ships ahead, though the danger would remain until first light. Drake gave the order for all lanterns to be extinguished, and they moved forwards as part of the night.
Launceston stood at the rail, his deathly pallor unnerving some of the crew who bowed their heads and muttered prayers as they passed. Carpenter thought a strange mood had come upon him.
'Will they strike now, coming out of the dark before our journey has even begun, like the death we spoke of ashore?' he mused.
Carpenter didn't know what to say, and left him there to watch Drake as he strode proudly across the still- warm deck, the master of his world.
When dawn came, the seas were still empty and the tense mood lifted slightly. The fleet of fifty-four ships led by Lord Howard of Effingham sailed out into mist and squalls.
At three p.m. that day, an exuberant Drake summoned Carpenter to the poop deck. 'Would you like your first sight of our enemy?' he said gleefully.
Carpenter peered into the drizzle, but could see nothing, even when the rain cleared briefly. He eyed Drake to see if he was finding humour at the expense of a man who had not earned his sea legs. He was surprised to see Drake watching him deferentially.
'I, and all England, owe you a great deal,' he said. 'You have turned the tide of this war.'
Carpenter was lost for words. From behind his back, Drake handed him a long tube of shaped beechwood, bounded by brass hoops. A second tube slid in and out of it, and there was glass in the end.
'What is this?' Carpenter asked, still unsure if he was to be made a joke.
Drake pressed the tube to Carpenter's eye and positioned him. Spanish sails loomed up in Carpenter's vision, shocking him so much he almost dropped the device. He lowered it, but could no longer see the sails.
'They are far away,' he stuttered, 'beyond my natural sight. Yet this device lets me see them. Is this some of Dee's magic?'
Drake laughed. 'It is Dee's magic, but not in the way you mean. It is called a tele-scope. This arrangement of glass draws closer that which is distant. No supernatural power there, only human ingenuity.'
Admiring the tele-scope, Carpenter said, 'I never knew we had such a thing. How is that?'
'No one knows. No one will know, for many years to come. It is a secret, and you would know about those things. There is plenty that never reaches the ears of the common man, am I correct?'
Carpenter nodded. 'But what has this to do with me?'
'As I heard it from Lord Walsingham, Dee worked upon a type of this very device, in years gone. He heard whispers and talk among his kind ...' Drake smacked his lips in disapproval. '. . . that some Italian painter had drawn designs for this tele-scope many centuries past, and so he set about building one. He struggled to find the right glass, until word reached him of another similar design, being studied by the tsar's magicians.'
Carpenter's brow furrowed. 'In Muscovy?'
'The tsar's device did not work either, but he had a different part of the puzzle. And so two brave spies were sent to retrieve his invention-'
'This is what Will brought back!' Carpenter said, examining the simple tube. 'I thought it was some great weapon.'
'You do not understand its importance,' Drake said. 'Only a true seaman would. This tele-scope will turn the tide of battle. We can study the Spanish ships from afar, watch their preparations, their direction, and we can be upon them at the point of our choosing.'
Carpenter was too stunned to speak.
'I heard you paid a great price for the recovery of the item that led to this great thing Dee has made,' Drake continued. 'Know you, then, that every scar you bear marks a thousand ... nay, ten thousand English lives that have been saved this day. Saved by you, Master Carpenter. Your sacrifice will keep England free.'
Dumbfounded, Carpenter could barely respond to Drake's praise. He made his way down the steps from the poop deck, his mind struggling to reconcile the bitterness that had encysted his heart since Will had abandoned him with the new knowledge of what had been won.
As he gathered his thoughts by the rail in the salty spray, he decided this new information had to be conveyed to Launceston, whom he had not seen since dawn had broken. He searched the length of the deck, and then plunged into the stifling, near-deserted confines below, his puzzlement growing by the moment. Eventually, he had exhausted all possibilities apart from the sec tion of the hold containing the sail stores, timber, carpenters' tools, and all the items necessary to keep the great ship afloat.
When he called out, his voice was lost beneath the symphony of sound that filled every ship, the constant boom of waves against the hull and the chorus of creaking as every board flexed to cope with the pressures upon them. His view obscured by canvas hanging like drapes amid piles of timber, he worked his way through the obstacles, pulling back sheet after sheet.
As he drew back the final covering, he was convulsed with shock. Had he suddenly stepped into hell? As red as the Devil, Launceston loomed over a sticky mess, his knife still dripping. When he looked at Carpenter, fires blazed in his eyes, and it took a second for him to focus. With a faint, dreamy smile, he said softly, 'What wonders to behold.'
It took Carpenter several seconds to comprehend what lay before him. 'Is ... is that the cabin boy?'
Launceston examined the mess, and appeared to see it for the first time himself. His smile now had the sheepish cast of a man caught out drunk before night had fallen. 'Do not judge me, John,' he said.
'Judge you?' Carpenter ran a hand through his hair as his thoughts reeled with all the possibilities that now lay ahead.
The knife slipped from Launceston's slick fingers and he stood up, his expression haunted. 'I have ... unnatural desires, John. I know my shortcomings, and I fight every day to keep them under control, but what you said ... about being who we are ... in the shadow of death-'
'I did not mean this!' Head in his hands, Carpenter crashed onto a pile of timber. 'I must think. Damn you! This will destroy everything!'
'We are who we are. Our natures rule us, for better or worse. What makes me like this makes me a valuable tool for England, and the queen, and Walsingham.' He released a deep, juddering breath.
As Launceston's words settled on him, Carpenter glared. 'They know?'
The earl did not respond directly. 'I do not wish to be this way. My life is filled with torments,' he said, his voice breaking. 'This business makes us monsters to deal with monsters. I wish only the peace of a summer afternoon, but this is my world now, and always.' With disgust, he looked down at what lay at his feet. Tears sprang to his eyes and streamed down his cheeks. 'Help me, John,' he pleaded.
After a moment, Carpenter stood and rested a hand upon his shoulder. 'We must dispose of all this before it is discovered. And get you cleaned up.' Carpenter reeled. He had always sensed Launceston was not like other men, but he had turned a blind eye to the extent of the darkness lurking within. Did that make him complicit in Launceston's atrocity? The notion sickened him.
'Thank you, thank you,' Launceston muttered pathetically.
'We are in this together,' Carpenter said with a sigh as he saw the magnitude of what lay ahead. 'Damn you, Robert. Damn you.'
CHAPTER 49
reeping on deck when the sun had set, Will feared it was his last chance to board the grey-sailed ship. Since he had killed Hawksworth, every attempt had been thwarted by events beyond his control, and now, with battle looming, he had to risk all.
Hawksworth had been missed the day after Will had disposed of the body, but it was presumed he had either thrown himself overboard in a fit of despair or had fallen; it was not an unusual occurrence. Will had spent the first
