william price and the thetis 13

 sorry folks, once again not up to snuff today

 

Chapter 13

 

The cleaning up of the mess was unpleasant, but with plenty of volunteers was soon accomplished. Some of the former slaves volunteered too, though Colin suspected that partly it was to confirm that their captors were dead.

Meanwhile, William set the rest of the company to assembling barrels from stored staves and hoops, with loops welded to the hoops to tie ropes to. The men were keen to experiment with ways to save slaves, and threw themselves into the project.

The web of barrels was carried out by one boat, with another to help spread it, which was the first difficulty; it was hard to get it to spread out properly. Volunteers holding shackles, and attached to safety lines just in case, jumped into the net, which had some success at least in catching them.

“The main problem will be in getting it out in time,” said William, vexed.

“We need to try to come close whilst under false colours while our rowers get the other side,” said Scully. “But what slaver is likely to let us?”

“Wherein the problem. Well, if we have one net kept permanently in a boat, and another on board, and Frid has another, we can maybe use them opportunistically as seems fit,” said William.

 

Old Mrs. Walden had taken Adou aside to find out what was commonly worn by men and women in Dahomey, and had come up with joining two pieces of light cotton as a knee-length tunic, which could be belted with a piece of rope; if the men wanted to carve blocks of wood and make dyes out of turmeric  or lamp black to print the fabric, that kept them busy, and the women helping out with the sewing. It meant each person had a garment of sorts, and if not quite what they were used to, at least a garment to give them dignity. The women could, when taken to Freetown, add another skirt, and the men could add trousers. Those men who volunteered, another four, could draw slops in the rough uniform William provided. One of them was a married man, and saw the navy as the best way to protect his wife and children; of the others, two had lost their wives who had ended up on other ships, and wanted to kill slavers. The last was the younger brother of one of the bereaved husbands.

The other men were learning the ropes at least, to be able to help out a prize crew in taking them to a new life, and were keener about the idea than many a new hand.

“Who are you sending, Will?” asked Scully.

“I thought to send Erskine,” said William. “He’s a steady man, if not very imaginative, and bold enough. If I sent you and Colin, goodness knows how long you’d be delayed, turning up with fourteen slavers and a colony of pirate ships as prizes. And I just don’t have the crew!”

Scully laughed.

“Now, I’d have said that would happen if you went yourself,” he said.

William chuckled.

“The three of us have a knack of finding trouble,” he said. “I wouldn’t send Colin, or we might find ourselves at war with Brazil, or Spain, or somewhere unlikely like the Ottoman Empire when he tried to land slaves in Istanbul.”

Scully laughed.

“His navigation is much better nowadays; that isn’t strictly fair.”

“It isn’t fair in the least, but he’s eavesdropping, and I couldn’t possibly avoid the old adage that eavesdroppers never hear anything but ill of themselves. Colin, lad, were you hoping to go?”

“Well, sir, I did wonder if we might manage to cut out another ship on the way back,” said Colin, appearing from the companionway. “But it is a job for a lieutenant. Not Mr. Pigeon?”

“I am not discussing your senior officers with you, Colin, my lad,” said Will, severely. “But I’m sure you have your own ideas.”

“Too hesitant,” said Colin. “Not a coward, or at all like that Frith fellow, but I fancy he’s been knocked back a few times to have learned not to put himself forward.”

“There you are, a project for you, if he’ll take any advice from the gunroom,” said William.

“Aye, sir,” said Colin, resignedly.

Colin believed in a direct approach.

“Mr. Pigeon, may I speak with you?” he asked.

“Well, you appear to be doing so at the moment, Mr. Prescott,” said Robert Pigeon.

“Permission applied for to engage damned cheek, then, Mr. Pigeon,” said Colin.

“Ah, now we’re getting to it. I notice that Mr. Scully takes your damned cheek with equanimity, and that you are on first name terms with him.”

“We were midshipmen together as he came late to the sea, and had to put up with being looked at as if he was a midshipman who could not pass,” said Colin. “It’s no secret. And we formed a friendship.  I know when to show him the right level of respect due to the first, however, and when I can be Colin for John, and a little brother to him. I need you to be aware that I know when to step out of line. I also need you to know that I was doing the job of fourth before, with great relief on my part, you were shipped with us.”

“So you think I’m doing something wrong?” Pigeon’s affable expression froze.

“Nossir, you mistake my meaning. I think you know the book backwards and are going by the regulations with almost religious fervour.”

“It’s the best way to survive the Royal Navy, don’t you think?”

“Nossir, it is the best way to jog along without causing any waves or upset. But Admiral Pellew must rate you highly to squeeze you into an active mission, and he isn’t a man to be carried by the tide. And I noticed you don’t volunteer, or speak up, or jest in the captain’s cabin over a meal, and I wondered what bastard had kicked you so hard in the metaphorical bollocks to keep you so out of sorts.”

“Well, I’m damned! You weren’t joking about employing damned cheek!” said Pigeon.

“Sometimes, sir, sailing right into the thick of danger is the safest thing to do,” said Colin. “But if you don’t have a captain who encourages that, I can see it would be daunting to the spirit.”

“It is,” said Pigeon, shortly.

“Well, Mr. Price encourages people using their initiative, so you can do so without worrying,” said Colin.

“And what is it that you want?” demanded Pigeon.

“The chance to be thirteen sometimes, and not to always have to be ready to volunteer,” said Colin.  “I mean, I do volunteer, and I like independent command, but I like learning more under more experienced officers.”

Pigeon studied his underling; and gave a curt nod.

“Very good, Mr. Prescott,” he said. He believed the boy meant it honestly and not merely to take some kind of advantage. “I have been watching the way the wind blows, and I was coming to the conclusions on my own that I could be my own man here. The cheek is forgiven.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Colin.

“Do you know which of the officers is next youngest after you?” asked Pigeon.

“Sam Price and George Cosgrove are older than me, but have less sea time,” said Colin. “The next is Captain Price, followed by you, followed by Mr. Erskine.”

“I see,” said Pigeon, startled.

“Mr. Price says that taking bold action leads to one of three things,” said Colin. “Death, court martial, or promotion with a reputation for doing the impossible. Death comes to all men, we’ve all enough prize money now to scoff at court martial, and promotion happens because the Good Lord allows no good deed to go unpunished.”

“That’s an interesting way to put it.”

“I found out what he meant right before you joined us,” said Colin. “I was in charge of the lugger, with eight men, as part of a ruse to capture more pirates. Our rudder was more damaged than anyone realised, and it kept wanting to head to larboard.  The pirates also had an extra, heavily-armed ship which they were fitting out. I made the decision to foul her sprit, intending to then row away, leaving the lugger with an explosive surprise, but we estimated that the brig had no more than a score of men aboard, and we had eight. But it was my call, and risking the lives of the men with me, many of whom have been mentors to me, was damned hard. But we did it, and didn’t lose a man. The more responsibility you have, though, the more feeling sick keeps you awake when you’re doing something insane.”

“I see,” said Pigeon. “I doubt I’d have even considered taking a bigger ship with a prize crew at your age.”

“Mr. Price’s assurance rubs off on one,” said Colin. “I confess, I was dithering, but Taff said to me, ‘What would Mr. Price do?’ and I know he’d take the ship, and that my men expected me to do the same. Mr. Price,” said Colin, worshipfully, “Is the sort of man who, if his ship is blown away underneath him, ends up having taken the nearest enemy warship, with his officers and crew with him.”

Pigeon laughed at this outrageous level of exaggeration of the captain’s ability, but he could understand why he might have such a reputation.

“Well, I will put myself forward more,” he said.

 

Erskine, meanwhile, was happy to be given command of the slaver to take the rescued slaves to Freetown, if less happy to have a great cabin with all the stern lights blown out.

“What shall I do about the lack of glass?” he asked William.

“Ask Mr. Stackfield for old workings and paint it with olive oil,” said William. “It will become translucent, and you can tack it onto a light frame over the window frames.”

“Mr. Prescott can jolly well paint it,” said Erskine.

“He’s been punished; I made him clear up,” said William, warningly. “And he was as sick as a dog from shovelling body parts. As I recall, you and Lt. Stark came up with the idea of using bombs on pirates, so you cannot now blame the boy for copying the idea.”

“No, sir,” said Erskine, who had forgotten that it had been his idea.

 

 

There was no way to accommodate the slaves with any semblance of human dignity on the ship which had brought them, so they were split between it and the ‘Thetis,’ to sail into Freetown. Erskine was chagrined, but he had to have a crew of experienced hands, and there was no room, without making the former slaves sleep in conditions barely better than those in which they had been kept before, conditions where some had suffocated and died.

As the two ships set off, however, the former slaves all serenaded the sailors with the song Adou had used to check their presence, the young counter-tenor being the youngest of the four who had volunteered. Beko’s voice was pure and ran as high as any soprano.

“Knocks any castrato into a cocked hat, for sure,” said Scully.

“I ain’t one for uproars and roratorios myself,” said Walden, “But I’d pay to ʼear ʼim.”

“Maybe we can get him into opera when we get back to England; any theatre would be a fool not to take him,” said Scully.

Walden spat over the side.

“They won’t even ʼear ʼim” he said. “ʼE’s black. Vey’ll worry about what people will say wiv an ʼero  ʼandlin’ the wimmin wot’s as black as yer bleedin’ ʼat. Nah bloody Christian feelin’s in Lunnon-town.”

Scully sighed.

“Well, he can draw extra pay singing for the wardroom,” he said.

The sailors reciprocated with ‘Hearts of Oak.’

 

The journey to Sierra Leone took only a few days, and they swept into the town, with their cargo singing again. They had learned ‘Hearts of Oak,’ though the words were a little strange at times for being learned by rote.

“It is the song of freedom,” said the oldest of them, their leader.

William presented himself to the governor. This was strictly speaking Charles William Maxwell, but as he was not present, William dealt with one Captain Henry Hyde, whilst Maxwell was engaged with other duties.

“New to this game?” asked Hyde.

“New, but learning fast,” said William. “Seeing our previous quarry put their slaves overboard, we took covert action to ascertain their presence on this ship. Can we purchase some cheap fabrics here, to have some to make clothes for the next lot?”

“Yes, I imagine so,” said Hyde. “Are you presenting the ship to be condemned as a prize?”

“Yes, and I have the head count to date of those slavers we defeated,” said William. “We only saved a handful of slaves from the first, because we approached to give succour after a hurricane, and had our colours flying. But some clung to the wreckage the slavers had not cut away. It was a most unpleasant lesson on how callous they are.”

“I suppose you have prisoners for me,” sighed Hyde.

“Not one,” said William. “My lads were not inclined to mercy on the first ship, and none of them speak enough French to understand cries of surrender on this second ship.”

Hyde looked at him narrowly.

“I see,” he said. “Officially, that’s unfortunate. Unofficially, well done, carry on.”