Pieces of Eight

by Deborah Chester

  Leon shoved himself away from the tree and stumbled down the hill in the darkness. “What do you expect from me, groveling?”

  “How about a thank you?”

  Leon snorted. “After I had to beg like a—”

  “I saved you, didn’t I?”

  “Only because you’re afraid I’ll block your chances of being recovered if I’m floating around in the time vortex. It seems to me you gave me a lecture not too long ago about not demanding gratitude because it would only turn sour. You’re just as self-serving as I am, brother, only I admit it and you won’t. That’s what I can’t stand…your damned hypocrisy.”

  Noel frowned. “You’re twisting everything again.”

  “Don’t justify yourself.”

  “I’m justifying nothing!” Noel caught his arm and jerked him around, wringing a choked cry from Leon. His duplicate swayed, and Noel steadied him, realizing he had yanked on Leon’s left arm and probably pulled the wound.

  “Sorry,” Noel said.

  Leon held his arm clamped against his side. After a moment he drew himself away from Noel’s support. “Go to hell,” he muttered.

  “Why are you always like this?” demanded Noel. “Why can’t you try to make a truce? We’re here, and we’re going to be here for the rest of our lives. The LOC is finished. I can’t fix it.”

  “Have you tried?”

  “Yes, I’ve tried,” Noel said angrily. “I’ve run diagnostic scans until—”

  “No, I mean really tried to fix it. As in open the casing.”

  “With what, a rock and a mallet?” retorted Noel sarcastically.

  Leon strode on, weaving now and then, but keeping his back to Noel.

  With a sigh, Noel followed him. “We have to find some means of sticking together. Mondoun will have less chance of manipulating us if we’re allies.”

  “I don’t want a truce,” Leon said, thrusting aside a branch and letting it whip behind him to smack into Noel. “I don’t want to work with you. I don’t want to stick together. If Mondoun does call the pirates back, I’m going to rejoin them. After all, I was Lonigan’s quartermaster.”

  “You’re hopeless,” Noel said in disgust.

  Leon stopped and turned to face him. “Wrong. I’m not hopeless. I’m hopeful. Finally I have a real chance to belong. You’ve robbed me of that everywhere we’ve traveled. Now I can be free of you.”

  “Is that what you honestly want?” Noel asked.

  The hatred seething from Leon was as strong as ever. His pleas for help, his moments of calm communication with Noel this afternoon, might never have happened. Now that he was out of danger, he had reverted instantly to his spiteful nature.

  “Is it?” Noel asked.

  “Isn’t it what you want?” Leon retorted. “Isn’t it always what you want? We traveled here with your hands around my throat, remember?”

  “I remember.” Noel hesitated. “We can go past that.”

  “Why? You want me to turn into something as spineless as your­self. Prating of conscience, lacking the ambition to accomplish anything. Bah! I don’t want to be like you. Now leave me alone.”

  “Leon, wait.”

  “No.” Leon walked on. “I’m going to make a bonfire so Lonigan’s lookouts will know someone’s still alive. If nothing else we can hold the woman and her boy for ransom.”

  “Leon—”

  “Just shut up, Noel! You can’t stop me, not anymore. You don’t have the LOC to tell you the future and give you an advantage over me. You’re on your own now.”

  “But—”

  “For the sake of old times, I’ll give you a warning. Hide now while you have the chance. If the pirates catch you again, you won’t have a prayer.”

  “Are you sure you want that to happen?” Noel asked.

  Leon threw back his head and laughed. “You still don’t understand, do you?”

  “Understand what?”

  “You can’t feel it, can you?”

  “Feel what?”

  Leon laughed again, laughed until Noel feared he would bring Mondoun down upon them.

  “Stop this,” Noel said, glancing over his shoulder. “What’s gotten into you?”

  “Didn’t you hear me when I spoke to you from the vortex?”

  “Yes, I heard. Why do you think I rescued you?”

  “We’ve never linked directly before. Never. I’ve tried and tried to touch your mind, but I couldn’t.”

  Noel frowned uneasily, wary of the glee in Leon’s voice. “Good. I don’t want to be manipulated by you.”

  “Stupid! Do I have to spell everything out for you?”

  Noel thought it through. “You’re saying the LOC protected me?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t care. I’m free. I feel this pain. I can stick my tongue to the bark of that tree over there and taste it. I’m not a shadow anymore. I’m real.”

  Noel drew in his breath sharply, trying to comprehend what Leon was saying. “You mean—”

  “That’s right, brother. I’m just as real as you, now. I have just as much right to be here as you. Whatever dominance you had once as the original is gone. There is no more original and copy. The two of us are equal.”

  “No,” Noel said involuntarily.

  “Yes! I tell you, yes! Now hide yourself. It’s the last favor I’ll ever give you. I mean that.”

  Leon glared at Noel a moment longer, then turned and walked on through the darkness.

  Chapter Eleven

  Shortly before noon the next day, Neddie—ever vigilant for rescue—spotted sails on the horizon. Whooping with excitement, he came scooting down the trunk of a palm tree.

  “It’s the Navy! They’ve come, Mama! They’ve come!”

  Running and waving his arms, Neddie skirted the construction site, where Noel and Kona labored to build a shelter more substantial than the palm frond lean-to shading Lady Mountleigh. Using timber felled by the storm and boards salvaged from the wreckage, they hoped to erect a small cabin that would at least keep out the daily rain showers. Neddie had scorned this project, declaring that they wouldn’t be here long enough to need a cabin, and refused to help.

  Now he dashed by heedlessly, kicking up sand as he went.

  “Come on! Come on!” he shouted. “They’re here.”

  Noel made an effort to slow him down, but the boy skipped past his fingers.

  “You can’t catch me,” taunted Neddie and stuck out his tongue at Noel. “I knew the Navy would come. Mama, did you hear?”

  Noel turned and gazed worriedly out to sea. Kona dropped the stick he’d been using to tamp dirt around the base of a corner post and began backing quietly away.

  “Wait, Kona,” Noel said.

  “It’s the Navy, the Navy!” chanted Neddie, scampering about in his own version of a hornpipe. “They’ll make Kona a slave again. And they’ll hang you.”

  Noel did his best to ignore the child. Lady Mountleigh, languishing in her nest of palm fronds, nibbled wanly on mangoes and made no attempt to chastise her offspring.

  “I will not be a slave again,” Kona said fiercely, still backing away. “I will not!”

  Noel stared at the ship but it was still too far away to see clearly. Shading his eyes, he squinted and longed for a spyglass. The ship hovered on the expanse of blue water. It was either moving slowly or it was just hanging out there.

  After a sleepless night, Noel wasn’t eager for it to be either Lonigan’s crew of cutthroats or the Royal Navy. If he had to be exiled here, then he wanted to be left alone.

  “We can hide in the caves,” he said slowly. He gazed around at the marked-off square and the stack of boards they’d assembled. “We’ll have to brush out our tracks and conceal some of this. We’d better get started.”

  “You tell me what you wish done,” Kona said. “I will do it.”

  “You can’t hide,” Neddie said. “I shall tell them where you are, and they will drag you forth and put you in chains.”

  Kona turned o
n him. “And maybe your young heart will go to the bocor after all.”

  Neddie turned pale. “Mama!”

  Lady Mountleigh sat up. “Really, Mr. Kedran, can’t you keep this man of yours under control? I won’t have my son threatened by a savage.”

  Noel barely bit back a reply. The woman was too indulgent of her little spoiled brat, but she wasn’t well either. He wasn’t going to yell at an injured woman.

  “Look,” he began as they all glared at him. “We can deal with personnel management problems later. Right now I think we need to be very careful, and not assume it’s rescue just because of your hopes.”

  Neddie frowned at him, then spun around and ran past Noel without a word.

  “Oh, dear,” Lady Mountleigh said, sighing. “You’ve set off his temper. He’ll be in the sulks now for hours. It’s not good for him to be rushing about so much in this heat. I do wish you wouldn’t distress him so, Mr. Kedran. He’s highly strung.”

  “He’s a spoiled brat,” Noel told her.

  Lady Mountleigh flushed. She lifted her plump chin. “Your criticism is not appreciated, Mr. Kedran. You may have assumed leadership of our group, but with rescue at hand I think you should consider yourself no longer in charge. Kindly refrain from future offerings of your unsolicited opinion in regards to my son and myself.”

  Noel stared at her in disbelief. What on earth did she think she was doing playing the grande dame now and putting on airs? If she had any sense at all, she should know better.

  “Fine,” he snapped. “If you don’t want my help, I’ll get out of your way. But you might consider the wisdom of caution, lady. If those are pirates instead of the Navy—”

  “Nonsense!”

  “The rumor going around is that Lonigan has his treasure buried here. Whether that’ s true or not doesn’t matter much at the moment. What does matter is that ship may not be friendly.”

  She raised her plump hands to her mouth and began to tremble. “I do not like your tone. I have never been spoken to so sharply by a servant, and I will not brook more of your insolence.”

  “I’ve had enough of this.” Noel started toward her. “You’re going to hide in the caves until we know if that’s a friendly ship out there. No more arguing, because I’ll drag you up the hill by your hair if I have to.”

  She shrank from him, terror-stricken and foolish. “Please, oh, please! I beg you—”

  “Bwana,” Kona said worriedly.

  Noel shot Lady Mountleigh a look of complete disgust. She was half swooning and sobbing with rapid little hiccups. Pamela Davenport would have already been halfway to the caves, fully aware of the potential danger of this situation and capable of coping with it.

  “Bwana!”

  Noel turned around. “Yes, what is it?”

  Kona pointed at the curve of the bay. Squinting, Noel saw Neddie picking his way through the scrub and rocks up the promontory slope. Gulls scattered ahead of him. Their shrieks failed to disturb the flock of flamingoes on the shore. Bright pink birds slept with their heads tucked under their wings, guarded by a lone sentinel balanced on one thin leg. The palms swayed gently. The waves rolled in and slobbered over white sand. Out to sea, the ship seemed to have turned aside as though it meant to pass them by. But if Neddie waved his flag and caught the lookout’s attention, they would come to investigate.

  Grim irritation settled over Noel. He and Kona looked at each other.

  “He’s going to wave that damned white flag,” Noel said.

  “I will stop him.”

  “No, you help Lady Mountleigh to the caves. I’ll take care of Neddie.”

  Striding fast, Noel crossed the beach, startling the flamingoes that flew over the water. He headed up the slope to the top of the headland, wincing as the weeds scratched his bare feet and the rocks bruised his toes.

  “Neddie!” he called. “Dammit, come back here!”

  He lost sight of the boy while he climbed the last few feet. But when he stood on top, sure enough, Neddie had the flagpole upright again, and was securing it in place with a stack of hand-sized rocks and shells. The white shirt tied to the pole flapped halfheartedly, then swelled out in the breeze.

  “Dammit!” Noel said. “Take that down.”

  Neddie stuck out his tongue and worked faster to secure the pole. “They’re leaving,” he said desperately. “They’re sailing on by.”

  “Can you see their flag?” Noel asked.

  “It’s the Union Jack. See? I told you!”

  Noel stared across the distance himself and saw the brilliant flutter of red, white, and blue that represented England. For a brief moment he was disconcerted. It seemed he’d been overreacting, but after Leon’s and Mondoun’s threats last night caution seemed the best policy.

  Another flag fluttered beneath the Union Jack, however. The ship turned gracefully, her white sails billowing and stately. The second flag streamed out plainly, and Noel saw it was black with white crossbones on it.

  He drew in his breath sharply, and felt ice water in his veins. “Look, Neddie,” he said in a voice raw with dismay. “Look what they’re flying.”

  Neddie’s blue eyes widened. He stared, his small body frozen.

  “What is it, Neddie?”

  Neddie’s mouth trembled. “The—the Jolly Roger.”

  Noel turned around to jerk down the flag. Neddie crouched behind some rocks, but Noel saw no need now to hide. Anyone with a spyglass could see him clearly. Nevertheless, he crouched beside the boy and watched, holding his breath in hope that the lookout would think the white flag was only a reflection of the sun on the waves that he’d seen, and not a signal for help.

  Yet the ship came on into the bay. She was close enough now for her flat deck and high gunwales to show. Her prow rose and dipped steadily. Men clung like monkeys in her rigging.

  Noel told himself not to panic. He could figure out a plan of defense. There had to be a way to keep himself and the others free from Lonigan’s crew.

  How? asked a despairing corner of his mind.

  Without weapons, all they could do was hide. And Noel figured Mondoun knew every inch of the caves honeycombing the island’s squat hill. The bocor would lead the pirates right to them.

  “I’m afraid,” whispered Neddie.

  Noel put his hand briefly on the boy’s small shoulder. “Me too.”

  “How touching.” Leon’s mocking voice came from behind them.

  Startled, Noel whirled around and found himself gazing into Leon’s pale silver eyes. Leon stood there in his tattered, salt-stained clothing. His left arm had been tucked up in a makeshift sling. His free hand held a dagger. He looked a bit drawn about the mouth, but there was a glow in him, a fierce exultation that Noel didn’t trust.

  “Where did you get the knife?” Noel asked. “From Mondoun?”

  Leon grinned. “You might say I found it.”

  “What happens now? What about Lady Mountleigh and the boy?”

  Leon shrugged his good shoulder. “That’s up to Lonigan.”

  “It doesn’t have to be. Let them go. Let them hide. Tell Lonigan they drowned.”

  “Why should I?” said Leon with an incredulous laugh.

  “They aren’t a part of this.”

  “Seems to me they are.” Leon bent over slightly and stared at Neddie. The boy shrank nearer to Noel, and Leon smiled a cruel, malevolent smile. “What’s the matter, brother? Are you afraid I’ll change history again? You’re a fool! You always were. You’re trapped here the same as me. Why should you care what we do or what we tamper with?”

  “I care,” Noel said thickly. “Leon, please. Let them hide in the caves.”

  “Caves?” Leon started laughing. “Noel, my stupid brother, you never stop amazing me. Lonigan’s treasure is in the caves.”

  At first Noel didn’t understand. “What?”

  “His treasure! Chests of it. Doubloons, pieces of eight, Dutch silver, and jewels! Rubies, emeralds, strings of enormous pearls. Spices from the
Orient. Kegs of rum. Gunpowder. Bolts of silks and velvets. I found it, and now it’s mine.”

  As Leon spoke, he swaggered closer to Noel and pulled a handful of gold coins from his pocket. He tossed them carelessly at Noel’s feet. Neddie bent to pick them up, but Noel gripped his shoulder.

  “Leave them,” he said quietly, his eyes never leaving Leon’s face. “Blood was shed to acquire that money.”

  Neddie dropped the coins.

  “Oh, poppycock!” Leon said with scorn. “Why fill the brat’s head with that kind of romantic mush? Money is money. It has no morals of its own. It can’t be tainted. It belongs to whoever is smart enough to acquire it and keep it.” Leon threw back his head with another shout of laughter. “Lonigan acquired it, but I’m going to keep it.”

  “Are you crazy?” Noel said. “He’ll draw and quarter you.”

  “Not if he can’t find it, Leon said, chuckling. “Not if we hide it and don’t tell him where it is. There’s no time to lose, brother. We’ve got to move it before he comes ashore.”

  It was risky, but Noel saw that it was the only chance they had. Still, he looked at Leon with suspicion. “Last night you were threatening me for eternity. You said you intended to stick with Lonigan and be a pirate for—”

  “And now I’ve changed my tune?” broke in Leon. “Are you wondering why?”

  “Yeah.”

  “My motives are simple. I change with the wind. What­ever opportunity presents itself, I follow it. But to do this, I need your help. Don’t be stupid, Noel. Without my plan you’re lost.”

  Noel looked away, but he knew Leon was right. He also knew that Leon wouldn’t have approached him with this offer if he could have shifted the treasure alone. As soon as Leon no longer needed Noel’s help, he would betray Noel.

  “Hey, I was a little upset last night,” Leon continued. “A touch feverish maybe. Mondoun got under my skin. I said things I didn’t mean. You don’t intend to hold a grudge, do you?”

  Leon’s wheedling lone was so patently false Noel glared at him. “Don’t push it,” he said.