Alexander Kent - Bolitho 20 Darkening Sea

by Darkening Sea [lit]

  Like Adam, he could only stare at it. A commander's single epaulette, but surely nothing human and still alive?

  Like something rotten. A face from the grave.

  Adam cut the line and saw the figure vanish into the cabin.

  He called out, "God be with you, Stephen!" But only the scream of gulls came back to mock him.

  Starr swung over the tiller bar once more and breathed out very slowly as Anemone'?" topsails rose to greet him.

  But Adam was staring at the Orcadia, and said brokenly, "God? What does he care for the likes of us?"

  He barely remembered their return to Anemone's lee. Many hands reached out to help him, and someone raised a cheer for him, or for the volunteers, he did not know.

  And then it was dark, and the deck was steady again under the pressure of more canvas.

  Lieutenant Martin sat with him in the cabin, watching his captain drink glass after glass of brandy without any apparent effect. The leather satchel still lay on the table unopened, like something evil.

  The second lieutenant entered the cabin and after a questioning glance at Martin said, "We've lost her, sir. In these waters she could be adrift for months, years even."

  Adam said, "Open the despatches." He stared at his empty glass but could barely remember drinking from it. Like that time when she had come to him in the night at Falmouth. And had stayed with him.

  Martin unfolded the crisp despatch, and Adam recognised Yovell's familiar round handwriting.

  This was for Commodore Keen, sir. He was to find you and to tell the squadron to delay sailing. Sir Richard believes that Baratte is on the move."

  "Jenour found us after all." He tried to thrust the memory from his mind. "And there is no time to make contact with the commodore." He stared at the stern windows, at the swirling phosphorescence from the rudder and the beginning of a moon on the water.

  Perhaps there never had been enough time.

  He said, "We will rejoin Sir Richard. Instruct Mr. Partridge to lay off a new course and have the hands change tack." He said nothing more, and eventually his head lolled, and he did not feel the others lift his legs on to the bench seat. Nor did he hear Martin murmur, "I will deal with that, my captain. Just this once, you come first."

  SEVENTEEN All Is Not Lost

  Bolitho took a mug of coffee from Ozzard and returned once again to his chart. Avery and Yovell watched him in silence, each knowing that he was thinking of Herrick below in the sickbay.

  Bolitho sipped the hot coffee. Catherine had sent it to the ship for him. There could not be much more of it left.

  He tapped the chart with his dividers and said, "At least we have more time now that Commodore Keen knows what we are about. Major-General Drummond will have enough to trouble him with seasick soldiers and horses that can barely stand, without the threat of a sea-attack."

  As the others suspected his thoughts were of Herrick. He had visited him several times in spite of the need to remain in close contact with his little group of ships, and he had been shocked by what he had found. As Minchin the surgeon had said from the start, "Rear-Admiral Herrick is too strong in character to submit. Most men either faint from the pain or drink themselves into a stupor. Not him, Sir Richard. Even under the knife he was fighting me."

  Herrick had seemed somehow defenceless and vulnerable on the last visit, his normally weathered features already like death. In between periods of insensibility he had been elsewhere, in other ships, shouting orders and demanding answers to questions nobody had been able to understand. Once he had called out the name of their first ship together, Phalarope,

  and several times he had spoken in an almost matter-of-fact tone of his beloved Dulcie.

  Bolitho's mind came back with a jolt as Avery said, "Baratte will not know about your despatches, sir. But he will not wish to wait too long before he moves."

  Bolitho agreed. "To the north of Mauritius there is an area littered with smaller islands, Gunners Quoin, for instance. It would take a whole squadron to search amongst them." He rapped the chart again. "It is my belief that Baratte and his murderous friend will bide their time there until he can gain intelligence of the first convoy."

  Avery held out his mug to Ozzard. "It is our only advantage."

  "You sound troubled."

  Avery shrugged. "It is beyond my experience, sir."

  Bolitho would have questioned him further but at that moment there were voices at the door. He turned, his spine like ice as Ozzard opened the screen and he saw Minchin's grey head in the entrance.

  "What... ?"

  Minchin came in rubbing his hands on his apron. He almost grinned as he said, "Into safe waters, Sir Richard. A very close-run thing."

  "You mean he is all right?" He had been prepared, but not for this.

  Minchin nodded. "It'll take a while, but the fever is falling away. I'm quite surprised."

  "May I see him?"

  Minchin stood aside. "He was asking for you in actual fact, Sir Richard." He beamed, and there was a strong odour of rum. "My surgeon's mate must take all the credit. He reads medicine and surgery, morning, noon an' night. He'll make as good a surgeon as many an' better than most, in my opinion!"

  Bolitho hurried down the two ladders to the sickbay. After all that had happened it was the best news he could have hoped for.

  Herrick looked up at him from his cot and tried to smile.

  "You told me we would win," he said faintly, and closed his eyes.

  Allday was grinning, a glass of brandy in his fist; and the surgeon's mate, Lovelace, a pale, rather effeminate young man who had an almost prison pallor as if he rarely left the sickbay, said, "The ship held steady, Sir Richard, so I used the double skin-flap method. It is more severe, but lessens the chances of gangrene."

  Bolitho eyed him gravely. "I an indebted to you, and I shall see that you receive mention in my next despatches."

  They waited for Lovelace to leave, then Herrick said, "Enjoys his trade, that one." He winced as he moved, but he seemed lucid and composed, as if he had accepted it. As an afterthought he asked, "What of the enemy and that bloody renegade Englishman? I heard that Commodore Keen's convoy has been ordered to stand fast is that true?"

  Bolitho said lightly, "Are there no secrets in a ship, Thomas? But you are correct. I thought it best."

  He turned as shoes clattered on the companion ladder, and a midshipman's pale breeches seemed to glow in the orlop deck's poor light.

  The captain's respects, Sir Richard..." His eyes moved unwillingly to the cot and the bandages where Herrick's forearm had once been.

  "We are all agog, Mr. Harris,"

  The youth flushed under his admiral's gaze and blurted out, "The masthead has reported gunfire, he thinks to the south'rd."

  Bolitho controlled his instinct to hurry to the quarterdeck. It was common enough for masthead lookouts to hear far-off sounds, just as they would see another sail before anybody else. But this was from the wrong direction. Otherwise Tyacke's Lame would have reported it.

  "I shall come up." He looked at Herrick. "I cannot say what this means to me."

  Herrick watched him thoughtfully, as if he were still grappling with something. But he said, "Is this something unexpected, Richard? Are we a match for them?"

  Herrick's we warmed him more than he could have believed possible. He rested one hand on Herrick's uninjured arm. "I have often been a flag officer with only two ships to command. This is the first time I have had one ship with two admirals in charge!"

  Allday said anxiously, "I'd best go, sir."

  Herrick was becoming drowsy: something Minchin had given him, or perhaps it was due more to Allday's brandy. He said quietly, "I'll not forget, you rogue!"

  Allday grinned. "There, sir, your old self already!"

  Bolitho found Trevenen and his lieutenants at the quarterdeck rail, each with a telescope as they stared at the eye-watering horizon.

  "Deck there! Sail to the south'rd!"

  Trevenen looked
grim. "We had better clear for action, Sir Richard."

  Bolitho wiped his eye with his fingers. Clear for action so soon? Why was he so on edge? Laertes's pale canvas made the tiniest mark on the horizon, with Lame staying well up to windward. In contact, within sight of each vigilant lookout.

  Trevenen continued, "A broadside, I think, Sir Richard." He was puzzled, and he could not hide it. "Only one."

  "Well, this stranger must have sighted us, Captain Trevenen. She seems to hold her course." He trained his telescope very carefully by resting it on Midshipman Harris's shoulder. It would make a good story for the dog watches, he thought.

  "Deck there! She's a frigate, sir!"

  Avery said, "But which one?"

  Someone murmured, "By God, her captain knows how to make a ship take wings!"

  Trevenen barked, "Mr. Monteith, I'd be more than obliged if you would keep such empty observations to yourself!"

  The young lieutenant seemed to cringe, but swung away when he saw Avery watching.

  Bolitho had heard the exchange. The frigate could be none other than Anemone. In such a short while he had proved what he could do, and he had the confidence to use his initiative whenever he got a chance.

  But why Adam? Perhaps Keen had thought it prudent to send him. They were like extensions of himself, his ears and eyes, and the steel in his grip.

  Bolitho said, "We will not clear for action, Captain Trevenen." He took a chance. "Let me know when Anemone is within range of our signals. Mr. Avery, come aft with me."

  In the cabin Yovell was already leaving, while Ozzard was mixing something to carry to the sickbay. Like Allday, each knew Bolitho's moods, and recognised in him now the need for private conversation with his flag lieutenant.

  Avery said, "I am delighted to hear of Rear-Admiral Her-rick's recovery."

  Bolitho strode to the stern windows and shaded his eyes to look for Lame's topsails.

  "When you came to me and I accepted you as my flag lieutenant, we had a wary agreement with each other. Would you see it that way?"

  He stared out at the sea and waited for his vision to blur. He could feel Avery watching him, could sense his unwillingness to speak of what troubled him.

  Avery said, "You have my complete loyalty as a King's officer, sir."

  Bolitho turned but could see very little in the shadows of the cabin.

  "And friendship too, I would hope?"

  "I value it more than I can express, sir. But after my experiences, and carrying the stigma of an unjust court-martial, I have been careful in what I say and do."

  "In case you lose your position, that rung on the ladder we all envy at times, and which was denied you by the very navy you so obviously love."

  Avery heard more cries from the lookout, some bare feet padding overhead as the sails were re-trimmed yet again. When he answered his voice was faraway.

  "To keep silent and to do only my duty... I thought it was enough. I had no way of understanding the greater power of Admiralty."

  As if from another world, Bolitho recalled Catherine's warning that Sir Paul Sillitoe might be using Avery for his own ends. It hurt him more than he thought possible.

  Avery said flatly, "I wrote to my uncle. From Gibraltar, as a matter of fact. He told me things."

  "About me?"

  Avery stared at him, shocked. "Never, sir! I was merely curious as to why a ship like Valkyrie should be given to Captain Trevenen."

  Then you acted wrongly and improperly."

  Bolitho wished he could see his face, but after the ocean's mirrored surface the cabin's darkness was like being in a cave.

  "I still require an explanation, Mr. Avery."

  Avery replied, "I did it because of you, sir, not in spite of you. I had seen how you hated the floggings and privations set upon the people, and you felt helpless to interfere."

  Bolitho waited. You saw a man every day, shared a meal or a memory, and all the while you did not know him. Perhaps until now.

  "My uncle was well-informed. I suspect he knew when their lordships insisted upon your appointment to Good Hope." He spoke with such anger he could not conceal it. "This ship was Trevenen's reward for false evidence at a court of enquiry. He once served in the frigate Priam, an unhappy ship according to my uncle, with a captain who twice allowed men to die under punishment. Trevenen gave evidence to refute this, and the court of enquiry was only too eager to dismiss the complaints."

  "Can I guess the name of Priam's captain?"

  "I think you know, sir. It was Hamett-Parker, now Admiral Sir James Hamett-Parker. The one who instigated your appointment here." He sounded out of breath.

  Bolitho gripped the edge of the bench seat. "He once made a point of telling me he had never served in frigates."

  Avery said quietly, "The admiral is aware of Trevenen's hatred of your family, sir. A simple but cruelly effective weapon." He was speaking more quickly, as if he might regret the impulse if he hesitated. Trevenen comes of lowly stock, sir."

  "All to his good, I'd have thought." Even as he spoke Bolitho recalled Trevenen's endless discussions with the purser and his clerk about ship's stores and the fresh fruit which was so necessary in these demanding climates.

  Avery said, This is not how I meant it to end, sir. You have my word on it." He sounded as if he had turned away to look around the cabin. "It has been my great fortune to serve with you, and I know I have dismissed my chances for good."

  There is something else?"

  Avery said, "I feel in my bones that we are intended to fight. I am not new to it, nor will I fail you when it begins."

  Bolitho heard the squeal of halliards from above in that other world, probably an acknowledgement to the other frigate's signal.

  He tried to remain calm. "I never doubted your ability."

  Avery said, "When you know a secret..."

  "Tell me only if you wish. You have said enough to destroy you already."

  "Captain Trevenen is a coward, sir. I have watched him. I am a good judge of men, I think."

  Heavy feet pounded on the ladder and Trevenen's knuckles rapped impatiently on the door.

  For a moment they stood staring at one another. Then Bolitho said, "That took courage too." He paused. "It is still a secret, Mr. Avery." He said sharply, "Enter!"

  Trevenen almost burst into the cabin, "She is Anemone, Sir Richard!" It sounded like an accusation. "Her captain is coming aboard!"

  "Is that all, Captain?"

  Trevenen took a grip on himself, his massive figure swaying about as if he had forgotten where he was.

  "Orcadians lost! Yellow Jack!"

  Bolitho caught his breath. Without asking he knew what must have happened. In the time available Adam had not been able to report to Keen, which probably meant that Keen's ships had already sailed.

  "I shall come up directly."

  As the door slammed shut Allday came in by the other entrance.

  Bolitho said quietly, "Poor Stephen Jenour. He did not want a command, you know. I forced it on him. I might as well have shot him."

  Avery was disconcerted, uncertain what to say. "I'm sure it's what any officer would want, sir."

  "I doubt that." He reached out for Avery's arm but missed it in the shadows.

  "We have a war to fight, Mr. Avery. Put other thoughts from your mind. You did it for me and you acted rightly. Every commander must know his weakness as well as his strength."

  Allday placed a glass by his hand, "Wet, Sir Richard." He could not say more.

  "We shall wait on deck, sir." Avery followed the burly coxswain into the filtered sunlight. It seemed incredible that Anemone had already changed tack and run down under their lee. Avery could even make out individual figures, men dashing past the guns to haul on the boat-hoisting tackles.

  Then he turned and was astonished to see the intensity of Allday's stare.

  "What is it?"

  Allday said steadily, "I've not known you that long, sir, but I happen to believe you've come to belong
to Sir Richard's little crew as he calls us." He did not smile. "Otherwise I'd not be saying a word, see?"

  "I was sorry to hear about Jenour, though I scarcely knew him."

  Allday brushed it aside. "He was a good man. We all trusted him, I mean." Then he made up his mind. "I think you should know, sir, because I've seen the way he's taken to you..." He hesitated and then blurted out, "If you speaks of it to anybody but us, I shall know."