use them, but sliding and scrambling straight down the side of the cliff. Brother Barnaby, fleet of foot and extremely agile, soon caught up with Father Jacob. Sir Ander eyed their reckless descent and pictured himself trying to emulate them wearing his sword and chain mail and carrying loaded pistols.
“You go on!” he shouted to Father Jacob. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Sir Ander began to run down the stairs, taking them two at a time. He glanced at the warships, as he ran. They had not seen the threat or, if they did, they likely thought the cloud was nothing more than an approaching storm. The warships and patrol boats were too busy attempting to enforce the harbor closing to pay attention. Officers on board the gunboats were engaged in shouting matches with the captains of merchant vessels, firing warning shots across the bows of those who tried to slip past.
The guards in the guard towers were hanging out the windows, watching the altercations; their muskets propped against the walls. He thought of the people of Westfirth, going about their business, soon to be caught up in a horror they could never have foreseen. He thought of his godson, Stephano, and his friends.
“God help us!” Sir Ander breathed.
Chapter Forty
Upon inspection, the Guild of Greater Masonry is fully prepared to affirm that the Westfirth large-bore cannon emplacements surpass the requirements specified. Carved directly into the cliff face and faced with stone and concrete, the addition of multiple layers of strengthening and hardening magical constructs has created a virtually impregnable series of defensive positions. Battlements and towers linking the positions add another layer of defense and support. Any enemy foolish enough to attack Westfirth will quickly find themselves overmatched.
ONBOARD THE CLOUD HOPPER, STEPHANO had his spyglass trained on the merchant vessel, Silver Raven. He could see signs that the crew was making the ship ready to sail, and he wondered how much Wallace had paid the captain to try to run the blockade. An immense sum, no doubt. Stephano swept the deck with the spyglass, searching for Rodrigo. Wallace could have simply killed him, left him back there in that house with the other bodies.
“Rigo’s fine,” said Miri, from her place on the forecastle, steering the boat. She flashed Stephano a reassuring smile. “He’s Rigo.”
“That’s what worries me. He must know we’re searching for him,” said Stephano. “He could give us a sign. Sail closer, Miri. Maybe he hasn’t seen us.”
“Wallace knows the Cloud Hopper, too,” Miri pointed out.
“Bah! He won’t notice us,” said Stephano. He grinned. “We’re selling calvados, like all the rest of these boats out here.”
The harbor was surprisingly busy, considering the blockade. Ships were being permitted to enter, just not to leave, which meant that in some cases, arriving vessels had no place to dock. They were now lined up in the harbor, waiting for ships in port to leave so that they could unload their goods. The harbormaster was frantically urging vessels that had been unloaded to vacate the dockyards to allow others to enter. Most furious captains were not in a mood to cooperate and refused, which meant a good deal of confusion in the harbor and on the docks.
Trundlers, ever quick to take advantage of a situation, filled their houseboats with food, water, and calvados-especially calvados-and sailed around from ship to ship, selling their wares to stranded sailors. Merchant captains were notoriously lax when it came to discipline and they could not keep their crews from trading with the Trundlers. Now many of the sailors on board the merchant ships were roaring drunk. Collisions between the hundreds of ships massed in the harbor were inevitable, even if the sailors had been sober. Fortunately, none of the incidents were serious: masts splintered, balloons punctured, the lines of two ships becoming entangled.
The Cloud Hopper joined the Trundler Calvados Armada and they were now just one more gaily colored Trundler vessel among many others selling the apple brandy. Miri navigated the Hopper expertly in and under and over and around the various ships floating in the harbor to bring the vessel as near the Silver Raven as she thought was wise. She kept the tall masts and sails of another vessel between her ship and the Silver Raven as cover. Sailors on board the ship, seeing the Trundler boat, yelled and waved for Miri to come closer.
“Captain! Look!” Dag called.
He had his spyglass out, was keeping watch. Stephano had lowered his glass to rub his eyes. He lifted the glass again.
Henry Wallace-the man they had known as Russo-was standing on the deck of the Silver Raven. Beside him was Rodrigo, unmistakable in his lavender coat. Wallace was holding a pistol to Rodrigo’s head. Rodrigo, seeing them, lifted his hand in a light and airy wave. Stephano swore and lowered the glass.
“Dip the flag, Gythe. Let Wallace know we get his goddam message.”
Gythe lowered the Cloud Hopper’s flag up and down. Sir Henry waved his hat in return and shoved Rodrigo into a deck chair where a sailor stood guard over him. Sir Henry went to speak to the captain.
Taking advantage of the confusion in the harbor, the Silver Raven set sail. Undoubtedly the captain had told the harbormaster he was giving up his place at the docks, and no one paid attention to the Raven as she left, maneuvering carefully to avoid running into another ship. The merchant ship would be safe until she tried to run. Then the shore batteries would turn their cannons and their magically guided rockets on her. The navy ships would fire a warning shot across her bows and then, if she kept sailing, ship and shore batteries would both fire in earnest.
The merchant vessel was considerably larger than the Cloud Hopper. Designed for long voyages into the deep Breath, the two-decker had two large masts that supported twice the number of balloons as the Trundler vessel. The Raven carried a crew of at least forty men, but, being a merchant vessel, she was armed only with swivel guns which were used to fend off pirates. The Cloud Hopper was more maneuverable and more heavily armed. Stephano wondered what Wallace was going to do. Was this an attempt to flee made in desperation or did he have some sort of plan?
He has a plan, thought Stephano gloomily. He knows I’ll urge the navy to let him go so that he won’t harm Rigo. Of course, once he’s escaped, he’ll kill my friend.
“Keep on him,” Stephano told Miri.
“What do you think the navy will do?” Miri asked.
“Knowing the navy,” said Stephano bitterly. “Nothing.”
During the time required for Miri and Gythe to prepare the Cloud Hopper for sailing, Stephano had dispatched an urgent message to the naval flagship, the Royal Lion, one of King Alaric’s new balloonless ships that relied on the Blood of God, the liquefied form of the Breath, to remain afloat. Stephano had used his name and had even gone to the extreme of invoking his mother’s name to tell the navy that the Silver Raven was carrying extremely valuable cargo. He pleaded with the admiral not to fire, but to attempt to capture the Silver Raven and take all the passengers into custody.
He was not very hopeful the navy would agree. Stephano had few friends in the Royal Navy anymore, especially after the incident at the Estaran fortress and his duel with Hastind, the man who had ordered his guns to fire on Lady Cam. Unfortunately, Hastind was now the Commander of the Westfirth Squadron and the Royal Lion was his ship. Hastind would certainly not be inclined to do any favors for Captain de Guichen. Stephano’s only hope was Dubois-the man he’d shot. The grand bishop’s agent could order the navy to try to seize the vessel, take Wallace alive. But Dubois could also order that the Silver Raven be blown out of the skies.
“We could stop the ship, sir,” Dag suggested. “Shoot off a spar, puncture the balloons…”
Stephano shook his head. “Wallace would kill Rigo.”
“Again, sir, I am sorry,” said Dag heavily. “This is my fault.”
Stephano clapped his friend on his shoulder and managed a reassuring smile. “It’s nice to know I’m not the only person in this boat who screws up. Run out the cannons, make sure they’re loaded and ready to fire.”
