Alexander Kent - Passage to Mutiny

Isaac Toby was the ship’s carpenter. Fat, slow-moving and rather vacant-looking, he had the appearance of an untidy owl. But as a carpenter he was an artist. With his own small crew he kept the repairs up to date, although with a vessel built of teak that was the least of his worries. At this moment he would be completing his latest challenge, the building of a new, additional jolly boat. It had been something of a joke to begin with, a casual remark made by the gunner about waste of valuable wood when a seaman had been caught throwing some off-cuts over the side.

Toby had taken it as a personal affront and had said he would build a boat with his own hands out of all the oddments which Brass could discover. The boat was nearly completed, and even Brass had had to admit it was far better than Tempest’s original one.

Bolitho leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair.

Cheadle gathered up the last document and made sure the signature was dry. The clerk was a strange, withdrawn man, as were many of his kind. He had deep, hollow eyes and large, uneven teeth, so that he appeared to be smiling, something he never did, as far as Bolitho knew. To discover anything of his past Bolitho had had to drag it from him word by word. He had been transferred from another ship which had been paid off in Bombay. His captain had assured Bolitho that Cheadle was a good clerk, if somewhat reticent. He had once worked in a grocer’s shop in Canterbury, and prided himself on his service to “the quality.” But so far, even after two years of daily contact, Bolitho had never heard him mention it.

Noddall entered as the clerk left and placed a glass of wine on the desk. With fresh water so much in demand, and the uncertainty of supply a constant worry, Bolitho usually took wine as an easy alternative. He recalled when he had been guided to the famous shop in St James’s, how he had purchased the many fine bottles before his voyage to the other side of the world in Undine. The wine had been reduced to broken glass and spillage during his fight with the Argus, but the memory stayed with him. He touched the watch in his pocket. Like so many others.

Allday sauntered through from the sleeping cabin and watched him gravely.

“Reckon we’ll find ’em, Captain?”

He stood with arms folded across his deep chest, his face and body relaxed. He was more like a companion than a subordinate. How much they had shared together. Bolitho often wondered if Allday missed England. He would certainly be missing the girls. Allday had always had a reputation with them, and more than once had been glad, if not eager, to set sail in haste for fear of husband or irate father.

“I hope so.”

Bolitho sipped the drink. Cheap and stale. Not like the French wine which Herrick had got for him. The Sydney garrison had probably bought a stock from a French ship, or some ambitious trader. If you were prepared to risk your fortune and your life, and pit your wits against fierce natives, pirates and the constant dangers of shipwreck you could sell anything out here.

In the wake of navigators and explorers like Cook had come the others. On some islands, where the natives had lived in simple, idyllic surroundings, the ships had introduced disease and death. The merchant adventurers had set one tribe against another by offering shoddy goods and cheap cloth in exchange for secure moorings from which to barter.

And now everyone was paying for it. Soon, some over-greedy trader would start supplying a tribe with muskets. Bolitho had seen it happen in the Americas, where the French had trained Indians to track and kill the British, and the British had done the same to them.

Afterwards, with their independence won, and with both British and French gone from their newborn country, the Americans had been left with another army in their midst. A nation of Indian warriors which, if joined together, might still drive the settlers into the sea and isolate the new ports and cities.

He added, “I doubt very much that we could have passed the Eurotas without sighting her. We have had double lookouts, and at night have shown enough lights for a blind man to see. Her captain would know of the concern for his late arrival and would try to make contact with any ship of size.”

Allday’s eyes were distant as he watched the sea through the stern windows. With the wind across the larboard quarter the ship was leaning slightly under the pressure, so that the sea appeared to be on the slope. Like most professional seamen, Allday seemed able to stare at the sea without a blink, and yet the horizon was shining fiercely like a tautly stretched thread of gems.

“My guess, Captain, is that she’s put in somewhere for water. Her supply might have gone foul, as ours did once.” He grimaced. “With a hull full of convicts and the like, her captain’d not want to add to his worries, and that’s no error.”

“True.”

Bolitho looked away, remembering the way she had looked. Their carefree disregard for discovery and what might have happened. At Madras, and afterwards. In that wretched, fever-infested colony to which Bolitho’s ship had been sent to lend authority to yet another governor. Often he had sweated at the thought of those possibilities. A door being flung open, her face and shoulders pale as he tried to hide her from her husband. But nobody had come to break their passions, and the ache of losing her was even harder to accept.

He felt anger, too. What could James Raymond be thinking of to drag her out here again? European women found the climate cruel and demanding, and for Raymond there was no such need. His fine house, his authority, all he had gained at others’ expense would have made it easy to leave her in security and comfort amongst people and customs she understood.

There was a rap at the door and Borlase peered through the screen, his face less mild than usual.

“I was wondering if I might speak with you, sir.” He looked quickly at Allday. “But if it is inconvenient…”

Bolitho gestured to Allday, and as he left the cabin said, “Be brief, Mr Borlase. I intend to exercise the twelve-pounders before noon.”

He knew why the lieutenant was here; that too depressed him.

Borlase licked his lips. “I had occasion to log a seaman, sir.”

“Peterson. I know.”

He saw the merest flicker of surprise before Borlase hurried on, “I see, sir. But I intended that Mr Herrick should award punishment. Peterson was defiant and insolent to his superior, and twelve lashes, at the very least, should be his just deserts!”

The speech had brought a flush to his cheeks. Like a petulant but triumphant child who has found a weakness in authority, Bolitho thought.

He answered quietly, “The bosun’s mate who was defied was Schultz, is that so?” He did not wait for an answer but continued in the same level voice, “He is an excellent seaman, and we are lucky to have him. But,” the word hung in the air, “less than two years back he could speak no tongue but his native German. What language he has mastered is made up of sailors’ talk and slang, the commands needed to obey and instruct others.”

Borlase stared at him blankly. “I don’t see…”

“Had you bothered to investigate this matter”-Bolitho could feel his anger mounting, despite his care to control it. Why were men like Borlase never able to learn from mistakes and to accept the lessons?-“you would have treated the incident with a minimum of fuss. I believe that Peterson was slow to respond to an order, and Schultz shouted that he were better on a gallows than on the main yard?” He waited, seeing Borlase’s fingers opening and closing like claws. “Well?”

“Yes, sir. Something like that. Then Peterson called Schultz a pig and a heartless devil.” Borlase nodded firmly. “It was then that I ordered him to be taken below.”