Pirate Latitudes

Chapter 38

ANDRE SANSON, THE lethal, powerful Frenchman, was not accustomed to the sensation of fear, and he did not feel afraid as he saw the longboat put out from shore. He observed the boat carefully; from a distance, he could see six oarsmen and two people sitting in the bow, but he could not discern who they were.

He expected some ruse. The Englishman Hunter was crafty, and he would use his craft if he could. Sanson knew that he was not clever, as Hunter was. His own talents were more animal, more directly physical. And yet he was confident that there was no trick Hunter could play upon him. It was, very simply, impossible. He was alone on this ship and he would remain alone, safely, until night fell. But he would have his freedom by dusk or he would destroy the ship.

And he knew Hunter would never let the ship be destroyed. He had fought too hard and suffered too much for that treasure. He would do anything to keep it — even to the point of releasing Sanson. The Frenchman was confident.

He peered at the approaching longboat. As it came nearer, he saw that Hunter himself stood in the prow, along with some woman. What could be the meaning of this? His head ached to wonder what Hunter had planned.

Yet, in the end, he contented himself with the reassurance that no trick was possible. Hunter was clever but there was a limit to cleverness. And Hunter must know that even from a distance, he could be picked off as quickly and simply as a man brushes a fly from his sleeve. Sanson could kill him now if he wished. But there was no reason. All he wanted was his freedom, and a pardon. For that, he needed Hunter alive.

The longboat came closer, and Hunter waved cheerfully. “Sanson, you French pig!” he called.

Sanson waved back, grinning. “Hunter, you English pox of a sheep!” he shouted with a joviality that he did not feel at all. His tension was considerable, and increased as he realized how casually Hunter was behaving.

The longboat pulled alongside El Trinidad. Sanson leaned over slightly, showing them the crossbow. But he did not want to lean too far, though he was eager for a look inside the boat.

“Why are you here, Hunter?”

“I have brought you a present. May we come aboard?”

“You two only,” Sanson said, and stepped back from the railing. He quickly ran to the opposite side of the ship, to see if another longboat was approaching from another direction. He saw nothing but calm water, and the rippling fins of cruising sharks.

Turning back, he heard the sound of two people clambering up the side of the ship. He aimed his crossbow as a woman appeared. She was young and damnably pretty. She smiled at him, almost shyly, and stepped to one side as Hunter came on deck. Hunter paused, and looked at Sanson, who was twenty paces away, with the crossbow in his hands.

“Not a very hospitable greeting,” Hunter said.

“You must forgive me,” Sanson said. He looked at the girl, then back to Hunter. “Have you arranged to meet my demands?”

“I am doing so, even as we talk. Sir James is drawing up the papers, and they shall be delivered in a few hours.”

“And the meaning of this visit?”

Hunter gave a short laugh. “Sanson,” he said, “you know me for a practical man. You know that you have all the cards. I must agree to anything you say. This time, you have been too clever, even for me.”

“I know,” Sanson said.

“Someday,” Hunter said, his eyes narrowing, “I shall find you and kill you. I promise you that. But for now, you have won.”

“This is a trick,” Sanson said, with the sudden realization that something was very wrong.

“No trick,” Hunter said. “Torture.”

“Torture?”

“Indeed,” Hunter said. “Things are not always as they seem. So that you may spend the afternoon in pleasurable pursuits, I have brought you this woman. Surely we can agree that she is most charming — for an Englishwoman. I will leave her here for you.” Hunter laughed. “If you dare.”

Now Sanson laughed. “Hunter, you are the devil’s own servant. I cannot take this woman without ceasing to keep watch, yes?”

“May her English beauty torment you,” Hunter said, and then, with a short bow, he climbed over the side. Sanson listened to the thud of his feet on the hull of the ship, and then a final thump as Hunter landed in the longboat. He heard Hunter order the boat to put off, and he heard the stroke of the oars.

It was a trick, he thought. Somehow, a trick. He looked at the woman: she must be armed in some fashion.

“Lie down,” he growled harshly.

She seemed confused.

“Lie down!” he said, and stamped the deck.

She lay on the deck, and he moved cautiously over to her, then frisked her through her garments. She had no weapons. Yet he was sure it was a trick.

He went to the railing and looked out at the longboat, now pulling strongly for shore. Hunter sat in the bow, facing land, not looking back. There were six oarsmen. Everyone was accounted for.

“May I get up?” the girl asked, giggling.

He turned back to face her. “Yes, get up,” he said.

She stood and straightened her clothes. “Do I please you?”

“For an English pig,” he said harshly.

Without another word, she began to undress.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

“Captain Hunter said I should remove my clothes.”

“Well, I am telling you to leave them as they are,” Sanson growled. “From now on, you will do as I tell you.” He scanned the horizon in all directions. There was nothing except the departing longboat.

It must be a trick, he thought. It must be.

He turned and looked again at the girl. She licked her lips, a fetching creature. Where could he take her? Where would he be safe? He realized then that if they went up to the aft castle, he would be able to look in all directions, and still enjoy this English whore.

“I shall have the better of Captain Hunter,” he said, “and of you as well.”

And he marched her up to the aft castle. A few minutes later, he had another surprise — this demure little creature was a screaming, passionate hellion, who yelled and gasped and clawed, much to Sanson’s happy satisfaction.

“You are so big!” she gasped. “I did not know Frenchmen were so big!”

Her fingers raked his back, painfully. He was happy.

He would have been less happy to know that her screams of ecstasy — for which she was amply paid — were a signal to Hunter, who was hanging just above the waterline, holding on to the rope ladder, and watching the pale shapes of the sharks slip through the water all around him.

Hunter had hung there since the longboat cast off. In the bow of the longboat was a scarecrow dummy, previously concealed under a tarp and erected while Hunter had been aboard the ship.

It had all worked exactly as Hunter planned. Sanson dared not look down too carefully into the longboat, and as soon as it pushed off, he had been obliged to spend some moments searching the girl. By the time he got around to looking at the departing boat, it was far enough away that the dummy was convincing. At that time, had he looked directly down, he would have seen Hunter dangling there. But there was no reason to look directly down — and, in any case, the girl had been instructed to distract him as soon as possible.

Hunter had waited, hanging on the ropes, for many minutes before he heard her shouts of passion. They were coming from the aft castle, as he had expected. Gently, he climbed to the gunports, and slipped onto El Trinidad belowdecks.

Hunter was not armed, and his first task was to find weapons. He moved forward to the armory, and found a short dagger and a brace of pistols, which he loaded and carefully wadded. Then he picked up a crossbow, bending his back to the metal, and cocking it. Only then did he move up the gangway to the main deck. There he paused.

Looking aft, he saw Sanson standing with the girl. She was arranging her clothing; Sanson was scanning the horizon. He had spent only a few minutes in lusty action, but it had been a fatal few minutes. He watched Sanson climb down to the waist of the galleon, and pace the decks. He looked over one side, then the other side.

And then he stopped.

He looked again.

Hunter knew what he was seeing. He was seeing the wet marks on the hull that Hunter’s clothing had left in an erratic pattern moving up the side of the ship to the gunports.

Sanson spun. “You bitch!” he shouted, and fired his crossbow at the girl still on the castle. In the heat of the moment, he missed her; she shrieked and ran below. Sanson started after her, then seemed to think better of it. He paused, and reloaded the crossbow. Then he waited, listening.

There was the sound of the girl’s running feet, and then a bulkhead door slammed. Hunter guessed she had locked herself into one of the aft cabins. She would be safe enough for the moment.

Sanson moved to the center of the deck, and stood by the mainmast.

“Hunter,” he called. “Hunter, I know you are here.” And then he laughed.

For now, the advantage was his. He stood by the mast, knowing that he was out of range of any pistol, from any direction, and he waited. He circled the mast cautiously, his head turning in slow, even motions. He was perfectly alert, perfectly aware. He was prepared for any tactic.

Hunter was illogical: he fired both his pistols. One shot splintered the mainmast, and the other struck Sanson in the shoulder. The Frenchman grunted, but he hardly seemed to notice the injury. He spun and fired the crossbow, and the arrow streaked past Hunter, burying itself in the wood of the companionway.

Hunter scrambled down the steps, hearing Sanson running after him. He had a glimpse of Sanson, both pistols out, charging forward.

Hunter stepped behind the companionway ladder, and held his breath. He saw Sanson running down, directly over his head, hastening down the ladder.

Sanson reached the gun deck, his back to Hunter, and then Hunter said in a cold voice, “Stand there.”

Sanson did not stand. He spun, and discharged both pistols.

The balls whistled over Hunter’s head as he crouched near the ground. Now he stood, holding the crossbow ready.

“Things are not always as they seem,” he said.

Sanson grinned, raising his arms. “Hunter, my friend. I am without defense.”

“Go up,” Hunter said, his voice flat.

Sanson began to climb the steps, still holding his hands out. Hunter saw that he had a dagger at his belt. His left hand began to drop toward it.

“Don’t.”

The left hand froze.

“Up.”

Sanson went up, with Hunter following him.

“I will still have you, my friend,” Sanson said.

“You will have only a shaft up your bum hole,” Hunter promised.

Both men came onto the main deck. Sanson backed toward the mast.

“We must talk. We must be reasonable.”

“Why?” Hunter said.

“Because I have hidden half the treasure. Look here,” Sanson said, fingering a gold coin about his neck. “Here I have marked where the treasure is located. The treasure from the Cassandra. Does that not interest you?”

“It does.”

“Well then. We have reason to negotiate.”

“You tried to kill me,” Hunter said, holding the crossbow steady.

“Would you not try the same, in my place?”

“No.”

“Of course you would,” Sanson said. “It is sheer impudence to deny it.”

“Perhaps I would,” Hunter said.

“There is no love lost between us.”

“I would not have crossed you.”

“You would, if you could.”

“No,” Hunter said, “I have something like honor—”

At that moment, from behind him, a female voice squealed, “Oh, Charles, you got him—”

Hunter turned fractionally, to look at Anne Sharpe, and in that moment, Sanson lunged.

Hunter fired automatically. With a whish! the crossbow arrow was released. It shot across the deck, catching Sanson in the chest, lifting him off his feet and pinning him to the mainmast, where he swung his arms and twitched.

“You have done me wrong,” Sanson said, with blood dripping from his lips.

Hunter said, “I was fair.”

Then Sanson died, his head slumping on his chest. Hunter plucked out the crossbow arrow, and the body fell to the ground. Then he pulled the gold coin with the treasure map etched in its surface from around Sanson’s neck. While Anne Sharpe watched, with her hand covering her mouth, Hunter dragged the body to the side of the ship, and pushed it overboard.

It floated on the water.

The sharks circled it warily. Then one came forward, tugged at the flesh, tore away a piece. Then another, and another; the water churned and foamed blood. It lasted only a few minutes, and then the color dissipated, and the surface was still, and Hunter looked away.