The Threat in the West Indies (The Merriman Chronicles Book 4)

by Roger Burnage

  “Do you know Sir what conditions are like in the Leeward and Windward Islands? Most of them have been fought over by the French, Spanish and ourselves for years but we are unsure who owns which at the present time?” asked Merriman, “We don't want to find ourselves prisoners because we unknowingly entered an enemy port,”

  The Admiral's brow creased in thought, “I can only tell you what I know, the situation is quite fluid although it will soon change in our favour. Starting at the southern end, the Windward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago are Spanish. I don't know about the smaller islands but they are divided from the Leeward Islands by St Lucia and Martinique which are French as is Guadeloupe. We have Montserrat and our biggest asset Antigua. Most of Hispaniola is divided between The French and Spanish who are always fighting. Of course we have Jamaica, but again I have no knowledge about the smaller islands. And now Gentlemen, perhaps you will be my guests at dinner this evening?”

  “I regret, no Sir, but thank you for the invitation. I hope the situation here will remain quiet, but after fresh watering is finished we must be on our way southward to Trinidad and Tobago from where we must work our way back up the chain of islands to Antigua and see if there is any news there about any French activity.” They left with mutual expressions of goodwill and the Aphrodite was quickly on her way.

  “All seemed to be satisfactory there Sir,” remarked Merriman as Barbados fell astern. “Indeed so,” replied Grahame, “but it may be different in Trinidad and Tobago. They are owned by France at present but I don't think it will be long before we take them back. They have all changed hands several times but there will be a lot of French sympathy still there. There was a slave uprising only two years ago in St. Vincent, doubtless promoted by French revolutionary agents, but it was crushed. I believe Grenada is still ours, but what we will find there I don't know.

  However, at all the places the ship called there was no contact with the agents who were supposed to be there and so no fresh news of French or Spanish agents so they left and headed north, but not before asking the Governors and military commanders in the British owned islands to send word to Barbados or Antigua of anything new.

  Chapter 6 - Death in St Lucia

  Grahame and Merriman sat below with the inevitable cups of coffee as they approached the southern end of St Lucia. “We mustn't sail too close yet James, I shall go ashore there under the cover of darkness. We have a very good man there by the name of George Briggs, or at least we had. Nothing has been heard from him since the French took the island and I fear for his safety. I know where he lives, quite near to the shore on the south side of the island.”

  “That is going to be risky Sir; the French will have patrols all over the place not to mention local people with French sympathies who would tell the army about you.” “Nonetheless I must go. If I can be taken ashore at an hour or two before midnight that will give me plenty of time to find Briggs and for you to take me off again before dawn.”

  Fortunately it was a dark night, the moon was completely obscured by dark clouds as Aphrodite crept towards the shore and silently anchored. The smallest boat was lowered and Grahame dressed in dark clothing was rowed ashore. It took him a little while to orientate himself, the two big trees he was looking for had been reduced to only one but he was soon walking inland as quietly as he could, listening for anything unusual. He recognised the solitary cottage belonging to Briggs and moved stealthily forward towards a lighted window. The loud voices inside warned him and he peered cautiously in. Three roughly dressed soldiers were sitting round a table scattered with empty wine bottles and a fourth sprawled on a rough bed, fast asleep. None of them was Briggs. Grahame knew that he was neat and tidy in his habits and if he was still living there he would never have let the place get in such a state.

  Grahame realised that he could do nothing there but he decided to investigate further. He had been aware as he approached the cottage that there was a foul smell coming from somewhere behind the cottage. “It's death, somebody or something has died.” he thought. He found a small barn with the door wide open. A man's body was hanging from the beam above the door, and for some time it seemed, due to the smell of putrefying flesh There was just enough light to see the man in more detail and Grahame gasped in horror. He had a wooden leg sticking out below his trouser leg and Grahame knew from that, that it was Briggs hanging there.

  Sadly he shook his head but then warned by the scrape of a door opening he silently moved deeper into the shadows. A man appeared carrying a small lantern but all he wanted to do was relieve himself and, after standing facing the wall for what seemed like more than five minutes he grunted and went back inside. Grahame quietly returned to the path and was soon on the beach. He had a small lantern and when it was lit he was able to flash a signal seaward and the small boat appeared from the darkness and in no time he was back aboard the ship.

  “My dear Sir, you look awful, what happened to you?” asked Merriman once they were in his cabin. “Here, Peters, some brandy for Mr. Grahame, quickly now.” Grahame drank the brandy in one long draught and said “I needed that James. It was horrible, Briggs is dead, had been for many days judging by the state of his body and French soldiers are billeted there. But I must go back again tomorrow night, Briggs was a careful man and good at what he did. I know he would have hidden any notes he made and I know where. I couldn't get to them because of the soldiers so I will need a few of your best men to dispose of them. Perhaps you have some erstwhile poachers in your crew, men who can move quietly at night and won't mind killing some drunken, murdering Frenchmen. Five or six men should be enough for the job. And now James, we should move away to sea.”

  Merriman smiled, “All taken care of Sir, we shall be far enough away from land and out of sight by daylight. And now may I suggest that you get some sleep if you are going ashore again later.”

  So, led by Grahame, a small party of hardened men including ex-poacher Jackson were set ashore where Grahame had landed previously. Jackson had been told what to look for and sent ahead but he quickly returned, “Found the big tree Sir 'an I went further 'till I could see the cottage. Couldn't miss it Sir, lot of noisy drunken singing and shouting coming from it.”

  “Well done, now the rest of you, we'll creep closer, quietly mind, until we can see if there are still only four men in there. They did so and Grahame peeped in. “Right men, there are five of them now, all drunk I think so it should be easy to dispose of them. No gunfire, we don't want to alert any more French who may be nearby.”

  It was ridiculously easy, the Aphrodite’s crew poured through the door and most of the French died before their fuddled brains realised what was happening. Cold steel did the work and the only one who tried to resist was a sergeant not as drunk as the rest, but a cutlass thrust into his chest soon stretched him on the floor. Grahame, who had not taken part in the killing carefully stepped over the blood and bodies to the pull a rough wooden cupboard away from the wall by the stone fireplace. It revealed a section of stone work with one stone of a slightly different colour. Grahame borrowed a cutlass, thrust it in a narrow gap next to that stone and slowly managed to lever the stone out. Thrusting his arm inside the void he pulled out a small metal box and a thick wad of paper. “That's what we came for, now I want to do one more thing, I want the body hanging in the barn buried. He was a good man and served England well.” It was soon done, a spade was found in the barn and the sailors swiftly cut down and buried the body. Once again, on the beach a quick flash of the lantern brought the boat in and very soon they were back at the ship.

  Chapter 7 - Spying in Martinique

  The next day found the ship well away from sight of any island and slowly moving north towards Martinique, the French held island. Merriman and Grahame had spent some time reading the hastily scrawled notes left by Briggs and found much information about the forts and location of troops. In the little metal box they found a short note asking the finder to notify his daughter of his death and to give her a pretty n
ecklace left with it, her mother's. “I will see to that, her address in England is also here.” said Grahame, “as soon as I reach England again. I'll not forget.”

  They sat quietly for a few moments then Grahame said “James, I have more to tell you. I was born in Martinique, my parents had a small plantation there and we lived with my aunt and uncle. As a boy I roamed all over the island and I know it very well except for some of the thickest forest to the north. Anyway, when my mother died, my father left the plantation to his brother and took me back to England, where he sent me to Oxford, as he said, to turn me into a proper gentleman instead of a ragamuffin. I suppose that worked, for I came to the attention of Lord Stevenage and joined the Treasury service soon after. I have been involved with this spying business for over twenty years now and find I quite enjoy it, although I think I'm getting a bit too old for it now.”

  “Nonsense Sir, you are as fit as I am, I'm sure you have many more years ahead of you yet.”

  “Kind of you to say so James but I know what I can or cannot do. And I have a longing to see Martinique again and anyway my aunt and uncle may be able to tell me much about the French army there. We have corresponded occasionally so I think they will give me shelter although they are now getting on in years. So James, I want you to set me ashore as before, I'll tell you where and I may be there two or three days. The island is only five miles or so wide going west from Fort Royal and there is a small secluded cove on the east coast which should be suitable, I fished there as a boy. The old plantation is only a few miles inland from there, roughly in the middle of the island.”

  “Do you propose to go alone Sir? The place will be alive with French soldiers, patrols and camps and forts, perhaps you should take one or two men with you to help.” “Nonsense James, I know the island well, all the small tracks between villages and plantation buildings and farms. It will have changed somewhat from when I was there but I'm certain I can find my way, and I speak French fluently as you know. Remember the line from Romeo and Juliet James, 'I have night's cloak to hide me from their sight,”

  “Well then Sir, if I can't change your mind we had better start the arrangements. First of all can you show Mr. Cuthbert and myself where on the chart you want to land?”

  Later the Aphrodite kept well out of sight of land until it was dark and then slowly approached the place Grahame thought he had to land. The longboat was launched and a small swivel gun mounted in the bows in case of trouble when landing. When word went round the ship that Mr. Grahame was going ashore there was no end of volunteers to go in the boat, but Merriman selected men he knew to be reliable and steady including Owen his cox'n, Jackson, the Sergeant and three marines. All men to be armed but only the marines carried loaded muskets, the sergeant offering severe punishment for any man foolishly discharging his musket without orders.

  At the last moment Merriman announced that he was going as well. “Mr. Laing the ship is yours, try not to lose it,” he said, knowing full well that his First Lieutenant was fully capable. When all were in the boat he entered last as was his due and the boat pushed off. Oars had been muffled with greasy rags round the rowlocks and all of them except the oarsmen crouched in the bottom of the boat. Merriman and Grahame stayed together going over the details once more. He was worried that he may not see Grahame again, so he ensured that he had his flint and tinder box and the small signaling lantern with him. Grahame carried no weapons apart from a small knife and he seemed completely confident. The boat was close to the beach but at a word from Merriman it slowed while Grahame studied the land through a night glass. The image was upside down but he could see all he needed and pointed to starboard to a small oddly shaped headland. The boat beached gently in a small inlet, they shook hands and then a sturdy sailor carried Grahame ashore to keep his feet dry. Wet feet and shoes would look very suspicious if he was caught by a patrol.

  Chapter 8 - Martinique. More exercises for the crew

  All the following day Merriman kept the ship out of sight of land. Too worried to sit still for long he spent the next quarter of an hour devising new exercises to keep the men occupied. Of course all the usual routine work was being done when he went up on deck but he decided to set the men to work on his latest idea. Mr. Andrews was Officer of the Watch and Merriman strolled across to him and said quietly “David, a new exercise. I want each of the two for’ard guns changed over to the other side at once. You stay here and let Mr. Gorman take charge with Mr. Shrigley.”

  Andrews gaped for a brief moment, surprised at the unusual order but almost instantly began shouting orders to the petty officers. The crews of the two guns Merriman had selected raced to their places. Merriman ostentatiously looked at his timepiece to see how fast the exercise would take and then stood by the taffrail with his back to the activity. Shouts and rumblings of gun carriage wheels over the deck told of the feverish activity on the gun deck. Eventually a panting and sweating man appeared on the quarter deck to report, knuckling his forehead he said “Mr. Gorman's compliments Sir, it's done.”

  “Good, tell Mr. Gorman I am coming.” The man fled and Merriman slowly walked along the gun deck and made his way for’ard followed by Andrews. The guns had been changed over but Merriman's keen eye spotted a rammer not in its correct place and one of the ropes untidily coiled. “That took you men over twenty minutes,” he said “and it's not finished, look at that rope and the rammer isn't where it should be.” He turned to Andrews, and Laing who was off watch but who had been awakened by the noise, “Gentlemen, I know I took you all by surprise but I want it done quicker next time. Dismiss the hands.”

  He retired to his cabin well satisfied. He waited for the noise and bustle to subside then went on deck again to see his officers discussing the results. Gentlemen, I want the same thing done again, the number three guns this time and NOW.” Once again the noise and bustle broke out, orders shouted while he stood there studying his timepiece. This time he was pleased to see that the men had managed to knock two minutes off the previous time and he wondered why he hadn't thought of it before.

  That it wasn't an easy operation he knew, the guns had to be secured all the time with chocks behind the wheels and ropes to prevent them taking charge and rolling round like wild beasts weighing several tons, capable of severely injuring or killing men. This was a calm day with the ship hardly rolling but it would be a totally different matter in rough weather. Merriman called his officers together to give him their comments about the way the work was done.

  “Now then Gentlemen, what ideas do you have for an improvement in the time and safety of the men?” “A difficult task Sir, not one often done,” said Andrews, “but I have been watching and I think that with a bit more practice and one or two changes in the order things are done we can do better.” “I'm glad to hear it David, you and Mr. Oakley will take charge next time. The two guns third from aft will be the next and I'll give you ten minutes to organise the crews and tell them your ideas before I give the order.”

  By now a spirit of competition had infected the gun crews and all those not on lookout duty or involved with actually sailing the ship crowded onto any place they could to see what was going on. Merriman watched while Andrews gathered the gun crews round him to tell them what he wanted. He waited the promised ten minutes then shouted “Mr. Andrews, NOW.” The usual activity started again and at the end of it he was pleased to see nearly another three minutes knocked off the time. “Better Gentlemen but I think it could still be improved. I want all of you with the gun captains to put your ideas together. When you have decided, each gun crew will have to be trained accordingly and we'll try again tomorrow. Now dismiss the men back to their normal duties.”

  Later, Merriman stood at the taffrail staring unseeingly out to sea. It was a lovely sight, the sun was setting in the east with its usual blaze of colours, but it was still hot. Nevertheless he shivered, his gloomy thoughts casting their shadow over his mind. “What do I do if Grahame never comes back to be picked up, maybe the French
will catch him? Best thing would be to go directly to Antigua and report to the Admiral there. No, I can't do that, without Grahame my orders will have no weight and I'll probably find the ship on convoy duty, blast it.” He wrestled with the problem for a long time with everybody careful not to disturb him. Grahame had said two or three days so all he could do was to close with the shore each night and hope to see Grahame's arranged signal. Gloomily he went down to his cabin not really seeing the activity going on round him as Mr. Cuthbert ordered sail changes to suit a backing wind. He slept badly and all that day he kept the hands busy with the gun changing exercise he had devised. The times were improving but still not up to the standard he wanted.

  The second night he sent Lieutenant Gorman off with the boat to look for Grahame's signal but no signal was seen and so another boring day followed as did the third and last day. The men were kept busy with another exercise Merriman had devised involving turning each gun round in a circle before running it back into place. The men seemed to enjoy the unusual work, a change from their usual tasks although the officers and the bos'n and his mates kept a sure eye on the ship in case any unexpected work had to be done.