Chapter 21: The Second Step
Although Catherine was not allowed to touch the compass or any other navigation instruments, she could tell from the sun’s position that the ship had been sailing west all along.
Plus Lin Qian writing the blackmail letter, and the gradually increasing fishing boats and islands around.
Catherine had guessed that the Fuchuan Ship had sailed to the vicinity of the Luzon Islands.
However, the Luzon Islands included Samar Island, Cebu Island, Palawan Island, Mindanao Island, and hundreds of large and small islands; she couldn’t distinguish which specific island the ship was approaching.
The Spaniards’ colonial forces were basically limited to Luzon Island itself and the north of Samar Island and Cebu Island.
Other areas were either deserted islands or occupied by indigenous people and pirates; if she rashly escaped to the island, her fate would probably be much worse than staying on the ship.
During this time, she had been closely monitoring the ship’s position, deeply meditating on methods to escape.
At the same time, she stayed in the stern cabin almost all day, rarely going out, creating the illusion for the pirates that she had resigned herself to her fate.
This did indeed have some effect; recently, the pirates’ surveillance of her had loosened considerably, and there were basically no restrictions on her anywhere inside the ship; she could enter and exit freely.
Although unwilling to admit it in her heart, in fact, this group of pirates was much more civilized than she had imagined; not only was she not bullied or abused on the ship, but she could even be said to be quite well-treated.
The pirate crew members treated her even more kindly than the senior artisans at the Kameidi Shipyard.
Even so, Catherine still deeply remembered that she had been abducted onto the ship and remembered this group of pirates’ plot to subvert the Manila regime, constantly seeking a way to escape.
Recently, the Fuchuan Ship had been anchored off a very large island, but the pirates had not gone ashore, seemingly just waiting for something here, or perhaps somewhat wary of the island.
Every day, fishing boats came close to trade supplies with the pirates.
The goods were mostly fish catch, freshwater, tools, canvas, and the like.
That day at noon when the fishing boat approached, Lin Qian was holding the sextant, observing the sun’s altitude on the stern deck.
Catherine seized the opportunity, rushed to the ship’s rail, and asked the fishermen on the fishing boat: “What is the name of this island?”
Although those on the fishing boat were all yellow-skinned, black-haired indigenous people, the Spaniards had established a colony in Manila for several decades, and the surrounding indigenous people, influenced by this, mostly knew a few simple Spanish words.
Catherine prayed inwardly nonstop that these fishermen could understand her language.
Perhaps the Virgin Mary appeared; one of the young fishermen replied: “Samar Island.”
As expected, Catherine’s guess was correct; her heart pounded, as there was a Spanish outpost on Samar Island, as long as she could escape to the shore…
“What did you just say to him?” Lin Qian’s voice sounded from behind her.
Catherine turned around abruptly like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, looking at him with a ghostly horrified expression.
After more than a month’s interaction, she had come to fear Lin Qian deep in her heart.
This person had an almost pathological calmness, self-discipline, control desire, and mind-reading-like insight.
When facing Lin Qian, she felt as if she had been stripped naked, with all her thoughts exposed and nowhere to hide.
If Lin Qian found out what she had just asked, he would definitely discover her escape intention; now she could only lie and try to brush it off.
“I… I asked him if he had… red day cloth pads…” Catherine lowered her head, her face red as she spoke.
The so-called “red day” was the European nobility’s euphemism for a woman’s menstrual period.
Although using her period was somewhat shameful, Catherine understood Lin Qian; this was the only way to stop him from pressing further.
This pirate leader had a unique moral code unlike ordinary people—no guilt about killing, but he would not do anything to insult women.
If it were any other answer, no matter what Catherine said, Lin Qian would confirm with that fisherman again, but not this matter.
As expected, Lin Qian was silent for a moment, said nothing more, and turned back to the stern deck.
Catherine breathed a sigh of relief.
That night, when she returned to the hammock to sleep, she felt a soft object on the bed; upon picking it up, she saw it was a package of cotton cloth cut into strips.
Catherine immediately understood the use of these cloth strips, her face burning as she hugged them to her chest, glanced at Lin Qian with complex emotions, and said softly: “Thank you.”
Lin Qian did not reply, focused on studying the sea chart, unclear if he had heard.
Catherine held the cotton cloth strips, went to the stern deck, took off her pants, and wrapped them on, although she wasn’t really on her “red day,” but if she didn’t use them, it would definitely arouse suspicion.
While wrapping the strips, her heart inexplicably pounded nonstop.
If only he weren’t a pirate; best if he were a nobleman from Madrid, no need for a high title, a count would do…
Catherine was startled in her heart, shook her head vigorously, and silently cursed herself for thinking such nonsense.
After wrapping the strips, she didn’t hurry back but leaned against the stern railing, blowing sea breeze to cool her face.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her mind, and she thought of a way to escape…
The next afternoon, a torrential rain poured down.
Lin Qian took off his upper garment, picked up the towel and soap, and prepared to leave the stern cabin.
Catherine stopped him and requested that, like last time, he help set up a canvas curtain on the stern deck for her to bathe.
Lin Qian looked at her suspiciously: “In your current physical condition, can you get rained on?”
Catherine was slightly stunned, then remembered she was pretending to be on her period, and explained: “I’m not that delicate, and those… clothes need washing too.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Qian stopped trying to dissuade her and called someone to set up on the stern deck.
As he prepared to push the door open, Catherine called out to him again: “Hey! Pirate mister, it seems you haven’t told me your name yet.”
“Is that so? My name is Lin Qian.” With that, Lin Qian pushed the door open and stepped into the rain.
……
Freshwater at sea was extremely precious; using it to brush teeth was wasteful, let alone for bathing.
The ship workers were exposed to wind and sun on the deck every day, seawater and sweat wetting and drying repeatedly on their bodies, smelling as bad as could be.
Therefore, whenever there was a heavy rain, the ship workers would all go on deck to bathe, enjoying nature’s gift.
Today the torrential rain poured, ears filled with the roar of rain hitting the sea surface; even face-to-face, people had to shout to hear each other.
“Look, that foreign woman is out!” someone shouted, immediately attracting everyone’s attention.
“Hey! Look at this! Don’t be afraid to open your eyes…”
“Hahahaha…”
Catherine could roughly guess what the ship workers were saying and ran to the stern deck as if fleeing, hiding behind the canvas curtain.
Then, she took out a larger piece of canvas from her clothes; that was precisely her hammock.
Catherine untied the cotton cloth strip from her crotch, tied the canvas, shirt, horse trousers, and black silk robe together to form a five-or-six-meter-long rope.
Then she tied one end of the rope to the stern railing and threw the rope down, where it just reached the sea surface.
Catherine poked her head out from the canvas curtain and took a last look at Lin Qian.
She saw him washing his hair with soapy water, his upper body’s muscular lines prominent, lower body…
Catherine’s face instantly flushed red, burning hot; she quickly retracted her head and silently thought: “Goodbye, dead pirate.”
Then she nimbly climbed over the stern rail, gripping the rope tightly with hands and legs, inching toward the sea surface.
As she got closer to the sea surface, she was ecstatic inside.
At that moment, with a ripping sound, the shirt suddenly tore open; she, grabbing the black silk robe, plunged into the sea with a splash.
Fortunately, the roar of the torrential rain covered the sound of falling into the water.
Catherine inwardly thanked the Lord nonstop and swam desperately toward the shore.
Now she had only one thing on her mind—to hurry back to Manila and tell her father about the pirates’ plan.
By the time she swam to the shore, she was utterly exhausted and could only lie on the beach, letting seawater and rainwater wash over her body.
On the distant sea surface, the Fuchuan Ship showed no movement; it seemed her escape hadn’t been discovered yet.
The beach was not safe; she had to get up immediately and head north to find the Spaniards’ fortress.
Catherine gritted her teeth, supported her body with her sore, trembling arms, put on the black silk robe, and walked toward the northern mountains and forests.
By the time she climbed to the mountaintop, that black silk robe had been torn to shreds.
Fortunately, the hardships were worth it; on the northern coast, she could clearly see the fortress lights.
Catherine’s legs trembled as she leaned against a tree to rest, then looked back toward the bay she had come from.
In an instant, her eyes widened at an unforgettable sight.
In the pitch-black harbor, over a hundred ship lanterns lit up, covering the entire sea surface of the harbor.
By the ship lantern lights, silhouettes of countless huge warships emerged.
……
At the same time, in the bay, Lin Qian leaned against the Fuchuan Ship’s stern rail, his gaze passing over countless torches disguised as ship lanterns, gazing into the dark mountains of Samar Island.
In Lin Qian’s hand, he still held a rope made from cloth strips, exactly the one Catherine had used to escape.
“This foolish woman has finally thought of a way to escape…” Lin Qian thought, “It wasn’t in vain that I sold so many flaws for so long.”
At this point, the plan had completed its second step.
