‘I guess. And silver—course.’
‘Of course. That goes without saying. Inlaid daggers?’
‘For sure. Ceremonial ones, prob’ly.’
‘Still covered in dried sacrificial blood?’
‘Hope so.’
They both laughed at the same time, and when Ben came out bringing him a mug of tea, he flung his arm around Ben’s neck and in full view of everyone kissed his hair. ‘How do you fancy some poking, Benjamin? I feel decidedly in the mood.’
* * *
Chapter Six
Once they were all settled with the essential brews and a large box of biscuits, Harry once more asked everyone where he’d got to but then, not apparently needing this prompt, began, ‘So, Juan breathes his last in 1557, and it seems to take our good fellow friar, his confessor, a year to locate and retrieve the treasure and then purchase a ship with a crew capable of the transatlantic crossing. All of this done in the most incredible secrecy, as you can imagine. And the planning for the voyage—tricky ventures in those days—no real navigation, piracy, scurvy. Did you know that scurvy…?’ He trailed wistfully away, then immediately cheered up again. ‘I’ll save stories of that dread condition for our young Miles. Now, there’s a boy with a spirit of inquiry and a love of learning. Challenging me day and night with his theories. So, very quietly, no fanfare at all, theSanta Mariaslips anchor fromVeracruzin September 1558 but encounters a terrible storm in the middle of that foul ocean and three months later puts into the Azores to shelter and refit. Quite a common practice in those days. And what do you think they discovered when they got there?’
He evidently asked this as a man who expects one of his pupils to readily know and volunteer the answer. When none was forthcoming, he tapped the table in admonishment. ‘Good Queen Mary, the scourge of Protestantism in England, had died in November. It was too late to help her cause. England was lost—or won, depending upon your perspective, I suppose.’
Aleksey grunted then muttered, ‘I think that is one concept we can all understand just now.’
‘So, only one place for theSanta Mariato go, and that was to Spain through the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Med.’ He waved vaguely behind him at the wall, and for the first time, Aleksey realised he was looking at maps and charts which had been printed out and pinned together to form a view of various landmasses with ocean between them.
‘But then!’ Harry sat straighter. ‘They encountered the superiority of the English navy. And two superb galleons, theGreenwich…’ Here he cast a shy, very fond glance towards him. ‘And theNicholas.’
Once more, it struck Aleksey that, far from making his own destiny in anything, all things were connected. As with the little monastery he harboured on his island, the name of his twin connected him to these great events. His name, if Ben’s view of the matter was taken into account. Ben kept Nikolas alive from the death which he had suffered twice, in some ways, from his own brother, and now a ship came into this story bearing the name once more.
Harry smiled at his reaction to this and continued, ‘A captain, his second-in-command and two fine ships. Privateers we should probably call them, although the distinction was very blurry in those days. Captain Francis Frobisher and young John Hawkins. TheGreenwichand theNicholaswere sailing from the coast of West Africa, headed to the colony of Jamaica. And they intercepted theSanta Maria. She was captured and badly holed in the encounter. They took the usual prisoners—the wealthy officers and passengers for possible ransom—and finished off the surviving Spanish crew members. But Frobisher now had a bit of a dilemma. His intent to return with this prize to England was impossible given the treasure that was already occupying his holds. Black Gold, as it was termed in those days.’
Aleksey saw Ben beginning to frown, possibly to ask what sort of gold could be black, when Harry, also seeing this inquiry forming, explained sadly, ‘Slaves, son. They had their holds full of captured peoples from Africa, and this cargo was only valuable if it got to its destination in the colony—no use in London. So he deployed a commonplace practice used with livestock onboard during an engagement—he just dumped the Black Gold from theNicholasinto the ocean. When his holds were empty, he was able to transfer the treasure from the sinking Spanish ship.’
‘Dumped? You mean he just…?’ Ben trailed off.
Harry nodded. ‘He did. I think I’ve already used the terms folly, greed and treachery, have I not? Let us add evil into the mix too. But as our great writer Chaucer once reminded usmordre wol out: murder will out, son, murder will out.’
Aleksey glanced to the moron, got the same quick eye swivel from him, and they quickly looked away again. They now knew the provenance of the expression they had used only a few days before. More to the point, however, they’d just confirmed by those swift glances that neither of them wanted more recent evil men brought to justice at all.
‘So, Frobisher now had an empty hold, and swiftly the contents of theSanta Mariawere brought over—despite the pleadings of Hugo Mondejar, who had survived the battle and, being one of the wealthy passengers, was being kept in grand state aboard theGreenwich. Mondejar claimed that the treasure was cursed.’
He stopped at the universal snorts that accompanied this, smiled ruefully but murmured, ‘We shall see. Scepticism in the face of empirical evidence. Anyway, this Spanish confessor of sins did believe this and claimed that the treasure belonged to a god, and when you steal from the gods you have to accept the consequences. Captain Frobisher didn’t believe this any more than you young whippersnappers apparently do, and once he had the treasure on board, he set fire to the sinking Spanish ship. Hawkins was given orders to continue onto the colony in the Caribbean with the poor suffering cargo of theGreenwich, and Frobisher took command of theNicholasto head to the Thames to bring this treasure to his queen—Elizabeth, of course.’
‘And was never seen again?’
Harry wobbled his hand at Tim’s interjection. ‘Possibly. It certainly wasn’t in evidence when young Hawkins returned to London in early 1562. He reported the encounter four years previous and was promptly put in the Tower of London—but this was a fairly common fate in those days and not quite as serious for a man from a wealthy family as it was for ordinary folks. He was soon pardoned and released again. He went on to have an illustrious career and retired to Devon having made a fortune from privateering. For all those years, Frobisher and his ship theNicholaswere presumed lost at sea.’
‘Yeah, I bet.’ They all laughed at Ben’s snorted comment.
Harry nodded as if privately agreeing but outwardly countered, ‘Therewereaccounts of terrible weather events in the early spring of 1559, and some records say the tail end of a huge storm surge swelled up the English Channel and flooded London, and sailing was a very risky business in those days. And remember the route he would have had to take.’ He swivelled in his chair and indicated the charts behind him on the wall. ‘See, if you draw a line from the Azores—’ He turned back around.
‘What? What did I say?’
‘I’m not allowed to draw lines.’
Harry seemed utterly bemused by the sudden hilarity that had broken out between the other three.Hewas sitting with his arms crossed, refusing to look at the charts. Harry smiled shyly. ‘Well, as lines might be required, I suggest we take a break for what is left of the night. Let you young chaps get some sleep—and a wash?—and we’ll resume over breakfast once some negotiations have taken place and lines are back in fashion. I have a little scamp to retrieve from a lighthouse now.’
It was a welcome suggestion. Aleksey suddenly realised how exhausted he was. Even Ben was looking tired, which was rare for him. Tim appeared almost past the point of knowing what he was—more like Molly when she became hysterically overtired. But, Aleksey noticed, he was more than willing to be dragged away towards a bed in Guillemot House…
* * *
