Doctor Who_ The Roundheads - Mark Gatiss [39]
He turned smartly and went out of the room without looking back.
Evening came fast and, as the Teazer approached the winking lights of Amsterdam, Ben shivered. Ahead, he could just make out a rather splendid skyline of tall public buildings, churches, and, inevitably, windmills.
Ashdown and the other men were busy making fast the sails as the ship lurched into the harbour, the black water slopping like oil around her hull.
Aware that to tarry would attract attention, Ben set to work, doing his best not to eavesdrop as Captain Stanislaus and Godley emerged from their cabins.
The passenger straightened his clothes and donned a broad, black, feathered hat as the captain approached him.
‘We are safe,’ murmured Godley.
The Captain smiled, his teeth glinting in the glow of the lamps. ‘Unlike some I could mention,’ he said quietly.
Godley’s monkey chose that moment to leap from the cabin and land on his master’s shoulder, making both men turn and become aware that Ben was leaning just a little too close to them.
Godley caught sight of him, frowned, and jerked his head rapidly upward as a sign to Stanislaus. Ben was immediately grabbed by the scruff of the neck.
‘What is this?’ hissed the captain. ‘Do we have an spy aboard, Master Ashdown?’
Ashdown hurried across the deck, flapping his arms placatingly.
‘Oh, no, no, Captain,’ he cried. ‘This is the new lad, sir, the new lad. He’s just getting to know the ropes. Expect he’s curious about what you and the gentlemen are doing here.’
Stanislaus gave Ashdown a dark look. ‘I should not worry about that, sir. This gentleman’s business is no concern of yours. You content yourself with the workings of this ship, is that clear?’
Ashdown and Ben nodded silently.
Stanislaus let Ben go and smoothed down his cravat. ‘Or else you’ll all get to know the ropes. Intimately.’
He glared at his crew and set a free rope that hung from the sail swinging, leaving no doubt as to his threat.
The rope cast a snaking shadow over the men as Godley and Stanislaus made their way down the creaking gangplank and on to the shore.
There were already sounds of uproar and general merriment coming from the port and, after a moment’s silence to make sure the captain and his passenger had gone, Ashdown gave Ben a friendly pat on the arm.
‘We were lucky there, Ben,’ he said. ‘The captain’s got a terrible temper on him. I’ve known him flog the skin off a man for less.’
Ben peered after the retreating Stanislaus and Godley.
‘Wonder why he didn’t. And who’s that bloke?’
Ashdown smote his forehead. ‘Will you not listen, man?
The captain has told us not to pry and we must not. Now, what say we finish our work and then spend a few hours on shore, eh?’
But Ben was far more interested in what he had heard.
‘They said something about a package...’
Ashdown began to lead Ben by the elbow. ‘I know a girl with hair like spun gold,’ he said lyrically. ‘And lips like a rosebud...’
Ben laughed. ‘All right, mate. You’ve convinced me.
Come on.’
They went back to their work and for another hour or so laboured at readying the ship for sail.
Finally, bone-weary but anxious for distraction, the crew of the Teazer slipped ashore into the cold Amsterdam night.
The King was dreaming of faraway days at Hampton Court when a sound outside his door made him stir. He opened his heavy lids and blinked up at the ceiling, his ears pricked.
But all was silent, save for the sound of his own breath and the ticking sound of saliva on his parted lips as he opened his mouth.
He sat up in the darkness and listened attentively.
The room was black except for the tiny oil flame that burned by his bed and a sliver of light from the corridor beyond that seemed to bob and weave, throwing strange shadows into the room, as though someone with a candle were hovering indecisively outside.
Charles pulled back the bedclothes as quietly as he could and stole across the room in his bare feet. He crouched down and tried to make out any sound in the corridor beyond, but he heard nothing.
The light under the door