Raised By Wolves Volume four- Wolves (73 page)

fifty-tonfrigates and merchantmen. Our decks were packed, and

fifty-tonfrigates and merchantmen. Our decks were packed, and our holds nearlyempty. Everyship carried water and some food, but not nearly enough to feed the men aboard unless we found plunder quickly.

Since the captains had ratified our target and the articles before we sailed, there was little to be done by way of elections on each ship. The men were notified of their officers and the skilled positions, and then they ratified—unanimously—the articles upon which their captains had already agreed. Thus Gaston was confirmed as surgeon and immediately set to work inquiring of the health of his charges before we were fully under sail. He had been treating many of the ones who ailed while on Cow Island, and they were quite happy to see him. He settled in quite happily. I spent my days avoiding Morgan and his requests to join him in drinking. The damn fool did not drink to excess, but he did seem to drink continuously. I doubted he was ever truly drunk—or sober. Gaston said he doubted Morgan would live to old age any more than he would die by lead or steel: rum would be his reaper.

Our first target was Morgan’s oddly-beloved Providence Island. A small, rocky island just over one hundred and forty leagues north and a little west of Porto Bello, it had originally been settled by Protestant Puritans in Sixteen Hundred and Thirty, but the Spanish had taken it Sixteen Hundred and Forty-One. Morgan and Mansfield had then captured the place in Sixteen Hundred and Sixty-Six. Then, due to a lack ofinterest on the part of Jamaica’s governor, poor planning, and bad luck, the island had been lost to the Spanish, and the few colonists

sent there had followed the path of the original Puritans into

sent there had followed the path of the original Puritans into Spanishslaveryand the hands ofthe Inquisition. We had rescued some ofthose menwhenwe took Porto Bello almost three years ago. Now Morgan was determined to retake the island and use it as a rallying point before heading south to the mouth of the River Chagre—the path he intended to take to Panama. We needed sucha rallyingpoint, because inside two days we had left slower vessels such as Cudro and Donovan’s new
Virgin Queen
behind.

We sighted Providence Island on December Fourteenth and arrived in force on the Fifteenth. With four frigates and two sloops full of armed buccaneers arriving in their harbor, the Spanish raised a flag indicating they wished to parley before we had finished lowering our sails. Thus I finally had something to do. Morgan, Collier, and I, and an honor guard of four burly men, rowed ashore to meet with the Spanish party. I asked Morgan how he wished to style himself, and he came up with several lavish titles before finally deciding upon one. We met the Spanish in an open area just between the range of their fort’s cannonand our ship’s.

The garrison’s commander made great show of being impressed with Morgan’s title ofAdmiral of the Buccaneers and Defender of Jamaica. He made it very clear he did not wish to truly battle such a formidable foe, but he could not very well simply hand the castle to us with no shots fired without a loss of honor and dignity he would find too great to bear. Thus, he wished for the Great Admiral Morgan to do him the favor of engaging in a mock battle—in which all shots would be fired in

the air—and thus allow himto depart withdignity. He also asked

the air—and thus allow himto depart withdignity. He also asked —as they had insufficient boats for the task—if we would be so kind as to sail his three hundred men to the mainland. In exchange for these courtesies, he agreed to leave the castle, its cannon, and more importantly, its stores, intact and readyfor our use.

Morgangraciouslyagreed to these terms. Thus the battle to take Providence Island was waged in our persons by our fighting ourselves to not laugh in the face ofthe earnest Spaniard; and then with our men in explaining that they must not shoot the Spaniards on the morrow; and then with the captains in convincingthemto haulthree hundred Spaniards to the mainland. Onthe morningofthe Sixteenth, the mock battle took place; and the Spanishmarched out and we marched in.

We were also fortunate in that four of the Commander’s men—all former bandits from the Main—agreed to stay on as our guides, and claimed to be very familiar with the passage to Panama. By way of proof, they spoke of many details the Spanish maps did not show. All present at this viewing of the maps judged the men to be sincere and greedy and not duplicitous.

The remainder of our fleet trailed in over the next few days. They were all quite happy to see we had a fortress waiting for them. Many of the men ashore attempted to tell their laggard fellows that we had taken the place after much valor and warfare. There was a good deal of laughter over the matter, and everyone was in fine spirits and jested that Panama would be much the same—especially since Morgan was sure we would take thembysurprise.
take thembysurprise.

Onthe morningofthe Nineteenth, Bradleysailed withhis
Mayflower
, Peirrot’s
Josephine
, a smallfrigate named
Fortune
, and four hundred men to take the fortress of San Lorenzo at the mouth of the River Chagre in preparation for the fleet’s arrival. Gaston and I had been somewhat surprised when Peirrot agreed to go on this mission. We had spoken with him briefly when he arrived at Providence, but little of import could be said except for his whispered assurance that our friends were well when we embraced ingreeting.

Cudro arrived that afternoon. The new
Virgin Queen
was indeed slow. We were quite pleased to see her arrive, though, and know that theytoo were safe and well.

Leaving a small garrison of fifty men behind—and one small craft in case they needed to flee the Spanish—we sailed fromProvidence Island on Christmas. We sighted our ships and the fortress on January Second, Sixteen Hundred and SeventyOne. The easterly winds had favored our smaller fore-and-aft rigged vessels in contrast to the square-rigged frigates; and Morgan had also commanded that all ships stay together even if it meant sailingwithless canvas; and so the entire fleet arrived on the same day. There was great cheering when we saw the Brethren Jolie Rouge flying above the castle. Morgan was so delighted he chose to sail into the river’s mouth to achieve the cove containing the fortress’ wharf—so that he could triumphantly walk to the site of our conquest instead of rowing ashore.

The skeleton crews of the three ships had waved in greeting when we arrived. As we neared the river mouth they greeting when we arrived. As we neared the river mouth they began to signal frantically. Collier’s master of sail yelled for his men to trim sail and picked his way forward through the deck crowded with buccaneers to reach the bow. He leaned over the rail, cursed loudly, and everyone standing was thrown to their knees as the air was torn asunder by the horrible sound of wood splinteringagainst rock.

Gaston and I looked to one another, forced our way through the panicked and milling men to our cabin, and gathered our things. When we emerged, it was obvious the ship was sinking. Her boats and canoes had been lowered, but they could only hold a tenth of the men aboard—almost none of whom could swim. The
Satisfaction
was going down in somewhat deep water next to the rocky bar at the mouth of the river. The shore was actually within range of our cannon. It would be an easyswim, ifnot for the river’s current sweepinginto the sea.

We retreated to the quarterdeck, and there I left Gaston while I went to brave the hatch for a floating barrel or crate. I found one, and wrestled it on deck and rolled it to my matelot. We prized the lid off, placed the medicine chest and our powder and pistols inside, and pounded the lid down tight. Then we bundled the rest of our possessions and affixed them to the outside ofthe hogshead. We next acquired a long length ofrope. Once we had that, we stared at one another.

“I amgoing,”I said.
“Where?”he asked witha smile.
I pointed to the northern shore closest to the ship. “I will

dive over and let the current take me a little, and then you will anchor me so that I canswimacross it inanarc to the shore.”

He took a deep breath and nodded. “I will follow with the barrelonce youare anchored there.”
I looked around as he knotted the rope about my shoulder and chest. The water was confusion. Many of the smaller vessels had been attempting to lead, follow, or accompany us into the deceptive river mouth. Five of them had found the rocky escarpment beneath the water and were now sinking much faster than the
Satisfaction
. There were men thrashing about in the current and being pulled out to sea or sinkingbefore the rescue boats could reachthem.
Some of our craft—including, thank the Gods, the new
Virgin Queen
—had actually steered into the deeper channel to the south—the part of the river that lay within range of the fortress’s guns, which sat high above us on a cliff. Here, as elsewhere, the Spanish had proven they understood much about the defense of waterways. As a country, they might not have excelled at sailing the seas, but they knew damn well how to prevent other people from sailing into their ports. And Cudro might not have known the east coast of Hispaniola, but the man understood Spanishdefense works.
The tilting deck of the
Satisfaction
was barely more orderly than the sea. Morgan had initially chosen to stay with the ship, but he had entrusted his personal items to the men on the first boat. Now men were urging him to board the next rescue boat. Collier was running about commanding men to salvage what they could and not overload the rescue craft. Our boats were still emptying men onto the nearest ships. Another wave of boats had reached us fromthose same ships, but it was obvious they could not take everyone. The men who realized they would not yet be able to row awaywere retreatingto the quarterdeck.
Gaston tied his end of the rope off on a staunch rail. We kissed briefly. I dove into the water.
The rope was heavy about my shoulders, and I was initially worried that I might not be able to float with it around me. Then the current buoyed me up and out, and I merely needed to tread water to keep my head up until Gaston decided I had gone far enough. The loop around my chest closed like some giant jaw, and I forced thoughts of malicious sea creatures from my head as I began to swim across the current. It proved far easier than swimming against it ever would—that would have beenextremelydifficult and gained me nothing.
At last I reached the shore. I glanced at the boat—and saw the bow was beneath the waves and much of her waist with it. There were a dozen men standing around Gaston on the quarterdeck. I quickly made my end fast around a scrubby tree trunk and then looped it around my waist and got a good grip on it. To my dismay, Gaston was the not the next person in the water. AmanI did not know pulled himselfalongthe arc ofrope running between Gaston and me. He was followed by man after man until all those left on the quarterdeck were on the rope. When the first man was ashore and helping me pull the next man in, Gaston untied his end and stepped only a short distance into the water with the barrel. We now had enough men to start hauling the rest in, and Gaston was soon at my side along with our possessions.
Happy men were applauding us for being clever and knowing how to swim; elsewhere desperate men were still being fished from the water; and our sad flagship was finishing her descent beneath the waves with nearly all her provisions and

munitions.I said a silent prayer ofthanks to Poseidon.

We walked along the northern shore until we were across fromthe fort’s cove and wharf. There we waited until the fleet’s boats finished rescuing the men in the water and were available to rescue the men on the wrong side of the river. Two hours after we struck the rocks, Morganwas able to walk up the windingpathto the fortress ofSanLorenzo; sixships and allthey contained save menwere lost; and tenmenwere drowned.

We followed Morgan up the path with Cudro and Ash. We could smell death and charred wood as we neared the top. Our Admiral stood talking quietly with a very grimPeirrot. Then he was casting about until he spied us. He waved for us to hurry to him and we ran the last distance and joined him in following Peirrot inside the fortress.

It was burned:nearlyeverystructure withinthe walls was fire damaged; and there were piles of dead men everywhere: some ours, and very many theirs. Peirrot led us past this carnage to a standing corner of a building. In the shade there, a man lay on a cot. His face was so drawn with pain and of such grey pallor I had difficulty recognizing himas Bradley. Gaston quickly knelt at his side, glanced down his body, and pulled the bloody blanket aside to revealtwo cauterized stumps.

“What happened?”Gastonasked.
“Cannon ball,” Peirrot said. “It tore both his legs off at the same time. A man near him put a torch to him to keep him frombleedingto death.”

“Will he live?” Morgan asked, and knelt beside the bed to pat Bradley’s face with concern. When his old friend did not respond, he turned to Gaston.

My man was examining the stumps. “Will he want to?” he asked quietly. Thenhe shook his head. “He has lost too much blood. I amsurprised he stilllives.”

Morganstood. “How manymen?”
“We have one hundred and fiftymendead or wounded,” Peirrot said. “More wounded than dead, thank God. But more will die. They had three hundred and fourteen. They have thirty now.”
“Well, you made a fine accounting of yourselves,” Morgansaid.
Peirrot sighed and nodded agreeably. “That we did. We were lucky with the fire. You should know that this fort was not meant for so many. The President of Panama sent several hundred reinforcements—regular infantry and Indians both—just a few days before we arrived. They know we are here and where we are going.”
Morgan swore quietly, and his words were soft as well. “Do not tellanyone ofthat. It willdiscourage the men.”
Peirrot snorted. “As youwish.”
I heard no more: Gaston had begun to follow the trail of wounded away fromBradley and around the corner. I hefted the medicine chest and followed him.
As their horrendous battle had been five days ago, almost all of the men who had received mortal wounds were dead. The rest had been tended by the ship’s surgeons. As most of the surviving wounded had burns, there was little to be done for them. Gaston focused his attention on those with musket or arrow wounds.
He had conferred with the surgeons on five when I spied Chris sitting with his back to a wall and his face buried in his hugged knees. Pete lay on the ground beside him with a bloody bandage about his chest. I ranto them.
Startled, Chris looked up. “Oh thank God,” he breathed —inEnglish.
“Naw, ThankTheGods,” Pete drawled and grinned at