Pistoleer: Invasion

by Smith, Skye

  "Can ya get word to Waller too. Tell him we'll gladly had over the guard of the walls and the Bishop's palace to this lot.” He pointed to some locals waiting for their turn at the gate. "The local militia. If we Scots are allowed to surrender our posts to the local militia, I can promise you a peaceful handover."

  "I will tell them,” Daniel replied, and then gripped the mans elbow again and told him. "I'll go and tell them right now."

  "Thought you might.” The bushy beard hid the man's smile. "While you do that, may I ask that you leave that ugly mother and his men in place in front o' the gates. With them keeping the army at bay, I'll be able to let a lot more o' the locals through."

  "Jack,” Daniel called out, "I'm leaving you here and in charge of the gate. If there is any trouble, ask the marines and the Scots to help you."

  * * * * *

  "The admiral says let him come up!” one of Waller's lifeguard yelled down the staircase. Daniel pushed by the burly men blocking the bottom step and climbed to the upper floor. The lifeguard motioned him over to the Warwick who had stepped away from the main discussion so he could greet him. It took a few minutes to explain everything to Warwick, and then a few minutes more to answer his questions. Warwick then told him to lean against the wall and pretend to be a shadow while he went and spoke to the negotiators.

  "There has been a break through in the negotiations with the Scots,” Warwick told the group. One of the sheriff’s officers stood up and replied curtly that this was not possible for he was charged with negotiating on behalf of the Scots. Warwick ignored him and told the rest that the Scots are willing to immediately surrender the walls to the city militia. The only terms they ask is that both they and their arms be taken to my ships and be given free passage to Ireland, where they will seek work securing the Irish plantations."

  The room was immediately in an uproar, so Warwick stopped speaking and backed away from the other negotiators. No one seemed to like the idea except for the fat burgher of a mayor, William Bartholomew, who was sitting outside the inner circle. Once the initial squawking died down Warwick continued with, "If you give it your thought rather than your temper, you will reach the conclusion, as I already have, that this removes most of the stumbling blocks to the orderly surrender of the city. Moreover, Ireland is in flames so these Scots would be welcomed by everyone but the Irish rebels. While the king and we have been circling each other in England, it has been left to the Scots to quell the Irish rebellion. I have been told that these very men were originally recruited by the king to go to Ireland."

  Waller stood and that very act brought silence to the room. "I completely agree with sending them to Ireland, especially since the admiral's ships can take them away from here immediately. As for surrendering the walls to the city militia rather than to my army, that will cause trouble. I have already promised my men a share of the loot that the Sheriff Ford has already confiscated from the city. I still owe my me last month's wages, so they think the loot their due."

  Mayor Bartholomew stood up with a purposefully loud scrape of his chair to get everyone's attention, and then he bowed to Waller and called out, "Sir, if our militia is given charge of the walls and of the security of the streets, and if they are allowed to restore the Sheriff’s loot to the rightful owners, then I can promise you that my city will pay your men their back wages, in full, and soon."

  Although his officers were outraged by the offer of less than they would gain from looting, Waller was quite pleased by the offer. Unlike Winchester, Chichester had always sided with parliament, which was why Sheriff Ford had looted it in the first place. It would cause him no end of trouble with parliament if he did not return Ford's loot to the city. The mayor's offer would cancel his debts to his men, and still leave him with any treasures that the bishop had collected from the cathedral and churches. "Done, I accept your offer,” he said quickly to snuff out any debate. "Gentlemen, I fully agree with the admiral. This is the breakthrough we have been looking for in the negotiations, and the rest will now fall into place."

  With a half an hour officers from both sides were assigned the task of accompanying the mayor to oversee the handover of the control of the walls and streets. Once all those men were gone to the task, Waller personally poured more wine into the pots of those who were left. Still hidden in the shadows, Daniel licked his lips. He hadn't had good wine wet his lips since Winchester, weeks ago.

  Waller finished his pouring and then sat down in the chair next to Ford, and they began to discuss the surrender of the royalist officers, cavalryers, and other gentlemen in the king's service. These discussions lasted for two more pots of wine each, but eventually it was agreed and the sheriff stood, as did his officers, and they left the meeting to go and manage the surrender of his flying army.

  Under the agreement they were to pack their horses with their personal possessions, but then leave the gates on foot carrying no firearms, no lances, no armour, and no loot. Only their personal blades were allowed, in most cases meaning their sabres. Their horses would be returned to them outside the gates, after the saddlebags had been thoroughly searched, and after each man had signed a personal warrant that he would ride directly to his home and make no more trouble against the folk of England and parliament in particular, for the next six months.

  Throughout this, Warwick said not a word. Once the room had cleared of everyone save Waller and the two young ensigns who were being used as messengers, he walked close to Daniel and whispered, "Push them ensigns down the stairs and then stand outside and don't let anyone in. I wish to speak with William in private."

  There was no need to push the ensigns, for at that moment Waller sent them downstairs for more wine and food. Daniel closed and locked the door behind them and then leaned up against the shadowy wall beside it just in case someone came and knocked.

  Finally alone with his long time friend and partner, Warwick told Waller that the royalist sheriff, nobility, and officers were all to be taken by ship to London. He then handed Waller a written order from parliament's Committee of Safety confirming this.

  "Blast it Rob,” Waller complained. "You could have told me this before I made all of those promises to Edward. I've known Edward Ford for half my life, and now you have caused me to lie to him. And what a lie. Being shipped to London is a far cry from being allowed to ride home."

  "As he has lied to you, William, as he has lied to you. Did you really expect those officers to keep to their warrants and keep the peace for six months? Almost all of them broke similar oaths just last month, as you well know, and Edward was one of those. Why trust your own good name to their warrant, when I come to relieve you of the entire problem. In London there will be time enough and diplomats enough to negotiate with each of them separately."

  Waller was not happy hearing this truth, but he had no choice but to accept it. "They will say that this was all trickery on our part so that they would be defenseless when we order them to board your ships,” he complained.

  "A harmless trick to save lives, a lot of lives. And was it not trickery when you agreed so quickly to the mayor's offer, when you know full well that the bishop's palace will store wealth that far surpasses the loot that is to be returned to the Chichester merchants?"

  "That was good business, not trickery,” Waller defended.

  "You dare insult me with that old chestnut,” Warwick said softly. "I run businesses, remember. We are partners in businesses that span continents. Doesn't good business always come down to one side taking unfair advantage of the other? And how else would you define trickery?"

  The two men were in each other's faces but Daniel kept to the shadows and did not interfere. Eventually both of the lords began to laugh. They laughed so hard that they lost their breath and had to calm themselves. Waller was the first to recover his wind and he asked, "So Rob, speaking of business, has Nicholas Crispe agreed yet to the merger of his Guinea Company with our Somers Isle Company?"

  "He is stalling his decision. Nick still
thinks his company will be more profitable with Charlie running the kingdom than with me, I mean, with parliament running it."

  "So convince him otherwise,” Waller said, in a suddenly serious tone. "Did you tell him that he will still be free to run his African gold fields and his slave trade? All we want from him are his patents for trade with the Far East so we can compete head to head with the various East India companies."

  "He doesn't trust us, but soon enough he will be glad of the merger. I predict that this will be a very expensive winter for Nick. Once I show parliament his second set of financial books, the ones he used to bargain the worth of his company with us, they are sure to go after him for taxes. Once the London mob learns that he sides with the king, all his houses in Hammersmith and Lime will be occupied by squatters. By spring he will be begging for the merger in order to hold onto his own property."

  Daniel held himself perfectly still so that he could better hear the low voices. He didn't know much about how these companies were organized and run, but what these two businessmen were saying sounded more like piracy than his own idea of good business. To him, good business was when both sides were happy with the deal, not where one side profited from the misfortune of the other. He wondered at the ethics of these two men. Wondered, but did not speak his thoughts, for that may have hurt his chances of becoming the next governor of the Bermuda.

  Or did he even still want to be the governor? These men were speaking of joining the Somers Isle Company that ran Bermuda with Crispe's African company. He didn't know much about the secretive Mister Crispe, but he did know that his company profiteered from slavery. They not only traded slaves to the Spanish in the Americas, but they used slaves in their African gold mines. Something else was nagging him, and he searched back through what he had just heard to find out what. It was Warwick's mis-wording. Did he really consider himself as a replacement for the king? Such ugly thoughts caused him to groan aloud.

  Warwick heard the groan and turned towards him and said, "Danny, you are still here?” more to warn Waller to guard his tongue than to gain the Daniel's attention. To change the subject and the thinking away from their secret business dealings, he walked over to the windows facing the north gate and stared out and said, "The Scots are already being replaced on the walls, but we should still have a few hours of calm while the sheriff and his gentlemen pack their things."

  Waller joined him in the window. Daniel left the shadows and crossed to the window to hand the colonel his looker. With the looker Waller could clearly see as far as the west gate, and he told them, "The Scots are already handing over control of the west gate. So far so good.” He raised the looker a bit and stared at the round church. It had been beaten beyond repair by the king's cannon balls. He handed the looker on to Warwick but Warwick didn't take it.

  As Warwick pulled his own looker out of a pocket, he said, "Did I exaggerate, William, about how valuable Danny is to have on your side."

  "You did not exaggerate, Robert,” Waller replied. "Daniel is like this looker. They both focus on something that needs doing. I soon learned to give him goals rather than orders. Thus his hands were freed to act to the situation at the moment, and he is a man of action."

  "Aye, just the kind of man we need to run Bermuda,” Warwick said. He winked at Daniel and then continued. "I and some others on the board of the company want to name him as the next governor. Your vote would carry the nomination."

  "And you have it,” Waller said immediately, and then turned and shook Daniel's hand in a firm grasp. The tall man was grinning like the village fool. He turned to face Warwick again and said, "Oh, wait. We dare not change governors whilst these merger talks are underway with Nick. That would make him suspicious and may sour the deal."

  Daniel's smile turned into a frown, a thoughtful frown. What had Britta told him about rich and powerful men such as these? That they control people with the promise of gifts, but are slow in the actual giving. His frown deepened with the dark thought of what more these two men would expect of him. He almost expected that their next words be to ask him to assassinate Nicholas Crispe, just so they could take over the man's company.

  He turned away from them so they would not see the anger and disgust in his face. His reaction was not so much from the thought of killing Crispe, for the man was a renowned slaver. It was for how these wealthy men used people for their own ends and smiled while they did so, as if it were some parlour game rather than the twisting of lives. They were like the Wyred Sisters of folklore, weaving together the fates of man. The difference was that the sisters did so for irony, while these men did so for profit.

  Daniel suddenly felt very homesick for his cold, damp village in the Fens, and its warm, friendly folk.

  * * * * *

  * * * * *

  The Pistoleer - Invasion by Skye Smith Copyright 2013-15

  Chapter 10 - Riding to Farnham with Gunners in January 1643

  "Nothing you can say will dissuade me from going,” Daniel told both the Earl of Warwick and Colonel Waller in the luxurious room that Waller was claiming for himself in the bishop's palace in Chichester. "I have been too long away from my family and my village. This winter promises to be as long and as brutal as the last, so they may need me. Chichester is taken. The prisoners are being loaded onto the ships either to Ireland or to London. There will be no more campaigning until the thaw. I am done her. I am going home."

  "Then at least take passage on a London bound ship,” Warwick told him. "The roads between here and Windsor are still perilous. Royalist flying squads are still at large. Go by ship to London."

  "I thank yee for the offer Robert, but there is no room aboard those ships for passengers. The prisoners will be crammed below decks as if they were on slave ships."

  "Well then take a spare horse in case you are chased,” Warwick suggested.

  "One man with two horses? That will just make me a target for footpads. I'll ride safer if I choose a sad nag and dress like a farmer."

  "The roads will be dangerous, Daniel,” Waller confirmed. "At least until you are north of my garrison at Farnham Castle."

  Daniel stopped talking and began counting slowly to ten. The only time that Colonel Waller ever called him Daniel was when he wanted something from him. He got to six.

  "I may be able to arrange for a guard as far as Farnham,” Waller told him. "Here, read this. It is from my garrison commander at Farnham Castle.” He passed a letter towards him.

  "Just tell me what it says."

  "The townfolk of Farnham want one wall of the castle pulled down. They make the case that the only thing the castle has ever been used for is to provide sanctuary for marauding cavalry companies so they can sleep easy at night without having their throats cut and their horses stolen by the folk they just marauded."

  "What has your garrison been doing to them?” Daniel asked, dumbfounded. Farnham had been the first castle where he and Burt Miner had used a French Fart to blow down a stout gate. The king's gentlemen inside the castle had surrendered to escape being hung for how they had looted and raped their way around the parish. "Don't tell me they have been ravaging the locals as if they were the king's cavalry?"

  "No, nothing like that. The local mayor fears that the castle just makes his town a target for future cavalryers. You can see his point. The bloody castle was built by the Normans for exactly that purpose, and that has been its history ever since. I am going to agree to his request and send a few of my artillery gunners there to mine the walls. They will have an escort. If you travel with them, then you will be safe all the way to Farnham."

  "Why thank'ee, colonel. When do they leave?"

  "As soon as your skirmishers requisition horses and supplies. If you are going, then they may as well form the escort. After all, they have worked with these gunners before at the round church, and thanks to you, they well know their way around powder."

  "In other words,” Daniel sighed, outmaneuvered again, "you wish me to teach the gunners how to use
petards."

  "That would be most kind of you,” Waller grinned. "Most kind indeed."

  "These petards, those are the French Farts you have been using to blow down walls?” Warwick confirmed. "The trick with the bell and gunpowder. I'd like some of my navy gunners to learn that skill. With your permission, William, I'll send some along with your gunners, if you will arrange horses for them."

  Daniel groaned to himself. There goes his plan of a fast three day ride to Ely. This will make the same ride take five or even six days.

  * * * * *

  "Good,” was Smilin' Jacks comment. "That means we can keep hold of these carbines and this armour a while longer. And horses you say? Even better.” He saw that Daniel was not pleased and wondered why, since this plan would allow him safe passage a third of the way home.

  "I am being used, yet again,” Daniel said, as he stuffed the few bits of clothing he wasn't wearing into his saddle bags.

  "Oye, you were the one that told me that good business was when the deal was good for both sides. Stop complainin'. The townfolk of Farnham get what they want. The garrison at Farnham will be allowed to go home for the end of Yule. You'll get safe passage to Farnham. The gunners will learn a new skill for their trade. And most important, I get to keep this carbine, and perhaps a horse as well.” Jack slapped his captain on the shoulder. "Sound's like good business to me."

  Daniel was about to ask Jack about his choice of words about getting to keep a carbine and a horse, but they were interrupted by the arrival of the gunners. Three were part of the artillery squad which had manned the field guns on the second floor of this strange, round, and now ruined, church. The other three could be none other than the three naval gunners.