Chase the Morning

Jyp ground his teeth. ‘But shipping out with us! He hasn’t never done such a thing that ever I’ve heard of! Why now, for this? He doesn’t care a fig for you, and little more for me! So what in all the hells is the old devil really up to?’ He shivered, and then sighed. ‘But if you really believe we need him, Steve –’

‘I … I don’t know. I suppose you could say I … feel it in my bones.’

‘I just hope Fynn don’t end up pickin’ em.’ Then he surprised me again, adding thoughtfully ‘But we’ll play it your way, Steve. Any feelings come to you, I’m inclined to trust.’ He slapped me on the shoulder. ‘So, you just hop back into your closed auto and get raising that money sharpish! If we miss the dawn-tide and the land-wind we’ll needs wait till sundown, and give the Wolves a full day’s lead.’ He looked back over his shoulder. ‘We’ll sail at dawn. Be aboard well before; I’ll send you word where.’

A sour chuckle floated after us. ‘Save your breath, cabôt. I’ll know.’

It was getting hazy and chill as I drove back into town. My first stop was at my flat, for a number of reasons. I wanted to change and pack, choosing the best clothes for what could be a pretty rough-and-tumble voyage. That done, I went through the rigmarole of opening my little wall safe and rummaging in it for my modest hoard of slightly illegal Krugerrands. Then I locked the place up, not without wondering whether I’d ever see it again, and set off for the Liberal Club. I knew that was one of the likeliest places to find Morry Jackman this time of night. Morry had sold me the coins, and I knew that within five minutes of finding him he’d inevitably be trying to sell me more. I liked Morry, and hoped his heart would stand the shock when this time I agreed.

‘Tonight? You mean, like now this minute?’ He put down his drink, and looked at me like a kindly owl. ‘What’re you doing, Stevie boy, flying the country?’

The truth can be best at times. ‘I’ve got a deal going – a chance at a Caribbean charter, very cheap if it’s in the ready. Guineas, yet.’

Morry nodded sagely. ‘Caribbean for four grand? Don’t blame you. On a night like this I’d pay pieces of eight, yet. Isn’t an extra share going, is there? Ah, never mind. One more sticky and we’ll go open up the shop,’

I drove back to the docks very carefully. The haze was turning to fog, and I didn’t want to risk any accidents with that little bag of coinage chinking and chuckling unlawfully to itself on the seat beside me. Morry had come up with an amazing assortment, everything from quarter-angels and Jersey crowns to Austrian imperial half-thalers in modern reissues and, like the good lad he was, he had been quite ready to take my cheque for a fair five thousand pounds’ worth at his untaxed prices. If the police found me with that they’d be bound to get suspicious and delay me, maybe fatally. So I contained my impatience, let the drunks go roaring past me into obscurity, and concentrated on finding my way. I made a couple of false turns at first, and began to sweat a little; the tendrils of the mist pointed this way and that like thin mocking fingers. But it was only shortly after midnight when a mellow gleam at street’s end caught my eye, and I pulled up outside the Illyrian Tavern. So I was beginning to find my way around, was I? To fit in. Oddly enough, that idea made me feel almost more uncomfortable. I glanced nervously into the night as I climbed out of the car. I’d never been scared of the dark in the world I knew – but here?

There were plenty of people there, to judge by the hubbub, but the shadows hid them well. While I was still on the stairs, though, Jyp hailed me excitedly from a small booth by the fire. ‘Steve! Let me present to you Captain Pierce, of the brigantine Defiance –’

A huge silhouette loomed up out of the booth behind him, towering over the two of us. ‘Give me your hand, sir!’ he thundered, and extended an arm swathed in so much lace I could hardly see his. ‘Your servant, Master Stephen!’ The hidden hand was ham-sized and hard as leather. His long sandy hair, curled like a spaniel’s, framed a ham face, too. Below his heavy jowls layer upon layer of foaming ruffles spilled down the front of a peculiar waistcoat, its front panels heavily embroidered and extending almost to his knees. ‘I’ll desire your better acquaintance, sir, upon our voyage! But for now, time presses and tide awaits, and I fear we must bring our bargain to a speedy term!’

‘You’ve got the money?’ breathed Jyp.

I spilled out the bag upon the table. Panic seized me, seeing it sitting there in the firelight; had I made a fool of myself? Or misunderstood Jyp? Were values in this crazy world as different as everything else? It looked like such a pathetic little pile, compared to all the pirate hoards I’d seen in books and films. Jyp and the captain stared at it a moment without speaking, and I sweated. Then Jyp whistled softly. ‘And you said you weren’t rich!’