Ransome's Crossing (16 page)

The boatswain greeted her as he toured the decks to see what his mates and the crew assigned to him would need to do today. “All’s well, Mr. Lott?”

“All is well, Mr. Parr.” Her voice sounded nearly as deep and gravelly as his.

An hour later, at two bells, the boatswain set the crew to holystoning and washing the deck. In the gray, predawn light, Charlotte watched as the men rubbed large pumice stones the size of Bibles across the deck to clean it while others came behind them with water to rinse it. It looked like onerous work, and she was thankful she did not have to do it. But it was the most interesting thing that had happened on deck since lights-out at eight o’clock last night.

As the morning dragged on, the time between bells seemed to stretch from the standard half hour to an hour…two…three. Charlotte stayed on duty in the forecastle, carrying messages from one officer to another on opposite ends of the ship just to keep herself awake. A high-pitched ringing settled into her ears, and her mouth felt as though she’d been licking knitting wool.

A yawn crested, but she clamped her lips shut to stifle it.

“Storm building to the northeast.” Wallis, the fourth lieutenant,
raised his telescope to look behind the ship to starboard. “Wind’s picking up as well. We may be in for a rough day.”

Charlotte squinted her gritty, burning eyes, trying to focus her mind on the activity at
Buzzard’s
stern a score of yards ahead. Several small flags of different colors and patterns fluttered in the wind.

With leaden arms, she raised her own small scope. “Message from lead ship.”

Wallis—and Martin, who’d come on duty a few hours ago as midshipman of the forecastle—whipped around. All three translated the message at the same time.

“Lott, my compliments to the captain.” Wallis then turned to Martin. “Respond ‘message received.’”

Charlotte collapsed her telescope and tucked it into her coat pocket. She mustered all her energy reserves and hastened to the aft end of the ship. Last time she’d carried a message to one of the officers, Captain Parker had been on the quarterdeck—but not now. She wove her way through sailors and officers and into the shade of the wheelhouse.

The marine guard knocked on the door to the big cabin for her. The captain’s steward opened it. “Cap’n’s occupied. Can’t see anyone at the present.”

“This is urgent—orders from lead ship.” She repeated the message over and over in her mind so she would not forget it, even though she’d written it in her log book. She did not want to have to pull that out and have the captain doubt her competency.

The steward quirked a brow as if he did not believe her, but after a moment he stepped aside to admit her entrance.

Charlotte hurried in—but drew up short at the sight of Kent and Lieutenant Crump standing at the table as if about to pull out the chairs they stood behind and feast…on her.

“Ah, Mr. Lott.” Parker slouched in his chair in much the same manner as she’d seen several of the young dandies in Portsmouth do.

“Captain Parker, sir, Lieutenant Wallis’s compliments—”

“Tell me, Lott, was it not just yesterday when both you and Mr.
Kent agreed to serving out your punishment on twenty-four hours’ continuous watch?”

“Aye, sir.” She itched to tell him the message before it got lost in her muzzy head.

“And did I or did I not warn both of you that if you were caught sleeping on watch, you would be beaten?” Parker scraped at a spot on the table with his thumbnail as if bored by this conversation.

“Aye, sir, you did.” The ringing in Charlotte’s ears intensified, now throbbing along with her pounding heart. Even though she had done nothing wrong, she could not trust Kent, especially since he knew she had caught
him
asleep on duty.

Captain Parker released a long sigh. “Lieutenant Crump and Mr. Kent have just reported to me that over the past hour, they witnessed you sleeping in the forecastle, protected by another midshipman.”

Bile rose in the back of Charlotte’s throat. She never suspected Kent would stoop so low—or that he would be able to convince the second lieutenant to go along with him. She fisted her hands at her sides, digging her blunt nails into her rough palms.

Parker looked up when Charlotte made no response. “Well? How do you respond to this accusation?”

“Sir, my only response can be the truth. I have not been sleeping on duty. If they believe they saw me sleeping within the last hour, they are mistaken. I believe you yourself have seen me moving about the ship, passing messages regarding our position relative to the ship off our bow to the officers and sailing master.” She longed for a cup of tea to soothe both her throat and her nerves—and then a long sleep in a soft, not-moving bed. Anger and exhaustion were the only things keeping at bay regret over her decision to make this voyage.

The corners of Parker’s mouth tightened. “Show me your log book, Lott.”

Charlotte pulled it out and walked to the head of the table to hand it to him. “Sir, the reason I came to your cabin—”

He quelled her with a sharp look. He opened the small journal and flipped the pages until he found the final few
entries. “You have three entries for the past hour, including—” He looked up. “How long ago did this order from lead ship come in?”

How long had she been standing here enduring false accusations? “About five minutes ago, sir. That is why I came to see you. Commodore Ransome orders us to alter course to compensate for the increased northwesterly wind and the approaching storm.”

Parker stood and handed the log book back to Charlotte. “My compliments to Lieutenant Howe, and have him ready the crew to alter course.”

“Aye, aye, sir.” She escaped the cabin without a glance at her adversaries.

The first lieutenant gave her an expectant glance when she stepped out into the sunlight on the quarterdeck.

“Sir, Captain Parker’s compliments, and ready the crew to alter course.” She opened her log book to give him the heading that had come in William’s message, as the numbers and compass directions had become inexorably scrambled in her head.

As soon as he handed the small book back to her, Charlotte scrambled off to her station in the forecastle, climbing halfway up the shroud to supervise the crew responsible for the fore topsail as Howe gave the “all hands” order followed immediately by the boatswain’s whistle. She had to listen carefully amongst all of the orders being relayed from one end of the ship to the other for any regarding her sail.

Finally, it came. “Reef tops’l,” she yelled, putting all of her strength into her voice to make it carry to the men above her on the yard. She tightened her hold on the ropes and eyed the burgeoning sail carefully as the men shortened the sail to the next reefband, but the sailors were well trained and the sail rigged correctly, putting the canvas in no danger of damage.

Half an hour passed, along with several additional changes and alterations in the positioning and reefing of the sails. Charlotte’s muscles burned from her tight grip on the rope shroud, and her feet cramped in her hobnail shoes from the pressure of the ropes against her arches.

“Aloft there, lay off!”

She almost cried with relief. Before passing along the order, she started her descent from the shroud, more concerned about getting back down to the flat surface of the deck than the increased tossing of the ship. The wind had a chill bite to it, a welcome relief from the sun’s heat.

Leaping from the shroud to the deck only increased the pain in her feet. She needed to take off her shoes and rub away the knots—but before she could find a place to sit and do so, young Isaac McLellan rushed up onto the forecastle.

“Captain wants to see you in his cabin, Charlie, and you too, Mr. Martin. Oh, and you as well, Lieutenant Wallis, sir.”

Charlotte exchanged a glance with Martin. The senior midshipman shrugged. She had not had a chance to tell him what had happened when she reported the course correction to Parker.

Rushing to the other end of the ship helped ease the cramping in Charlotte’s feet, yet she could not quell the fear that she hurried along to her own demise. She’d read that when sailors were flogged, they had to remove their shirts. For a midshipman, the boatswain’s rattan was applied to the backside of the wrongdoer; so she was not certain if the recipient of the punishment remained fully clothed. If the captain had decided to believe Kent and Lieutenant Crump instead of her and she was about to be whipped, she might be only minutes away from being revealed for a trespasser.

Her fear increased when she entered the cabin to find all of the lieutenants, warrant officers, and senior midshipmen—including Kent—standing in a tight crowd around the captain’s dining table.

She prayed William would be understanding when Captain Parker turned her over once her masquerade was revealed.

T
he division between the officers of
Audacious
could not be clearer. On the aftside of the athwartships table stood Lieutenants Crump and Wallis along with Kent and his mates; on the foreside, Lieutenants Howe, Gardiner, and Duncan, with Hamilton, Martin, and two other senior midshipmen formerly of Collin’s crew. Among the last to arrive, Charlotte necessarily stood with the latter group—though she would have stood with them anyway, if given a choice.

The sailing master came in, and the captain’s steward left the cabin, closing the door behind him. Charlotte set her feet wider apart as the rolling motion of the ship increased, along with the wind outside. She had not known until now that Lieutenant Wallis was part of Parker’s crew and not Collin’s. He had always been genial with her.

“It has come to my attention that we have a problem aboard this ship.” Parker swept his gaze across the assemblage.

Charlotte stared at the second button of his waistcoat to keep from seeing the accusation she knew would be in his eyes when he looked at her.

“There seems to be a misconception that I favor the officers and sailors who were with me before we came to
Audacious.
Let me assure you, this is not the case.” Parker clasped his hands behind his back and began pacing at his end of the table. “It does not matter if you served on
Audacious
under Captain Yates or if you came with me from
Lark
or if you never served either captain. We will be respecters of rank and order on this ship.”

Charlotte heard and felt the shuffling and fidgeting of the men surrounding her, but she did not dare look at any of them.

“Mr. Hamilton.”

Beside her, Ham flinched. “Aye, Captain?”

“I understand you are the senior midshipman, yet you have abdicated your position of captain of the cockpit to someone with a year’s less experience?”

“I—”

The question put Ham in an untenable position. If he said yes, not only would he be lying, but he would also be destroying any chance of a good report and recommendation from Parker at the end of this posting. If he said no, he would be accusing Kent of usurping his power. Charlotte wished she could reach out and squeeze his hand to let him know she understood his dilemma.

“Sir,” Hamilton started again, “you mentioned the division you have noticed amongst the officers. This is true of the midshipmen as well. There has been a bit of a struggle establishing the order of seniority in the cockpit as we have felt as if there was a division between the two groups. I have been leading one; Mr. Kent has been leading the other.”

And terrorizing anyone who gets in his way.
Charlotte clenched her teeth to keep a smirk from betraying her thoughts. Her fate had not yet been pronounced, and she did not want to draw any attention to herself.

“This will end as of now.” Parker stopped pacing. “Mr. Martin.”

As Hamilton had, Martin flinched when the captain spoke his name. “Aye, sir?” the eighteen-year-old’s voice cracked.

“You are next in line of seniority behind Mr. Hamilton?”

“Aye, sir.”

“Very well. Henceforth, the midshipmen will be split into three watches rather than two. Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Martin, and Mr. Kent will be captains of the watches. With eighteen midshipmen aboard, that means each of you will have five mids assigned to your watch. At least two of them must be from the other ship’s crew. Lieutenant Howe and Lieutenant Crump will oversee the choosing of the watches.
The crew will remain on watch and watch. That way, with the mids in three watches and the crew in two, the midshipmen will not always be on duty at the same time as the men in their gun crews, reducing opportunities for favoritism or collusion in troublemaking.” He paused and looked around the group again. “Mr. Lott.”

Charlotte’s heart nearly burst out of her chest. The ringing in her ears increased, and her knees almost buckled. “Aye, Captain?”

“I cannot help but wonder what it is you’ve done that has drawn such animosity toward you from Mr. Kent. It is vital that all the members of a ship’s crew, especially her officers, learn to work well together. Therefore, you will be assigned to Mr. Kent’s watch.”

Being flogged ’round the fleet, exposed as a girl, and then sent to William in disgrace would be preferable to being at Kent’s mercy. The announcement of her true identity was on the tip of her tongue when Parker spoke again.

“Lieutenant Howe, Mr. Kent’s watch will be under your command. Hamilton, you will report to Lieutenant Crump; and Martin, you will report to Lieutenant Gardiner.”

More shuffling and fidgeting.

“If any accusations are leveled against a midshipman of the
Lark
crew by someone of the
Audacious
crew, or the converse, and they are deemed to be frivolous, petty, embellished, or false, punishment will be swift and severe for the accuser. And you will observe the chain of command and take any problems to the lieutenant of your watch.”

Charlotte’s head swam. This was not how she’d imagined her third day as a midshipman going. On Kent’s watch? As if life at sea weren’t miserable enough.

“Those are my orders, and I expect them to be followed rigorously. Do you understand?”

“Aye, sir,” everyone chorused together.

“Dismissed—except for Mr. Lott, Mr. Kent, and Lieutenants Howe, Crump, Gardiner, and Wallis. Lieutenant Duncan, you have command until you are relieved.”

“Aye, sir.” The young fifth lieutenant saluted, and his expression
revealed his relief at being dismissed before he turned and escaped the cabin.

Charlotte swallowed hard to keep her stomach from releasing its contents. Hamilton bumped her shoulder on his way past, and she took it as a sign of his sympathy and support.

As soon as the door closed behind Lieutenant Duncan, Howe moved to stand at the foot of the table, leaving Charlotte standing with Gardiner across from Kent, Crump, and Wallis.

“Lieutenant Crump, before we were interrupted by Mr. Lott’s arrival with the orders from the commodore, I believe you and Mr. Kent were telling me of how you witnessed Mr. Lott asleep on duty.”

Kent and Crump exchanged shifty glances. Neither spoke, but both paled significantly.

“Mr. Gardiner, I believe you had the middle watch last night, did you not?”

“Aye, Captain.” Gardiner seemed uncomfortable but not concerned.

“Did you witness either Mr. Lott or Mr. Kent asleep on duty?”

Gardiner flicked his gaze across the table and then back at the captain. “Sir, I—I discovered Mr. Kent about to fall asleep on two occasions—dozing off, as it were—but never fully asleep.”

“And Mr. Lott?”

“Always alert from what I could tell. I relieved him of duty just after three bells. He went belowdecks to refresh himself and returned in less than the allotted ten minutes.”

“Thank you, Mr. Gardiner. You are dismissed.”

Gardiner inclined his head and left the cabin. Charlotte had never felt so alone as she did now.

“Mr. Wallis, you were on duty in the forecastle during the forenoon watch, correct?”

“Aye, Captain.” Wallis, tall and slender, with an abundance of curly, dark hair, could not be much older than Hamilton and Martin.

“Did you have occasion to witness Mr. Lott sleeping in the forecastle, being watched over by another midshipman to keep him from being caught?”

Wallis’s mouth hinted at a smile, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. “No, sir. Mr. Lott was never still long enough to have fallen asleep. He was running messages between the forecastle and the quarterdeck. He was also the one who noticed the ship ahead signaling us with the commodore’s orders.”

“Thank you, Mr. Wallis. You are dismissed.”

Charlotte kept her eyes affixed on a point over Parker’s left shoulder as Wallis hastened out of the cabin.

Parker pulled out his chair and slumped into it, head propped in his hand. “Lieutenant Crump, how came you to the belief that Mr. Lott was sleeping on duty this morning?”

Crump—a small man with a pinched face, large nose, and bulging eyes that reminded Charlotte of Lady Fairfax’s prized pug dog—cleared his throat. “Well, I…I…” His mouth opened and closed several times before he collected his thoughts. “Sir, what happened is that Mr. Kent came to me to tell me he had observed Mr. Lott asleep in the forecastle. As I know it is a serious offense to be asleep on duty, I deemed it proper to inform you, sir, of the offense.”

“But you did not take the step of going to the forecastle to see this sleeping midshipman for yourself?” Parker sounded and looked more and more exasperated with each passing moment. William would never have shown his frustration the way Parker did. No wonder Parker was having so much trouble with his officers.

“N-no, sir, I did not. Haste…I thought haste was in order. And I had no reason to doubt Mr. Kent’s veracity. We have served together four years, sir, as you will recall.”

Parker’s eyes narrowed. “Aye, I do recall. And it is for that reason I am giving you and Mr. Kent a chance to rethink what you may have seen—or not seen—on deck this morning.” He watched them for a long moment. “Mr. Kent, what say you? Did you see Mr. Lott asleep on deck during the forenoon watch?”

Kent’s face was as pale as his silver-blond hair. “Sir, I believe… I mean, that is…I fear I might have been mistaken in what I saw. I thought I saw something that looked like a person in a prone position
on the deck. However, it may have merely been a shadow on a pile of rope I saw, sir.”

Parker rubbed his jaw. “I wondered if that might not be what you had seen. However, I cannot let it pass that you brought a false accusation against one of your mates before me. Mr. Kent, you will serve an additional twelve hours’ continuous watch at the end of your original twenty-four hours. And you will report to Mr. Crump and the lieutenant of the watch at the sounding of each hour of each watch. Understood?”

“Aye, sir.” Kent and Crump looked none-too-happy about the punishment. Charlotte’s outlook began to improve.

“All of you are dismissed. Lott, you remain on continuous watch until three bells of the afternoon watch.”

“Aye, aye, sir.” Charlotte could not leave the captain’s cabin fast enough.

When she stepped out into the wheelhouse, Hamilton gave her a questioning look. She gave him a slight smile as she hurried past, wanting to put some distance between herself and Kent. With an added twelve hours of continuous watch, he was bound to be furious. And she held no illusions that he would learn from his mistakes and leave her alone. No, he would find more ways to make her life aboard
Audacious
miserable. From now on, she could never let her guard down.

The idea of being under Kent’s command frightened her, but she had a means of escape if it got too bad. She could always reveal her identity, be sent to William’s ship, and travel in relative comfort on
Alexandra
as a guest—or, rather, the condemned awaiting execution. Right now, though, the thought of facing William and owning up to her subterfuge and lies filled her with more dread than that of being the recipient of Kent’s maliciousness.

She had a means of escape if she needed it. But she hoped she would not.

William snapped the spyglass closed and tossed it to the midshipman
hovering nearby. He’d been anxious to keep his ship and crew from being decommissioned, but he had not realized how frustrating commanding a fleet of merchant ships could be. They took orders in their own time and could not keep their ships on the heading he commanded. Even with the course correction an hour ago, the convoy ships were once again stretched too far apart.

The wind blew harder, and
Alexandra
responded by digging into the waves and surging forward. Not so the merchant ship behind her.

He ground his back teeth together. Until this storm blew itself out, he’d have to slow
Alexandra
down to allow the other ships to come in closer. Though he did not expect to meet with any hostile ships, predators were always a risk, especially to a supply convoy as tempting a target as this one made. He crossed the poop deck to tell Cochrane to signal all hands to reef the sails again, but when he looked down on the quarterdeck, the sight he saw shredded the last ounce of his reserve.