The Pursuit

by Peter Smalley

  ‘You cannot come in!’ Captain Broadman, very agitated, was up on his legs. His napkin fell to the deck. ‘Did not I tell you, you was not to show yourself!’

  James had remained in his chair, but now he too stood, and went forward to the intruder.

  ‘Lieutenant James Hayter, RN.’ Holding out his hand.

  ‘Ah, yes. I have heard of you.’ Affably, taking James’s hand.

  ‘Do not reveal your own name!’ Captain Broadman, fiercely to the newcomer.

  The gaunt man ignored Broadman, and with a little bow: ‘Olaf Christian den Norske, at your service.’

  *

  ‘He cannot mean to take in further cargo.’ Rennie, to himself, as he watched Terces bear east toward the mouth of the fjord ahead. This was the second day they had sailed north along the Norwegian coast, following Terces, and Rennie had yet to resolve the question of what to do about Lieutenant Hayter and his boat’s crew, held prisoner aboard her. That the pursuit was developing into a fretful game of hide-and-seek Rennie had to put to one side. In the brief time they had sailed north, Rennie had come to understand the coastline as a long, asymmetrical glory, an aesthetic fracturing of land and sea into myriad islands and fjords, with mountains marching far inland, and distant staring slopes of snow. It had struck him that no one fjord was uniform with another, that many were not single narrow fissures at all, but much greater bodies of water, with spreading arms and several entrances among the scattered islands.

  The immediate and most important thing was to keep Terces in plain view, at a distance sufficient to protect Expedient from a second sudden attack, but never so great as to lose sight of her. But this new development, of going into a fjord, dismayed him. Should he pursue Terces deep into the fjord, risking the safety of his ship in such unfamiliar waters? His charts of the coast were adequate, but as to the fjords themselves – including this one, the Dangesfjord – they were far from comprehensive, and probably inaccurate. The mouth of the fjord was scattered across with islands and rocky outcrops, and navigation within would be uncertain at best. A wooded headland jutted into the sea on the southern side of the fjord entrance, and soon Terces, tacking east, would run behind it. Dangesfjord was long and winding, and possibly had arms not marked on Rennie’s charts, and another entrance to the north, among the islands. It must be assumed Captain Broadman had a working knowledge of the fjord, which Rennie did not. If Rennie followed him in, would not Broadman endeavour to outfox him, leaving Expedient entirely alone?

  ‘But if I do not pursue him inside, I may lose touch with him altogether. If I simply wait here at the mouth, like to a blockade ship, will not he simply sail above those islands, or between them, and escape into the open sea to the north? Again, if I do pursue him deep into the fjord, overnight, might not he elude me in a hidden arm or inlet, further in, and simply double back?’

  He paced his quarterdeck, then paused again at the rail. A sigh.

  ‘God’s love, I am damned whichever course I follow.’

  He noted, as Terces began to pass behind the headland into the mouth of the fjord, that she was still towing Expedient’s pinnace. He lowered the glass.

  ‘Mr Leigh!’ Calling forrard to the breast-rail, where his first lieutenant stood.

  ‘Sir?’ Lieutenant Leigh came aft to Rennie at the starboard-rail, abaft the skylight. Rennie wished to appear doubt-free, and decisive. A breath, and:

  ‘I think Captain Broadman will likely attempt two things. Firstly he will set free Lieutenant Hayter and the boat’s crew in the pinnace, just at dusk, leaving us to pick them up. He may then attempt to give us the slip, either by sailing further into the fjord, or by going about and heading among those damned islands to the north. His object will be to delay and confuse us as darkness falls.’

  ‘Is that why he has held them prisoner until now, sir, d’y’think?’

  ‘I do, Mr Leigh. Else he would long since have scuttled or abandoned the boat, that can only hinder him. We will tack east round the headland, if y’please, and keep Terces in clear sight.’

  Six bells of the afternoon watch, and Expedient had rounded the headland and was now sailing east into the fjord. Captain Rennie, now at the bow, focused his glass on the ship ahead. Terces was above a league distant, on the starboard tack, heading toward the distant snow-covered mountains. The wind had died away, the water in the fjord was much calmer than the open sea, and now Rennie saw what Dr Johnson meant when he talked of the ‘noble wild prospects’ of Norway.

  Terces lay small and insignificant on the flat surface of the water, caught between great cliffs and steeps of rock, and their darkling reflection. Wooded slopes ran right down and into the glassy fjord in the nearer distance, and farther in there were farm buildings, red and white dots clumped on narrow green meadows low above the water. Farther still were massive mountains, rearing and marching to the horizon and trailed across with long dark scars, as if a huge beast had raked the snowy slopes with its claws. The clarity of the air and the depth of view were astonishing.

  The fjord wound away to the north behind a jutting wooded spit, and then east again beyond that, toward the distant heights. Rennie consulted his charts, and could discover no detailed depiction of the fjord above the simple outlines of its length and width. He summoned his sailing master.

  ‘Mr Loftus, have you any direct knowledge of these waters, beyond that spit of land ahead?’

  ‘I confess that I have not, sir.’

  Rennie sent one of the mids to his day cabin to fetch a final chart, but when it came he could learn nothing further from it. Dangesfjord was certainly marked, but as he had suspected, observations beyond the first mile or two were few. Hydro-graphical details – depth of water, shoals, islands, vegetation – were not given at all.

  ‘How far in does he venture?’ Murmured.

  He raised his glass, peered, and confirmed that the pinnace was still towed behind.

  Rennie remained in the bow watching Terces for a further hour, until eight bells sounded and the hands were piped to their dinner. He rolled his charts, and went aft. The second lieutenant had the deck.

  ‘Mr Tindall.’

  ‘Sir?’

  ‘I am going below a short while. I wish to be informed at once of any change to Terces’ course, any alteration at all, you apprehend me?’

  ‘Very good, sir.’

  ‘Keep a close watch. Every man alert.’

  ‘Ay-ay, sir.’ Touching a hand to his hat.

  ‘Very well.’ A last look at Terces far ahead on the flat water, and he went below.

  *

  Lieutenant Hayter had again been summoned to Captain Broadman’s great cabin. He was brought there by an armed escort, and the man waited at the door. Captain Broadman looked up from the detailed chart of a fjord, weighted at each corner with leads on the table.

  ‘I had thought to let you go, Lieutenant, in this fjord – deep in this fjord, in your boat. That was until you made the acquaintance inadvertent of my passenger, which was a circumstance very regrettable . . . for you.’

  ‘Why so?’

  ‘Olaf Christian den Norske is a valuable fellow, and his presence in my ship is a secret that must be kept.’

  ‘Ah.’ James nodded, then: ‘However, you forget that I do not know why he is valuable to you, since you would not allow me to converse with him above a minute or two, and I have never seen him since.’

  ‘Valuable to me? He is valuable to people elsewhere, but not to me.’

  ‘Does not he pay for his passage?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘He don’t? Then why d’you carry him?’

  ‘That is part of the secret, Mr Hayter.’

  ‘Yes, I see. And you think that if you were to release me and my boat’s crew, and we were to be rescued by Captain Rennie in Expedient—’

  Over him: ‘Suffice it to say that Captain Rennie is very tenacious. No doubt he is provisioned for a long pursuit.’

  James said nothing for a moment, then: ‘May I ass
ume that Expedient follows Terces still?’

  ‘She does.’

  James glanced at the chart on the table. From where he stood he could not discern details, and now he asked:

  ‘And . . . we are presently in that fjord?’ Nodding at the chart.

  ‘We are. It is the Dangesfjord, one of the longest and deepest of all the great fjords of Norway, and the inner stretches are very remote. I was minded to put you ashore in your pinnace, without masts, sails, or sweeps, in one of the remotest parts of the fjord, in the Sonnylsvatn, where there are only scattered, isolated farms, and the people speak nothing but the old tongue, and never venture beyond their immediate surrounds from one year to the next. That would place you in grave difficulty, but in least you would have the chance of life and eventual return to civilisation. However, even had I done this in darkness, and slipped away subsequent upon a northern arm of the fjord, Captain Rennie – who as I’ve allowed is a very tenacious fellow – would likely find his way out and resume his pursuit of me. I could not take that risk, I cannot, I may not.’

  James nodded again, as if conceding his captor’s point.

  ‘Thank you for your honesty, Captain Broadman.’

  Captain Broadman inclined his head. ‘I thought it best to make you aware of you position, Lieutenant, so that you would dwell no more on the possibility of escape. There is no escape from Terces.’

  ‘And my boat’s crew?’

  ‘None of you will be set free. That is my final word on the matter. You will now return to the orlop, and I will continue upon my present heading, leading Captain Rennie as deep into Dangesfjord as I am able.’

  ‘And then . . . ?

  ‘Ah. Then. Then, Lieutenant, I intend to turn and attack, and destroy Expedient forthwith, as I should have destroyed her on the open sea.’

  James stared at the captain, and saw that he meant what he said. So far as Captain Broadman was concerned, Expedient was already smashed and burned. A breath, and:

  ‘I think perhaps you do my commanding officer an injustice, Captain Broadman. You should have estimated him higher, you know, than merely tenacious. He will never allow himself to be approached and attacked a second time. He will fight you and outgun you, and prevail.’

  ‘You think so? Even when I have assistance?’

  ‘Assistance?’

  ‘Indeed. The brig that took you into Bergen, Lieutenant, is on hand even now, following the pursuer.’

  James made a conscious effort not to reveal his extreme dismay at this news. Instead, calmly:

  ‘Will you tell me, then . . . why you continue to hold us prisoner? Why you do not send us ashore in our boat, to take our chance?’

  ‘Because you are an experienced sea officer, Mr Hayter. When I am going to fight an action I do not want men like you against me, even in an open boat.’

  ‘But how could we harm you, good heaven? A few men in a pinnace, unarmed?’

  Captain Broadman leaned across the table. ‘I will not like to leave anything to chance.’ A grim little smile. ‘Sentry!’

  *

  Dusk, and the magnificence of the fjord beginning to fade and darken. Mr Leigh had joined the second lieutenant on the quarterdeck of Expedient, and was peering at the chase through his glass.

  ‘Is he going about . . . ?’ Half to himself, but Lieutenant Tindall heard him, and raised his own glass. In the diminished light he could barely make out Terces against the dark rock faces ahead. Was she altering course? He was about to voice the question himself when Lieutenant Leigh:

  ‘Can you tell what he is doing, Mr Tindall?’

  ‘Nay, I cannot. I can scarcely see her at all any more. But we had better be ready for anything, I expect. Mr Madeley!’ To one of the duty mids.

  ‘Sir?’ Attending.

  ‘Go below to the great cabin and with my compliments inform the captain that Terces is now – that she may be altering course.’

  ‘Which shall I say, sir?’

  ‘Eh?’ Irritably.

  ‘That she is altering course, sir, or that she may be about to?’

  ‘Just as I told you, you impertinent dolt. That she is altering course. Jump, jump.’

  ‘Ay-ay, sir.’

  When the boy had gone the second lieutenant turned to the first, and:

  ‘Look here, Leigh, if Terces is altering course, very probably we should beat to quarters, don’t you think so?’

  ‘The deck is yours. I will not interfere. However . . .’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘If I was you I should wait until the captain comes on deck before you clear for action, and seek his opinion.’

  ‘Yes? Very good, thank you, Leigh. I shall wait.’

  ‘We do not know for certain that she is altering course, after all.’ Again peering through his glass. ‘I wish to heaven I had a night glass, so that I could make her out better in these conditions.’ A sharp intake of breath, and immediately: ‘She is going about, by God! I can see the pinnace swinging round astern!’

  Mr Tindall sucked in a lungful of air. ‘Boatswain’s mate! We will beat to quarters, and clear the decks for action!’

  The piercing shriek of the call, the rattling roll of the Marine’s drum, and the ship came to foot-thudding, cursing, mallet-clattering life.

  And now a cry from the tops, an astonished cry:

  ‘Sail of ship to the west! Rounding the point half a league directly astern!’

  Rennie came on deck, jamming on his hat. ‘What ship lies astern of us? Where is Terces? She cannot have got astern of us, good God.’

  ‘No, sir. Terces lies directly ahead, and is going about.’ Mr Leigh, now focusing his glass astern over the tafferel. A moment, then: ‘Christ Jesu, it is that damned Danish brig!’

  ‘What! The brig!’ Rennie had come on deck in a great hurry, and had forgotten his Dollond. He snatched Mr Tindall’s glass without ceremony, and peered aft. ‘Where? Where is the – ah, I have her. You are right, Mr Leigh, it is a brig. But is she Danish? How can we be certain it is the same vessel?’

  ‘She must have shadowed us all the way north along the coast, at a distance, sir.’

  ‘Damnation to that, the bloody villain. Where is Terces?’ Swivelling round and peering forrard through the raised glass. ‘Why was not I told at once that she had altered course, Mr Tindall?’

  ‘I sent Mr Madeley below as soon as she—’

  ‘Yes yes, well well, no matter, I see her now.’ Over his second lieutenant, who shut his mouth. ‘There is very little wind, at all. And the brig has the gage, which no doubt her captain thinks is to his advantage.’ Turning aft again and peering. ‘He is about to discover otherwise.’ A decisive sniff. ‘Mr Leigh.’

  ‘Sir?’

  ‘We will attack the brig first. I will like to smash her comprehensive our first broadside, and leave her crippled.’

  ‘You mean to fire on her immediate, sir, in Norwegian waters? When she has not fired on us first?’

  ‘It is plain both ships intend to attack me, Mr Leigh. I will not like to lie idle while they attempt it, and be caught a second time. You there, boy!’

  A ship’s boy attended him, touching his forehead. ‘Yes, sir?’

  ‘Go below and find the gunner Mr Storey, and ask him to come to me at his earliest convenience. Belay that. I wish him to come immediate, say to him. Jump now.’

  In very light airs Expedient came about and began to run west in the fjord, directly at the approaching Danish brig. On either side the slopes and cliffs were fading and merging in the gathering gloom. To the east Terces ran in pursuit, but she was yet too far away to open fire with any accuracy, and Rennie was confident he could deal first with the brig, then turn to meet Terces in plenty of time. But dusk was fast becoming night. Could he fight an action at night, in a damned confining fjord?

  Mr Storey came on deck. ‘You wished to see me, sir?’

  ‘Ay, Mr Storey. Our first broadside we will fire roundshot, long guns and carronades both, to smash that damned brig int
o splinters. Then I want grape, for the fight with Terces. I will like to kill men on her upper deck, at long range, before she can have at me with her smashers. But I do not want to disable the ship. I want her to limp away wounded and sore, but not crippled. You have me?’

  ‘Ay, sir. Roundshot our first fire, then grape for Terces.’

  ‘Very good. And Mr Storey?’

  ‘Sir?’

  ‘Have you a supply of rockets?’

  ‘Yes, sir. There is both red and blue rockets.’

  ‘Nay, I want white star rockets, the biggest you can make. Four-pounders, long cylinder and stick, able to shoot to a great height, and flood the surrounding water with light.’

  ‘Christ’s love, that is a tremendous weight of rocket, sir.’ Scratching his head.

  ‘Can you do it?’

  ‘Well, I will do my best, sir, but—’

  ‘That is all I ask. Make me a good supply. Eight or ten.’

  ‘So many as that? I will try, sir, but I must mix antimony and isinglass, and spirits of wine and vinegar, in addition to the mealed powder, and that will occupy—’

  ‘Then there ain’t a moment to lose, Mr Storey.’ Over him. I am relying on you to illuminate the action.’ And he strode away aft.

  *

  Aboard Terces James Hayter was confined on the forrard platform of the orlop, in a storeroom adjacent to the sailroom and the boatswain’s store. He had been able to convince his armed escort to leave him unshackled, by pretending to an attack of nausea and stomach cramps. By loudly groaning, retching, and spitting into a pisspot, he had driven the young man in grimacing disgust from the door to stand by the ladder a little way aft.

  Before he had been taken up to the great cabin to be informed by Captain Broadman of his indefinite imprisonment, James had found lying under a pile of oakum a discarded marlin spike. Now in the reeking darkness he located the iron spike where he had hidden it, and tucked it into his waist. His plan was to overpower the guard, knock him senseless and seize his musket and pistol. He would then – if he could – find and release his boat’s crew. His chief aim was to get aboard the pinnace. He was nearly certain that the half-pounder swivels Roman Tangible had concealed under canvas aboard the boat had not been discovered by the crew of Terces. There was powder and shot for the swivels. If he could only get aboard and mount the swivels on the gunwale, he could fight his way clear of Terces and make for Expedient, which could not be far away.