cassius struggled valiantly to resist, she began to force his hand steadily downwards until it was pinned tight against the tabletop.

Cassius got up, shaking his head in disgust, while his shipmates slapped him on the back, enjoying his dismay. It was evident this was not the first time it had happened.

'Keep trying, Cassius,' Jenna told him. 'You're definitely improving.' She gazed around the table at them. 'And, lads, one more thing: tell nobody of our movements tomorrow. If anybody asks, we're taking a cargo of cloth round the coast to the Southlands. Is that understood?'

Again there were nods and grunts of agreement. Though they were evidently a rough bunch, it was clear that Captain Jenna Swift commanded their respect. The only one who made no move to leave was Lemuel, but Sebastian supposed that was only natural, if he was her right-hand man. The remaining crewmen left the room and Sebastian was able to resume his seat. Jenna slipped Cassius's purse into the pocket of her waistcoat.

'Some people never learn,' she said with a smile. 'Cassius challenges me again and again, and every time I take his money from him. But his male pride just won't let him stop making the challenge.'

Cornelius leaned forward to fix Jenna with a hard stare. 'You are powerful, Captain Swift. You must allow me to challenge you some time.'

'You, Golmiran? Are you adept at arm wrestling?'

'I was considered a champion in my homeland. But that's for another time.' He made a dismissive gesture. 'I must say you were very prompt in dismissing your men. We have not yet agreed payment for the trip.'

'No, we haven't,' she admitted. 'But let's see . . .' She settled back in her seat. 'I'm a reasonable woman. And I'd be prepared to settle for . . . a one-third share of the treasure.'

Cornelius and Sebastian rocked back in their chairs as if they had been punched, and even Max was disconcerted enough to leave off swigging from his bucket for a moment. He stared at Jenna, oblivious to the fact that he had a great white beard of foam hanging from his snout.

'Who said anything about treasure?' cried Sebastian. Then, glancing around, fearful that he'd spoken too loudly, he continued in a hushed tone. 'Nobody even mentioned it, so why—?'

'Nobody needed to,' said Jenna, laughing at his discomfort. 'Of course there's treasure – why else would you be so secretive? And if it's somewhere due south of Lemora, then it can be only one treasure: that of Captain Callinestra.'

Lemuel's one good eye seemed to twinkle at this news. 'Of course!' he whispered. 'People have spoken about its existence for centuries but there's never been a map . . . at least, not a real one. Plenty of fakes around, of course, but—'

'This map is no fake,' Cornelius assured them, and Sebastian wondered how he could be so confident. 'Of course, there's no guarantee that somebody hasn't been there before us. It might be a safer bet to take a standard wage for the trip. Otherwise you risk coming back empty-handed.'

Jenna smiled. 'It's a risk I'm prepared to take,' she said, 'because I
could
come back rich beyond my wildest dreams. Which is frankly too good a prospect to ignore.'

'She's got a point,' said Max, and hiccuped loudly.

Cornelius gave him an irritated look. 'Stay out of this,' he said.

'What? I was only shaying! There's no need to look at me like I'm a bad muffalope . . . I mean, a mad buffalope!' He lifted his head and stared towards the bar. 'Landlord! Another belping of heer, if you please! I'm starting to get a taste for this stuff!'

Sebastian grimaced. That was all they needed right now. A drunk Max.

'Well, gentlemen, you're not saying much, are you?' observed Jenna. 'Do we have a deal or not?'

'Well, for a start,' interrupted Max, 'you've got your figursh wrong, young lady. It would be a one
quarter
share of the treasure, because there are four of us, not three!'

Jenna looked at him for a moment and then turned to Sebastian. 'You're not seriously giving a share to
him
?' she cried.

Sebastian winced. 'Well, we've never formally discussed it,' he admitted, 'but—'

'Thersh no need for discussion,' insisted Max. 'We are partners. We share
everything
. So it's a one-quarter share, or you can go and take a junning rump into the ocean, young lady.'

'But . . . what would a buffalope do with treasure?' Jenna wanted to know.

'I would give some to my mistress and . . . the rest I would shpend on pommers to eat and beer to drink.' Max became aware of Sebastian glaring at him and blew him a fruity raspberry. 'Oh, loosen up!' he said. 'Landlord, what are you doing with that ale, screwing it from bratch? I mean, brewing it from scratch?'

Jenna shrugged. She turned back to the table. 'Very well,' she said. 'It sounds like madness to me, but a one-quarter share for me and my crew.' She looked from Sebastian to Cornelius and back again. 'You may as well accept my terms, gentlemen, because let me assure you, if you choose to go with another captain, you'll have the
Sea Witch
on your tail the moment you leave the quayside. And then we'd be rivals, not allies.'

'And you wouldn't want us as rivals,' Lemuel assured them. 'Oh no, you would most definitely not want that.'

Another bucket of ale arrived and Max set to with a vengeance, his loud slurps rudely breaking the silence.

Sebastian and Cornelius exchanged worried glances. Clearly Jenna Swift was as sharp as a cut-throat razor. Finally Cornelius sighed and spread his hands in a gesture of defeat.

'Very well. I suppose there's nothing else we can do. But listen well to these words. I don't want this matter to go any further. If any of your friends or relatives start following us to our destination, all deals are off. And you'll answer to my sword.'

Jenna grinned, as though she liked the sound of this. 'So, you're a swordsman as well as an arm wrestler! I'm no mean fighter myself,' she told him. 'Perhaps we can put it to the test some day.' There was a short silence while the two of them appraised each other. 'But yes,' continued Jenna, 'I agree that total secrecy should be the order of the day. Don't worry, I've no wish to share my cut of the spoils with anyone else. Or do you perhaps have a pet boobah hiding in the woodwork who wants to claim
his
share?'

'Very funny,' said Sebastian.

Jenna bowed slightly. 'I'll take that as a compliment from a professional joke-teller,' she said.

'I already told you, I'm not in that line of work any more,' he said.

'Oh, that's right,' she said, her eyes mocking him. 'You're a pirate-killer now. I'd quite forgotten.' She shrugged. 'Well, I hope it's no idle boast, Mr Darke. The waters we'll be sailing are infested with pirates – there's every chance we might see some action.'

Cornelius grinned. 'We're not afraid of a bit of action,' he assured her. 'You might say it's what we're used to.' He raised his tankard in a toast. 'So,' he said. 'To a successful trip.'

'To success,' said Jenna; and she and Lemuel raised their own tankards and drank deeply.

And then Max started singing. Well, not singing so much as bellowing.

'Out on the wild and rolling plain, I met a buffalope!

His eyes were filled with tears of woe, it seemed he'd lost all
hope.

When suddenly he heard a sound, a voice that called his name

And from that day that buffalope would never be the same!

'The voice of Colin, Colin, a buffalope so true . . .

Colin, Colin, he's calling out to you!

Colin, Colin, the king of all the beasts

Colin, Colin, he calls you to the feast!'

Heads appeared in the doorway from the other room. Some of the drinkers appeared to like the song, and were raising their tankards to the performer, but the landlord with the shell teeth didn't seem quite as impressed.

'Who owns that great noisy brute?' he bellowed.

'Time's moving on,' said Cornelius hastily. 'I think we should leave.'

'Er . . . yes,' said Sebastian. 'I'm feeling pretty tired too.'

They finished their drinks as quickly as they could and virtually ran from the room, telling Jenna that they would see her the following morning. Once outside, they ran round the side of the building and did their best to drag Max away from the window, but having found an appreciative audience, he was somewhat reluctant to pack it in.

Eventually they managed to prise him away. As they moved off, Sebastian glanced through the open window and saw Jenna watching the incident with some amusement, her dark eyes flashing with mischief.

He waved to her, and then he and Cornelius led a very unsteady buffalope away in search of somewhere to spend the night.

After finally locating the only stable in Ramalat that was prepared to put up with the raucous din made by a singing buffalope, Sebastian and Cornelius trudged back to the Spyglass Inn and took a room for the night on the top floor.

Through the open window they had a magnificent view of the moonlit rooftops of Ramalat, sloping steeply down the hillside to meet the restless ocean, which rushed to and fro beneath the mantle of myriad glittering stars.

Sebastian stood looking out across the water with a strange mixture of feelings within him. There was excitement, yes, because this trip across water would be a totally new experience for him. But there was apprehension too. He remembered how Cornelius had said that the ocean was deep enough to cover the peaks of the highest mountains and the thought of going down into those terrible depths filled him with an unspeakable dread. There was one other thing. Try as he might, he couldn't rid himself of the image of Leonora's face.