Wild Bells to the Wild Sky Read Online Free PDF Page B

Basil. I have also missed my father. He is a good man even if he is not a very forgiving one. I have also been lonely without my sister to confide in. We were a close family at one time. There was much love among us. But my home is now in England with my husband.” Magdalena said firmly, and Sir Basil believed her. “Hispaniola holds treasured memories for me, sí , but not memories of longing or regret because I am no longer there. When I spent my first winter in England, I thought I would not live to see the spring; so cold and dark and strange it was. I could not understand half of what was said to me, but somehow, with Geoffrey’s love and cheerful manner, I survived. Now, I actually find that I miss the cool rains and the mists. I think I would also find that I miss the harsh tongue of the English. Geoffrey too k great pains to teach me how to speak proper English, although he says he learned more of my language than I did of his.” Magdalena laughed, then grew serious. “I miss Highcross. And you may believe me when I say this, Sir Basil. I look forward to returning home.”
    Basil Whitelaw, reluctant spy and homesick traveler, nodded his agreement, for he could not have put it more succinctly.
     

 
     
     
     
     
    It is the stars,
    The stars above us, govern our conditions.
    S hakespeare
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
    S triking her colors and topsails as a sign of courtesy and nonaggression to the Spanish authorities in Santo Domingo, the Arion sailed peacefully into the busy harbor at the mouth of the Rio Ozama. Half a dozen three- and four-masted galleons were riding at anchor when the English ship closed with the land and, having given the Spanish ships a wide berth, let go her anchor. Several of the galleons were riding light, while others were being refitted. Their cargoes of wine, olives, and cooking oil, clothing, household items, and necessities not to be found in the New World had been unloaded. Other galleons were surrounded by smaller boats, their crews busy hauling on blocks of sugar. The casks joined the rest of the cargo carefully stored in the ships’ holds, where bales of indigo, tobacco, cacao, and hardwoods; chests of silver and gold; pearls from the oyster beds off the coast of Venezuela; emeralds from mines high in the mountains of Columbia; and exotic birds and animals from the jungles of Guiana and Panama would further entice merchants and adventurers alike to seek their fortunes in the New World. The cargoes safely stored aboard, the galleons would sail for Havana, where they would join the treasure fleet assembled of heavily laden ships from Cartagena, Nombre de Dios, Veracruz, and other ports along the Main for the long journey home.
    For a moment, Geoffrey Christian observed the ships with a gleam in his eye, then he shrugged, for there would be other fleets sailing for Seville that he and his crew could raid. For now, he would bide his time and graciously welcome aboard the port officials who would soon be swarming over his ship. Fortunately, since there was an old score to be settled, Don Pedro Enrique de Villasandro had not become the next governor of Hispaniola, and Magdalena’s second cousin was a high-ranking customs officer in Santo Domingo; he would see that they received no undue attention and were not unnecessarily detained in getting ashore.
    Built on the west bank of the estuary, with a fortified wall for protection, Santo Domingo was a city of broad avenues lined with stately buildings and tall palms. The homes of the wealthy were two-storied, whitewashed stucco mansions built around center courtyards and gardens, the columned galleries, arched windows and iron entrance gates reflecting the Moorish influence of the Old World.
    Warehouses and government offices crowded along the river front, and a plaza with a cathedral, a mission, and priests’ quarters occupied a place of honor in the center of town. Near the river’s mouth were the fort and the governor’s residence, and