Birds of Prey - Smith Wilbur (полная версия книги .TXT) 📗

"God grant it! "Judith prayed.

"I have a long account to settle with the Buzzard," Hal said grimly. "I ache in every part of my body and soul to have him under my guns."

Judith looked up at him in consternation. "You cannot fire upon his ship."

"What do you mean?" He stared back at her.

"He has the Emperor and the Tabernacle on board with him. You cannot risk destroying either of those."

As he realized the truth of what she had said Hal felt his spirits quail. He would have to run down the Gull of Mora and close with her while the Buzzard fired his broadsides into the Golden Bough and he could make no reply. He could imagine the terrible punishment they would have to endure, the cannonballs ripping through the hull of his ship and the slaughter on her decks, before they could board the Gull.

The Golden Bough ran on into the south. At the end of the forenoon watch Hal assembled all the men in the waist of the ship and told them of the task he demanded of them. "I will not hide it from you, lads. The Buzzard will be able to have his way with us, and we will not be able to fire back." They were silent and sober-faced. "But think how sweet it will be when we go aboard the Gull and take the steel to them."

They cheered him then, but there was fear in their eyes when he sent them back to trim the sails and coax every inch of speed out of the ship in her flight towards the Bah El Mandeb.

"You promise them death, and they cheer you," Judith Nazet said softly, when they were alone. "Yet you call me a leader of men." He thought he heard more than respect in her tone.

Half-way through the first dog watch there was a hail from the masthead. "Sail ho! Full on the bow!"

Hal's pulse raced. Could they have caught the Buzzard so soon? He snatched the speaking trumpet from its bracket. "Masthead! What do you make of her?"

"Lateen rig!" His heart sank. "A small ship. On the same course as we are."

Judith said quietly. "It could be the one I sent to follow the Gull."

Gradually they gained on the other vessel, and within half an hour it was hull up from the deck. Hal handed his telescope to Judith and she studied it carefully. "Yes. It is my scout." She lowered the glass. "Can you fly the white cross to allay their fears, then take me close enough to speak to her?"

They passed her so closely that they could look down onto her single deck. Judith shouted a question in Geez, then listened to the faint reply.

She turned back to Hal, her eyes bright with excitement. "You were right. They have been following the Gull since dawn. Until only a few hours ago they had her top sails in sight but then the wind strengthened and she pulled away from them."

"What course was she on when last they saw her?"

"The same course she has held all this day," Judith told him. "Due south, heading straight for the narrows of the Bah."

Though he entreated her to go down to his cabin and rest, Judith insisted on staying beside him on the quarterdeck. They spoke little, for both were too tense and fearful, but slowly there came over them a feeling of companionship. They took comfort from each other, and drew on a mutual reserve of strength and determination.

Every few minutes Hal looked up at his funereal black sails, then crossed to the binnacle. There was no order he could give the helm, for Ned Tyler was steering her fine as she could sail.

A charged and poignant silence lay heavy on the ship. No man shouted or laughed. The off-duty watch did not doze in the shade of the main sail as was their usual practice but huddled in small silent groups, alert to every move he made and to every word he uttered.

The sun made its majestic circle of the sky and drooped down to touch the far western hills. Night came upon them as stealthily as an assassin, and the horizon blurred and melded with the darkening sky, then was gone.

In the darkness he felt Judith's hand on his arm. It was smooth and warm, yet strong. "We have lost them, but it is not your fault," she said softly. "No man could have done more."

"I have not yet failed," he said. "Have faith in God and trust in me."

"But in darkness? Surely the Buzzard would not show a light, and by dawn tomorrow he will be through the Bah and into the open sea."

He wanted to tell her that all of this had been ordained long ago, that he was sailing south to meet a special destiny. Even though this might seem fanciful to her, he had to tell her. "Judith," he said, then paused as he sought the right words.

"Deck!" Aboli's voice boomed out of the darkness high above. It had a timbre and resonance to it that made Hal's skin prickle and the hairs at the back of his neck stand.

"Masthead!"he bellowed back. "A light dead ahead!"

He placed one arm. around Judith's shoulders and she made no move to pull away from him. Instead, she leaned closer.

"There is the answer to your question," he whispered. "God has provided for us," she replied.

"I must go aloft." Hal dropped his arm from around her shoulders.

"Perhaps we are too hasty, and the devil is playing us tricks." He strode across to Ned. "Dark ship, Mister Tyler. I'll keel haul the man who shows a light. Silent ship, no sound or voice." He went to the mainmast shrouds.

Hal climbed swiftly until he had joined Aboli. "Where is this light?" He scanned the darkness ahead. "I see nothing."