Dark Stars (The Thief Taker Book 3)

by C. S. Quinn

  Chapter 103

  ‘Janus was trying to keep his identity a secret from you,’ guessed De Ryker.

  ‘Yes,’ said Charlie. ‘Perhaps he thought I might have the power to change his mind.’

  De Ryker smiled. ‘Then I knew your father,’ he said. ‘Tobias Oakley. He was a seafaring man and an excellent shipbuilder.’ De Ryker’s eyes settled on Charlie’s key. ‘I hear,’ he said, ‘your father made all kinds of things for the English before his untimely death. But he made the mistake of coming to Holland to try and restore your worthless King to the throne.’ De Ryker gave a brief smile. ‘I tried to buy Tobias Oakley for the Dutch,’ he continued. ‘He had great talent. But his loyalty was misplaced. When I heard he’d been captured and killed by pirates, I felt truly sorry.’

  De Ryker eyed Charlie. ‘Janus is like a son to me,’ said De Ryker. ‘He is part of my crew. My men are his brothers. You hope he’ll betray me? He won’t.’

  ‘His name is Rowan,’ said Charlie.

  ‘We’ll see,’ said De Ryker. He put his fingers to his lips and made a high whistle.

  Charlie heard footsteps and then saw a familiar face.

  ‘Rowan!’ Charlie couldn’t keep the relief from his voice.

  His brother’s face bore the same blank expression Charlie remembered from the orphan home. He felt hope drain away.

  ‘Janus is of my mind,’ said De Ryker. He clapped Rowan on the back. ‘A son of my heart. I mean to protect him and make him great.’

  Rowan was looking at Charlie. There was a long silence.

  ‘How did you know it was me?’ he asked finally.

  ‘A few things,’ said Charlie. ‘When I discovered Thorne had an apprentice, it occurred to me he might have a son. Since Thorne preferred men to women, the only likely mother would be his legal wife. And my key.’ Charlie touched it. ‘Why should our mother leave it to the youngest? It made no sense unless we had different fathers. The key belonged to my father, not yours.’

  Charlie reached into his coat and brought out a closed fist. He uncurled his fingers. Rowan’s Neptune amulet glittered inside.

  ‘This was the final part of the mystery,’ he said. ‘A coin to pay the dead.’ He threw the dark-coloured coin, and Janus caught it. ‘It was Thorne’s,’ said Charlie. ‘You kept it since boyhood. I thought it copper, but it isn’t. It’s silver, stained red–brown with blood. Did you take it from the executioner’s block?’

  Rowan nodded. ‘I grew up in your shadow,’ he replied, ‘fighting to be someone I wasn’t. Now I’ve made my own path. De Ryker has shown me how to embrace my dark stars.’

  Charlie didn’t know what reaction he’d expected. But it wasn’t this.

  ‘Rowan,’ Charlie said, shaking his head, ‘don’t do this. We can go back to England with the clock. I’ll talk to the Oracle. There’ll easily be enough money to free you.’

  Rowan’s face tightened. ‘Always in your debt, little brother,’ he said. ‘I’m a child of Holland now. After we invade, I’ll be a rich man in my own right.’

  ‘And what of me and your fellow Englishmen?’ asked Charlie.

  ‘You’ll join the Dutch cause or die,’ said Rowan. His eyes flicked to the sea captain. ‘Don’t underestimate De Ryker,’ he added. ‘His methods can be very persuasive.’

  De Ryker was staring at the two brothers, apparently enjoying the drama.

  Charlie closed his eyes, trying to calm the tumult in his mind.

  ‘It’s not too late for you, Rowan,’ he said, though he knew in his heart it was.

  His brother’s face flashed a sudden fury. ‘Do you have any idea what it was like growing up the least-favoured child?’ demanded Rowan. ‘Charlie Oakley,’ he said, sneering the name, ‘the golden boy. Tobias Oakley’s son. My own mother left you the key and all the secrets, and me nothing. Me!’ he added, striking his heart with his fist, ‘the legitimate firstborn son.’

  ‘She didn’t.’ Charlie was shaking his head.

  ‘You must think me a fool,’ said Rowan. ‘How else did you open Thorne’s box and retrieve the Eye? Our mother left you a star chart to open my birthright.’

  ‘You think she told me how to open Thorne’s box?’ asked Charlie. ‘She didn’t. But she did love you,’ added Charlie quietly. ‘She left you something better than a key. Your birthday.’

  For the first time Rowan seemed to flinch.

  ‘I didn’t know how to open the box,’ said Charlie. ‘So I entered a star chart I remembered from when we were boys. The planets from the hour of your birth, Rowan, unlocked the Eye.’

  Something like dawning realisation figured on Rowan’s face. The bitterness in his brow lifted slightly.

  ‘Did it never seem strange to you,’ continued Charlie, ‘that your birthday made such an unusual chart? All Saturn?’ Charlie saw something in Rowan’s face and pressed his advantage. ‘Our mother died before she could tell you the truth,’ he said. ‘You were left the greatest gift of all. The key to unlock Thorne’s Eye. But she died, and you grew up thinking your birthday real.’

  Rowan’s face was twisted in confusion.

  ‘Why must you always risk your life for mine?’ he demanded. ‘We’re not even true brothers. You know that now.’

  ‘We’re not brothers because of blood,’ said Charlie. ‘We’re brothers because of what we survived together.’

  Rowan shook his head. ‘Little Charlie Oakley,’ he sighed, ‘always doing good. This is the real world, Brother. Some battles can’t be won.’

  Rowan moved towards Charlie, grasped his younger brother’s bound hands and helped him to his feet. He hugged Charlie tightly, then backed away, his brown eyes empty.

  ‘I’m sorry, Charlie,’ he said, ‘but De Ryker is right. Your faith in me is misguided. It always has been.’

  Rowan handed the clock to De Ryker, and the admiral bellowed a great laugh of triumph. He turned it wonderingly in his hands.

  ‘One of us had to win,’ said Rowan. ‘Don’t take it so hard, Charlie. It could have been you. Loyalty always was your downfall.’

  De Ryker was examining the clock. ‘Such treasure!’ he gloated. ‘After we take England, Holland will rule the waves. We shall own every colony in the New World.’ His eyes settled on Janus. ‘You shall be my first hand,’ he said, ‘and be well rewarded for your loyalty. Your brother will face the same trial you did. Perhaps you’ll see him again.’

  Rowan had a distant look now. Like a practised general ready for battle.

  ‘Time to ready your fireship, Janus,’ De Ryker grinned, gesturing to below deck. ‘After the Lucifer is deployed, you will have bought your freedom and will enter London at my side.’

  ‘You’ve loaded the serpentine gunpowder?’ Rowan asked.

  ‘The finest black powder is in all our weaponry,’ promised De Ryker. He patted the guns slung across his body. ‘Your fuses will burn steadily.’

  As Rowan vanished from sight, De Ryker studied the dark sky.

  ‘I don’t like misplaced loyalty,’ he said quietly, more to himself than Charlie. ‘You are a distraction. A danger. Janus’s allegiances cannot be risked. But you are fortunate,’ De Ryker concluded. ‘I will give you a seaman’s execution in recognition of your brother’s loyalty.’

  Chapter 104

  Charlie stood on the deck of the Lucifer, his hands bound helplessly in front of him. De Ryker was pointing a pistol steadily at Charlie’s chest, Thorne’s Eye gripped tightly in his other hand.

  ‘It’s just us here,’ said De Ryker conversationally. ‘Janus is below deck. A small crew will join him shortly, but for the moment it’s just you, me and this pistol.’

  For a moment Charlie thought he meant to kill him on the spot. Then the old admiral paused.

  ‘A living son of Tobias Oakley,’ he said slowly. ‘What do you know of your father?’

  Charlie hesitated. ‘Nothing,’ he admitted. ‘I don’t remember him.’

  ‘Your father was a great seafarer,’ said De Ryker. ‘He was killed b
y a brutal pirate. A man called the Phoenix.’ He paused, watching for a reaction. ‘Still thinking of your brother?’ guessed De Ryker. ‘He has no loyalty to you.’

  He sounded almost sorry.

  ‘So people keep telling me.’

  Charlie assessed the distance between him and De Ryker. He thought them to be ten feet apart. The longitude clock was still clutched protectively in the admiral’s hand.

  ‘But what you should know,’ continued Charlie, ‘is my brother has no loyalty to you either.’

  De Ryker smiled. ‘Janus couldn’t betray me even if he wanted to.’

  ‘My guess,’ continued Charlie, ‘is Rowan means to steal your fireship.’

  ‘I have cannons trained on every fireship he pilots,’ said De Ryker. ‘Janus knows I don’t trust him.’

  ‘I imagine,’ continued Charlie, ‘Rowan suggested some bold new measure to make the Lucifer more flammable. Perhaps serpentine gunpowder? Rowan’s always been gifted at sourcing fake black powder.’

  De Ryker called to mind how Janus had sourced the gunpowder.

  ‘It was no false gunpowder,’ he growled. ‘I saw it flame.’

  Taking advantage of the admiral’s uncertainty, Charlie stepped forward.

  ‘A little slight of hand,’ said Charlie. ‘A small sample of good gunpowder hidden in a pocket is an old trick. I doubt you would have fallen for it had you not trusted Rowan.’

  ‘No man would be so foolish,’ said De Ryker. But he sounded less sure. He gripped his gun more tightly, training it on his captive.

  Charlie moved closer. ‘My brother would,’ he said, stepping slowly as he spoke. ‘Believe me. I’ve spent my whole life trying to talk Rowan out of foolish schemes. Likely he targeted you for the very reason no one else would dare. I expect he was gauging the best time to disarm you and escape with a good ship from the start.’

  Charlie hesitated. He’d halved the distance between them now. Only a few steps remained.

  ‘And if your gunpowder isn’t real,’ said Charlie, ‘your pistol is useless.’

  At De Ryker’s shocked expression, Charlie pounced. With his wrists bound in front of him, his movements were restricted. But he managed to close the last few feet to the admiral.

  Instinctively the admiral fired his gun. The mechanism clicked harmlessly against the false gunpowder. Charlie moved in and managed to snatch the Eye with his bound hands.

  De Ryker threw his whole weight forward and sent Charlie crashing to the deck. He grabbed Charlie’s bound wrists and reached for his knife. Charlie twisted, but the admiral was too strong. De Ryker delivered a blow to the side of his head that left his ears ringing and snatched at the Eye.

  The ship tilted slightly and Charlie took advantage of the movement, flinging his body weight sideways. He rolled free and struggled to his feet, racing with his bound hands in front to the edge of the Lucifer. But De Ryker was an experienced sailor, adjusting easily for the swell and springing up to pursue Charlie.

  Charlie turned. Then he held Thorne’s clock over the side of the ship, above the Thames waters.

  De Ryker stopped dead, his eyes fixed on the longitude clock.

  ‘Come any closer,’ Charlie threatened, ‘and I’ll drop the Eye.’

  ‘Wait,’ said De Ryker. ‘I can help you. At sea you hear stories,’ he continued. ‘Don’t you want to know about your father?’

  Charlie watched De Ryker carefully for signs of a trick.

  ‘Some say Tobias Oakley could never have been bested at sea and escaped in disguise,’ said De Ryker softly. ‘You look a lot like him. If he still lives, we might find him together.’

  Charlie said nothing. He was thinking of Rowan, somewhere below deck.

  ‘If you joined me,’ said De Ryker, ‘you could take Janus’s place. A great seafarer such as Tobias Oakley. His blood is in your veins.’

  De Ryker was moving forward now. Charlie shook his head.

  ‘Keep back,’ he said. ‘I would never betray Rowan.’

  De Ryker smiled. ‘Perhaps I believe you,’ he said, ‘yet I don’t believe the son of such a sailor could destroy the longitude clock.’

  He lunged, and in his surprise Charlie moved his hands forward to defend himself. De Ryker was on him in moments, his fingers closing on the clock.

  Charlie launched his hands upwards. Thorne’s Eye went sailing towards the edge of the ship. De Ryker leapt forward to catch it, but Charlie lowered his head and charged. The two men went sprawling on the deck.

  Behind them the Eye dropped out of sight over the side of the Lucifer.

  De Ryker’s mouth dropped open in horror.

  ‘The Eye,’ he whispered. ‘No!’

  The admiral raced to where the clock had fallen. But the Thames showed only an expanding pool of ripples. The Eye had sunk out of sight, down to the muddy depths.

  ‘No!’ De Ryker’s face was tight with rage. He turned to Charlie, bound and lying prone on the deck of the ship.

  ‘You have cost me the world,’ he hissed, advancing on his captive with his knife drawn. ‘And you shall suffer accordingly.’

  Chapter 105

  Charlie saw De Ryker close in, knife held aloft. But the blow to his body never came.

  From the side of his vision he saw a dark shape tackle De Ryker. The captain was thrown from view. Charlie got to his feet with difficulty. The admiral was grappling another man, both fighting brutally.

  De Ryker’s knife dropped to the ground only a few feet away from Charlie. The blade was bloody. Charlie made for it on all fours and grasped the handle in both hands.

  He glanced at the fighting men. They had shifted to the side of the ship, raining blows on one another.

  With difficulty Charlie turned the knife, resting the handle on the deck, angling the sharp point upwards to cut his ropes.

  There was a guttural cry. Charlie’s eyes flicked up in time to see a man fall overboard.

  The other man leaned on the prow, blood pumping from his side.

  It was Rowan.

  As Charlie cut the last of his ropes, he saw his brother collapse in a wide pool of his own blood.

  Charlie raced to his side. Rowan had a jagged knife wound between his ribs. His breathing was fast and ragged. Charlie fell to his knees, tore away part of his shirt and bunched the wad of fabric to stem the blood. But Rowan shook his head.

  ‘It’s too late for me,’ he managed. He coughed, and blood appeared in his mouth.

  ‘No,’ said Charlie. ‘I can get you back to London. Find a surgeon.’

  ‘You never did know when to give up, little brother.’

  ‘You saved me,’ said Charlie. ‘I was right about you.’

  Rowan gave the faintest of smiles. ‘After you told me my birthday was false, I realised my stars might not be so dark after all.’

  ‘You were to steal the Lucifer,’ said Charlie, eyeing the huge deck where his brother lay. ‘You could have escaped, left me to my fate.’

  Rowan nodded. ‘She’s a good, fast ship,’ he said wistfully. ‘I’ve been working on getting her for months.’ He frowned. ‘Was it true what you said? My father left me my birthday so I might find the Eye?’

  Charlie nodded.

  Rowan considered this. ‘All this time I thought my father hadn’t trusted me enough,’ he said. ‘I thought he died without telling me where the Eye was hidden. I didn’t realise he’d left me the means all along. My birthday.’

  Rowan reached into his pocket and took out the silver coin with Neptune on one side, St Peter on the reverse.

  ‘I saw him die,’ he said. ‘Thorne. My father. Mother wanted me to stay away, but I slipped out. He put this in his mouth at the end,’ Rowan continued, ‘so his soul would go to Roman gods.’ He was turning it thoughtfully. ‘I should have returned the coin to the Thames, but I could never forgive him for betraying me.’ He pushed the coin into Charlie’s hand. ‘My father was not a good man,’ he said. ‘You can decide his fate.’ His brown eyes looked up at Charlie. ‘I hate
d you when you were born,’ he admitted. ‘I thought our mother loved you best.’

  ‘She loved you too,’ said Charlie.

  ‘I know,’ said Rowan. He patted Charlie on the shoulder. ‘By the time you were two you were right enough. I never told you that. Then our mother died . . .’

  Charlie remembered Rowan’s tiny pale face and hooded eyes. The face of a child who’d seen their mother murdered.

  Rowan’s eyes were clouding over now. He was looking at Charlie.

  ‘Bess,’ he said. ‘Bess in Covent Garden.’

  Charlie searched his memory for Rowan’s many girls and settled on one with dark hair who Rowan had seemed particularly fond of.

  ‘The actress?’ said Charlie.

  Rowan nodded. ‘She has a boy . . . I think . . . my son,’ he managed. Rowan was silent, his eyes far away. He managed to swallow. ‘Take the Lucifer,’ he said. ‘Sail back to London. Pine resin and pitch sell for a pretty penny. There’ll be enough money to see Bess and the boy are well cared for.’

  ‘I can’t sail,’ said Charlie.

  ‘I already set the sails for you,’ said Rowan. ‘Whilst you were on deck with De Ryker. The wind blows west. If you pull anchor, she should drift that way. Hail some sailors at Greenwich and have them crew you back. They’ll work for pennies.’

  The effort of speaking had exhausted him now. Rowan sunk back, his breath coming in short gasps. Then his eyes stilled and his lips stopped moving.

  Charlie looked at his face for a long time. He closed his brother’s eyes and stood staring out into the Thames. Then he drew his hand back and launched Thorne’s silver coin into the river depths.

  Chapter 106

  A crew of shouting Dutch sailors pulled De Ryker from the water. He emerged on the deck of the Eendracht dripping wet, a determined glint in his eye.

  ‘Janus is dead,’ he said. ‘The Eye is gone. Pass me the spyglass.’

  A terrified sailor handed the spyglass to his captain. De Ryker moved to the prow of the massive man-of-war, spyglass glued to his good eye. He saw the Lucifer, now far on the horizon, the wind blowing her west with Charlie Oakley still on board. Angrily he swung the spyglass.