1469

I sighed as I looked around my cabin making sure I had not forgotten anything. I had come to think of the carrack as home serving aboard since I was twelve where I had started as a cabin boy to my uncle the captain. While I was not much of a sailor and sucked as a deck had I had had picked up a few things in my years aboard and had risen to the rank of navigator and cartographer aboard the wind runner, my uncle’s carrack.

My eldest cousin who served as the ships boatswain and managed the ship’s crew had tried his best to make me a man by teaching me swordsman ship and how to throw a punch not that I had taken to it very well. He taught me how to read the sky and sea for signs of an approaching storm. He had showed me how to judge the strength of the wind and current to aid navigation.

I had also learned mathematics working under my other cousin who served as the ship’s purser. I could now speak Castilian in Barcelona and Valencia, French in Marseille, and Italian in Venice. He had taught me how to barter with merchants and calculate exchange rates when dealing with different currencies. He had trained me in how to evaluate the quality of goods like spices or textiles to avoid being cheated in trade.

I would be leaving the ship now that we had reached Venice which was the center of trade with the Ottoman Empire controlling goods entering Europe at the end of the silkroad leading to Asia. My uncle and cousins would load up on silks, spices, alum for dying wool and other goods and carry them back to London. Italy was now the center of art, religion, trade, shipbuilding, banking, and diplomacy and though I had no clue what my next move was I was sure this was the place I wanted to be.

A knock came at the door and I turned to speak. “Come in.”

My uncle came in to look me over as he came in and crossed his arms. “All packed Jace?” The big man said with a smile.

“Yep. Do not tell me you come to talk me out of staying in Venice?” I smirked and he gave a little laugh under his breath.

“Hell no kid. I came to throw you off. I promised your father I turn you from a boy into a man and I did that.” He smiled and shook his head. Though he would never say it I knew he would miss having me around even if he never say it. Like my father he was a proud man who was not the type to show his feelings outwardly. He had been like a father to me these last few years and now that I was grown it was time for me to find my own way in the world. I had come a long way since being the seasick boy my cousin had taken on.

“Hell. You are probably smart to get out now with the civil war in England. He shrugged as he leaned against the doorway. He himself had served in the Lancaster war and knew men on both the Lancasters and York sides of the war so he had done his best to stay out of it though he mostly sold his goods to the Lancaster ports in England. “Here is your pay for this trip with a little something extra for getting us here ahead of schedule.” He smiled as he tossed me a coin purse. The coins jingling in the bag as I caught it and gave the bag a squeeze as I tried to figure out the amount.

“Thanks. It was more the weather then me but I will take it for all the years you under paid me.” I teased and stashed the coin purse in my bag.

“Don’t make me throw you the starboard side of the boat kid.” He threw me a smirk as he stepped forward and putting his large hand on my head and ruffling it playfully before I pulled away.

“Perhaps if you hadn’t taught me how to swim I might be worried.” I smirked as I fixed my hair and grabbed my bag satchel and slung it over my shoulder.”

“If you have everything, I will walk you up.” He nodded with his head.

“I left you a copy of my map of the Mediterranean. Not that you need but it’s for whoever takes my place.” I pointed to the table against the wall as I grabbed my knapsack.

“No one can take your place kid.” He said as he patted my back causing me to stumble slightly. We headed up the stairs above deck where the crew was busily off loading the cargo. Several men were carrying up crates of French wine we had picked up in Marseille while others were using a hoist to lift out the large bails of wool.

I looked out on the Riva degli Schiavoni where we were docked and saw a bustling waterfront filled with ships and galleys. Sailors and merchants from across the Mediterranean crowded the stone quay as they loaded and unloaded cargo. The long promenade stretched between two imposing structures. One was a grand palace with delicate Gothic arches and ornate stonework and the other a massive complex of workshops and shipyards. Lining the waterfront stood tall buildings of pale stone with arched windows and elaborate balconies jutting out over the street.

“There is the deserter.” My cousin Kenndrick said as he came over carrying a barrel as if it weighed nothing though it made a large thud as he set it at my feet. He served as the Boatswain and managed the ships crew. The big man smiled and punched me in the shoulder hard.

“Ouch.” I said rubbing my arm. “Can’t say I will miss you much.” I playfully stuck out my tongue.

“You know you will.” The big man laughed as he put me in a headlock. Despite always picking on me he always had my back.

My uncle laughed and looked at our cousin who was looking at the ledger as things were off loaded. “How are we looking John?”

“We seem to be missing a few bottles of French wine.” James said and looked at Kenndrick.

“I will look into it.” Kendrick replied as he let me go and gave me a sly smile. Things like **** seemed to go missing sometimes at sea on long voyages.

“We got company father.” Kendrick nodded with his head. I glanced over to see a wealthy man and two lovely women came up the gangway from the dock. I could tell from their clothing they were wealthy and most likely from one of the many merchant families of Venice. I would guess mother and daughter as they both had the same red hair and facial features.

They were both beautiful women dressed in fine Italian embroidered dresses with lowcut necklines that emphasized their impressive bosoms. The older woman's gown was an emerald green with intricate gold stitching that hugged her voluptuous body. The smooth expanse of her pale décolletage was adorned with a long strand of pearls that draped across her chest as the polished surface of each stone gleamed softly in the sunlight. The bodice clung tightly to her torso accentuating and the swell of her full heavy breasts and clinched her narrow waist. The long skirt sat high on her narrow waist and wide hips before flowing around her legs as pointed shoes peeked out from beneath the hem of the gown which rustled softly with each step she took.

The younger woman's fiery red hair was gathered into an ornate gold net that rested high on the crown of her head with wavy locks escaping to frame her flushed cheeks. Her rich velvet gown was a deep crimson hue that clung to her body like molten silk stretching taut over her full round breasts that were slightly smaller than her mothers yet no less enticing. The bodice was adorned with delicate gold filigree work that traced intricate patterns across her chest and down her slender torso emphasizing her youthful figure. The skirt flowed over her well-rounded hips in luxurious folds that accentuated the curve of her waist and the swell of her hips before cascading to ankles.

Kendrick put a hand on my shoulder and leaned in close to whisper in my ear. “I call dibs.”

“On which one.” I threw him a look as I shook my head and then looked back at the ladies.

“Why do I have to choose?” He gave a little chuckle. I saw the younger of the two blushed slightly as we looked at her and gave a coy smile as I was sure she had some idea we were looking at her.

My uncle walked over to greet them. “Ciao, Welcome aboard the Windchaser Messeri and Madonnas. I am Captain Benjamin Williams.” He did a little bow and the rest of us followed suit.

“Ciao, I am Francesco Valentino and this is the Madonna Gianna Valentino and my daughter Catalina Valentino.” The man said as he turned to his wife and daughter.

“How may I help you?” My uncle said as he shook the man’s hand.

“My wife wishes to see the quality of wool you are importing from England and possibly make you an offer.” Francesco smiled as he looked at his wife. Though the Italians had sheep same as us the colder English climate meant the sheep’s wool was longer, thicker, and softer than the sheep raised here which enjoyed shorter winters and hot summers making their wool shorter and ruffer.

“Most merchants wait till it goes to auction through the guild.” My uncle smiled.

“Do I look like most merchants.” The mother said as she looked back over her shoulder as she walked over to one of the bails the men had already brought up as her daughter followed along to join her mother. The two of them whispered something and the daughter gave a little laugh before glancing back at us.

“No, you do not my lady.” My uncle said and looked at her husband who just shrugged.

She pulled out some of the wool and ran it through her fingers and then smelled it and smiled. She was clearly no novice and knew what she was looking for. She leaned over and told her daughter something before she turned back to us. “Good quality. What is your price?”

“The guild pays twenty-five gold ducats a bail.” My cousin John said as he looked up from the ledger.

“How much do you have?” She smiled as she stuffed it back in and looked over.

“We have two hundred bails for a total of five thousand ducats if you want the whole lot.” John replied quickly.

“I am not sure we need two hundred bails. I need maybe fifty.” She mused as she clasped her hands over one another. How much for that?”

“Um.” My cousin said as he began to count in his head.

“One thousand two hundred and fifty gold ducats.” I said quickly doing the math in my head.

“The boy is good with math.” The woman smiled at me. It came in handy as a navigator as most of what I did involved using numbers to figure out where we were by the angle of the sun and moon as well as which stars were on the horizon at sunset and

“I can take the rest and sell it my love in Florence to the Medicis or another family for thirty to thirty-five to forty ducats my love for about…” The man replied and stopped to do the math. I had heard of the Medicis a few times and knew they were one of the major banking families in Italy.

“Four thousand five hundred to five thousand two hundrad.” I said quickly. If he could sell on the high side he make his initial purchase back with a little profit but whatever the wife planned to do with the other fifty would be pure profit. But the look on the wife’s face told me she did not approve of her husband’s scheme for very little profit.

“What would you give me in trade for ten bails of silk?” The lady Gianna smiled as she looked at my uncle and I saw him smile.

“We typically buy silk at two hundred ducats so that be twenty thousand.” He scratched his beard and looked at me. I knew he typically would pay more than two hundred if he had to as Silk sold for several times that in London but took up very little room making it ideal cargo. Merchants in London would pay three hundred gold angles for the much smaller bail even with the war on. It would him more room to pick up Alum in Rome on the way home for dying wool back in England. Truthfully I thought the deal was better for her as she could make far more clothing with the wool than with silk even if it did not sell for as much.

“That would be eighty bails of wool.” I smiled at the woman and she nodded approvingly.

“I can live with those numbers. Anything we do not use I can resail at auction.” She looked at her husband and he nodded. After that the ladies left and the husband went to talk business with my uncle in the captain’s quarters. I said my goodbyes to my cousins and got a bear hug from Kendrick. We agreed to meet up at sunset in the Osteria for drinks. I headed out and soon got directions to the Rialto Area in the sestiere of San Polo. Not that I knew where that was but at least it told me where to start looking for work.

I was heading that way when I heard a voice call out in English. “Hey. English.” I turned to see the two ladies from before as the daughter gave me a little wave. I smiled as I walked over.

“Not staying to help unload my mother cargo?” The younger woman Catalina teased as she brushed one of her stray locks from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

“Afraid not. That was my last trip and I would only get in the way. I make a much better Navigator than deck hand.” I shook my head.

“Does the Navigator have a name?” Lady Gianna smiled at me.

“Apologies Madonna Gianna. I am Jack Williams. It is a pleasure to meet you and your daughter.” I said and did a little bow.

“So, what do you plan to do now Mister Williams if you are no longer a navigator?” Lady Gianna grinned.

“Hopefully I can find a master artist who is not opposed to having an Englishman as a student.” I sighed knowing it would not be easy.

“I am sad to say I do not know how many artists speak inglese here in Venezia, mia dear." Lady Giana smirked.

“Fortuna I can speak a little Italiano Madonna Gianna. “ I replied in Italian with a smile.

“A man of the world it would seem.” Catalina smiled at me and then looked at her mother.

“I am heading for the Rialto Area in the sestiere of San Polo if I can find it. I do not suppose either of you could point the way?” I said hoping I had not been going the wrong way already.

“We can do you one better. It is on our way along the Canalazzo if mother does not mind you sharing a gondola with us?”

“I suppose not. It would be in poor manners to leave him wondering the streets of Venice on his own.” Madonna Gianna smiled at me.