The Sands of Shark Island by Alexander McCall Smith

Author:Alexander McCall Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Birlinn

Then it was the turn of the boys. They admired everything about Captain Tommy – the voice that sounded as deep as the sea itself; the wrinkled skin that looked as if it was made out of waterproof tarpaulin; and of course the proud, erect bearing that came from years of commanding sailors at sea. This was a man, they thought, who knew everything there was to know about the sea.

The two captains wanted some time alone to talk about old times, so Mike, at Captain Tommy’s suggestion, took everybody else off to the kitchen at the back of the house for a glass of lemonade.

“Captain Tommy makes this himself from the lemons that grow in his garden,” he said. “It’s said to be the best lemonade in the entire Caribbean.”

When they tasted it, everyone had to agree. Then Mike gave them each one of Captain Tommy’s famous ship’s biscuits. He explained these were made with coconut from the Captain’s own trees. “They’ve won prizes up in Jamaica and down in Grenada,” Mike said. “There are lots of people who would love to get their hands on the recipe.”

They went outside to sit on the back veranda. There they talked for almost half an hour before Mike suggested they go back to see the two captains.

Captain Tommy and Captain Macbeth had finished talking about the old days and were pleased to see the crew.

“There’s something I want to tell you people,” said Captain Tommy. “I’ve already told young Wood here.” He nodded towards Mike. “He knows the story – but I’d like you to know too.”

“We’d love to hear it,” said Poppy, speaking for all of them.

Captain Tommy nodded in her direction. “Well said, young lady. There are people who don’t want to hear stories, but you’ll never make true sailors out of them. Real sailors are always interested in a good story, as long as the sea comes into it somewhere. And it does in this one – in fact the sea is right at the heart of it.

“This all took place some time ago,” he continued. “Your captain here, Captain Macbeth, was a very young man then – he was in command of his first ship, the Puffin. It was not a very big ship, but you never forget your first command, no matter how small she is.

“I was the captain of a steamer that sailed all the way down the Eastern Caribbean, stopping at a lot of the smaller islands. We delivered just about everything back then – trucks, spare parts, food, picks and shovels – you name it, we carried it.

“Now, there was a right nasty piece of work hanging about in these waters – a man by the name of Thorn. Robert Algernon Thorn, to give him his full name, but he was generally known as Bert Thorn, or simply Thorn. Thorn was a crook. He used to have a racket in out-of-date pies in Jamaica, but they chased him out of Kingston after the pies made everyone ill, and he took to being a pirate.

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