who passed by, one way or another, I was determined to be on the ship when she sailed on the morrow.
But in the end I was not required to pimp myself. I had already devised another plan for getting money, one that had come to me some days before when we first reached the coast. And I have to thank that sweet angel, Eydis, for that. I would never have thought of it had it not been for watching her tending that man in the cave. Mummy! It cures everything, so of course everyone wants it, especially with winter coming on and people liable to fall sick. But the prices those Danish and German merchants demand were nothing short of extortion. It’s an absolute disgrace. There ought to be a law against cheating poor hardworking people like that.
I can’t tell you how pathetically grateful they were when I offered them genuine mummy for a fraction of the price, made, as I assured them, from the finest Egyptian embalmed corpses. I showed them the fine black powder, I even encouraged them to sample a few grains, and though none of them had been able to afford it before, they were certainly not going to admit that in front of their neighbours, so they all agreed that it smelt and tasted of the very finest quality. They bought every ounce I had to offer. And to think Isabela wanted me to throw away that dead seal!
I returned to the place where we were camping a little way out of the village. We had decided against seeking lodgings, for we couldn’t afford for the white falcons to be seen, and there was no knowing who might be in the pay of the Danes.
I told Isabela that I had found us a ship and what the greedy oaf of a captain wanted for a passage.
She bit her lip. ‘I haven’t a half of that left and I still need to buy some live chickens to take on board to keep the falcons fed and buy food for the hens too until they are slaughtered. Will he take less, do you think, if I offer to cook on board?’
‘I tried to argue him down,’ I told her, ‘but I couldn’t budge him and I’m afraid he has a cook already, one of his hands. I saw him.’
‘There may be another ship before the snows,’ she said desperately.
‘The locals say this is the last.’
‘So all of this has been for nothing,’ she whispered. ‘Even if I find a way to get the white falcons back, it will be too late. Father will be dead.’ Her face was a mask of utter misery.
There was nothing I could do to help her. I didn’t have any more of the mummy left to sell. What could I do? I only had enough for my own passage. I mean, I’d have to buy food for the voyage and wine too. Sweet Jesu, I wasn’t about to set foot on that hulk without a barrel or two of wine to take the edge off the misery. Then when I reached Antwerp, I’d have to find another ship to take me to Portugal and …
And … who was I fooling? I couldn’t return to Portugal, not if Isabela did. Those two bastards in the tower of Belém would know I’d broken my oath and have men hunting me down within an hour. When Vítor didn’t return they’d guess that something had happened to him and would no doubt try to blame me for his death on top of everything else. I didn’t know what the penalty was for dropping a Jesuit priest down an ice ravine and leaving him there to die, but I had a feeling that the Inquisition would have reserved their most exquisite tortures for just such a crime.
No, I had to face it, if Isabela returned home, then I would have to remain an exile. But not here, Sweet Jesu, not on this island. There were surely more pleasant countries in the world where I could exercise my considerable talents. If I got as far as Antwerp I could go anywhere, maybe I could even sail to Golden Goa. Why not? Why not really go there? They said riches lay heaped in the streets, just waiting for a man to scoop them up.
I glanced up at Isabela. She was stroking the breast of one of the white falcons turned rosy pink in the firelight. Tears glittered in her