Chapter Nine
Trouble
For the three days and nights that Dinesh and I spent together making up for having little privacy at the fishing outpost on Talamanca, I was convinced that the cacao ceremony had worked and my horrible nightmares were a thing of the past.
We were finally ready to sail out and away from the Americas, retracing our earlier route, past Jamaica and onward to the Turks Islands.
Dinesh and I lay on our bed, naked, covered with sweat from our coupling, and enjoyed the soft rocking of the ship.
“We’ll pull anchor in the morning, and be on our way,” Dinesh murmured, idly stroking my shoulder.
“And you’ll be so much busier. I’ll probably never see you,” I grouched, playing with my cock so Dinesh might see that I had some energy left.
I was loathe to let him up, because I knew he would disappear into the business of running the ship once we were on our way.
Granted, he had always found time for a round of merciless fucking before, but I was worried that now we were married, he’d be happy to let me clean and sweep his quarters for a kiss and a promise every few days.
“Don’t be daft. You know my appetites.”
I chuckled. “Aye. But mayhap you’ll forget about me now that I’m your husband and not your saucy red-haired seed bucket.”
“You’re still my saucy red-haired seed-bucket and you always shall be. We’re not even truly married, you know.” He turned to me with a devilish look. “What we do together is illegal and immoral and a disgrace to the king,” he said, emphasizing each word with a poke to my nipple.
“Ow,” I said, moving to protect the tender bud.
“Oh, no,” he said, moving my hand aside and bending to lick the skin that pebbled under his touch. Then he took my nipple in his teeth and gazed up at me with pretend malevolence. At least, I thought the malice was pretend.
“Don’t do that unless you want another go. You’re getting me worked up again.”
He sighed but drew back. “I wish I had the energy, but you’ve worn me out. Call the dog. I suppose she wants to sleep with us.”
I turned to her and whistled, patting the bed.
She sprang up like she’d been waiting for this moment and leapt onto the bed, landing half between and half on top of us, wiggling with pleasure.
“Ow, that’s my bollocks!” Dinesh complained whilst I laughed and praised her.
“Ooh, good girl. He probably deserved that.”
We fell asleep tangled together in the sheets.
***
The horrible creature came to me again in my dreams.
Tentacles like strings of solid muscle, wrapping around me, squeezing. I thrashed to break free but the monster was too strong, too determined to hold me.
Simon…Simon White…Simon Bartholomew White,” it whispered. “You are your mother’s son…and I have you…I will have you…and I will keep you…down here where you belong…”
I couldn’t breathe and it was pulling me under, under. Its mouth stretched open as if to swallow me whole.
I woke with a start and a cry of terror.
The dog was laid out at the foot of the bed and hadn’t woken up. I focused on her familiar presence and that of Dinesh who blinked awake, the whites of his eyes glistening in the moonlight.
“Rooster?”
He reached for me in the darkness.
“Aye,” I whispered, trying to forget the gaping maw of the dream creature. I took his hand and let him pull me towards him.
I trembled with the horror of what I’d felt and how real the experience had been. Ghost seaweed brushed against me, but it was simply the captain trying to soothe me. I opened my eyes, blinking at a very worried-looking Dinesh.
“A nightmare?”
I nodded. “Worse than before. But,” I realized something. “No song this time.”
Dinesh paled. “The same…beast?”
“Aye. And it…it mentioned my mother.”
I gazed at him with distress as the tears formed in my eyes.
“Oh Simon,” he said, with so much sweetness that the tears snaked down my cheeks and I began to cry softly.
Dinesh held me close and soothed me with whispered words of comfort.
Pearl lifted her head to peer at me in the darkness, her tail slapped the bedclothes a few times; then she lay her head down again.
The fact that she was so calm did reassure me.
Animals were believed to be able to sense supernatural forces.
Perhaps the haunting was only a very persistent and repetitive nightmare, prompted by something in my memories or emotions.
I did my best to focus on other things, like teaching Pearl the proper way to behave aboard the ship.
Guthrie had given me a parcel of shredded pieces of dried fish to dole out when she obeyed my commands.
She was growing, too, and her legs were gangly and long now, the tips of her ears flopping over in a fetching way.
Most everyone on board loved the mutt. Domingo had made a rag doll for her to chew, and the toy was lying under her elbow. She wore a leather collar that Martinez had braided from strips, and even had a wood tag with her name carved into it, that Lahiri had fashioned.
But I couldn’t get rid of the uneasy feeling.
***
Idreamt of the creature more often now, almost every night.
Dinesh was worried. He had Dr Faraday examine me and make sure I wasn’t ill or harbouring a mysterious infection. But the surgeon couldn’t find anything. That was reassuring in some ways, but only added to the mystery.
The sense that what was occurring was more than an ordinary nightmare returned to me.
The idea was so unlikely and far-fetched, but then again, so was the fact that I could summon storms with my hands.
Was this another part of the supernatural world I had access to, or that had access to me?
Was the torment a punishment for using my powers?
Had my use of magic made me visible to unnatural forces?
For a couple of weeks, there wasn’t much time to wonder.
The Arrow encountered two merchant ships, one after the other, and the restless and motivated crew were quick and efficient in their subjugation.
We looted them both without loss of life or unnecessary bloodshed. And I didn’t need to intervene.
We ended up with a good amount of supplies—water barrels, cheese, crackers, pickles, jams, weapons, tools, blankets and bedding, and of course, ale, Jamaican rum and even a few jars of Irish whisky.
Captain Martin and Hillier were pleased with our luck, the men were jovial, and the long journey ahead didn’t seem nearly as daunting.
But more often than not, I woke in the night, shaking and trembling, the dream creature’s gaping maw pitch-black, the song always there, eerie and endless. Sometimes the creature spoke, other times it was only the song and the sensation of being held under water.
The captain tried to joke about my troubles.
“If I’d known I’d have to share my marriage bed with a slimy sea monster with a big mouth and sharp teeth, well, I’d have had second thoughts.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, heart hammering and the sinking feeling pulling me down as I woke from another nightmare.
“Rooster, come here. I’ll sing to—no, no, I won’t sing, but I’ll hold you until you fall back asleep. Maybe if I hold you all night, you won’t have the dreams.”
“I’ll still have them. I’ve given up trying to stop them. Maybe they’re a part of—” I glanced at Captain Martin helplessly. “—what I am.”
“That doesn’t make sense. You only started to have them recently.” His eyebrows came together. “Over these waters…”
Captain Martin looked thoughtful.
“Aye, that’s true.” I looked out the windows at the stretch of blue ocean.
Even when the weather was fine, the waves looked threatening to me now, the depths beneath them mysterious and evil. I hated what the nightmares were doing to me.
“This is the way we came on our approach to Talamanca, only we’re going in the other direction now.”
I stared at him. He stared at me. He shrugged. Pearl yawned and whined in her sleep, stretching out, then relaxing again.
“You think…perhaps, I’m sensing something…under the water? In this place?”
“Look, Rooster, the sea is… She’s mysterious and deep and dark, and there are things in these depths that no man understands.”
“Now you’re truly scaring me.”
“You’re already frightened.”
“Aye. But I was the only one who thought the creature might be real.”
He was silent for a long time, smoothing the hair off my forehead and kissing my shoulder. “I’m only thinking out loud, and trying to figure this out. In the meantime, since you only have these troubles at night, I should keep you busy during the day, and perhaps you’ll sleep better.”
“I’ve dusted and mopped these rooms till they’re shining like a gold bullion.”
“I’m not speaking of dusting, Rooster.”
“Oh.”
“Perhaps I should practice my rope skills again. I think my knots are getting rusty.”
“Perhaps that’s your nuts, actually.”
He laughed, his breath shifting the strands of my hair. I felt safe and secure against him.
“All the more reason.”
“Aye.”
***
But we weren’t able to get up to any nonsense, because a ship appeared on the horizon and the men wanted to subdue her.
Hillier was using the spyglass to have a closer look. He and Captain Martin and I stood by the bow rail.
“French flag, Captain. She’s listing. Perhaps she’s had some damage. Always the easiest targets.”
“Yes, that’s true. However, if she’s been attacked and looted already, there might not be much left. And our hold is quite full already. Is an attack worth the risk?”
“The men are restless. Perhaps we stayed too long in calmer seas.”
“Well, let’s get her, then.”
“Will you try to negotiate?” I asked.
“We will show them we mean business. But, yes, of course. Best for everyone if they surrender.”