She'd learned to swim as a child and had always been a strong swimmer. It took longer than she anticipated, but she finally reached a landing with steps that led up to the dock.
Dockside, people bustled about. Ships moored there were loaded and unloaded, wagons delivered cargoes and carted other cargoes away. The pier was a noisy, buzzing confusion of workers, seamen, and merchants. No one noticed as a bedraggled figure stepped up onto the landing, then the dock.
Elyse gave a long look back over her shoulder. TheRevengewas beautiful, like that large, graceful bird she had imagined earlier. Something tightened deep inside her at leaving the ship. She didn't try to understand it.
Eighteen
Lisbon reached out to the sea from the estuary of the Tagus River. The city, made up of seven coastal hills, reflected the ancient cultures that had once been there.
It was an international port. Its intricate, winding cobblestoned streets provided access to houses of soft pink, turquoise, and white, with tiled roofs and iron balconies accented with flowers.
This city's heritage had been greatly influenced by the Moors, but it dated back to prehistoric times and was rich in history, culture, and trade.
Elyse had visited Lisbon two years earlier with her grandmother. They'd stayed at an elegant villa high in the terraced hills overlooking the city, and had made trips to ancient castles, fortresses, churches, and museums. The Lisbon she knew was a mixture of cultures and fascinating.
She'd enjoyed watching the brilliantly costumed dancers on warm evenings, and she'd ridden in a carriage through the Alfama district, had seen the lovely Arabic palace, the Catelo Sao Jorge, used as a fortress by the Visigoths in fifth century.
In the marketplace could be found gold and diamonds from Brazil, ivory from Africa, spices, silks, and porcelains from China, ginger and pepper from the Malabar Coast.
She had discovered it all with her grandmother. But that was the Lisbon far different from the port with its rolling ships, and cargos that waited for wagons.
Still exotic and fascinating, this was the province of merchants, traders, and seafarers. She dodged past tall black sailors who reminded her of Kimo. Stripped to their waists, they wore great gold rings looped in their ears, and brilliant bracelets adorned their heavily muscled arms.
She dodged away from more than one seaman fascinated with the 'lad',as they called out to her,who possessed such fair skin. Following the direction of their stares she quickly found the reason. The front of her shirt was plastered to her body, leaving little to doubt. Arms folded across the front of the shirt, she continued her explorations.
She knew just enough of the language to ask for the local merchant who might sell garments and smiled her relief when she found a street vendor who spoke English.
He was selling all manner of goods, from fresh lobster, prawns, and crabs to brightly woven baskets, hats, and a few items of clothing. She quickly selected a hat with a wide brim and a colorful cape of the type she'd seen some men wearing. It would help conceal her until her clothes dried, and not draw attention to her. To complete her purchase, she chose a pair of leather sandals.
As Elyse held out the gold coins, the merchant's eyes shown almost as bright as the gold. He seized one. Then, after biting down hard to see if it was real, he held out his hand for more.
She hesitated. These coins were all she had. She hoped to send a telegram to Paris, where she might be able to contact friends of her grandmother, or possibly buy passage home but it could be days, before her departure from Lisbon could be arranged. She handed the merchant one more coin. His fingers automatically signaled for two more.
She firmly shook her head. He shrugged his shoulders, then turned to another customer.
She pushed back the suspicion that she'd probably paid double what everything was worth. She donned the cape and hat and strapped on the sandals. Now she had to see about getting out of Lisbon.
She was sweltering. Her clothing had long since dried, and beads of perspiration ran between her shoulder blades. She'd already learned what Zach meant by thieves and cutthroats. Twice she'd seen men attacked by street thieves.
She had kept out of the shadows. She'd also learned to watch for the crew of theRevenge.In one shop she passed, she saw a large African buying colorful cloth and recognized Kimo. She immediately ducked around the corner when he turned and came out of the store, the cloth tucked under his arm.
And she was tired and hungry. It seemed that she had walked for miles on the cobbled streets that wound through the area near the wharf. She passed second-story dwellings overlooking shops and businesses, laundry draped along their balconies or hung from lines strung between open windows.
And in countless shops she asked about boat passage. She got everything from disinterested shrugs to blank stares. In one market, she had a pomegranate stuck in one hand, a smelly mackerel in the other, while the merchant held his hand out for money. He got the pomegranate and the mackerel back.
By late afternoon Elyse collapsed wearily onto a chair at a small sidewalk restaurant. Too tired to go on, she was also too hungry to ignore the wonderful aromas that came from inside. She ordered food and a huge loaf of bread still warm from the oven. A request for water, ended up being wine. The Portuguese loved their wine.
It wasn't food prepared at Winslow house or aboard theRevenge,but nothing had ever tasted so good. She paid with one of the gold coins. The attendant had no other customers at that time of the afternoon and struck up a congenial conversation while Elyse tried to decide what to do next. Since the young man hadn't attempted to cheat her for the food and spoke such good English, she decided to trust him.
"I need to arrange passage to London. Do you know where I might book passage?" At first her question brought only a faint shrug, then the man paused.
"The Green Dolphin. You might find someone there who could arrange it."
"The Green Dolphin?" she repeated.
He nodded, stroking his chin thoughtfully as he removed her empty bowl and cup. "It’s not far from here, on the Rua do Carmo. My wife's cousin works there. He hears things, he may know of such a ship. But he works at night and sleeps during the day."
"How far is it?"
