The buildings were centred around the main wharf they had settled into, where several larger ships were also moored. Many of the buildings close to the wharf were well built and well established, made of hardwoods and atop cleared ground. Further out, the buildings were shabbier, fashioned with inferior cuts of wood and straw roofs overhead. A few smaller piers where longboats could unload smaller cargo saw better housing or business for trade, but only a few.
The swaying palms dotted the landscape, with some poking out above the taller buildings in front of the wharf and progressively becoming denser the farther one looked. Beyond the buildings, Edward could see forested vegetation with pockets of clear-cutting for roads and the homes around them.
To his left, west of town atop a slight hill, he could see an old fort with two high walls overlooking the harbour. It could be a deterrent for attacking ships at that elevation, but beyond it was even taller hills that would make inland defence impossible. Edward noticed cracks in the foundation and holes in the walls from cannon fire. He would be surprised if it were still in use.
The crew lowered the gangplank, and a swarm of hawkers came down the pier to sell their goods. Before they even set foot on the gangplank, Grace was standing there looking down at them. Without a word, the hawkers backed away and left.
After they left, Grace spoke to her senior officers, then called Edward over. "Before I introduce ye ta Jack, I'll be headin' over ta tell him what happened ta John. Ye won't want ta be anywhere near him then. Stay aboard the ship, I'll come back ta get ye if the time is right. Otherwise, we may need ta leave in a hurry."
Edward tried to hold back his anger. Would his father be so incensed if he died? Considering the many times his father, either directly or indirectly, had attempted to kill him, he doubted it.
Grace took Edward's silence as affirmation he'd heard her, and she left the ship. The two senior officers, stoic and quiet as ever, both stayed aboard and blocked the gangplank access. When some of the crew approached, trying to leave for shore, they stopped them.
Edward went to the quarterdeck, where Herbert had been watching. The crew had abandoned their duties now that the ship was moored, and the two were alone.
"We need to get off the ship, but Grace ordered everyone to stay aboard."
Herbert's anger was evident, but he looked past Edward to the two men guarding the gangplank against the horde of crewmates. Though they outnumbered the two senior officers by twenty to one, with even more below deck, the crew were only making a play at trying to leave. None dared to take it as far as to attack the senior officers. So complete was Grace's intimidating force that it was there even when she was not.
Herbert let out a deep breath. "We could try to convince the crew to go ashore, but looking at them now, I don't think they have the spine in them to go against Grace."
"So, a distraction, then?"
Herbert nodded and stroked his chin. "But what kind of distraction would pull both of them away from their post?"
Edward mulled it over, he too reaching up to his chin before his lack of a giant beard made the physical act of ruminating somehow more distracting. After another moment, he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm just going to start a fire," Edward said finally.
"Wait, what?"
"Stay here, I'll not be long."
Edward heard Herbert stumble to say something else as he walked down to the weather deck. He didn't have time for further debate. They needed to get off the ship one way or the other, and he didn't care if he destroyed Grace's ship in the process.
Edward went below deck and found two lanterns filled with oil. He spread some of the oil in one of the corners of the ship, then over some other cargo, and lit it on fire when no one was looking. He chose a few other spots where the fire could spread but not be put out quickly. It was just enough fire to cause a panic but not enough to burn the whole ship down. Or, at least he thought it wasn't.
Before anyone could see the fires beginning to engulf the ship, Edward went above to the quarterdeck again.
"We should probably stay back so they don't see us waiting around," Edward said, pointing to the stern.
Herbert pulled his wheelchair back from the edge of the quarterdeck, and Edward followed before crouching down to be out of sight from the senior crewmates. They waited a few minutes until they head shouting below them.
The shouting, indistinct and scattered, continued for another moment longer before a few crewmates ran above deck. "Fire!" one man shouted. "Fires below deck. It's spreading."
The crewmates above deck answered the call and rushed below, but not all left to investigate. Ten crewmates, and the two senior guards, all stayed behind. Edward cursed under his breath, thinking he should have lit more fires.
Another minute more and smoke began rising through the opening to the deck below and through the grated hatch covers near the ladder. The shouting grew louder and calls for aid filtered through the noise.
Edward watched as the crewmates who'd stayed behind changed from being complacent to concerned until they went into action. The guards, too, looked at each other and rushed to help the rest of the crew below deck.
Herbert wheeled himself forward to the edge of the quarterdeck as black smoke billowed up from below. "Edward… how many fires did you set?"
"No time for that, we have to leave."
Edward picked up Herbert's chair, with Herbert still in it, and took him down the quarterdeck steps as far from the ladder and grates as he could. The effort put
