Caribee by Christopher Nicole

Author:Christopher Nicole
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Historical Novel
ISBN: 9780451065407
Publisher: Signet
Published: 1974-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

8

The Guns of Spain

The French fleet lay at anchor, perhaps half a mile from the shore. But even at this distance the watchers on the beach could see that every gun was run out, and that the sails remained ready to be unfurled.

'Christ, to know what to do.' Ashton chewed his lip.

'By God, that seems simple enough.' Edward sucked fresh air into his lungs. To be free, away from the foetid atmosphere of the goalhouse and its uncovered cess bucket. To see blue sky and feel the trade wind on his face. He felt that he could challenge the world. 'Monsieur Galante, you seek to bluff us, I assume. Were we to man those cannon which your leader so graciously granted to my father, you'd not land here without loss.'

Galante shrugged. ‘Perhaps not, Mr Warner. Yet I do assure you that there are three hundred fighting men to be spared from those ships, and still leave them capable of manoeuvre and action. Should you defy us, why, we shall land farther down the beach, and assault you from the land.'

'We are capable of turning our cannon to command the beach,' Edward said.

Then will our ships approach and bombard you from the flank.'

‘In the name of God,' Mr Mailing shouted. That would be nothing less than a massacre.'

'Aye,' Jarring said. 'There are the women and children.'

'Of course, gentlemen,' Galante agreed. 'And we are not murderers. Hence you will observe that we have not even fired into your ships. There are two of them. Sufficient to permit you to evacuate the island.'

'And go where?" Edward demanded.

Once again the gentle shrug. That is entirely up to you, Mr Warner. It is a large world, full of empty islands. This merely happens to be one of the most attractive of them, and more, it is the one chosen by the Sieur d'Esnambuc on which to create a new France.'

'And if we decide to surrender but remain?' Jarring asked.

That also you are welcome to do,' Galante replied. 'Our colony will certainly need all the labour it may obtain. Indeed, I am instructed to inform you that the offer of evacuation does not extend to your Irishmen.'

'By God,' Ashton said. 'You'd seek to set us alongside those rascals?"

Galante permitted himself a smile. 'To us, Mr Ashton, it is all a matter of degree. You are both from islands off the coast of Europe, and you both possess a certain indiscipline which renders you bad neighbours, except under duress."

'We are wasting time," Edward said. 'My name is Warner, Monsieur Galante, and this island was granted to my father, firstly by Chief Tegramond and then by King James, for him and his heirs in perpetuity. We'll fight, by God. You'll get nothing but a desert, when you force your way in here, and be sure your people will also have suffered.'

Galante gazed at him for a moment, and then allowed himself to look at the other colonists, and up the street at the women and the children, waiting at the rear.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.