Chapter 12
Benjamin awoke and felt the sunlight coming through the cabin window. He mentally took stock of their position, in relation to the sun, and saw that they were headed due south. He slipped out of the bunk without waking Delphia and hurriedly got dressed. As he started out the door Delphia stirred. He went to the bed and waited until she was awake. As she became aware of her surroundings, she reached for him with a smile. He rose and avoided her arms. He had business to attend to and she would have to wait for his return.
"Stay in the cabin until I return. I have to talk to the captain and make plans for our journey. We don't know if Spain will try to take our ship or if they will allow us into port. We are only lightly armed and I do not think we would stand much of a chance against a Spanish war ship.
He kissed her and left the cabin to find the captain.
The captain was leaning against the railing. Benjamin walked up to him and saw that the captain was asleep, standing up. The captain was used to long hours and had conditioned himself to catch what sleep he could, were he could. He must have realized that someone was near, because his eyes opened and he quickly looked to see who had walked up to him.
"Sire, I trust you had a good night's sleep. Nothing like the sea air to put a soul at peace."
Benjamin looked at the sails. The ship was at full trim and the ship was cutting through the waves at a lively pace. There were no clouds in the sky. There were only a few sailors on deck and he knew that the sailors would be getting a few hours sleep while they could.
"Captain, could we go to the stern? I would like to discuss our mission out of earshot of the crew."
Benjamin and the captain walked to the stern, "Captain, our mission is to go to Spain. Three Spanish merchant ships have been lost and the Spanish think that we plundered them and sunk them. My mission is to go to Spain and try to avert a war. I only hope that the Spanish will listen to us before they execute us. I ask that your ship's carpenter fashion another flagpole and fly the Spanish flag next to ours. I doubt that the Spanish will fire on a ship flying their own flag."
Benjamin looked at the captain, seeking for a sign that he felt comfortable with the mission. Something in the captain's eyes alerted Benjamin and he waited the grizzled seaman to speak. The captain turned and looked out at the sea.
"Captain, I sense that you are not comfortable with this mission. Speak your mind. I need your help on this matter."
The seaman turned to Benjamin, "Sire, I feel that I should not speak. I could lose my head."
Benjamin put his arm on the captain's shoulder, "Please speak you mind. I promise that no one will know what you tell me now. I need every bit of information that is available. This mission could mean death for all of us if I blunder into the Court Of Spain like a fool."
"Sire, we did sack the Spanish merchant ships. I saw the cargo in the warehouse on the dock before we sailed. Some of the seamen were complaining because there was no gold on the ships. They had been told that the ships contained a lot of gold. The Spaniards were tied up below decks and the ships were scuttled. Every man went to the bottom of the sea."
Benjamin turned to the rail and looked out at the sea. Anger started to boil in his chest. He gripped the rail of the ship until his knuckles turned white. How could the King do this to him? Was he trying to get him killed? What did the King hope that he would accomplish? Did he have any chance of convincing the Spanish that England had nothing to do with the missing ships? What did Spain really know about the missing ships?
Benjamin turned to the captain, "Please leave me for awhile. I have to make a plan. Thank you Captain for your honesty."
The captain retreated and Benjamin turned back to staring at the sea. He spent the morning at the rail formulating a plan. When he was satisfied that the plan had a small chance of working, he sought out the captain and they returned to the stern of the ship.
"Captain, there is a small Spanish port shown on the charts. It is known as Gijon. You will drop me off at that port and I will either purchase a horse or steal one and make my way to Madrid. You turn the ship around and head back to England. I will give you a letter for the King saying that I was afraid that we would lose the ship, so I disembarked at Gijon and ordered you to return to England. I entrust the safety of the lady Delphia to you. Make sure that she returns to the King unharmed."
"Sire, I doubt that you would live for a full day in Spain. Surely there is another way that we could fulfill our mission."
Benjamin and the captain argued for hours about the plan. In the end the captain agreed to put in at Gijon and put Benjamin ashore. Both men had fears that the Spanish would kill Benjamin as soon as he set foot on Spanish soil.
The captain set sail for Gijon.
Benjamin walked to the cabin. Delphia was dressed and had eaten. Benjamin told her that he was afraid for her safety and the safety of the crew and that he had decided to put in at a small port and make his way to Madrid over land. She was distressed that she would not go to the Court Of Spain, but she knew that the trip was dangerous and she had no wish to die for the English.
The rest of the trip was spent in their cabin. Delphia took delight in making love to Benjamin until he was too exhausted to continue. She wished that the trip could last longer, as he was a great lover. She knew that as soon as she was back in England she would have to entertain the Cardinal and his bishops. They were sadists and they never made love, they only conquered a woman.
Benjamin did not tell her the real reason for the change of plans. He did not trust her that much. She knew that the King had the power of life and death over her and she would tell the King anything that she knew to curry favor with him. Because she was only his mistress, she had to constantly maneuver to prove to the King that she was valuable to him.
The captain sailed close to the Spanish coast, constantly keeping watches in the mast for any signs of a Spanish gunboat. The crew became jittery went they realized how close to Spain that the ship had sailed. Spain and England had an uneasy truce and incidents were often and violent. Several of the crew had asked the captain if their destination was Spain. That was unheard of in the English fleet. The captain had wisely lied to the crew and told them that they were on the lookout of easy plunder. Since they were lightly armed, the crew knew that the only ships that they had any chance against would be a small coastal merchant ship. The crew hated the Spanish and were satisfied that maybe they would be able to kill a few Spaniards and get some loot besides. They knew that the Spanish loved gold.
As he neared Spain, the captain trimmed his sails so the ship was barely making any headway. The ship furled her sails and drifted about a mile off of the port city of Gijon at midnight. A storm was about to break and there was not a star in the sky. They had not been spotted and the crew was worried that the Spanish would find them this close to shore. The captain ordered the crew to be silent and avoid all talk unless absolutely necessary, as voices traveled far over the water.
Benjamin got into the longboat and four of the sailors climbed in and took their place at the oars. The captain motioned for the boat to be lowered. The creaking of the pulleys sounded like gunshots to the crew and their fear shown on every face. The boat finally touched the water and the crew unhooked the ropes and started to row toward shore.
He watched the lights of the city get larger as they neared the shore. He looked toward the sea and he saw that the captain had extinguished all lights on the ship. The crew rowed as silently as possible. All the while searching the shore for any sign that they had been spotted.
Benjamin checked his sword and dagger again and made sure that they were as inconspicuous as possible. He had dressed in a sailor's clothes so that he would blend in with the populace when he went ashore. He hid some gold coins in his shoes and felt for the Spanish coins that the crew had given him.
He felt the boat scrap the sand on the beach and he jumped out of the boat and ran for the city without a word to the crew. The crew hurriedly turned around and started to row out to sea. The captain lit one lantern for the crew so that they could make it back to the ship. The crew lit their lantern, so that the ship would know where they were, and the captain headed toward them. He and the crew were anxious to leave the Spanish waters before daylight.
Benjamin made his way through the city without incident. He stayed
in the shadows whenever possible. He found a farm a short way out of
town and spotted the stable. He decided to spend the day hiding in the
stable and he would steal a horse and start for Madrid. He climbed into
the hayloft and buried himself into the hay and fell asleep.