Читать книгу The Lost Diary of Christopher Columbus’s Lookout - Clive Dickinson - Страница 12

There’s now a rush of people wanting to sign up for the voyage. No-one wants to miss the boat! It’s because Martin Alonso Pinzon is going to be captain of one of the ships anchored in the river, the Pinta. Better still, he’s got two of his brothers and a cousin to join the Captain General. One of his brothers is going to be captain of the other ship from Palos, the one they call the Niña. So no magical dividing-into-three from the Captain General, then. Shame. I’d like to have seen that, though I can’t say I’d have liked being captained by just a pair of legs.

It was touch and go for me, because most of the men here have been sailing on ships all their lives. But the Captain General spotted me reading a notice about the voyage, and that clinched it. I don’t think many of the others can read or write. There’s Luis de Torres, who speaks Arabic and several other languages. He’s going along as interpreter. There are a couple of men from court sent by the King and Queen. Apart from them, most of the crew are sailors from up and down the coast.

The Captain General told me he could do with a lad with quick wits and sharp eyes on his flagship, the biggest of the three, which they’ve called the Santa Maria. Then he took me to one side and asked secretively, “Have you heard of Cathay⁵ and the lands of the Great Khan?”

“You don’t mean the lands where that traveller from Venice, Marco Polo, went 200 years ago?”

The Captain General put his fingers to his lips and winked. “His book has been a bestseller for a couple of centuries,” he whispered. “But just wait till mine hits the streets.” And he smiled knowingly. The strange thing is, I can’t find anything written down to say that’s where we’re heading. No-one else seems to know exactly where he’s taking us. But when the King and Queen give you an all-expenses-paid trip, you don’t argue.

I kept the notice about the voyage. I’ve a hunch it might be useful one day.