Kings Pinnacle (6 page)

* * * *

Robert and Hugh

“
What will we do back
home?” asked Hugh as he rode along beside Robert on the same
Wigtown Road from Stranraer to Dumfries that they had ridden to
Portpatrick over two years prior.

“
We’ll do what we’ve
always done,” replied Robert.

Hugh smiled to himself
because he knew what Robert was talking about. Robert and Hugh had
waved goodbye to Alex and then ridden back to the cattle station
near Donaghadee to resign from their jobs as drovers. Since they
had no connections or family in Ireland, there was no reason for
them to stay there. The authorities were looking for Alex, not for
them, so there was no real reason they couldn’t go back where all
their friends and family were located.

Angus MacDonald was sad to
see them go because they were the best drovers he had ever hired.
He also liked the lads very much and wished them well. But he
understood that they would rather be home where they were born and
be near their family and friends. Angus gave them a bonus of one
week’s pay and gave them free passage on the cattle ferry back
across the Sheuch.

Robert sold his horse to one
of the other drovers and rode Alex’s horse, Hack, on the road home.
The trip across Scotland was long and boring and not much fun
without Alex, but they soon arrived back at their father’s
house.

“
Alex was a wee sad to be
gang to America,” said Hugh to his father John.

“I ken so, but there be nae
other options for him t’ stay in Scotland or Ireland. The
authorities would hae had him in a fortnight.”

“
That may be true, but he
didn’t want to be gang all the same.”

“He’ll be better aff in
America. I ken that there’s lots of opportunity in America, and a
man can make something oot of himself there. It doesn’t matter if
ye were born nobility or common man; ye can make yer own fortune
there if ye want to.”

“
I suspect so,” replied
Hugh conceding the point.

“
What are ye and Robert
gang to do back here?” asked John.

“
Ride,” said Robert
interrupting the conversation between his father and
brother.

* * * *

Alex

The voyage became
uneventful as time wore on and the routine of ship life became
monotonous. Each day was almost identical to the previous. Alex
spent as much time as he could on the main deck, out in the sun and
wind and away from the crowding on the sleeping deck. He got to
know a few of the sailors fairly well and often helped them with
the simple routine tasks around the ship. Most of the passengers
were either English or Irish, so there weren’t many Scots for Alex
to associate with. He mostly stayed by himself and tried to mind
his own business.

The Ocean Monarch was an old
ship, so her hull leaked very badly. The bilge water that
accumulated each day had to be pumped out using the bilge pump. The
bilge pump itself consisted of a hollowed out round cylinder and
piston that was located down in the bottom of the hold. It had been
installed at the lowest point of the hold and had an inlet hose
connected to it that stretched down into the bilge. The piston
located inside the cylinder was attached to a long wooden pole that
stretched all the way up to the main deck. The pole at the main
deck was attached to a levered handle so that the piston could be
pumped up and down by two men standing side-by-side on the main
deck. The cylinder in the hold was also attached to an outlet pipe
that ran up to the main deck and over to the scuppers. Two check
valves at the inlet and outlet of the cylinder kept the water
flowing in the discharge direction. The bilge water was pumped up
and out of the scuppers where it flowed down the side of the ship
into the sea. The sailors took turns working the pump handle up and
down on the main deck to empty the bilge.

Alex often helped pump out
the bilge water and also learned how to be a pretty fair hand at
mending sails. The sails of the Ocean Monarch had been in service a
long time and were tattered and patched in many places. Alex
frequently worked at sewing patches into the sails where they had
been torn or worn by the wind and water. He hoped that his trip to
America would be a swift one.

* * * *

Robert and Hugh

The outlaw band rode off
the main trail and swept in across the marshes on horseback just
after the full moon had risen high enough in the sky to cast an
eerie light on the farmstead. It was well past midnight, and the
English farmhouse was dark inside. The farm’s dogs were the first
to smell and then see the strange horses. A weak lamp was lit in
the farmhouse kitchen window as soon as the dogs’ barking woke up
the people inside the farmhouse. The raiders were after the
livestock and anything else of value that they could lay their
hands on.

As the riders approached the
farmstead, they fanned out into their assigned tasks like
clockwork. The raid had been intricately planned, and the raiders,
who had been in the saddle for hours, were expected to execute the
final phase of the plan without any hesitation or confusion. One
group of riders opened the corral gate and began to herd the horses
out into the night. Another group opened the barn to see if there
were any livestock such as cattle that they could rustle, and the
third group of riders dismounted at the farmhouse to kick open the
front door and see if any valuables were easy to pick up
inside.

Hugh led the group of riders
toward the corral, Robert led the riders into the barn, and their
father, John was leading the group that kicked in the farmhouse
door. John knew something was wrong as soon as he stepped into the
farmhouse. He had expected crying and wailing and frightened
farmers inside the farmhouse, but there weren’t any. What he faced
was a dozen muskets aimed at him by British soldiers. John
immediately saw that it was a trap so he dove out through a front
window, breaking the glass into thousands of pieces. He landed on
the porch just before musket fire erupted from inside the
farmhouse.

After rolling across the
porch, he picked himself up and ran toward his horse yelling,
“Ambush!” British soldiers had popped up in the loft of the barn
and more came running from behind outbuildings. They also streamed
from every other hiding place that could be found on the farm. John
mounted his horse just as more musket fire erupted from all
directions around the farm.

All the raiders immediately
aborted the raid and started making their escape. The riders had a
plan in case they encountered an ambush or anything else
unexpected. They knew that some of them would be captured or
killed, but to increase the odds that most of them would escape,
they all fled in different predetermined directions like the spokes
of a wheel radiating out from its hub. That was the plan, rather
than fleeing in a large group and risking a mass capture or even
worse, a mass killing.

Robert and Hugh were riding
side-by-side due west at an all-out gallop, making toward the
trees, when a musket shot rang out in their direction. The speeding
musket ball was a lucky shot, and it struck Hugh high in his back
near his left shoulder. Fortunately for Hugh, he was wearing a
three-inch wide leather belt over his left shoulder. The belt
crossed his body diagonally and was attached to the scabbard that
held his short sword on his right hip. The leather shoulder strap
was decorated with brass medallions, and the musket ball struck one
of those brass medallions, saving Hugh from a painful shoulder
wound. But the force of the blow knocked Hugh forward and
completely off the right side of his horse. As Hugh struck the
ground, his right collar bone struck the ground first and snapped
like a green twig. Hugh passed out from the pain, lying on his back
on the ground.

Robert saw Hugh fall and
immediately reined up Alex’s horse, Hack. He rode back to where
Hugh had fallen and dismounted next to him.

“
Hugh, wake up, lad,” said
Robert as he went down to his knees and lifted the unconscious Hugh
in his arms and shook him gently.

Hugh groaned, opened his eyes and
whispered, “Leave me Robber, and get out of here before the
soldiers come.”

“
I’m not leaving without
you.”

“
I can’t ride with the
pain in me shoulder, and ye will get us both captured if ye try to
carry me.”

Robert knew that Hugh was
right, so he made his decision immediately. “Don’t give up hope,
Hugh,” he said as he gently laid Hugh back down and remounted
Hack.

Robert had just passed into
the cover of the trees when a group of British soldiers rode up to
the hollow where Hugh was lying. They dismounted and lifted Hugh to
his feet. From the way he held his right arm and his obvious pain,
they knew that his collar bone was broken. One of the soldiers
unbuttoned the middle of Hugh’s shirt and placed Hugh’s right hand
and forearm into the gap. He then buttoned it back up to hold the
arm in place. The soldiers removed all of Hugh’s weapons and gently
lifted him up onto one of the horses to lead it back to the
farmhouse.

When the group arrived back
at the farmhouse, the soldiers dragged Hugh off his horse and led
him up to the British Army officer who was waiting for them on the
porch.

“Well, if it isn’t one of
the outlaw leaders,” said the officer as he stepped off the porch
and placed his hand on Hugh’s right shoulder, kneading it back and
forth with his fingers. As the broken bones ground together, Hugh
passed out from the pain and collapsed to the ground, unconscious
once again.

“
We leave immediately for
Fort Craghead. Throw the big Scot into the wagon,” commanded the
officer to the troops who were standing around the unconscious
Hugh.

“
How many of them did we
capture?” asked the officer of his sergeant.

“Sir, this one is the only
one we captured alive. We killed four others with our initial
musket volleys,” replied the sergeant.

“Very well, I had hoped for
more captives, but this one will do. Bring me the dead outlaws and
line them up on the porch so I can get a look at them. I want to
get out of here as soon as possible.”

The sergeant gave orders to
the men to bring the dead raiders to the farmhouse and lay them out
where the commander could get a good look at them. The officer had
lit a lamp and he held it up to the dead men’s faces as he walked
along the line of the four dead men.

“These are not the leaders.
Load them with this big ugly Scot on the wagon. We leave in five
minutes.”

When the troops had crossed the marshes
and reached the main road from the farmstead, the commander called
for a halt and rode back to the wagon with his sergeant.

“
Sergeant, get some ropes
and hang these dead men in this tree beside the road, where
everyone who passes by can see them.”

“
Sir, are you sure you
want to do that?” asked the sergeant.

“You have your orders,
sergeant; get to it. I want this to be a reminder to all outlaws
that this is their fate.”

“
As you wish,” replied the
skeptical sergeant.

As soon as the gruesome task
was completed, the infantry unit moved out, marching down the road
toward Fort Craghead. It was only a two hour journey from the
hanging tree to the fort. The rising sun was almost peeking over
the ridge in the east as the last man rode through the fort’s main
gate.

Not far off to the east in
the distance, a lone rider had reined up on the ridge, watching the
troops and the wagon carrying Hugh file through the gate. When the
sun finally rose above the horizon and shone on the rider’s back,
Robert smiled as he patted Hack on the neck.

* * * *

Alex

“
It looks like rain today,
Alex,” said one of the young sailors that Alex had befriended, as
he looked up toward the gathering clouds.

It was a cold, windy day
with low clouds scurrying over the two masts. They had been at sea
for six weeks, making slow progress to America because the wind had
not been favorable. The passengers and crew had celebrated
Christmas several days ago, and it had been fairly smooth but slow
sailing after that. It had been a routine voyage so far, with only
minor illnesses and a few issues with the food.

“Might be,” replied Alex who
was strolling around the main deck of the Ocean Monarch.

No sooner had Alex spoken
than the wind picked up and soon it began to rain. It wasn’t a hard
rain but a steady one that seemed to intensify with each passing
minute. The sea became rougher, and soon the ship began plowing
into the waves much like the cattle ferry had when Alex and his
brothers were crossing the Sheuch. Alex had seen this all before
and was afraid that this would be a repeat of his previous ocean
experience. He doubted that he could swim to America from this far
out at sea, and the ocean water was extremely cold this time of
year.

The captain came up from his
cabin to take command of the ship from the officer of the day watch
while the storm was raging. After he observed the deteriorating
situation, he shouted, “All hands on deck!”