Ancell's Final Battle

by Tony Main

  ‘We didn’t mean to upset you,’ pleaded Ancell.

  ‘Well you have! You should have asked us first, in which case we could no doubt have helped. As it is we’re here purely out of curiosity after one of my patrols reported your recent antics.’

  Ancell stared at Coran in angry disbelief. It would not be long before Laughing Jack boarded Misty. Every moment was vital, yet this commander of a well-trained army was quibbling like a petulant child.

  ‘I’ve said I’m sorry we’ve upset you, and it’s a pity you are unable to help us,’ he muttered.

  ‘We certainly could,’ retorted the commander, ‘but whether you merit our assistance is another matter.’

  A fast swimming Orca plunged towards them. It surfed to a halt in front of Coran, nearly capsizing the gig. The commander listened to a brief report.

  ‘Is the ship hunting you called “The Executioner”?’ he asked.

  ‘It is,’ replied Capt. Albern.

  ‘Why didn’t you say so? That ship’s a very different proposition. Two days ago they loosed off cannon shots at us. Seemed to find the target practice amusing.’

  ‘How long before it reaches us?’ asked the sea otter.

  ‘Not until nightfall, which gives me the advantage of being able to work under the cover of dark.’

  ‘Are you saying you will help us?’

  ‘Of course! I’ll teach them something they won’t find so funny.’

  ‘Would you tow us through the night?’

  ‘Running away is pointless. We need to counter attack.’

  ‘We’ve nothing to attack with. We carry no arms.’

  ‘I’m glad to hear it. All I need from you is a stout piece of timber, roughly the circumference of your topmasts and as long as the width of your ship. Secure a cross piece at one end and sharpen the other to a point.’

  Capt. Albern hesitated. ‘We’d have to cut one of the ship’s booms in half, and I’m loathe to do that.’

  ‘We can’t help unless you do.’

  ‘Very well – how soon?’

  ‘I’ll rendezvous with you at sunset plus eight hours.’

  ‘There’s one thing I’d like to suggest,’ interrupted Ancell, ignoring the captain’s warning look.

  Coran frowned. ‘And that is?’

  ‘I expect the dolphins and the other whales would just get in your way, so wouldn’t it be best just to let them go?’

  ‘Who’s in charge of this operation – you or me?’ demanded Coran.

  ‘You are,’ replied Capt. Albern quickly, kicking Ancell hard.

  ‘Thank you!’ acknowledged the Orca, a little pacified. ‘They can leave in due course, but meanwhile they’re a strategic resource. Party dismissed!’

  Ancell watched the commander swim back to his lines without another word.

  ‘What an overbearing, arrogant, know all!’ he exclaimed.

  ‘But also an intelligent, resourceful and highly professional commander,’ stated Capt. Albern, starting to row.

  ‘He treated you like a cabin boy!’

  ‘I really don’t think that matters. The important thing is that he’s agreed to help.’

  ‘What does he want the wood for?’

  ‘I was about to ask when you interrupted,’ replied the captain, and pulled hard for Misty.

  Chapter 18

  ‘It’s sacrilege! I won’t do it!’ argued Chips fiercely, when Skeet instructed him to cut the boom which secured the foot of Misty’s fore-spencer sail, in two.

  ‘Skipper’s orders,’ shouted Skeet over his shoulder, running for the ratlines at a yell from the crowsnest, where Merrie and Truename had been ordered to report the moment the hull of the “The Executioner” showed above the horizon. He climbed quickly and grimaced. At the rate she was moving even in such light airs she would catch up with them that night.

  ‘Get a move on!’ shouted Capt. Albern at Chips.

  Even with “The Executioner” bearing down on them, Chips hesitated, lovingly stroking the varnished wood.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered, ‘but you might save all our lives,’ and closing his eyes, slowly began to saw.

  Capt. Albern watched the carpenter dithering and ran out of patience.

  ‘Take an axe to it!’ he called to Chad.

  Chips eyed the bosun with a shudder. ‘Please no! At least let me make a clean cut of it,’ he implored.

  Waff gently drew him aside. ‘We need you to concentrate on making a makeshift boom. Go down to the hold to sort out what you can use.’

  Chips nodded, but with head bowed plodded to the fo’c’sle and slumped on his bunk, wincing at every fall of the axe. He returned on deck only when the sound of splintering wood had ceased.

  ‘All over!’ said Waff. ‘Now we want a good sharp point.’

  Chips stared at the pieces of Misty’s once beautiful boom. ‘It’ll be sharp! Very sharp!’ he promised through gritted teeth.

  While Chips worked, the crew prepared for the attack. The deck would be indefensible if the pirates boarded from “The Executioner” lying alongside. Consequently, a rear-guard action was planned in the dim light of Misty’s hull. Every bulkhead, nook and cranny were to be a point of ambush, and the forepeak, where the children were to hide under piles of canvas, was where they would make their final stand.

  Ancell stood gripping the stern rail, unable to tear his eyes from “The Executioner” relentlessly closing the few remaining miles between the two ships – the hunter slipping effortlessly through the water, the quarry unable to flee. He felt Laughing Jack’s telescope already on him and his stomach churned. Clouds gathered in the oppressive air and he looked up as a few heavy drops of rain splattered the deck, presaging a thunderstorm and possibly a wind with the downpour. But the rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun.

  Laughing Jack watched Misty, still silhouetted in the dying light of the western horizon, and smiled. Then he laughed and ordered a broadside to be fired at the doomed ship, even though she was well beyond range.

  ‘Just to wish you sweet dreams! They’ll be your last!’ he shouted, as the cannons thundered.

  Misty’s crew threw themselves to the deck as ragged flashes of flame pierced the darkening sky. They seemed to hear the whine of the cannonballs for a long time before the sea astern erupted in plumes of spray.

  ‘If that’s ordering us to surrender they can think again,’ stated Skeet, climbing to his feet.

  ‘I reckon they’ve lost us in the dark,’ said Chad.

  ‘But not for long,’ muttered Skeet, looking up as the clouds drifted apart to reveal the quarter moon.

  Capt. Albern glanced aloft, and with a heavy heart ordered the sails hanging motionless in the baleful light to be furled. The crew worked with an increasing sense of unease. With no sails set they felt still more vulnerable even though the bare masts would be more difficult for “The Executioner” to spot. Without the canvas to steady her, Misty rolled helplessly, mirroring the fears of her crew, and every one of them started nervously when The Cook allowed the galley door to slam. Ancell half curled by the stern rail. He could make out the forms of the children huddled amidships, Merrie nestling between Sassy and Chantal. Capt. Albern stood motionless while Skeet padded impatiently about the quarterdeck. Tam and Tom lay on their backs, side by side, gazing up at the stars. Only the creak of the rigging disturbed the silence.

  Silently, the predatory outline of “The Executioner” emerged out of the night. Ancell prayed she might yet pass them by, but then with a sinking heart heard the ship heave to. The careless moon had given Misty away.

  Laughing Jack’s voice rang out across the water.

  ‘So, Albern, we meet again!’ he called. ‘Lower a boat and row yourself aboard. Just yourself, I have no business with your crew.’

  ‘He must be joking!’ muttered Skeet.
/>   ‘Albern! Albern! Give us Albern!’ chanted the pirates.

  Capt. Albern squared his shoulders. ‘Lower the gig, Mr Skeet,’ he ordered.

  ‘Don’t be stupid, Skipper! He’ll kill you!’ pleaded Chad.

  ‘I assume so,’ grunted the sea otter, ‘but possibly that might satisfy him, and at least it will buy you a little more time while he’s amusing himself with me. It could put you in with a chance. If I stay we could be boarded at any moment. Lower the gig, Mr Skeet, and I put you in command.’

  Skeet stood resolutely silent.

  ‘That’s an order! Mr Skeet.’

  Chad whispered in the stoat’s ear. Skeet listened intently and turned to face the captain.

  ‘So you confirm I command this ship?’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘As of now?’

  ‘As of now.’

  Skeet drew himself up to his full height and took a deep breath.

  ‘Then I put you under arrest. You will be accompanied by Chad and Tam until you have spoken to the Orca. Resist and you will be locked in your cabin.’

  The sea otter stared blankly as Chad and Tam moved close on either side of him.

  ‘Stop this nonsense and do as I say,’ he snapped.

  ‘Too late, you’re no longer in command,’ said Chad firmly.

  ‘Scared of meeting your old shipmate, Albern?’ shouted Laughing Jack. ‘I was looking forward to reminiscing about old times. I seem to recollect we once sailed together. Do you remember? I remember it well! What are you waiting for? Are you praying for a miracle?’

  ‘Albern’s on his knees! Albern’s on his knees!’ taunted the pirates.

  Jobey ran to the ship’s rail in a fury. ‘Will you all shut up! How do you expect me to get any sleep with you dumb headed lot yapping away all the time!’ he bellowed, and then looked mildly shocked, when after a moments silence, he received a barrage of insults, curses and threats in reply.

  Pickle sighed and patted him on the back. ‘Congratulations!’ he said. ‘However dire our situation I should have known we could rely upon you to make matters just that little bit worse!’

  His protests ignored, Capt. Albern waited in the gig, firmly wedged between Chad and Tam, who were both aware he could easily swim to “The Executioner” were he still so minded. At precisely the minute Coran had promised, they watched his sickle shaped fin cut through the water and unhitched Misty’s boom, which had been lowered to float alongside the boat.

  ‘You’ve made a good job of it,’ acknowledged Coran, while several Orca gripped the crosspiece to manoeuvre the sharpened timber to face “The Executioner”.

  ‘Now I think I understand what you intend to do,’ whispered the sea otter, ‘but you’ll have to aim with pinpoint accuracy. Good luck! And if we don’t see you again, we thank you for your help whether you succeed or not.’

  ‘We’re not leaving – there’s more to do tomorrow,’ replied Coran.

  ‘You must be away by dawn – remember they’re armed.’

  ‘Which is why I’ve ordered air cover at first light.’

  ‘Air cover?’

  ‘There’s a flock of northbound Great Shearwaters resting not far off your starboard bow. One of my squadrons has been driving shoals of fish to the surface for them, and in return they’ve promised their help,’ answered the commander, and dipped below the surface before the captain could ask any more questions.

  Laughing Jack lay on his bunk nursing a flagon of wine, enjoying the thought of the children and Misty’s crew nursing their worst fears through the night. At dawn those fears would be realised when he would send a boarding party to recapture the children. He would then flog Albern to death in full view of Misty’s crew. He would take his time as the cat-o’-nine-tails cut, prolonging the agony until Albern had whimpered his last. He would keep his promise and not capture the crew – let it be remembered he was a man of his word. He would even wave them farewell as they hoisted sail. He sipped thoughtfully and laughed. Then he would sink the ship and would laugh again while he watched her crew, the rat who had so roundly cursed him, and above all the hedgehog who had dared defy him, go to the bottom.

  Emptying the flask, he lay back and mulled over which he would most enjoy. He could first bring down the masts and watch the panic, or he could set the ship on fire and listen to the screams. Perhaps he would hole her below the waterline and view her sink with all sails set, the despairing cries of her drowning crew music to his ears.

  He was still undecided when “The Executioner” lurched from a violent blow to her hull. Thrown from his bunk, bemused and cursing, he scrambled on deck to find the crew running about in a panic, the helmsman nursing a broken wrist, and the wheel spinning uselessly.

  Chapter 19

  Misty’s crew ran to the rail to peer into the night at the sounds of the angry confusion floating across the water.

  ‘Can you see what’s going on?’ Capt. Albern asked Doc impatiently.

  ‘I don’t understand! They all appear to be looking down at the sea,’ replied the owl.

  ‘We’ll find out soon enough. It won’t be long till dawn,’ observed Skeet.

  Barely perceptibly the darkness lifted to reveal “The Executioner” drifting in slow circles. Laughing Jack was leaning over the stern, cursing loudly while several of the crew hastily lowered a boat.

  ‘What’s happening?’ demanded Ancell, grabbing Chad who was trembling with excitement.

  ‘Incredible!’ breathed Chad. ‘How they thought that out and managed it I don’t know!’

  ‘Who are you talking about? Who managed what?’

  ‘The Orca, of course! They’ve used the battering ram Chips made to jam the rudder – what’s left of it that is.’

  Both relief and a sense of renewed hope spread throughout Misty as fast as the dawn chased out the night. For once the crew had to await their captain’s orders as the sea otter stood in mute admiration.

  ‘That’s a fine piece of seamanship, Mr Skeet,’ he eventually said.

  ‘Should we set the sails, Skipper?’ prompted the mate.

  ‘At once, Mr Skeet – a bit of a breeze and we’ll be over the horizon and in with a chance again. It’ll take them a day or more to sort out that mess.’

  The light strengthened but not a breath of air stirred.

  ‘Maybe we’ll get a wind when the sun comes up and we can wave them goodbye,’ said Chad hopefully.

  Ancell watched a man in the dinghy swing an axe to cut the battering ram free. ‘Or maybe not,’ he replied.

  Misty began to move – but sideways. They peered over the side to see several Orca nudging the ship away from “The Executioner”.

  ‘We won’t get far going sideways,’ observed Ancell grimly.

  ‘They know that!’ retorted the bosun. ‘For some reason they want more clear water between us and Laughing Jack.’

  Laughing Jack stared at Misty slowly moving away and ran from the stern of “The Executioner”. Even before he had reached the first cannon Ancell had a terrible premonition of what he was about to do.

  ‘He’s not going to board us! He’s going to sink us!’ he shouted to Chad. ‘Get down!’ he yelled at the crew as Laughing Jack levelled the barrel.

  The crew threw themselves flat as the first shot ripped through Misty’s topsail. Laughing Jack roared with laughter and ran to the next gun. Splinters of wood flew as the second ball shattered her topside. Anger welled in Ancell so great he threw off Chad’s lunge to hold him back, and stumbling the length of the deck, scrambled from the bow onto Misty’s bowsprit to stand in full view.

  ‘I’m the one who rescued the children from you. I’m the one who killed your treacherous ally, Larren. If you want to kill me, here I am!’ he screamed.

  Laughing Jack raised a musket to his shoulder and smiled. Ancell shut his eyes. He heard the crack of t
he gun, and wondering why he had not been hit, looked again. Churning the sea in unison, the Orca were rolling “The Executioner” from side to side. The shot had passed way above his head. Laughing Jack was clinging to a cannon to save himself from being thrown overboard, and the terrified men in the dinghy were pulling desperately for Misty, one man signalling their surrender. They had not rowed far before a six-ton Orca rose from the water to crush the boat and them beneath the waves.

  He glanced at “The Executioner” again, and in horror saw the crew loading their muskets and crawling across the deck to rake the Orca with fire. He screamed a warning, but too late, as the pirates took aim.

  Then the Great Shearwaters attacked. They came out of the dawn in waves, diving from high above, their black, hooked bills tearing at any glimpse of exposed flesh. Dropping their guns, the pirates beat the air to protect their heads from the ferocious assault, but with pinpoint accuracy the birds ripped at the men’s faces, until screaming with pain they stumbled for the companionway and the protection below. Laughing Jack cowered beneath a cannon slashing the air with a knife, bloodied by the whirlwind of wheeling wings and stabbing beaks.

  ‘Idiot!’ muttered Chad, pulling Ancell back on deck. ‘If those Orca hadn’t acted so fast you’d be a goner.’ But the bosun’s attention was elsewhere, and so was that of the crew. The whales were swimming towards “The Executioner”, seemingly content that the Orca should corral them about the ship. A pod of Pilot whales began to swim round the vessel and the great Fin whales followed, soon joined by the Sei whales, the Minke, the Brydes whales and the Humpbacks. The circling Orca picked up speed, urging the whales faster and Ancell caught his breath as the momentum of the whales increased. Faster the Orca leaped and plunged and harder the whales swam, stampeding round the “The Executioner” in a cauldron of white water as the raucous cries of the Shearwaters rose to a crescendo. The ship began to turn as the smooth sides of the whirlpool formed. The Orca charged even faster and the vortex deepened. “The Executioner” began to spin at a crazy angle, her stern sucked down and her bow pointing helplessly at the sky. Slowly the water lapped over the quarterdeck and poured below. A cannon broke loose and trundled along the deck to smash into the mizzenmast, which crashed over the side in a tangle of rigging. The water lapped higher. “The Executioner” was going down by the stern.