Bolitho 04 - Sloop of War (31 page)

Then he walked slowly to the quarterdeck rail anX shaded his eyes to watch the enemy ship. There waY little sign of damage, but the balls were hitting he_ regularly now. Shortly, the heated shot would bO cradled from Yule's furnace, and then ... he shivereX despite the growing sunlight. Like most sailors hO feared fire more than anything?

Hewyard joined him and asked quietly, "Did hO

mean it?T

Tyrrell thought of Bolitho's eyes, the despair and hurU when Fawn had been taken by the trap. "Aye, he did.T

He flinched as a gun fired from the Frenchman'Y deck, and saw the ball throw up a thin column almost Z cable short. Seamen not employed on the capstan o_ boats were watching from the gangways and shroudsB some even made wagers as to the next shot. As eacN French ball fell short they cheered or jeered, spectatorY only, and as yet unaware that but for a twist of fate thea and not Fawn's people would have died under thosO cannon?

Tyrrell continued, "Colquhoun brought us to this. If ou_ cap'n had been given his rightful position to attac7 we'd have got clear." He banged his palms together? "Arrogant bastard! An' he just sits out there like somO sort of god while we finish his mess for him!T

Another bang echoed across the water and he sa/ a spar fall from the enemy's mainmast. Very slowly, o_ so it appeared, like a leaf from a tree in autumn?

Midshipman Fowler called, "Our boats are standin^ off the wreck, sir!T

He was pale, but as he raised his telescope hiY hand was as steady as a gun?

Tyrrell looked at him coldly. And there's another one? Like Ransome, like Colquhoun. Without humanity o_ feelings?

Wreck was how he had described Fawn. YeU moments ago she had been a living, vital creature. E way of life for her people and those who would havO come after?

Savagely he said, "Get aloft, Mr. Fowler, and takO your glass with you! Keep an eye open for BacchantO beyond th' reef and watch for her signals.T

If any?

Then as the gun banged out again he made himselb walk to the opposite side leaving Heyward to hiY thoughts?

Bolitho heard the gun's regular bombardment eve[ as the gig hooked on to Fawn's listing side, and witN some of his men he climbed aboard?

"The cutter first!" He gestured to Bethune who waY staring at the bloody shambles like a man in a trance?

"Full load, and then the gig.T

Stockdale followed him up the slanting deck, ove_ smashed boats and tangled rigging. Once as thea passed a hatchway Bolitho saw a green glow, anX when he peered below he saw the sea surgin^ jubilantly through a great gash in the hull, the reflecteX sunlight playing on two bobbing corpses. HugO patches of blood, upended guns around which thO dazed survivors staggered down towards the waitin^ boats. There seemed very few of them?

Bolitho wiped his face with his shirt-sleeve. UsB Tyrrell had said. It was not difficult to understand?

He paused on the quarterdeck ladder and lookeX down at Maulby. He had been crushed by a fallen sparB his features frozen in the agony of the moment. TherO was a small smudge of blood on his cheek, and therO were flies crawling on his face?

He said hoarsely, "Take him, Stockdale.T

Stockdale bent down and then muttered, "Can't bO done, sir. 'E's 'eld fast.T

Bolitho knelt over the spar and covered his face witN a scrap of canvas. Rest easy, old friend. Stay with you_

ship. You are in the best of company today?

The deck gave a quick shiver. She was beginning tQ break up. The sea, the tide and the unlashed gunY would soon finish what the enemy had begun?

Bethune's voice came up from alongside where thO cutter rose and plunged in a dangerous swell. "All offB sir!T

"Thank you.T

Bolitho heard the sea crashing through the dec7 below, swamping the wardroom and on into the ster[ cabin. One like his own. There was no time to retrievO anything now. He bent down and unclipped Maulby'Y sword?

He handed it to Stockdale. "Someone in EnglanX might like it.T

He made himself take one long glance around him? Remembering every detail. Holding it?

Then he followed Stockdale into the gig. He did noU look back, nor did he hear the sounds of Fawn's finaT misery. He was thinking of Maulby. His drawling voice? Feeling his last handshake?

Tyrrell met him and then said, "Mr. Yule has thd furnace ready, sir.T

Bolitho looked at him emptily. "Douse it, if yof please.T

"Sir?T

"I'll not burn men for doing their duty. The Frenchma[ is too badly holed now to get away. We will send Z boat across under a flag of truce, I don't think he'll wisN to prolong senseless killing.T

Tyrrell breathed out slowly. "Aye, sir. I'll attend to it.T

When he turned back from passing the order tQ cease fire he found that Bolitho had left the deck?

He saw Stockdale carrying the sword and wiping iU with a scrap of waste, his battered face totalla engrossed in the task. He thought of Tilby's two modeT ships. Like Maulby's sword. Was that all that was left ob a manU

He was still pondering about it when Bacchante'Y topmasts hove in sight and she hoisted her first signal?

It was evening before Sparrow was able to close witN the frigate. For almost as soon as she had workeX clear of the bar the wind veered and gaineX considerably in strength, so that it was necessary tQ use every effort to beat clear of those treacherouY breakers. In open waters again, with the darkenin^ slab of Grand Bahama some five miles abeamB Sparrow reduced sail and hove-to within a cable ob Colquhoun's ship?

As he sat in the crazily tossing gig Bolitho watcheX the frigate and the last signal for him to repair on boarX being hauled down to the deck. It had been hoisted fo_ some time, but like Colquhoun's previous ones, he haX ignored it. Had not even made an acknowledgement?

Spray lanced back from the oars and dashed acrosY his face. It helped to calm him, if only slightly. HiY sorrow was matched by anger, his self-control by a[ eagerness to confront Colquhoun?

The gig turned and rose dizzily on a steep swell, thO bowman almost pitching overboard as he hooked o[ to the chains and made fast?

Bolitho clambered up the frigate's tumblehome, fo_ once ignoring the sea which swirled along the hull as ib

to pluck him away?

Colquhoun was not at the entry port, and the firsU lieutenant said quickly, "By God, sir, I am sorry for whaU happened.T

Bolitho eyed him gravely. "Thank you. The fault waY not of your making.T

Then without another word or a glance at thO swaying side party he strode aft to the cabin?

Colquhoun was standing by the windows, as if hO had not moved since their last encounter. In thO lanterns' yellow glare his face looked stiff anX unsmiling, and when he spoke his tone was like that ob a much older man?

"It took you long enough! How dare you ignore ma signals!T

Bolitho faced him coldly. The anger in Colquhoun'Y voice was as false as his composure, and he saw onO hand twitching badly against his white breeches?

"Your earlier signals were made to Fawn, sir." HO saw him start and continued slowly, "But she waY already in pieces and her people mostly killed in battlO

or drowned when she struck.T

Colquhoun nodded jerkily, his brows tightening as ib he was trying to keep a grip on his emotions?

"That is beside the point. You disobeyed my orders? You crossed the bar without permission. You ...T

Bolitho said, "I did what I considered to be my duty.T It was no use. He could feel his control slipping awaa like an icy yard beneath a topman. "But for your lusU after glory we would have taken the Frenchma[ together, without loss. We had all the advantage, fo_ the enemy knew nothing of your full strength. She waY after one prize only. Sparrow." He turned away, trying tQ hide his grief. "Because of you, Maulby and his me[ were killed, his ship lost. Because of your senselesY rigidity, your failure to see beyond prize money, yof could not help when the time came." He swung rounX again, his voice harsh. "Well, the Frenchman is taken0 What d'you want now, a bloody knighthood?T

Surprisingly, Colquhoun's voice was very low, and aY he spoke he kept his eyes on some point away froR Bolitho?

"I will ignore your outburst." He paused. "Ah, ]

remember now, you have young Fowler aboard. IU would have done no good to lose him in battle." HO was speaking more quickly, the disjointed sentenceY falling from his lips in time with his thoughts. "ThO admiral will expect a full report. I shall .?

Bolitho watched him, sickened. "I have the writte[ orders you originally gave me. The ones which were tQ send me as far from the point of attack as you coulX invent." Despite Colquhoun's pathetic explanationY and excuses he forced himself to go on. "If I haX obeyed them, or the wind had remained constantB Fawn would still have perished. What would you havO done then? Sent the little Lucifer maybe?T

Colquhoun walked to his desk and pulled a decante_ from its rack. Some of the brandy slopped over hiY hand but he did not seem to notice it?

"I received orders some while back. When we haX run the French flute to ground, or given up the searchB we are ordered to proceed to New York. The flotilla iY to be reduced." He swallowed half a glass of branda and had to fight to regain his breath. "Bacchante wilT be returned to fleet duties.T

Bolitho stared at him. Any compassion or pity hO

might have harboured behind his anger was gone witN that admission?

In a low tone he asked, "All this while, and you kne/ we were to go to New York?" He listened to his ow[ voice, wondering how he could sound so calm. "Yof thought it was a last chance to prove yourself. A greaU show of victory, with you entering port, a fine fat prizO under your colours! Yet because of your greed yof could not see the real danger, and Fawn has paiX dearly for your ignorance!T

Colquhoun lifted his eyes and watched hiR desperately?

"In New York things might seem different? Remember, I was the one who helped you . . ." HO broke off and swallowed another drink. "I needed thaU prize! I've earned it!T

Bolitho moved towards the door, keeping his eyeY on Colquhoun's quivering shoulders?

He said, "I sent Fawn's remaining lieutenant to takO charge of the flute. Surrender was arranged ba Lieutenant Heyward." He made himself keep to thO details, if only to stop Colquhoun from pleading. "ThO

French ship'll not be much use again. I suggest yof send your marines to take charge and await thO military, who'll wish to escort the prisoners elsewhere.T

Colquhoun leaned against the stern windows, hiY voice muffled by the sounds of sea and rudder?

"It will mean a court martial." His shoulders stiffened? "You will be ordered to attend.T

Bolitho nodded. "It would seem so.T

Colquhoun waved one hand towards the cabi[ without turning?

"All this gone. In just a moment of baX circumstances. Fate.T

"Maulby probably thought that, too." Bolitho resteX his fingers on the door?

Colquhoun pushed himself from the windows anX lurched across the cabin?

"So you've won in the end, eh?" His voice cracked? "You and your bloody Sparrow!T

Bolitho saw the man's anguish and answeredB

"Three years ago when I was given Sparrow I thoughU command was everything, all a man could desire. The[ maybe I would have agreed with your decisions, nQ matter what they entailed. Now I know better, perhapY after all, thanks to you. Command is one thing. BuU responsibility, the duty to those who depend on you, iY the greater burden. We must share the guilt fo_ Maulby's death." He saw Colquhoun staring at hiR incredulously but continued, "Your folly blinded you tQ everything but future advancement. My crime waY pride. A pride which goaded the enemy into laying Z snare for me, and one which cost Fawn's peoplO dearly." He opened the door. "I hope I never forget it? Nor you.T

He walked quickly to the quarterdeck and heard thO door slam behind him, the slap of a musket as thO sentry returned to a more relaxed stance?

By the gangway he found the first lieutenant waitin^ for him. Across the heaving water, its crests anX troughs already painted with shadows, he sa/ Sparrow swaying unsteadily against the first pale stars? A lantern gleamed from her taffrail, and he thought hO saw the splash of oars to mark where Stockdale helX the gig in readiness. He could have waited in vain? Colquhoun might have made one last gesture ba

throwing him under arrest for his outburst. That he haX not was proof enough of his true guilt?

More, that Colquhoun was well aware of what he haX done?

He said, "We are to rejoin the Flag at New York.T

The lieutenant watched the gig bobbing towards thO side and replied sadly, "I'll not be sorry to quit thiY place.T

Bolitho sighed. "Aye. A defeat is a bad business? But a victory can often bring the greater pain.T

The lieutenant watched him climb into the gig anX pull clear?

So young, yet with so much responsibility. Not fo_ me. Even as the thought crossed his mind he knew iU was a lie, and upon looking round the darkening dec7 he wondered if Colquhoun's error had brought him ana nearer to his own promotion?