Chapter 17
Benjamin felt a great pain in his leg and woke up just as the soldier kicked him in the leg again. Six soldiers had them surrounded and they were all yelling commands at him at once. He warily got up and reached for his clothes. The soldier closest to him grabbed them away from him and started to search for weapons. He pulled out the dagger and held it aloft for the others to see. Benjamin looked for his sword and saw that a soldier had picked it up before he was kicked awake. His clothes were thrown back to him and he was allowed to get dressed. The girl hurriedly threw on her clothes. While she was dressing the soldiers laughed and made comments to each other while pointing at the girl. He ascertained, from the few words of Spanish that he understood, that they were discussing what they would like to do with her.
One of the soldiers yelled at him. When he just looked at the soldier, the man hit him in the chest with his lance.
He turned to the girl, "Tell them that I'm and emissary of the King of England and that I have an important message for their king."
The girl started to yell at the soldiers in a loud voice. She talked very fast and she spoke as if her every word was the most important words ever spoken. Again he tried to deduce what she had said. It didn't sound like what he had told her to say. The soldiers busted out in loud laughter and one soldier laughed until tears ran down his face.
"What did you tell them?"
"I told them that you were a great English general and that your army was hiding in the woods and would kill them all if they didn't let us go."
The soldiers pushed them toward the road. One of the soldiers let the horse loose after he had retrieved the rope from the horse's neck. When they reached the road, their hands were tied and they began the march to the next town. The soldier punched them often and prodded them to move faster.
When they reached the town they were taken to the barracks and questioned by an officer. Benjamin told her to repeat what he had told her to say and to tell it as he had said and not embellish the story this time. Apparently she did as she was told. The officer looked at them as if he was trying to decide what he should do with them and was unable to make up his mind. The soldiers started arguing heatedly and the officer was yelling at them trying to be heard. The girl got a strange look on her face and she started to cry.
"What are they saying?"
She hesitated, "The soldiers want to hang us. The officer said that we should be taken to Madrid."
In the end the officer won the argument. They had their hands and feet placed in irons and they were thrown unceremoniously into a horse-drawn cart and taken back to Gijon. At the seaport they were put on a naval warship for the trip to the military prison at Huelva. The military prison at Huelva was known even in England for its infamous torture chamber. Few ever left the prison alive. On the long trip to Huelva they were lashed together on deck for the entire voyage. They were fed once a day. A bucket was placed next to them in case they had to relieve themselves and another bucket was placed between them with water. The water bucket was covered with a slimy green mold and it was a day before their thirst was so bad that they drank out of the bucket. They were kept naked from the waist down so that the sailors would not have to help them when they had to use the slop bucket. The sailors often manhandled the girl and she would scream. After several days the captain ordered the sailors to leave the girl alone.
The ship turned to the East into the Mediterranean and Benjamin knew that they would reach Huelva soon. The girl had been silent for the last two days.
He turned to her, "I don't even know your name yet?"
"Maria," she said.
"Maria, I promise you that I will do everything I can to get you released. I really have been sent here by the King of England to see the King of Spain and solve some problems our two countries are having. Once I get a chance to explain why I am here, I'm sure they'll let us go."
Maria didn't answer him or speak the rest of the voyage. She got a scared look in her eyes when they docked at Huelva. They were taken off of the ship and marched the few blocks to the prison. At the prison they were pushed toward the dungeon in the bowels of the facility and put in a cell together. They were at the prison for two days before they were questioned.
Maria was asleep on the straw that had been thrown into the cell when they arrived. Benjamin was sitting on the floor with his eyes closed trying to figure out what to say to get them out of this. He was startled to hear a familiar voice.
"My, my Benjamin what have you gotten yourself into?"
He recognized the voice immediately and his spirits sank. He turned and saw the Cardinal grinning at him. It was the most evil grin he had ever seen. Behind him was a priest in a black cassock. It was a sharp contrast to the cardinals red robes, trimmed with ermine. Six guards with lances followed the pair.
"Cardinal, you have to help us. I am here on the King's business and this girl has done nothing to merit her imprisonment. Please let the Spaniards know that I have business with their king."
The Cardinal looked at him with glee, "My dear Benjamin, the king will never know that you were even in Spain. No one knows you are here. Well, a few people do but they are loyal to the church. Now, where has Henry put the cargo from the merchant ships and where is he hiding the ships and their crews?'
"Cardinal, I know nothing of what you talk about. I have heard nothing about merchant ships. I am here to ask the King of Spain to sit with Henry, our king, and try to work out our differences to the betterment of both kingdoms."
Benjamin knew that whatever he said, he wouldn't be leaving here alive. He knew that if he admitted to knowing about the merchant ships they would also kill Maria. He tried to think of what to say. The child had done nothing to either king.
"I do not have time to play with you. Tell me where the cargo and the ships are or I will make you wish you had."
"I know nothing of what you speak, Cardinal."
The Cardinal motioned to the guards. As they opened the cell door he pointed at the girl. Benjamin jumped up to put himself between them and the girl. A soldier struck him with his lance and he dropped to the floor dazed.
Maria was marched out of the cell by a soldier holding her shirt at the neck. She suddenly pulled away and she slipped out of the shirt and ran naked toward the stairs. A guard caught her and brought her back. The Cardinal pointed to two timbers bolted to the wall in the shape of an X and the guards took the girl to the wall and lashed her to the timbers. Her arms and legs were spread as far apart as they would go and she screamed in terror.
The Cardinal turned to the cell, "For the last time, where is the cargo and the ships?"
Benjamin tried to answer but he was still dazed and could not make the words come out. The Cardinal took a lance from one of the soldiers and hit Benjamin in the head with the butt end again. He dropped to the floor unconscious.
The Cardinal handed the lance back to the soldier and went to where the girl was tied to the obscene cross. He started to caress the girl's chest and she gasped. This was not right; this was a Cardinal doing this. His hand went between her legs and he shoved two fingers into her. She began to struggle, trying to get away from the cleric pawing her body. His fingers felt her maidenhead barring any further access and he started to become aroused. He smiled and pulled his cassock up, exposing his erection. He moved between the girl's legs and put his cock at her entrance. She started pleading with the cleric to stop. He pushed forward hard and fast tearing her passage as well as her maidenhead. Maria screamed in pain and she screamed anew with each of the Cardinal's cruel thrusts up into her. The blood was flowing down her legs and stained the floor under her. The Cardinal finished and withdrew from her. He cleaned himself up with her shirt.
He walked away from the girl and looked questioningly at the priest. The young priest smiled and nodded and took his place between Maria's legs. He took her as cruelly as the Cardinal had. He finished quicker than the Cardinal. He motioned to the soldiers and they approached the girl grinning.
Her mind could not stand what she was being made to endure and she started a chant, "Oh God, please make them stop. Oh God, Please make them stop. Oh God, please make them stop."
Benjamin started to regain consciousness and heard a voice chanting as if far away. As he regained his senses he stood and went to the cell door. The Cardinal drew his sword and held it at his throat warning him to not make even the slightest move.
The soldiers began to take their turns with the girl and some of them held their hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. After all of them were sated, her chanted continued.
The Cardinal dropped his sword from Benjamin's throat, "This is your fault. All you had to do is tell me what I needed to know."
The girl's chant continued. Benjamin knew that God had allowed her to retreat into a part of her mind that would allow her to ignore what had been done to her. When he saw her face he knew that she would never return to reality.
The Cardinal started to say something. The girl's chant started grating on his nerves. He turned to the soldiers and motioned to them. They tried to make her shut up and then stared at each other hoping that one of them knew what to do. She would not be quiet.
The Cardinal walked over to the girl and shouted at her. Her chant continued. He pulled his dagger from under his robes and put the blade at her throat. With a quick motion he sliced her neck open. She gurgled for a minute as blood filled her lungs and poured out of her mouth. Her head dropped on her chest and she was dead.
Benjamin screamed and started trying to pull down the bars with his hands. A soldier struck him in the forehead with the butt end of his lance again, this time opening a large gash on his forehead. He fell back dazed and his blood running into his eyes blurred his vision.
The Cardinal stepped to the cell and looked at him, "Tomorrow, you will be put on a ship and taken out to sea. Your throat will be cut and your body will be thrown overboard. The sharks will dine on Englishman tomorrow."
The Cardinal and priest left the dungeon and the soldiers cut Maria
down and dragged her body up the stairs, her head bouncing on each step.