‘Fetch our daughter, so we might board together as a family,’ he said, dabbing the white powder from his hand. ‘Our time in Batavia is at an end.’
Gritting her teeth, Sara turned back towards the procession.
Everybody was watching her, tittering and whispering, but she had eyes only for the palanquin.
Lia stared out from behind the tattered curtains, her face unreadable.
Damn him, thought Sara. Damn him.
4
Oars rose and fell, sunlight sparkling in the falling drops of water as the ferry made its way across the choppy blue harbour to the
Guard Captain Jacobi Drecht was in the centre of the boat, a leg either side of the bench on which he was seated, his fingers absently picking out flakes of salted fish from his blond beard.
His sabre had been unhooked from his waist and laid across his knees. It was a fine weapon, with a delicate basket of metal protecting the hilt. Most musketeers were armed with pikes and muskets, or else rusted blades stolen from corpses on the battlefield. This was a noble’s sword, much too fine for a humble soldier, and Arent wondered where the guard captain had come upon it – and why he hadn’t sold it.
Drecht’s hand lay lightly on its sheath, and now and again he would cast a suspicious glance at his prisoner, but he was from the same village as the ferryman, and the two of them were talking warmly of the boar they’d hunted in its forests, and the taverns they’d visited.
At the prow, chains coiled around him like serpents, Sammy fingered his rusted manacles wretchedly. Arent had never seen his friend so dejected. In the five years they’d worked together, Sammy had proven himself vexing, short-tempered, kind and lazy, but never defeated. It was like seeing the sun sag in the sky.
‘Soon as we board, I’ll talk to the governor general,’ vowed Arent. ‘I’ll put sense before him.’
Sammy shook his head.
‘He won’t listen,’ he responded hollowly. ‘And the more you defend me, the harder it will be to distance yourself once I’ve been executed.’
‘Executed!’ exclaimed Arent.
‘That’s the governor general’s intention once we reach Amsterdam.’ He snorted. ‘Assuming we make it that far.’
Instinctively, Arent sought out the governor general’s ferry. It was a few strokes ahead of them, his family sheltered beneath a curtained canopy. A breeze pushed at the gauzy material, revealing Lia’s head in her mother’s lap. The governor general sat a little apart.
‘The Gentlemen 17 will never let that happen,’ argued Arent, recalling the esteem in which the rulers of the United East India Company held Sammy. ‘You’re too valuable.’
‘The governor general sails to take a seat among them. He believes he can convince the rest.’
Their ferry passed between two ships. Sailors were hanging from the rigging, firing bawdy jokes at one other across the gap. Somebody was pissing over the side, the yellow torrent narrowly missing them.
‘Why is this happening, Sammy?’ demanded Arent. ‘You recovered The Folly, as you were asked. They held a banquet in your honour. How is it a day later you walked into the governor general’s office a hero and were dragged out in chains?’
‘I’ve thought on it and thought on it, but I don’t know,’ he said despairingly. ‘He demanded I confess, but when I told him I didn’t know what I was confessing to, he flew into a rage and had me tossed into the dungeon until I reconsidered. That’s why I’m begging you to leave me be.’
‘Sammy –’
‘Something I did during this case brought his wrath upon me, and without knowing what it is, I can’t hope to protect you from it,’ interrupted Sammy. ‘But I swear, once he’s finished with me, our good works will count for nothing and our standing in the United East India Company will be undone. I’m poison to you, Arent Hayes. My conduct was reckless and arrogant, and for that I’m being punished. I won’t compound my failure by dragging you into ruin.’ Leaning forward, he stared at Arent fiercely. ‘Go back to Batavia, let me save your life for once.’
‘I took your coin and made my promise to keep you out of harm’s way,’ responded Arent. ‘I’ve got eight months to stop you from becoming a crow’s banquet, and I mean to see it done.’
Shaking his head, Sammy fell into a defeated silence, his shoulders slumping.
Their rowboat approached the creaking expanse of the