The Outlaws of Ennor: (Knights Templar 16) Read Online Free PDF

shores. The thought was enough to cheer David. If there were a gift for the islanders in the midst of the storm, so much the better – so long as the ship foundered here on St Nicholas and not on Ennor. That wasthe main thing. It would save him and the men of the island from turning to piracy once more to find food for their families.
    David looked towards Ennor, and as he did so, his thoughts inevitably turned to the scandal that was affecting the vill. It was a disgrace that the two of them, Tedia and Isok, should have failed in their marriage, but far worse was the shame that Tedia’s adultery would bring upon them all.
    A distance away, on the cliffs of Ennor, he could see a slender figure bent against the wind. It looked rather like Robert, the gather-reeve, the third man in the triangle. The man who was determined to cuckold Isok.
    Baldwin felt the ship’s progress alter slightly. There was a sharper sound to the sheets, as though the great sail was trying to tear the ropes apart. The wind was coming from over Baldwin’s shoulder, and he felt it whipping across his face whenever he turned to glance behind them.
    They were still coming.
    The pirates were in a small boat, maybe a quarter as long as the cog, with an enormous, square sail billowing. Above it was a long, thin, red and white flag, something like a lance’s pennon, which snapped in the wind like a serpent’s tongue. Baldwin could see the men on board, their pale faces showing as flashes of light in the
Anne
’s own shadow.
    ‘What are they after?’ he wondered aloud.
    The master was not far away, and he grunted. ‘They’re after our cargo, the murdering sons of pox-ridden stoats! They know we’ll likely be carrying wine and iron, let alone all the other goods. We’ve got a hundred and fifty tuns of wine below decks – that’s what they’re hoping for, beshitted knaves! I swear, when I return home this time, I’ll turn privateer and catch me some of these devils!’
    ‘Are they a constant problem now?’
    ‘As constant as the waves.’
    ‘Then we must show them that attacking an English ship is foolhardy,’ Baldwin said. He drew his sword and studied it a moment. On one side of the bright, peacock blue blade was an inscription:
BOAC
–
Beati
Omnipotensque Angeli Christi
, ‘Blessed and Omnipotent are the Angels of Christ’. Even as he gazed down at it, he felt his soul stirring. Turning the blade over, he gazed at the other side. Here was a neatly carved Templar Cross to remind him of his time in the Order before its destruction by an avaricious French King and his henchman the Pope. All of Baldwin’s former comrades had been humiliated, many murdered, and all so that the King and Pope could profit from the Templars’ wealth.
    It was a period Baldwin was not prepared to forget, nor would he relinquish memories of his Order and his youth spent there. Baldwin had laid out a small fortune, having an expert cut this symbol and the letters with a burin, hammering fine gold wires into the lines, but he felt that the money was well spent. The little sword with its blade of less than two feet was comfortable to carry and comfortable in his hand. While he held it, he usually felt all but invincible.
    Today, though, gripping his sword he felt a sudden sadness sweep over him. Perhaps this time the sword would be inadequate to protect him, for this was not his element. He had no love of the sea even if he did not fear it as much as many men did. For him to fight at his ease, he needed to be seated upon a destrier, ideally with a lance in his hand and a roar of defiance in his throat, not here, on a wobbling wooden platform far from safety. Perhaps he had seen the last of his beloved Jeanne and his darling daughter Richalda.
    ‘They’re going to come on as night falls,’ the master predicted gruffly.
    Baldwin’s spirits plummeted. The first rule taught by any master of defence was that the feet should be firmly positioned before attempting a