Believing that a court-martial would have decided upon its verdict before hearing any evidence, Binks accepted dismissal. He boarded ship for Bombay convinced that I had undermined him, that his fall was as a result of my machinations. He swore vengeance. Under the belief that he was bound for England while I was on my way to China, I paid him no attention.
That was a minor error, it transpired.
I asked of the new Governor if he knew what I was to do in Canton.
“Why, yes, Mr Jackson. You are to take a part, not unimportant, in the less official aspects of trade there. The purchase of tea and silks, as you will know, is conducted through the Committees and with those merchants nominated by the Hoppo. The sale of other goods is less visible to the official world.”
I was to take charge of the sale of opium, it seemed. No doubt a profitable, and certainly a necessary business, but more than a little dangerous. The Chinese Empire did not approve of opium and had banned it on pain of death. The officials of the Chinese Empire were almost to a man bribe-takers. Just occasionally the honest gained the upper hand for a few weeks and executed those villains who could be identified. As a round-eye, I would be very visible.
I boarded the sloop armed to the teeth, my six men behind me carrying muskets and pistols, and in Fred’s case dragons, as well as cutlasses, boarding axes and knives. We seemed very villainous, possibly because we were. The Navy was unimpressed.
The captain greeted us uneasily and informed me that we were to be transferred to a country ship as soon as we joined the convoy.
“The ship is owned by a Mr Ainslie,” he told me.
That seems a good place to take a break from the storytelling for a while. My lady informs me that we are to go up to London for a week or two, to inflict ourselves upon young Fred in the Town House. He won’t like it, but it’s mine – I own it.
I expect I am to be sent to the tailor – damned silly to be made fashionable at my age.
Anyway, there we are. My boyhood had come to an end and I was to be my own man henceforth, putting into practice all the lessons I had learned. I would kill and steal and smuggle and fornicate like the best of colonial gentlemen – which was just what I was to become.
# # #
Thank you for reading Nobody’s Child. The next book in the series is expected to be released in 2019. Note: The author’s recently completed Innocents at War Series, has received much critical acclaim and comes highly recommended. Find out more here:
Series Page Links
US - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N6QNS7Y
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N6QNS7Y
By the Same Author
Man of Conflict Series: Youngest son of a wealthy English merchant, Septimus Pearce is an utterly spoiled brat whose disgraceful conduct threatens his family’s good name. His father forces him to join the army in an attempt to reform him, but even the disciplines of army life where he sees bloody action in three countries fail to exorcise his nastier character traits. Please note: This series is currently available to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Book One Kindle Link http://getBook.at/Conflict-1
Innocents at War Series: The Royal Flying Corps grew from the amateur hobbyists flying the earliest and most dangerous machines. Mostly drawn from the Army and Navy, the pilots regarded themselves as gentlemen members of a new club. The Great War saw the death of amateurism - except in the higher ranks - and the unplanned, fortuitous creation of a professional force.
Innocents at War follows the career of Anglo-American flier, Tommy Stark, an enthusiastic boy forced to grow up quickly as many around him die. His deep affection for squire’s daughter, Grace is his only certainty as the bitter conflict threatens to strip the world of its innocence.
Series Page Links:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06X9XZDJV
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06X9XZDJV
A Poor Man at the Gate Series: Book One: The Privateersman is FREE on Kindle -Escaping the hangman’s noose in England, commoner Tom Andrews finds himself aboard a privateering ship before fleeing to New York at the time of the Revolutionary War. It is a place where opportunities abound for the unscrupulous. Hastily forced to return to England, he ruthlessly chases riches in the early industrial boom. But will wealth buy him love and social respectability?
Kindle links to the whole series:
US/worldwide
http://tinyurl.com/A-Poor-Man
UK only
http://tinyurl.com/A-Poor-Man-UK
The Duty and Destiny Series: These superbly-crafted novel length sea/land stories are set in the period of the French Revolutionary War (1793 – 1802). The series follows the naval career and love-life of Frederick Harris, the second son of a middling Hampshire landowner, a brave but somewhat reluctant mariner. (Book One was first published in 2014.) Please note: This series is currently available to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Kindle links to the whole series:
US/worldwide:
http://tinyurl.com/Duty-and-Destiny-Series
UK only:
http://tinyurl.com/Duty-and-Destiny-Series-UK
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Born in a home for fallen women, at the age of eight the barefooted and waiflike Harry is sent out to work. After years of unpaid toil and hunger, he runs away and is cajoled into believing that the Army is his only option. He joins a battalion that is sent to Africa’s Slave Coast where disease is the biggest killer of men. When the much-thinned battalion returns to England and is disbanded, he drifts into smuggling in order to survive. All goes well until he is betrayed and forced back on the run. Leaving the West Country behind, he enlists in a Sussex regiment which is sent to quell rioting in the north where he faces danger from the angry Mob, and from the rage of a sadistic young ensign who is out for Harry’s blood.
Universal Kindle Link
http://viewbook.at/Harry-One
Book One: Long Way Place
In the early 1900s gutter rat, Ned Hawkins aims to rise from the grinding poverty of an English slum, but is forced to flee the country and ends up in Papua. It is a dangerous place where cannibalism and cannibals are never far away. Despite this menacing backdrop, he prospers and almost by accident, finds love. However, there are ominous stirrings in the land that bode ill for the future. Note: All three books are now available on Kindle.
Universal Kindle Link: http://getbook.at/Cannibal-One
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Nobody’s Child Page 26
