“You know, Simon,” he said, sliding his hand along my side and around to give my buttock a hard pinch.“I can spank you under these covers if I’ve a mind to.”
“No, no.Sing.Sing me the lullaby.Please, Dinesh.”
“Very well.If I sound like the thing in your nightmare, tell me to stop.”
But he didn’t.Dinesh’s voice was warm and familiar, rough and soft like the smoke that drifted from the cigarillos he liked to smoke.I drifted off to the sweet and melodic song and to the comfort of his closeness.
***
Bythenextmorning,land was sighted, and by mid-afternoon we were close enough to get a good look at Talamanca from the sea.
I was wrestling with the newly washed and dried bed sheets in our rooms when there was a knock and the door was pushed open.
“Simon!”
I looked up to see Domingo with Squid peering over his shoulder.
“Yes?”
“Captain Martin sent us to fetch you.He said you’ve never seen the Americas, and we’re getting close.”
“Hold on, now.Have you two seen the place before?”
Domingo barked a laugh and shook his head.“Rooster, I’m from Venezuela.I didn’t actually grow up on Tortuga.”
“Oh fuck, I’m sorry.Squid?”
He smiled.“I’ve been too many places to count.Never been to Talamanca, although I have seen the Americas.”
“Well, shit.How come I’m the last?”
I left the sheets in a bundle on the bed and followed Domingo and Squid to the decks, where the rest of the crew were gathered at the bow.Surely I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t seen the Americas.
Captain Martin came over to bring me forward as the crew made way.
There was a familiar broad expanse of ocean, but instead of going on to the horizon, an immense shelf of land stretched out in front of us.It was far enough away that it appeared hazy and unreal.
“Holy shit.”
There was no end to the vast shoreline, either to the right or the left.
I’d never seen so much land.I’d grown up in Spanish Town, Jamaica, the only son of British missionaries, and spent a brief period in Port Royal before finding my destiny on theArrow.
“Does the continent ever end?Or does the land only keep going?”
“I showed you the pictures in the atlas, remember?”
“Aye.But this is… Are you sure we’re in the right place?”
The crew laughed and Captain Martin leaned in to kiss me on the cheek and squeeze my arse.
“Yes, we’re in the right place.Hillier is an excellent navigator.We only have to travel south about five leagues to get to the beach where we left Francis so long ago.There’s a very small island off the coast, and we can sit to the lea of that.We’ll set our anchor, then take the skiffs to shore.If Francis and his people spy us, perhaps there will be a welcome party.”
I frowned.“They won’t think we’re an enemy ship come to take spoils?Or the Spanish?”
Captain Martin laughed.
“Francis Bell knows this ship very well, and he’ll recognize her.And the Spanish have long ago given up making any profit off this land.”
