The Butcher's Daughter, page 27
Romulus and Remus. I had always only known them as the Twins. I looked down at the pathetic man in front of me sitting in a puddle of his own urine. I felt no pity. I nodded to Hunter to continue.
“And who,” Hunter asked, “is the woman who calls herself Lady Mary?”
“She is dead I think now. She was from Ireland.”
“You did business with her?” Atwood asked.
“Sí, a little.”
“What business?”
“She, she had ships. She brought goods from Europa to the Americas.”
“You mean she was a smuggler.”
“I, I don’t know. Possibly.”
“Possibly? Huh… And why do you think she is dead?”
“The Irish brothers, they took her. I heard they took her back to Ireland.”
“Why?”
Cortés started squirming in his chair. “They did not say.”
“They had ships and guns?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know they took her? How did they find her?”
“I, I, I only know what I have heard people say, sir.”
“I warned you friend about games,” Atwood said in an ugly tone, then back-handed Cortés across the face.
Cortés winced.
“You’re lying.”
“Please, please. There is some mistake I tell you!”
“We know you met the Twins in Santo Domingo. They asked you questions about Mary and you gave them answers. Yes? Do not lie.”
“Yes, yes, they threatened to kill my wife and daughters in Barcelona if I did not cooperate with them. I did not answer their questions freely.”
“Cooperate you say?” Hunter asked. “Now there’s an interesting word, cooperate. Did you sail with the Twins to Old Havana?”
“No.”
“No? To Guadeloupe then to find Mary?”
“No, no, no.”
“No? So how do you know Mary is dead?”
“I, I, just assume she is dead. I haven’t seen her or any of her men for many months.”
“What do you know about Spanish ships attacking Mary’s ships in Old Havana?”
“Why, nothing, Señor.”
“Nothing?”
Cortés tested the ropes that bound him. He was sweating profusely from every pore. “I, I, I know nothing about these things.”
“Are you certain?”
“Please, who are you?”
“We’re asking the questions,” Hunter said, followed by a fist into Cortés’s stomach.
“Ugh! Señors, por favor, why, why do you do this? What harm have I done to you? Please…”
When Hunter raised his fist again to strike Cortés in the jaw, I grabbed him by the forearm. I knelt down next to Cortés. I cupped his balls in my hand and began to squeeze.
“Ahhh, no, no, please, please…” Cortés pleaded.
I squeezed harder. I squeezed until he arched his back in agony, straining against his ropes. “How good it is to see you again, Rodriguez,” I whispered into his ear and removed his blindfold.
Cortés snapped his head around with his eyes bulging from their sockets; he looked at me in terror. “Mary!”
I released my grip around his testicles and stood. “Aye, Rodriguez, it’s me. As you can see, I’m alive and well. Mustafa, your knife, please.”
I took Efendi’s blade and wedged the edge against Cortés’s privates. “A man is not a man without his cock and balls. Are you a man Rodriguez?”
Cortés started sobbing. “Please, Mary, please.”
“Please? Please, what? Are you begging me to stop or is there something you wish to tell me? Because if you are begging me to stop I care not and I will leave you here with my companions to do with you as they like. They don’t seem very fond of you. On the other hand, if you wish to talk to me, then talk and I will stay and listen.”
“Please, please do not hurt me. I will tell you anything you wish to know, Mary, anything.”
“Then be a man,” I said as I ran the cold, steel blade across his scrotum. “No more lies, Rodriguez.”
“Yes, yes, no more lies.”
“Swear it.”
“I swear to God, no more lies.”
“Good. You just might survive this day with your cock and balls attached. But I give you fair warning Rodriguez: I haven’t quite decided what to do with you just yet. James, Jacob and Mustafa here I do believe want to carve you up and feed you to the fishes.”
Cortés looked at each of us in turn. He was panting so hard I feared his heart might burst before he could tell us his story.
“Let us begin anew,” I said softly. “Calm yourself, Rodriquez. You sailed with the Twins, with Romulus and Remus, to Old Havana. You were with the Twins when they attacked my ships after my men went ashore to pick up our cargo, true?”
“Yes, but I was a prisoner.”
“A prisoner?”
“Yes.”
“How so?”
“Mary, the Irish brothers had men in Barcelona watching my family.”
“Ah, so you said. But you haven’t answered my question.”
Cortés broke down again. His shoulders shook, his chest heaved up and down as the tears began to flow. “They broke into my home. They force, forced me to go with them.”
“Oh, they forced you?”
“Yes, I swear it.”
“Very well. Let’s see how this plays out. And the Twins had four ships, three small armed sloops and a large war-carrack?”
“Yes.”
“And there were three Spanish warships in the harbor too?”
When Cortés hesitated I slammed Efendi’s knife into the chair, barely missing Cortés’s balls. I left the knife imbedded in the wood, quivering. My actions had the desired effect.
“YESSS!” Cortés screamed.
“How did the Twins come by three Spanish ships?”
“I do not know. I swear. But Villeneuve, Villeneuve was somehow involved.”
“And after the slaughter in Old Havana, you were with the Twins in Guadeloupe when they ambushed me? Come now, don’t be coy. After all I saw you in the tent that night, on your hands and knees.”
“Yes, yes, but I did not know the Irish brothers would harm you.”
“Hmmm… You blamed the boy Billy that awful night for talking, for betraying me?”
“Yes.”
“How did you learn about the gold?”
“I, I…”
“No more lies, Rodriguez. No more half lies. I grow weary of this game.”
“Billy, Billy told me about the gold when we last met in Trinidad. I sought him out. I told him the Irish brothers had sent me and that is when he told me about the gold. He believed the gold would save his sister.”
“You did not travel to Trinidad to see a dying friend?”
“No.”
“I see. The Twins had you lure us to Old Havana where they would be waiting?”
“Yes.”
“And when the Twins did not find me or the Star in Old Havana, they sailed on to Guadeloupe to find me.”
“Yes. After, after, they took your ships they, they tortured Gilley and the others. Your men were very brave. Gilley refused to tell them where to find you, as did your other officers. But the brothers knew to look for you in Guadeloupe anyway. They tortured your men for pleasure.”
When I heard Gilley’s name, I had to pause for a moment. My lower lip began to quiver. I felt the mist rolling across my eyes. I bit my lip and turned my back on Cortés. I would not let him see me cry.
“There had to be another who betrayed me besides Billy,” I said matter-of-factly after I composed myself.
“I, I don’t think Billy meant you harm, Mary. He was young and frightened. These Irishmen though despise you, Mary. The Twins said you murdered their brother and stole his fortune back in Ireland. They said you ambushed and killed a sheriff and all his deputies. They said you are a pirate, that there is a bounty on your head. There is more to the story than just gold, yes?”
Cortés’s words cut me to the quick. I took a moment to weigh things out. There was truth in what he said. Perhaps Cortés and Billy were no more than victims. But then again, no.
I spun around and railed on him. “Damn your eyes Rodriguez! You don’t have the right to ask me questions! Now answer me. There was another, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Who? Who else led the Twins to you and then helped the Twins find me? Who else betrayed me?”
“I do not know his name.”
“One of my men?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
“In Trinidad he sought me out and handed me a letter to deliver to the Irish brothers.”
“What did the letter say?”
“I do not know, Mary. The letter was sealed. I swear it.”
“Describe him.”
“He was a short man with a beard. He had long, black hair and a flat nose. A small piece of his ear, his left ear I think, had been nicked in a fight, or in an accident.”
“Dundee!” exclaimed Hunter. “How did you know, Mary?”
“I didn’t know until now. Billy only returned to Ireland once with you and the fleet. I wondered if perhaps another betrayed us too, somehow fed the Twins information. Go now and fetch our good Master Dundee for me.”
Dundee had been one of the newer men we had recruited before sailing for the New World. I knew him only as an able sailmaker.
Hunter and Atwood soon returned dragging Dundee in-between them. They muscled Dundee over to me and held him fast.
“Is this the man, Rodriguez?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I turned to Dundee. “Why?”
Dundee didn’t answer. He didn’t protest or deny a thing. He looked down at Cortés, saw the knife sticking in the chair against Cortés’s testicles and looked away. He found comfort in staring at his shoes.
After we returned Dundee to the ship and tossed him in a cargo hold, we went back to the warehouse to finish our chat with Cortés. When he looked up at me I could see that something inside him had broken. He spilled his guts. He started blabbering like a child and told us everything. I believed his story about his family, about needing to protect them. I could have forgiven Cortés for that. Cortés told the Twins what he knew about my enterprise in the New World to save his wife and daughters. But the Twins had also seduced him with Aztec gold. Cortés had cut a deal with Villeneuve to lend the Twins ships and men to trick my men in Old Havana in exchange for a share in the gold. This was an unpardonable sin, a sin I could not forgive. Cortés understood. After he finished his story, he started whimpering again.
Still, I did not kill him. I took his little finger instead. I held his finger firmly while Efendi sliced it off.
“There, there now,” I told Cortés as he screamed and sobbed hysterically. I moved around behind the chair and began massaging his bare shoulders. “Hush, now my dear, hush,” I whispered into his ear. “Shhh, shhh, shhh. The worst is over, Rodriguez. I will let you live. Your finger though is mine. Your loyalty is to me now. From this day on, until the day you die, you will do what I say when I say and you will do whatever I say without question or exception. For if you fail me, I’ll come for you and I will find you and I’ll let Efendi here finish what he has started. He’ll cut you up in little pieces, starting with, well, you know. Do you understand me?”
“My fam, fam, family?”
“Your family never offended me,” I said as I undid his bindings. “And as anyone who knows me will attest: I do not harm or threaten women or children, not ever. The Twins though are far less squeamish about who they threaten, maim and kill. Alas, it is clear you do not truly know me for if you did you never would have betrayed me - certainly not for the devil’s own offspring or for a few pieces of fucking gold.”
Freed from his bonds, Cortés pressed his bleeding hand against his chest to numb the pain, to staunch the flow of blood. “I, I understand.”
I walked around the chair and undid my blouse in front of him. “Good, Rodriguez. Look at me. If it gives you any comfort, I’ve been maimed too. The one-eyed Twin, Romulus, gave this beauty mark to me after you left the tent that night in Guadeloupe. No doubt you heard me scream when he seared my flesh with a hot iron. No matter where you go, I can always find one handsome Spaniard missing a little finger on his left hand. Should I take your other little finger from your right hand too, just to be certain you understand me?”
Cortés glanced at my breast and quickly looked away. “No, no, nooo… Please, Mary.”
“Very well then. I will let you keep the rest of your fingers and your life in exchange for your loyalty, for your undivided loyalty to me. Do we have an understanding?”
“Yes.”
“Swear it before whatever god you pray to.”
“Before God, I swear it, Mary. You have my loyalty.”
“We shall see. Do you recall our first meeting in Trinidad?”
“Yes, of course.”
“As do I, Rodriguez, as do I. I remember your advice to me that day. I remember your words precisely. “Trust among friends,” you told me, “is a currency worth far more than gold here.””
“Mary, Mary, I, I, I…”
“Never mind. Had you heeded your own good advice we would not be here now. One last matter before I send you on your way. You owe me a substantial sum of money, money for my lost cargo, money for the ships taken from me and money to compensate the widows of my dead. And then there is the interest to consider - and I want it Rodriguez. I want it all…”
The Ten Rules were quite specific. The Ten Rules required a unanimous decision by each and every man. We tethered our three ships together in the middle of Old Havana Bay and my officers assembled all three crews on deck before sunrise. Dundee was brought up in heavy chains and I took my position on the quarter deck, standing against the fore rail.
“This man, one of our own,” I said in a loud voice for all to hear, “has betrayed us. Because of this man’s treachery many of our brothers are dead, our ships and treasure taken. The choice is yours to make. The Ten Rules are most clear: punishment by death at sea or the offender must be marooned on the nearest land, forever banished from our sight. This man, I cannot bring myself to even say his name, neither admits nor denies the charges against him. But the evidence of his crimes is plain and strong.”
I looked down on Dundee. “Prisoner, you have the right to speak. You have the right to defend yourself. This is your trial.”
Dundee shook his head and refused to say a word. He refused to even look at me.
Hunter took a step forward to stand by my side. “Those for death, say aye. Very well. Those in favor of leniency, say nay. Very well. Lady Mary, the vote is unanimous.”
“Indeed I see that it is, Captain Hunter. Prisoner, the vote by one and all is death. Before I accept the sentence, one last time I ask you: do you have anything to say?”
Dundee finally looked up at me. Not defiantly or in anger or even in fear as I had expected, but with a peaceful countenance about him.
“Only this, Lady Mary: I’m sorry for what I done. I never meant you or any of my mates any harm.”
“Well,” I replied without emotion, “I never meant to take your life away when you signed on with us back in Westport either. But there it is.”
I gave a nod and two burly men hustled Dundee over to the side. They forced him to step up on the rail still bound in heavy chains. He took one last look at the dark world around him and then, without another word, he jumped overboard on his own volition. With a splash of water, and a few bubbles, he was gone.
I turned to look at Cortés. He was standing against the mizzen mast only a few steps away wearing a forlorn expression on his face, like that of a lost, little boy. I waved him over to me.
“Rodriguez, I would have you come and stand by me as we prepare the ships to sail. I wish to enjoy your good company once again. I wish to resume our wonderful conversations about politics, history, religion and life. Tell me first my dear, how does your hand mend?”
Chapter Thirteen
Before breakfast we weighed anchor and set our sails to catch the morning tide. Feisty currents did the brunt of the work and pulled us out to sea. I was standing at the bow drinking my morning coffee, stealing a moment’s solitude, when I saw, on the far horizon, the sun just beginning to peak above the waves. I watched in fascination as she made her steady climb into the early morning sky betwixt two billowing thunderheads, enormous dark beasts, the largest I had ever seen. The titans - nearly identical twins - closed in on the rising sun on both sides like two huge pincers and devoured her, blotted out her glory, before she could reach her golden throne. A shudder ran down my spine. I wondered if the gods were sending me a new omen.
We set our course for Santo Domingo next for this was where Cortés kept his money. Santo Domingo was the place where I also hoped to find Villanueva. I had questions for him, questions that needed to be asked in person.
I sent MacGyver with the nimble Abuelita on ahead, followed by Atwood and the sturdy Carib while I fell in behind them both with the deadly Phantom. My thought was to offer-up the unarmed Abuelita and Carib as bait should we happen upon any Spanish ships worth plundering along the way. We made a peaceful, if slow, passage north under threatening skies in choppy seas.
I went below to fetch my sea cape, and then to the galley, and returned to the poop deck with fresh coffee for Hunter. I found him standing steadfast at the helm quietly working the tiller. With his feet planted firmly against the rolling deck and his hands wrapped tightly around the tiller as sea spray came over the rails showering him in water, with his unflinching gaze fixed on the far horizon as the wind whipped through his tangled mass of hair, I felt my knees go weak. My noble Hunter was a match in strength and beauty for any of the dauntless champions of old.
Hunter took a sip of coffee and nodded his appreciation. “Weather’s turning, Mary.”
“Aye, doesn’t look too threatening. Huracáns don’t strike in the winter months, or so they say. Perhaps we’ll be alright.”
“I’ll have the lads rig the ship for foul weather nonetheless.”
