"It is possible that it is an elven island," answered Mikal. "It is also possible that seeing an elf might trigger some alarm. I seek to have that question answered before we enter the bay."
"Does that mean that we won't be going ashore?" asked Natia.
"If this island is a regular stopping place for the Zarans," answered Mikal, "I think we need to be cautious about who goes ashore. The reason we are stopping is for water, nothing more. I think it might be wise to let Captain Gomery's crew handle it. We would not want descriptions of the rest of us given to the next Zaran ship to come this way."
"I was kind of hoping to get some dirt under my feet," frowned Natia, "even if for only a little while."
"You will have plenty of dirt under your boots when we reach Zara," smiled Mikal. "For now, let's be cautious."
Mikal returned to watching the island through his scope. Others proceeded to the bow of the ship, but Natia took up conversation with Warren. A small number of coins changed hands, and Natia slid into the hold while everyone's attention was focused on the island.
Meanwhile, Bitsy returned from her scouting mission. She lighted on Mikal's shoulder and reported what she had seen.
"There are no elves on the island," stated Bitsy. "There are several dozen houses and a large building near the dock."
"There is a dock?" asked Mikal. "Will the Remora fit alongside it?"
"I do not think so," replied the fairy. "It is a very small dock. I think it is meant for small boats. There are also a few small sailing vessels along the beach, both in the bay and on the opposite shore of the island. I think it is an island of fishermen."
"They would almost have to be, out here," Mikal nodded. "I think sending only the crew is a safe path to follow."
Bitsy climbed back into Mikal's pocket as he walked to the helm to speak with Captain Gomery.
"I think it wise to send only your crew ashore," stated Mikal. "I would like to leave the impression that we are a Zaran ship just seeking water."
"That sounds wise to me," the captain nodded in agreement. "I will send Chanz with seven of the crew ashore. They should be able to get our barrels filled in a short time, and we can get back on course before night falls."
"I will have my men gather the barrels and get them ready for the small boats," offered Mikal.
The captain nodded silently and signaled for Chanz to come to the helm. The mate responded promptly.
"You are going to take two small boats ashore and get our water barrels filled," explained the captain. "Leave Cirris and one of the other brothers with the ship. Should I need to maneuver, they are the best equipped to help me."
"It shall be as you wish," replied Chanz. "I will try to keep our visit short."
As the Remora turned into the bay, Mikal ordered the elves below deck. Yolinda and Natia were already absent, and Mikal instructed the rest of his men to gather around the barrels. The sails were dropped and the anchor set in quick fashion. With professional efficiency, two short boats were lowered into the calm waters of the bay, and eight sailors climbed down into them. The Rangers lowered the empty barrels down to the crew, and the small boats started moving towards the small dock. The Remora was still a fair distance out in the bay, but Mikal ordered his men below deck so that the townspeople wouldn't gawk at them. He alone remained with Captain Gomery and the three brothers. The captain scratched his head in confusion as he stared at the three brothers and then gazed at the two short boats heading for the dock.
"What is the matter?" asked Mikal, sensing some confusion in the captain's face.
"I see the three brothers at the bow," answered the captain.
"As do I," shrugged Mikal. "What is wrong with that?"
"Then who are the eight sailors in the short boats?" asked the captain.
Mikal gazed at the boats in momentary confusion before slamming his fist down on the rail. "Natia," he swore under his breath.
Chapter 6
Double Danger
Mikal stared with disbelief at the two boats heading for the dock.
"Where would Natia get the clothes?" he asked the captain.
"The men keep their spare clothes in the hold," answered Captain Gomery. "There is no sense in worrying about her now. Let's hope that she can maintain her disguise until they get back to the ship."
Unknown to either the captain or Mikal, Tedi had come up on deck looking for Natia.
"Help me lower a boat," demanded Tedi. "I am going after her."
Mikal whirled around and shook his head. "No, you are not," he said sternly. "We will watch from here, but no one else leaves this ship unless we see trouble on shore."
Tedi's forehead creased heavily and his lips pressed tightly together in frustration, but he didn't think to question Mikal's authority. Instead he reached into his breast pocket and roused Button from her nap.
"What a beautiful day," yawned the small woman as she stretched.
"Natia has dressed as a sailor and gone to the island," declared Tedi. "You will go and keep an eye on her."
"And remain unnoticed," added Mikal.
Button glanced from Tedi to Mikal and shrugged. "Fairies are never seen when we don't want to be seen," she chirped.
The fairy leaped off Tedi's shoulder just as the boats were being secured to the dock. She soared into the air and flew across the bay to land on the roof of the large building. There she settled in to watch over Natia.
Natia was not aware that Button was watching over her, but she was aware that the sailors in her boat had noticed who she was. Each of them wore a wide grin on his face, and Natia smiled and held a finger to her lips. Chanz was in the first boat, and he was unaware that his party had been infiltrated. He hopped out of the boat and approached the large building. A weathered old man who had been watching since the Remora entered the bay came out to meet him.
"We need water," Chanz said with a smile. "We ran into a terrible storm out there and lost ours."
"Aye," the man nodded knowingly. "It passed through here too a whiles back. What ship are you on?"
Chanz smiled and half turned as he pointed towards the bay. "That one," he grinned.
"Aye," the man shook his head. "Kind of figured that was the one. What's the name?"
"Oh," Chanz blushed with embarrassment. "It's the Remora."
"The Remora, eh?" nodded the man. "You've been gone a long time."
"Aye," Chanz agreed anxiously. "We need to get our barrels filled and be underway."
The old man looked thoughtfully at the crew behind Chanz for what seemed like an eternity before nodding decisively. "Bring them in then," he eventually said. "I trust you brought gold with you?"
Chanz's eyes widened at the thought of paying gold for water, but he held his tongue. He had no idea what arrangements the Zarans had with the small island. "Of course," he finally answered.
"Good," the old man smiled showing a toothless mouth. "One gold per barrel should be about right."
Chanz seethed inwardly, but he waved his men forward and pointed to the large building as he fumbled with his coin pouch. He fretted that he had no Zaran coins and wondered what the man would say when he handed him Cordonian coins.
"Use Lanoirian coins," a soft voice whispered by his ear. "If he asks, tell him it is booty taken from the enemy."
Chanz stiffened, but he did not turn around to look. He recognized the voice well enough, although he couldn't imagine how she had gotten to shore. Nevertheless, he followed her advice. He rooted through the pouch the captain had given him and found enough Lanoirian coins to satisfy the bill. He gave them to the old man, and watched another toothless grin spread across the man's face. The man shoved the coins into his own pouch and turned to enter the large building. Chanz spun around and confronted Natia.
"What are you doing here?" he asked softly.
"Watching you get swindled," replied Natia. "That old man has never received gold for his water before."
"How do you know that?" asked Chanz.
"I am a gypsy," smiled Natia. "I know a swindler when I see one. I doubt he has ever seen a gold coin in his life."
"But what made him think he could charge so much then?" asked the mate.
"I am not sure," admitted Natia, "but he knows that we are not Zarans. I suspect that you were too civil to him. Or perhaps the Zarans do not ask for water. Maybe they just take it."
"I should go club him over the head and take the captain's gold back," Chanz scowled quietly.
"It wouldn't do to go assaulting the natives," chuckled Natia. "I am going inside to see what the large building is here for."
Before Chanz could object, the gypsy was well on her way to the doorway of the building. She slipped inside the building and found herself in a large dark room. The walls were piled high with crates of various shapes and sizes, but the center of the room was home to a well. The sailors had carried the empty barrels and lined them up around the well. There was an old woman and a younger man in addition to the old man, and Natia noticed a family resemblance between the two men. The old man and the old woman were talking to each other in whispers while the son filled the barrels.
Natia decided to inspect the crates and slid into a narrow corridor between two rows of them. She pulled a knife from her belt and worked one of the boards of a crate loose. Surprise filled her eyes, and she turned to repeat the procedure on the next crate. With her curiosity piqued, Natia worked her way along the narrow corridor, inspecting each of the crates.
"They are filling the last barrel," Button whispered in her ear. "You should return to the boat."
Natia was surprised to hear Button's voice, but she didn't show it. She sheathed her knife and eased her way towards the mouth of the narrow corridor. When she got there, she gazed out and saw a sailor talking to the old man's son. Something exchanged hands, and the son turned and fled out the rear door of the building. Natia tried to see which sailor it was, but all of them wore scarves on their heads. She had thought the scarves were great because they allowed her to portray a sailor, but now it hindered her in determining who the man was. One thing she was sure of, Chanz had ordered all of the men to keep their mouths shut while on the island.
Natia froze as the sailor left the room, and the old man walked towards her hiding place. The old woman turned and left via the rear entrance. When the dark room got suddenly darker, she realized that the old man had shuttered the only window. A few moments later a beam of sunlight spread across the floor as the old man opened the door on the bay side of the building. Natia broke from cover and raced silently towards the light. Just as the old man was closing the door to the warehouse, Natia bumped into him and squeezed through the door. She continued running to the dock where her boat mates were waiting for her.
"I thought you got lost," Warren said as they pushed off from the dock.
"I almost did," Natia replied. "Was I the last one to arrive?"
"If not," laughed Warren, "then someone is still on the island."
"Who was next to last?" she asked innocently.
"I really wasn't paying attention," Warren admitted.
Natia looked at the other two men questioningly, but they ignored her as they started rowing back to the Remora. When they reached the ship, Natia clambered up the side and swung over the rail. Tedi was standing there waiting with his arms crossed. He was obviously upset.
"Before you yell at me," Natia said softly, "get Mikal and meet me below."
She spun away from her husband and raced towards the hatchway. Tedi shook his head in confusion, but then Natia constantly confused him. He walked to the helm where Mikal was talking to the captain. He silently nodded at Mikal with a sideways motion of his head to indicate that he wanted to talk. He then turned towards the hatchway and heard Mikal breaking off his conversation with Captain Gomery. When Mikal entered the galley, Tedi and Natia were already seated. Mikal suspected that Tedi wanted him to lecture Natia about following orders and he began to do so.
"For now, Natia," Mikal began, "you are no longer a gypsy. You have to learn to act like the rest of the team."
"I don't need a lecture, Mikal," Natia retorted. "I asked to speak to you because it is important."
Mikal's eyes grew wide in surprise, but he nodded his permission to continue.
"That warehouse is packed with crates," Natia reported. "The Zarans are prepositioning supplies for the attack on Alcea. Just destroying that warehouse would delay the invasion."
"How can you know that?" asked Tedi. "The supplies could be for the islanders."
"Not a chance," Natia shook her head. "There can't be more than a few dozen people on that island. There are enough supplies in that warehouse to literally feed an army. Everything is smoked or salted so it will last a long time."
"That is important to know," sighed Mikal, "but we are not going to destroy the warehouse and announce that we will be arriving in Zara shortly."
"They are going to know anyway," Natia replied with frustration. "One of our sailors spoke with the old man in the warehouse. He passed something to the man's son, and the son took off like he had an important mission to perform. I am sure that the Snake onboard the Remora has already announced that we are coming."
"Who was it?" Mikal and Tedi asked in unison.
"I wish I knew," sighed Natia. "I only saw him in the dim warehouse, and I only saw the back of him. They all look alike, and I could not tell who it was."
Mikal rose and raced out of the galley. He leaped up the steps to the deck and ran to the helm.
"Do you think any of the ships in this harbor could reach Zara?" he asked the captain.
"In fair weather I suppose," replied Captain Gomery. "Why do you ask?"
"We think that our Snake might have passed off information about us to the islanders," Mikal explained.
"Then we should be concerned about that," the captain pointed to a small white sail off the north coast of the island. "I was just admiring the way he tacks into the wind."
Mikal stared at the tiny white sail heading westward. "Can we catch him?"
"Doubtful," the captain shook his head. "A small craft like that will just skim over the waters. The Remora is not made for such speed. Besides, he is already north of the island, we have to leave the bay to the south and then go around the island before we are back on route. I don't think we will ever be seeing him again."
"Don't delay it, but call me before you weigh anchor," Mikal said as he turned to head back to the galley.
Mikal reentered the galley and sat down. "Are you positive of what you saw in the warehouse, Natia?"
"Positive," the gypsy nodded. "Most of the crates were made in Giza, and I sampled what was in a dozen of them. They are not meant for island consumption. I should also point out that the old man knew that we weren't Zarans, even though he had heard of the Remora before. He charged Chanz one gold per barrel of water. Even if our Snake had not alerted them, they would still send someone on ahead of us. I am willing to wager that the old man's son is already on his way."
"That is a wager I will not take," frowned Mikal. "A small sailboat left from the north side of the island a short time ago. We stand no chance of catching him."
"Then we should take the time to destroy the warehouse," Natia said adamantly.
"And so we will," agreed Mikal. "Tedi, get Karl and the elves assembled on deck and tell them to bring some fire glue."
Mikal left right after Tedi, and Natia took the time to change into her own clothes. When she arrived on deck, they were just raising the anchor. Mikal, Tedi, and the three elves were lined up along the rail with arrows nocked. As soon as the anchor was up, the sailors raised short sails, and the captain took the Remora on a slow loop towards the dock. When the captain got as close to the dock as he dared to get, he called to Mikal. The five archers dipped their arrows into the fire glue and fired. The warehouse started burning almost immediately, and the old man ran out yelling and shaking his fist. The sailors worked the sails as the Remora came about and
headed out of the bay. Natia walked to the stern rail and watched the building burn. After a while she felt a presence alongside her. She looked and saw Chanz beside her.
"I should have hit him over the head," Chanz remarked. "Bad enough that he was a thief, but a Zaran to boot."
"What would you gain from hitting him over the head?" asked Natia.
"At least I would have the captain's gold that he stole from us," shrugged the mate. "We may need that gold in Zara."
"Oh that," giggled Natia as she handed a pouch to Chanz. "The old man seems to have misplaced his pouch."
A puzzled look fell over Chanz's face as he opened the pouch and saw the gold Lanoirian coins inside.
"I couldn't leave him with Lanoirian coins," Natia shrugged with a grin on her face.
* * *
It was just past high sun when the small sail disappeared over the horizon. Mikal sighed and lowered the scope.
"You were right," he said to Captain Gomery. "We will never see him again."
"How does this change your plans?" asked the captain. "It seems fairly obvious that our arrival in Zara will be expected."
"If that sailor can stay awake long enough to reach Zara," mused Mikal. "I saw only one person onboard. He must sleep sometime."
"Good point," the captain nodded thoughtfully. "I think we still have a good week before we sight Zara. No man can stay awake that long."
"And he should know that," pondered Mikal. "So why is he making the attempt then? What are we missing?"
"He could easily hide his small boat behind any of these small barren islands," commented Max Caber. "We would never see him, but he would lose his lead on us."
"Unless the Snake onboard has plans to slow us down," fretted the captain. "We need to find out who is betraying us."
Mikal had spent the entire morning watching the small sailing ship speeding away from the Remora, and he automatically brought the scope to his eye as he digested the captain's words. What he saw brought a frown to his face.
"We are going to have company soon," Mikal said softly.
"What do you see?" asked Max.
Final Voyage of the Remora Page 8