Ancell's Final Battle

by Tony Main

  ‘High handed cocky little thing,’ muttered Doc, watching the bird resume her journey.

  ‘But a superb navigator and weather forecaster,’ retorted Skeet.

  He was the only one to speak. Gathered about the afterdeck, the crew were brooding over the bird’s message.

  ‘It’s Laughing Jack isn’t it?’ said Ancell wearily.

  ‘Seems so,’ replied Capt. Albern, and ordered the crew to turn the ship about.

  However Misty made no better progress heading south than she had north.

  Ancell grabbed Chad. ‘If we can’t see “The Executioner” she can’t see us, right?’

  ‘Wrong! Her masts are taller than ours and their lookout will be able to see further.’

  Ancell’s head drooped. ‘But if we are becalmed so are they, so they won’t be able to catch us?’

  ‘Wrong again! “The Executioner” is built for speed and we’re not. Moreover, light airs are to her advantage. She’ll slip along quite nicely while we’re at a standstill.’

  ‘So, you’re saying it’s the end of us.’

  ‘Not at all! We’ve still got tomorrow and maybe tomorrow night.’

  ‘How will that help?’

  Chad wrinkled his nose.

  ‘How?’ demanded Ancell.

  Chad rounded on him. ‘Will you please leave the worrying to the skipper!’ he snapped. ‘For a start, we’ve not given up even if you have. You’ve said before that something will turn up when we’re in a tight spot, so if you want to do something useful, dream up just that!’

  Standing high in the crowsnest of “The Executioner”, Laughing Jack scoured the ocean impatiently. Day after day he had watched from dawn to dusk for Misty’s topsails to show above the horizon. Suddenly he tensed and began to smile.

  ‘Got you at last, Albern,’ he muttered. ‘I’ve waited so many years for this moment. You hoped to slip past me in the dead of night, but whatever course you sailed I’d have tracked you down and you know it. The oceans are wide but there’s only room for one of us. And now I have sight of you I’ll sink your ship. But first you’ll feel the cut of my lash, and I promise you it will cut very deep. Hoping won’t save you now. My time has come, and yours is at an end.’

  Chapter 16

  Capt. Albern clung to the foot of a rope ladder explaining to the dolphins the peril Misty faced. They quickly forgot their playfulness and Noya called her mother.

  ‘Would we find a wind if I lowered our rowing boats and we pulled Misty?’ the captain asked her.

  Adriel shook her head and confirmed the petrel’s forecast. The sea otter sighed. There was no point in exhausting the crew for the sake of a mile or two.

  ‘I wish you were larger,’ he said sadly. ‘I’d ask you all to give us a tow.’

  Adriel pondered. ‘Maybe I could ask the whales.’

  ‘Would they come?’

  ‘They won’t refuse a call for help.’

  ‘But could they be here by dawn tomorrow? We’ve little time in hand.’

  ‘As many as you’ll need. They’ll know where I am the moment I call, and I’ll tell them it’s urgent. A Blue whale, a hundred miles distant could still be here in time and even the slowest Sperm whale within forty miles should make it.’

  The sea otter glanced up at Misty’s sails falling limp as the last zephyr of breeze died with the onset of dusk.

  ‘Please ask. They’re our only hope,’ he said.

  The crew listened doubtfully to the news that the whales might come to their aid, every one of them still praying for a wind, any wind from any direction that would carry Misty a few critical miles through the night.

  ‘I’m sure we’ll get a breeze – it could spring up at any moment,’ stated Skeet brightly.

  ‘Maybe, Mr Skeet,’ replied the captain, ‘but we’ll show no lights tonight.’

  Skeet immediately confiscated Waff’s pipe, despite the sailmaker protesting he felt lonely without it, lit or not.

  ‘At least we can thank Laughing Jack for one blessing,’ observed Chips, but nobody laughed.

  It was a long night. Staring into the darkness, the watches spoke in whispers, wincing at every creak of Misty’s rigging and the occasional slat of her sails that seemed to signal her position across the entire ocean. The children slept fitfully – Truename not at all, and it was he who first heard the faint moans, grunts, chirps and whistles of the whales echo through Misty’s wooden hull. The children listened in wonder as the sounds grew louder. Doc squeezed through their cabin door.

  ‘Do you hear?’ he whispered. ‘They’re replying to Adriel’s message.’

  ‘It’s lovely,’ murmured Chantal, ‘all those whales out there thinking of us. I wonder how near they are?’

  ‘I wish it was morning so we could see them,’ said Max.

  ‘Sleep is the quickest way to pass the night,’ advised Doc.

  ‘Can’t sleep!’ said Ryan.

  ‘We could do an algebra exercise.’

  The children pulled their blankets over their heads and Sassy made an exaggerated snore. Doc crept back to his cabin, and one by one, comforted by the songs of the whales, the children slept.

  The crew, too, listened to the whales and silently shared the thought that every minute the peace-loving animals they so admired swam to their aid, Laughing Jack was closing in. If the whales reached them in time, Misty was in with a chance, but if the whales met Laughing Jack, the gentleness of the great creatures would be no match for a hatred beyond their comprehension. If it came to a battle it was better Misty fought alone.

  Capt. Albern climbed to the crowsnest the moment the first grey light of dawn filtered across the quiet sea. He scanned the horizon and was relieved to see no ship. Then, as the sun rose, adding colour to the day, he turned around and around to gaze in awe at the waters below. Whales were heading towards Misty from every direction. Ahead, he saw the pointed heads and the slate grey backs of a pod of Minkes, and behind them the metallic grey of the slender Sei whales. To starboard he recognised the ridges on the heads of the stocky Brydes whales, and beyond them, and more than twice their size, the beautifully streamlined fifty-ton Fin whales, strikingly marked by their white flippers and tails. He looked to port to see a pod of thirty Humpbacks lazing abreast of the ship, and a little further off, Short Finned Pilot whales kept escort. He spun round again to witness the forward angled blowing of a giant Sperm whale slowly approaching astern, then his heart leapt as he spied a distant fine mist blow thirty feet in the air. The whale was travelling fast. The Blue whale, the greatest and most powerful of all, was answering Adriel’s call.

  The sea otter shot down the ratlines, galloped across the deck and shinned down the ladder. He noticed a group of five Pygmy Sperm whales close by the hull, and felt grateful that even they, though not much larger than the dolphins, had come to offer what help they could.

  ‘I told you they’d come,’ said Adriel with a smile. ‘What now?’

  ‘We’ll try a tow.’

  ‘It would be easier for the toothed whales to take a line,’ suggested Adriel. ‘How about the Sperm whale, he could do it alone.’

  ‘I’m nervous he might dive. I don’t want Misty dragged down six thousand feet. Would you ask four of the Pilot whales to take a line each?’

  ‘I’ll try,’ replied Adriel, ‘but remember I sent a general distress call which every whale would naturally answer. Relaying specific instructions when we all speak on different frequencies will not be easy.’

  ‘Do your best,’ begged Capt. Albern, and climbed back on board to issue a stream of orders.

  The morning passed with one frustration following another. Hard though Adriel worked to communicate the sea otter’s instructions, it became necessary for the dolphins to demonstrate the task, and there was further delay while the Pilot whales discussed who should try first. Even when the
tow began it proved disappointing. The Pilot whales were used to surfacing only to take a breath, and their progress on top of the water was slow. They also tended to bite through the towlines, which became shorter and shorter until Chad ran aft to report they only had enough rope to splice a single tow.

  ‘Try a Fin whale,’ urged Skeet, losing patience. ‘A big one would be twenty times the weight of those Pilots – we’d only need one.’

  ‘Wouldn’t work,’ replied Capt. Albern. ‘Adriel says that without the teeth to take a grip, the baleen whales couldn’t take the weight of the ship in their mouths. We’ll have to risk a push from the Sperm whale. He must be all of forty-five tons, so shifting Misty should be child’s play to him.’

  After a demonstration by the dolphins, Thom tensed at the helm and all the crew held their breath as the great bull Sperm whale nosed his massive head, a third of his body length, against Misty’s stern. The ship surged forward with a single thrust of his tail, but then her stern lifted, her bow dug in, and with a lurch she broached sideways, throwing several of the children and Doc across the deck.

  ‘I’ve got no steering,’ called Thom desperately as she clung to the wheel.

  The Sperm whale tried again, but after a few minutes Misty broached to the other side and Capt. Albern leaped to the rail to signal Adriel to call a halt. To make matters worse, the Humpbacks, eager to help, decided to swim alongside and nudge Misty along, but only succeeded in causing the ship to pitch and roll. The confusion in the sea and on deck only subsided when the Blue whale approached from where she had been watching. The Humpbacks calmed down and the dolphins relaying Adriel’s messages ceased to streak back and forth to admire the magnificent creature. The crew stood in awe as she slid her two-hundred-ton body, longer by many feet than the ship, beneath Misty’s hull. Then they felt the ship lift and move steadily forward.

  ‘Nobody will believe you when you tell this story,’ whispered Waff to Chips, daring to break the stunned silence on deck. Chips just stood open-mouthed as Misty picked up speed.

  Since sunrise the ship had not felt a breath of breeze on her canvas. Now Capt. Albern watched horrified as a catspaw of wind ruffled the surface of the water towards them. Cruelly it filled Misty’s sails. She heeled, slipped from the narrow, streamlined back, and crashing into the sea was left wallowing in the Blue whale’s wake.

  ‘Get all the canvas off! We’ll try again,’ he shouted to Skeet, and climbed down to Adriel. He was about to ask if the Blue whale would make another attempt when the Humpbacks began to breach, some throwing their thirty-ton bodies almost clear of the water and landing in cascades of spray. Others smashed the water with their tails, or rolled, waving their long white fins aggressively.

  ‘What’s upset them?’ he asked, watching nervously.

  ‘We’ve just learned the Orca are massing not far off,’ replied Adriel anxiously. ‘The whales can’t risk staying in case they’re in the mood for a kill, and I’m sorry but we’ll have to leave you as well.’

  The captain fought down his disappointment. ‘I understand,’ he replied. ‘Thank you for your help, and please thank the whales for trying their best.’

  ‘What will you do?’

  ‘Fight as best we can.’

  ‘The Orca are the whales for you if you have to fight. They’re called killer whales for good reason.’

  ‘But would they fight for us? And how?’

  ‘They’re clever, they’d plan how, but whether they would is another matter. They’re unpredictable – sometimes they play, sometimes they kill. What is certain is that they’re a formidable force.’

  Hanging over the topsail yard with Jobey, Pickle stopped heaving in the canvas and yelling at Skeet, pointed. The whales were swimming away. The Blue whale turned to look up at Misty’s crew as if to say sorry, then raised her tail and dived. When they next saw her blow she was far distant.

  ‘Set all sail again,’ ordered Skeet.

  ‘Make up your mind!’ grumbled Jobey.

  ‘It’s not Skeet’s fault,’ retorted Pickle.

  ‘I know,’ sighed Jobey. ‘It’s just that I’m getting tired of today. We must have had a thousand tons of help cruising about down there, and we’re still sitting here. First, it’s furling the sails, now it’s setting them. I wouldn’t mind telling Laughing Jack to his face the trouble he’s causing me.’

  Pickle stared into the distance and quietly cursed.

  ‘Seems like you’ll soon be able to do just that,’ he replied.

  Jobey followed his gaze. The topsails of a ship had appeared above the horizon and it was bearing directly down on them.

  Chapter 17

  Capt. Albern immediately held a council of war. Apart from the unlikely event of the Orca coming to their aid, escape was no longer possible. They would have to prepare to repel boarders.

  ‘We’ve seen them off before and we’ll do it again,’ declared Skeet.

  ‘That we will,’ agreed Chad. ‘The moment Laughing Jack steps on board this ship he’s mine.’

  ‘Not if I get there before you!’ promised Skeet.

  ‘I should be the one to finish him off for all the extra work he’s causing me,’ complained Jobey, and looked all the more aggrieved when told he was at the back of the queue.

  Ancell and Doc stood with the children watching the whales disperse, moving slowly, as if loathe to leave Misty on her own. There was no sign of the dolphins. The Sperm whale waited a little longer, but then he, too, raised his tail in regretful farewell, and dived.

  ‘We won’t see him again,’ observed Doc. ‘He can dive for over an hour.’

  ‘Who are the Orca?’ Sassy asked.

  ‘The Orca are the killer whales, the kings of the ocean. Not even a great white shark would be able to fight off an Orca’s attack.’

  ‘So why haven’t they come before if they’re so powerful?’ demanded Ryan. ‘All the other whales tried to help.’

  ‘Who knows?’ sighed Doc. ‘Maybe they just chose not to. Maybe Adriel didn’t ask them. The other whales would not have come if they were around. They were originally correctly called whale killers.’

  ‘It would be wonderful if they did come to save us,’ mused Ruth.

  ‘And they were friendly to the other whales,’ added Chantal.

  ‘And the dolphins came back as well, then we could all swim together,’ said Max.

  ‘In which case, I think I might join you,’ said Doc with a smile.

  Ancell thumped the stern rail. ‘Stop it! Just cut out pretending will you!’ he yelled at Doc. The owl looked sharply at the hedgehog and drew him to one side.

  ‘What’s getting at you? You’ve hardly said a word since that impertinent little storm petrel deigned to visit us.’

  ‘We’ve failed. I’ve failed,’ snarled Ancell. ‘The skipper should never have taken me on board. Soon the children will be back in Laughing Jack’s hands and Truegard will have died for nothing.’

  ‘That’s not for certain. Laughing Jack hasn’t caught up with us yet. Remember the anaconda saved you and Chad at the last moment, and against all the odds you dealt with Larren.’

  Ancell laughed bitterly. ‘And I bet his bones are mocking us this very moment.’

  ‘Just hold onto your dreams.’

  ‘What’s the use of dreams? Mine have come to nothing.’

  Doc watched a distant whale blowing. ‘But there is always hope. We must always hope,’ he replied.

  Merrie and Truename suddenly shouted from the crowsnest, and with heavy hearts the crew climbed the rigging for a first sight of “The Executioner”, but the two lookouts were dancing about and waving at a wide arc of the horizon.

  Doc stared. ‘Now there’s a sight!’ he breathed. ‘The Orca are coming!’

  Ancell hobbled to the ratlines and risked climbing a little to get a view. He first saw the whales returnin
g, swimming warily and staying defensively close to one another. Then in the far distance he saw what looked like the white crest of a breaking wave as the Orca charged at close to thirty miles an hour, some leaping as others plunged, every one of them straining to be ahead of the next. The unstoppable army surged forward in a tumult of foam, not breaking pace. Then just as he thought they were determined to attack the whales and Misty herself, he watched them peel off in military precision to form a watchful circle. The whales, concentrating too much on helping Misty, had misjudged the speed of the Orcas’ approach. Now they were corralled about Misty, waiting tensely for the Orca squadrons to signal their intent.

  Capt. Albern watched a single Orca swim from the ranks, flanked by two lieutenants holding station at a respectful distance. A hundred yards from Misty the commander waited.

  ‘Lower the gig,’ ordered Misty’s master.

  ‘I’ll row you,’ announced Skeet.

  ‘Take command of the ship, Mr Skeet – I’ll go alone.’

  ‘Take me! Let me talk to him,’ begged Ancell.

  Capt. Albern considered and nodded. The gig was lowered, and the crew watched in silence as their skipper pulled for the Orcas’ leader.

  ‘Capt. Albern of “Misty Dawn” – my compliments to you!’ hailed the sea otter, resting on his oars. Rising from the water a little, displaying an immaculate white chin and a distinctive white patch above each eye, the Orca regarded them sternly. Ancell noticed with a shiver the powerful set of fifty or so four-inch conical teeth. Close to twenty-five feet long and weighing eight tons, the whale was a fearsome animal, and the gig suddenly seemed very small and frail.

  ‘Commander Coran,’ responded the Orca in the clipped tone of one used to issuing orders to be obeyed without question. ‘Well?’ he snapped.

  Capt. Albern explained their plight and the little time they had to escape.

  ‘We implore you to help us!’ added Ancell.

  ‘Do you indeed!’ replied Coran. ‘First you insult us by talking to every whale within miles without consulting me. Now you’re in a mess, largely of your own making, you come begging.’