Page 49 of A Column of Fire
‘I don’t want you if you’re weak,’ he said scornfully. ‘I don’t want you if you’re timid. I don’t want you if you’re a girlie-boy, and you know what I mean by that. This is only for the strong, the brave and the tough. This is for real men.’
On the deck of theJosé y Maríasomeone shouted: ‘All aboard!’
‘Last chance, lads,’ the recruiter called. ‘What is it to be? Stay at home with your Mama, eating bread-and-milk and doing as you’re told? Or come with me, Captain Ironhand Gómez, for a man’s life, travel and adventure, fame and fortune. All you have to do is walk up that gangway, and the world is yours.’
Barney, Carlos and Ebrima looked at one another. Carlos said: ‘Yes or no?’
Barney said: ‘Yes.’
Ebrima said: ‘Yes.’
The three men walked to the ship, climbed the gangway, and went on board.
*
TWO DAYS LATERthey were on the open sea.
Ebrima had sailed many miles, but always as a captive, chained in the hold. Seeing the sea from the deck was a new and exhilarating experience.
The recruits had nothing to do but speculate on their destination, which still had not been revealed: it was a military secret.
Ebrima had an additional unanswered question: his future.
When they had boarded theJosé y Maríathey had been met by an officer seated at a table with a ledger. ‘Name?’ he had said.
‘Barney Willard.’
The officer wrote in the book then looked at Carlos. ‘Name?’
‘Carlos Cruz.’
He wrote down the name, glanced at Ebrima, then put down his pen. Looking from Carlos to Barney and back, he had said: ‘You can’t have a slave in the army. An officer can, though he has to feed and clothe the man out of his own money. But an enlisted soldier obviously can’t do that.’
Ebrima had studied Carlos’s face closely. A look of desperation had come into Carlos’s eyes: he saw his escape route closing. After only a moment’s hesitation he said the only thing he could say: ‘He’s not a slave, he’s a free man.’
Ebrima’s heart had stopped.
The officer had nodded. Freed slaves were rare, but by no means unknown. ‘Fine,’ he had said. He had looked at Ebrima and said: ‘Name?’
It had all been very quick, and when it was over, Ebrima still was not sure where he stood. Barney had not congratulated him on being freed, and Carlos had not acted like a man who has given a great gift. Clearly Ebrima was to betreatedas a free man in the army, but how real was it?
Was he free or not?
He did not know.
5
Margery’s wedding was postponed.
After the fall of Calais, England expected to be invaded, and Bart Shiring was deputed to raise a hundred men-at-arms and garrison Combe Harbour. The wedding would have to wait.
For Ned Willard, postponement was hope.
Towns such as Kingsbridge were hastily repairing their walls, and earls reinforcing their castles. Ports scraped the rust off the ancient cannons on their sea fronts, and demanded that the local nobility do their duty and defend the population against the dreaded French.
People blamed Queen Mary Tudor. It was all her fault, for marrying the king of Spain. Were it not for him Calais would still be English, England would not be at war with France, and there would be no need for city walls and waterfront cannons.
Ned was glad. While Margery and Bart remained unmarried, anything could happen: Bart could change his mind, or be killed in battle, or die of the shivering fever that was sweeping the country.
