Chapter 20 #2
He snatched Lady Annabelle’s hand, pulling her forward and kissing the back of it in a courtly manner, but there was no politeness behind the gesture.
He was a man who expected to be obeyed. Hawke prayed that Lady Annabelle’s stubbornness did not lead to her finding out what he would do if he were not.
Blackham dropped Lady Annabelle’s hand. “The time has come, Courtney. Where is it?”
Courtney did not answer.
“Is it on your ship?” Blackham continued his casual stroll, circling the pair. “With her ladyship? It would truly be a hindrance to my plan if I should have to go to London and ransack her house for it. But I don’t believe that will be necessary.”
“Where is what, Court?” Lady Annabelle asked.
Courtney remained silent, watching Blackham with defiance in his expression.
Blackham shook his head. “You see, I am an excellent reader of people. From what I know of you, Courtney, you keep important things close.” His eyes flicked to Lady Annabelle.
“It is somewhere you could watch over it, but where no one else would think to look. And where better than with the one you hold most precious?” He stopped in front of Courtney. “Tell me. Where is de Silva’s key?”
“The key?” Lady Annabelle asked, looking between the two men.
The crewmembers around Hawke muttered to one another. They were as confused as he.
“As I’ve told you, there is no key,” Courtney said.
Blackham looked at him a moment longer, then turned, shrugging. “If she doesn’t have it, we’ve no need for her.” He nodded to Falco.
Lady Annabelle tried to hold on to Courtney’s arm, but Falco easily pulled her away.
“Or any of them.” He looked at the crew. “We’ve men enough to sail Calypso’s Quest without your crew.” He lifted a hand. “Men, ready your weapons.”
The hiss of metal sounded behind them as swords were unsheathed. Axes and daggers were drawn.
Some of the crewmembers cried out.
Grieg crossed himself.
Shadbolt tensed.
Hawke felt a rush of panic as Falco grinned at Lady Annabelle.
He was furious at himself. He could not possibly have done a poorer job of protecting her.
He started to push himself to his feet, but someone grabbed onto his shoulders, shoving him back down.
The man behind him grinned, his boarding axe raised.
“The spyglass,” Courtney called out. His eyes were wide and his voice hoarse. “The key is in Belle’s spyglass.”
“At ease, men,” Blackham said.
Grumbles of disappointment came from behind, and sighs of relief from the crew.
Blackham strode to Lady Annabelle and pulled the spyglass from the scarf at her waist.
She reached to take it back, but he turned away without even glancing at her.
He studied it, extending the tube and looking through the lens. Then he brought it down hard on a rock, smashing it to bits.
Lady Annabelle gasped.
Courtney sighed, his shoulders sagging.
The gathered men leaned close, trying to get a look at the pieces.
Lady Annabelle didn’t stay to see what he found. She pulled her arm from Falco’s grip and hurried to Courtney’s side.
Falco seemed not to notice. His attention was on the bits of broken glass and metal.
Blackham snatched something from the ground, grinning. He held it up, studying it, then put it in his pocket. “We still have a good amount of daylight, Wilkes, so we’ll start off immediately. Bring the prepared torches, and twenty men you trust.”
The same look of annoyance crossed Wilkes’s face. He stormed away as Blackham went inside his tent.
Shadbolt leaned closer to Hawke and spoke in a soft voice. “There is resentment between the two captains.”
Hawke nodded. Now that he wasn’t worried about being chopped to bits, he wondered how he might use Wilkes’s ani-mosity as an advantage.
The majority of their captors moved off, and Calypso’s Quest’s crew clustered into small groups, still under the watchful eye of the remaining guards.
Hawke stood, and when nobody moved to stop him, he walked across the sand to join Lady Annabelle and Courtney.
She put a hand on his arm, just beneath his shoulder, giving a tired smile.
Hawke looked her over, searching for any sign of injury. He took her hand, holding it between his own bound hands, and nodded, hoping he looked reassuring.
“It’s good to see you again, Hawke,” Courtney said. His gaze darted between the two, then down at their joined hands.
“Glad to see you’re all right, Captain,” Hawke said.
Courtney sighed. “For the most part.” He frowned, shoulders slumping. “I never wanted see this place again.” He looked at his crew, at Lady Annabelle, and then at Hawke.
Hawke gave a grim smile, understanding what the captain did not say. His crew and his goddaughter were his responsibility, and he believed he’d failed them. “We’re still standing,” Hawke told him. “Do not lose hope.”
“You did not do this, Court,” Lady Annabelle said. She took her hand from Hawke’s arm and laid it on Courtney’s.
Hawke was a bit disgruntled with the shift, but he supposed there were more pressing worries.
He darted his gaze to where the bits of the broken spyglass still lay on the sand. “That wasn’t actually—”
Courtney frowned. “It was.”
“He has all three.” Hawke didn’t phrase it as a question. If Blackham did not have the three keys, there would be no point in bringing two ships and a crew of sufficient size to transport a Spanish treasure ship’s worth of silver.
“Yes,” Courtney said.
That knowledge alone was a death sentence to anyone on the island who wasn’t essential to sailing the ships that would convey the treasure away.
He wondered how many of Blackham’s or Wilkes’s men understood that fact and were willing to risk their lives for a chance of a share in the wealth.
He wondered how many of his own crew would survive.
Blackham came from inside the tent. “Find the leaders,” Blackham said, waving toward Courtney’s crew.
“We will bring them with us. I don’t want to have to worry about a mutiny while we’re gone.
” He joined Courtney, Hawke, and Lady Annabelle.
“You’ll come along as well. A little insurance to keep your crew compliant.
” He sneered, but just as quickly as it had disappeared, his pleasant mask returned.
The swiftness of the change made Hawke’s stomach turn.
“I’m sure you’re curious,” Blackham said.
From beneath his shirt, he pulled out a cord that held a medieval-looking silver key tarnished black.
He extended it for them to study. The key was close to eight inches long with an ornate bow and two bits.
“It’s really quite ingenious,” Blackham said.
He turned the key over, showing a small switch on the stem.
Using his thumbnail, he depressed it, and the bits slid out, one after another.
“You see, it isn’t three keys at all,” he said, sliding the bits back into place. They clicked as they reattached.
“One key in three pieces,” Lady Annabelle said. “How clever.”
Blackham took the key from around his neck, offering it graciously to her. It was nearly impossible to believe this was the same man who had kidnapped Captain Courtney and moments earlier threatened to slaughter his entire crew.
She looked hesitant, but curiosity must have overridden her dislike of the man. She took the key, turning it over in her hands, holding it where Courtney and Hawke had a good view as well.
“Such beautiful metalwork,” she said, handing it back. She turned to Courtney. “I thought they were all lost, but you had a piece all this time? How did you come by it?”
“Bill Tompkins, a crewmate of mine—ours,” he amended, glancing at Hawke. “He discovered it here on the island and recognized its significance. He gave it to me on his deathbed.”
“And you vowed it would never fall into the wrong hands.” Blackham shook his head, making a tsking noise. “A pity.”
Falco brought Shadbolt and Grieg to join them.
Wilkes arrived with his chosen men.
“Ah, excellent, we are all here.” Blackham beamed at them. “It is time to seek our fortunes. Onward to the treasure.”