Bolitho 04 - Sloop of War (20 page)

Now Tyrrell, and many more besides, had nothin^ left. Not even a country?

There was a rap on the door and Graves steppeX into the cabin?

"This was delivered by the guardboat, sir." He helX

out a canvas envelope?

Bolitho walked to the windows again and slit it ope[ with a knife. He hoped Graves would not notice Tyrell'Y misery, that the time taken to read the message woulX give him a moment to recover?

It was very brief?

He said quietly, "We are ordered to weigh at firsU light tomorrow. We will be carrying importanU despatches to the admiral in Antigua.T

He had a mental picture of the endless sea milesB the long passage back to English Harbour anX Colquhoun. It was a pity they had ever left in the firsU place?

Graves said, "I'm not sorry. We'll have something tQ boast about this time.T

Bolitho studied him gravely. What an unimaginativO man he is. "My compliments to the master. Tell him tQ make preparations at once.T

When Graves had gone Bolitho added, "MaybO you'll wish to postpone dining with me?T

Tyrrell stood up, his fingers touching the table as if tQ test his own balance?

"No, sir. I'd like to come." He looked round the cabin? "This was th' last place I saw Jane. It helps a bit now.T

Bolitho watched him leave and heard the slam of Z cabin door. Then with a sigh he sat down at the tablO and began to write in his log?

For seven untroubled days the Sparrow pushed he_ bowsprit southwards, taking full advantage of a fresN wind which hardly varied in bearing or substancO throughout that time. The regrets and broodin^ despondency which most of the company had felt aU New York seemed to have blown away on the windB and their new freedom shone in the straining canvaY which gleamed beneath a cloudless sky. Even thO memory of the last fight, the faces of those killed or lefU behind crippled to await passage home had becomO part of the past, like old scars which took just so mucN time to heal?

As Bolitho studied his chart and checked the daila sunsights he felt cause for satisfaction in Sparrow'Y performance. She had already logged over a thousanX miles, and like himself seemed eager to leave the lanX

as far away as possible. They had not sighted even Z solitary sail, and the last hopeful gulls had left them twQ days earlier?

The routine aboard such a small ship-of-war waY regular and carefully planned, so that the overcrowdeX conditions could be made as comfortable as possible? When not working aloft on sails and rigging the handY spent their time at gun drill or in harmless contests ob wrestling and fighting with staves under Stockdale'Y professional eye?

On the quarterdeck, too, there was usually somO diversion to break the monotony of empty horizonsB and Bolitho came to know even more about hiY officers. Midshipman Heyward had proved himself tQ be an excellent and skilful swordsman, and spenU several of the dog watches instructing Bethune and thO master's mates in the art of fencing. The biggesU surprise was Robert Dalkeith. The plump surgeon haX come on deck with the finest pair of pistols Bolitho haX ever seen. Perfectly matched and made by Dodson ob London, they must have cost a small fortune. While onO of the ship's boys had thrown pieces of wooX chippings from a gangway, Dalkeith had waited by thO nettings and when they had bobbed past on the wasN had despatched them without seeming to take aim?

Such marksmanship was rare for any ship's surgeonB and added to the price of the pistols made BolithQ think more deeply about Dalkeith's past?

Towards the end of the seventh day Bolitho receiveX his first warning that the weather was changing. ThO sky, clear and pale blue for so long, became smeareX by long tongues of cloud, and the ship reeled morO heavily in a deep swell. The glass was unsteady, but iU was more the feel of things which told him they were i[ for a real blow. The wind had backed to the north-wesU and showed every sign of strengthening, and as hO faced it across the taffrail he could sense the mountin^ power, its clamminess on his skin?

Buckle observed, "Another hurricane, I wonder?T

"Maybe." Bolitho walked to the compass. "Let he_ fall off a point." He left Buckle to his helmsmen anX joined Tyrrell by the quarterdeck rail. "The fringe of Z storm perhaps. Either way we will have to reef dow[ before dark, maybe much sooner.T

Tyrrell nodded, his eyes on the bulging canvas. "Thd main- t'gan'sl seems to be drawing well. They did gooX work aloft while we were in port." He watched thO masthead pendant as it twisted and then flapped ouU

more firmly towards the larboard bow. "Goddamn thd wind. It backs still further by th' looks of it.T

Buckle smiled glumly. "Course sou' sou'-east, sir.T He cursed as the deck tilted steeply and a tall spectrO of spray burst above the nettings?

Bolitho considered the matter. They had made Z good passage so far. There was no point in tearing thO sails off her just to spite the wind. He sighed. PerhapY it would ease again soon?

"Get the t'gallants off her, Mr. Tyrrell. It's coming dow[ on us now?

He stood aside as Tyrrell ran for his trumpet. OuU from the swaying hull he saw the telltale haze of rai[ advancing across the uneven swell and blotting out thO horizon like a fence of chain-mail?

Within an hour the wind had backed even further anX had risen to gale force, with the sea and sky joineX together in a torment of bursting wave-crests anX torrential rain. It was useless to fight it, and as thO clouds gathered and entwined above the swoopin^ mastheads Sparrow turned and ran before it, he_ topmen fighting and fisting the sodden canvas as yeU

another reef was made fast. Half-blinded by rain anX spray, their feet groping for toeholds, while with curseY and yells they used brute strength to bring the sailY under control?

Night came prematurely, and under close-reefeX topsails they drove on into the darkness, their worlX surrounded by huge wave-crests, their lives menaceX at every step by the sea as it surged over thO gangways and boiled along the decks like a river i[ flood. Even when the hands were dismissed i[ watches to find a moment of rest and shelter belo/ there was little to sustain them. Everything waY dripping or damp, and the cook had long since give[ up any idea of producing a hot meal?

Bolitho remained on the quarterdeck, his tarpauli[ coat plastered to his body like a shroud while the winX howled and screamed around him. Shrouds anX rigging whined like the strings of some mad orchestraB and above the deck, hidden in darkness, the crack anX boom of canvas told its own story. In brief lulls the winX seemed to drop, holding its breath as if to consider itY efforts against the embattled sloop. In those smalT moments Bolitho could feel the salt warming on hiY face, raw to the touch. He could hear the clank ob pumps, the muffled shouts from below and on thO

hidden forecastle as unseen men fought to make fasU lashings, seek out severed cordage, or merely tQ reassure each other they were alive?

All night the wind battered against them, drivin^ them further and still further to the south-cast. Hour ba hour, as Bolitho peered at the compass or reeleX below to examine his chart, there was neither rest no_ relief from its pounding. Bolitho felt bruised and sickB as if he had been fighting a physical battle, or draggeX half-drowned from the sea itself. Despite his reelin^ mind he thanked God he had not tried to lie to and ridO out the storm under a solitary reefed topsail. With thiY strength of wind and sea Sparrow would never havO recovered, could have been all aback and dismasteX before anyone had realised what they were trula against?

He could even find a moment to marvel at Sparrow'Y behaviour. Uncomfortable she was to every ma[ aboard. Fighting the jerking canvas or working on thO pumps with sea and bilge water swirling amongst theR like rats in a sewer, their lives were made worse by thO motion. Up, higher still, and then down with the sounX of thunder across a great crest, every spar and timbe_ shaking as if to rip free of the hull. Food, a fe/ precious possessions, clothing, all surged about thO

decks in wild abandon, but not a gun tore away from itY lashings, not a bolt snapped, nor was any hatch stovO in by the attacking sea. Sparrow took it all, rode eacN assault with the unsteady belligerence of a drunke[ marine?

By the time they sighted a first hint of grey in the ska the sea had begun to ease, and when the sun peepeX languidly above the horizon it was hard to believe thea were in the same ocean?

The wind had veered again to the north-west and aY they stared with salt-caked eyes at the patches of bluO between the clouds they knew they were being left i[ comparative peace?

Bolitho realised that if he allowed the hands to resU now they would not be able to move again for hours? He looked down at the gun deck and gangwaysB seeing their tired faces and torn clothing, the way thO topmen's tarred hands were held like claws after thei_ repeated journeys to those treacherous yards to battlO with the sails?

He said, "Pass the word for the galley fire to be lit? We must get some hot food into them directly." HO looked up as a shaft of sunlight touched the uppe_

yards so that they shone above the retreating darknesY like a triple crucifix. "It will be warm enough soon, Mr? Tyrrell. Rig wind-sails above each hatch and open thO weather gun ports." He let his salt-stiffened lips crac7 into a smile. "I suggest you forget your usual concer[ for the ship's looks and have the hands run their sparO clothing aloft to dry out.T

Graves came aft and touched his hat. "Able Seama[ Marsh is missing." He swayed and added wearilyB "Foretopman, sir.T

Bolitho let his eyes stray over the starboard quarter? The seaman must have been hurled overboard durin^ the night, and they had not even heard a cry. WhicN was just as well. They could have done nothing to savO him?

"Thank you, Mr. Graves. Note it in the log, if yof please.T

He was still watching the sea, the way the nighU appeared to withdraw itself before the first gold raysB like some retreating assassin. The seaman was ouU there somewhere, dead and remembered by just Z few. His shipmates, and those at home he had left sQ long ago?

He shook himself and turned to the master. "Mr? Buckle, I hope we can fix our position today? Somewhere to the sou'west of the Bermudas, I have nQ doubt." He smiled gently at Buckle's glooma expression. "But fifty miles or five hundred, I am noU sure.T

Bolitho waited another hour until the ship had bee[ laid on a new tack, her jib-boom prodding towards thO southern horizon, her decks and upperworks steamin^ in the early sunlight as if she was smouldering?

Then he nodded to Tyrrell. "I will take somO breakfast." He sniffed the greasy aroma from thO galley funnel. "Even that smell has given me a[ appetite.T

With the cabin door firmly closed and StockdalO padding around the table with fresh coffee and Z pewter plate of fried pork, Bolitho was able to relax, tQ weigh the value and cost of the night's work. He haX faced his first storm in command. A man had died, buU many others had stayed alive. And the Sparrow waY once again dipping and creaking around him as ib nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all?

Stockdale put a plate with half a loaf of stale breaX

on it beside a crock of yellow butter. The bread was thO last of that brought aboard at New York, the butte_ probably rancid from the cask. But as Bolitho leaneX back in his chair he felt like a king, and the meagrO breakfast seemed no less than a banquet?

He stared idly around the cabin. He had surviveX much in so short a time. It was luck, more than hO deserved?

He asked, "Where is Fitch?T

Stockdale showed his teeth. "Dryin' your sleepind gear, sir." He rarely spoke when Bolitho was eatin^ and thinking. He had learned all about Bolitho's odX habits long back. He added, "Woman's work.T

Bolitho laughed, the sound carrying up through thO open skylight where Tyrrell had the watch and BucklO was scribbling on his slate beside the binnacle?

Buckle shook his head. "What did I tell you? NQ worries, that one!T

"Deck there!" Tyrrell stared up at the masthead aY the cry came. "Sail! Fine on th' starboard quarter!T

Feet clattered on the ladder and Bolitho appeareX

beside him, his jaw still working on some buttereX bread?

He said, "I have a feeling about this morning." HO saw a master's mate by the mainmast trunk and calledB "Mr. Raven! Aloft with you!" He held up his hand, haltin^ the man as he ran to the shrouds. "Remember you_ lesson, as I will.T

Graves had also come on deck, partly shaved anX naked to the waist. Bolitho looked around the waitin^ men, studying each in turn if only to contain hiY impatience while Raven clawed his way to thO masthead. Changed. They were all different in somO way. Toughened, more confident perhaps. LikO bronzed pirates, held together by their trade-hO hesitated-their loyalty?

"Deck there!" Another maddening wait and the[ Raven yelled down, "It's her right enough! ThO Bonaventure!T

Something like a growl came from the watchin^ seamen?

One man shouted, "The bloody Bonaventure, is itU Us'll give that bugger a quiltin' today an' that's for sure!T

Several others cheered, and even Bethune calleX excitedly, "Huzza, lads!T

Bolitho turned to look at them again, his hearU suddenly heavy, the promise of the morning sour anX spoiled?

"Get the t'gallants on her, Mr. Tyrrell. The royals, tooB if the wind stays friendly.T