Legends of the Vengeance : The First Adventure (9781310742866) by Chautona Havig Page A

cook thought he tossed the stick inside,
but instead it fell on the floor. Quickly, Sebastian stomped on it
and then picked it up to see that it was not still burning. The
blackened end was hot but extinguished. He started to open the door
and toss it in when the artist’s words came back to him. “…Burn
a stick and use the charred end to practice. Try large and
small.”
    Quietly, he crept from the galley, the stick
hidden at his side. While men scurried to fix the sails or help the
carpenter, he crept to his quarters and hid his new acquisition.
He’d practice as soon as he found a rag to clean up any trace of
his attempts. I will draw, Sebastian promised himself.

Chapter
Eight
    The Legend: Part Two
    Becalmed. Nicolo nearly went insane with
frustration. The men had rowed a little, but he didn’t want them
tired in case they needed to run. So, for the past day and a half,
they’d traveled less than a mile and were only half way to
Formentera. The men sang and danced, and Sebastian played his flute
during it all. However, eventually he begged off, saying he needed
to catch his breath.
    Jaime’s stories had always been saved for
evening. A well-told tale by the light of a few lanterns in the
darkness and on the water captivated the men in a different way.
However, the entire ship had become so restless, so Nicolo asked
for more of the young man’s new tale.
    “Have you more of your story? Has there been
time to concoct some wild scheme for our friend Joseph? Perhaps he
can be hit by splinters after cannon fire on those boats from
Dover,” he teased, grinning at Hector’s chagrin.
    The Spaniard did not protest, but a flash of
anger filled his eyes before he shrugged. “It is possible. Joseph
was no more a seafaring man than I am. He likely wouldn’t know any
better than I did.”
    Laughter erupted around them, but when Jaime
shifted, taking a long drink, everyone settled in for what they all
hoped would be a long installment of this new story.
    “Where did I leave off? Oh, yes, he started
to make plans for Jacob’s leaving.”
     
    Nearly a week passed before Joseph received
news from Charles. On a Wednesday, only a couple hours before dawn,
a servant woke him and said Charles waited in his counting rooms.
“He said it was urgent.”
    Joseph didn’t hesitate. He pulled on
breeches and a coat and hurried downstairs in his slippers. Outside
his rooms, the other man waited, eager to share his news. It would
be good or Charles would not look so pleased.
    “ Come in and tell me what you have
learned.”
    Once Joseph had seated himself behind his
table, Charles pulled a velvet pouch from a pocket. From within, he
pulled a gold chain, and dangling from the end was a Star of David.
“What do you think?”
    Joseph’s hand caught the star and took it
from his visitor. He turned it over and over in his hand, his
fingers tracing the Hebraic letters of the Shema etched into each
angle of the star. He smiled.
    “ You have done well. How quickly can he
fill my order? What is his price?”
    “ He can do it immediately. It won’t take
long, but the price is steep. It is a risk to him to make something
so overtly Jewish.”
    “ What is the price?” Joseph
demanded.
    The price was indeed high. Joseph wondered
if the price quoted was inflated by his courier or if the jeweler
was truly so expensive. “I will not pay that. I will pay
seventy-five percent of the asking price or take my business
elsewhere—even then that seems extreme.”
    Charles grew visibly uncomfortable. Small
beads of perspiration dotted the man’s forehead as he nodded. “I
will see what I can do. He owes my family a favor. We got him a
good commission not long ago. I think he will come down.”
    So it was true. Charles had inflated the
price. Joseph smiled again, but this one was not one his informant
would enjoy. He pulled a pouch from a drawer behind him and slowly
counted out enough gold to pay for the many chains and pendants he
had ordered.