The Mountain: An Event Group Thriller (70 page)

“Captain Jackson has informed me that if the French make a move it will be in the dark of night. Now I can only relax in the daylight hours.”

“Is that all it is?”

“And you’re referencing what?” he asked as he looked down upon her slight frame. He could clearly see she had not recouped any of her lost sleep either.

“It’s just that I’ve heard most of the men that spent those dark nights on that damnable mountain are having a hard time sleeping as well. I know Colonel Taylor has been pacing every night until he can no longer stand upright and he collapses. The joy that the men felt after the Turks ran has long since dissipated and now the men have had time to think. And the curse of Azrael is on their minds.”

“I can’t help them. Each man has to evaluate what he saw up there and face his own demons, Azrael notwithstanding.”

“What do you believe?”

“I believe that we made up what we needed to believe. I don’t have any idea what it is we ran into up there and on the voyage over. Okay, let’s just say it is Azrael. If that’s the case, the one thing I am sure of is the fact that whoever placed that curse was trying desperately to save what he loved.”

“Noah and his family?”

“No, not just his kinfolk. I believe the love he felt for all humanity dictated that he go against God and his killer angel.”

“Why can’t you say that to the men?” she asked as she watched his blue eyes against the glow of the moonlight.

“Because I’m sure they will eventually take what happened and either live with it, or find a rational explanation in their own way.” He smiled as he looked at Claire closely. “As I have done.”

“So, Colonel Thomas, you are now an official believer of fairy tales.”

“I guess I am,” he said, and they both looked at each other for the longest time. They were interrupted by the officer of the deck.

“Colonel, Captain Jackson would like to know if you’ll join him on the quarterdeck.”

With one a last look into Claire’s eyes, John Henry walked away leaving Claire longing for him to stay.

Thomas found Jackson as he looked through his single-lens glass to the aft seas.

“We have our full complement of onlookers,” he said as he handed over the glass to John Henry, who looked where Jackson was pointing.

Barely visible in the moonlight were the silhouettes of not one, but both of the French warships.

“Now, three points to the north,” Jackson said as John Henry adjusted his view.

Thomas sighed as he saw the tall masts of two more ships that were frigate-sized. He lowered the glass and returned it to Jackson.

“The newcomers, French?”

“Unable to say at the moment. However, I don’t think the Royal Navy would dare meet us in closed seas. They would wait until we make our way past Gibraltar. No, my suspicions are that they are also French.”

“What do you think, Captain Jackson?” Thomas asked with a small smile.

“Officer of the deck?”

“Sir!” the first officer called from his station at the helm.

“Beat to general quarters. Let’s get the crew to battle stations, shall we?”

“Sir!”

“Gentlemen, signal the
Chesapeake
. We are going on the attack. Let’s see if these boys can dodge us for a change. Inform
Chesapeake
we break formation at first light.”

The four French warships heard the drumbeats of the two American frigates as they brought crews to battle stations. The French were confused until their own lookouts called out that the Americans were reversing course and headed right for them.

*   *   *

Three hours later the men onboard all six warships were ready and at stations. Captain Jackson had placed Thomas’s men high in the rigging of the
Carpenter
in case they were boarded.

“Four against two, now those are odds I can relate to,” Jessy said as he joined Thomas on the foredeck.

“We’re about to see how serious the Frenchies are about stopping us,” John Henry said as Claire joined them. He whispered something to Gray Dog, who nodded and then headed the woman off and roughly lifted her from her feet and as she protested he moved her belowdecks.

“Chivalrous, I must say,” Taylor quipped.

“My ass. The last thing I need is to find out she’s also a better shot than me.”

Jessy laughed as he saw the French frigates growing larger in his view.

“Tell me again what happens if they don’t interpret our ramming them as an accident and they open fire on us?”

“Well, Colonel Taylor, as long as the first cannon shot isn’t fired by us, let the war begin. Off official records, of course.”

“Oh, but of course,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “But tell me, do you think governments will wonder what became of their frontline ships when they don’t return home, even old honest Abe?” Jessy asked with a smirk.

“Accidental sinkings happen all the time, I imagine. It will be marked up as acceptable wartime losses for us. As for them, I don’t care how they explain it to their citizens, but I imagine the truth may be fudged a little in that particular arena.”

“Well, we’ll soon see.”

As they watched, the
Chesapeake
broke her side-by-side formation with the
Carpenter
. The larger frigate made a run at the lead ship, the
Especial
, the very ship that had rammed them north of Trabzon.

“Go, go,” Captain Jackson called out as he watched the
Chesapeake
charge forward. Without the heavy cargo weighing her down the sleek warship sped past
Carpenter
and made her run for
Especial
.

Suddenly the forward-facing twin mounts on the
Especial
erupted in smoke and flame as she let loose two twenty-pound shells toward
Chesapeake
. All eyes widened as the intent of the French navy was made abundantly clear.

“Forward mounts, fire!” Jackson called out, trying to give the
Chesapeake
some covering fire. He cursed as he ordered
Carpenter
to turn so she could bring her main starboard guns to bear.

The shells struck the
Chesapeake
as she returned fire from her own forward mount. The forward prow erupted in splintering wood and burning sailcloth as the two warheads blew apart the two forward cannons and their gun crews.

Four exploding shells found the mark against the forward superstructure of the
Especial
.

“I think our bluff has been called,” Taylor shouted as he struck the deck as wood and men flew past him as two shells from the
Osiris
hit the
Carpenter
.

Before their turn was made
Carpenter
was struck three times by the advancing French ships. The companions of the
Especial
and
Osiris
had joined their fire with the two damaged ships.

“Damn, I really didn’t think they would have the gall,” Jackson sang out as he ordered the full complement of the starboard battery to return fire. Just as he did several shells struck the
Carpenter
and one penetrated her deck and slammed into the cargo hold, killing fifteen band members of the 317th.

“Bring her guns to bear on the turn!” Jackson called out just as a tremendous explosion erupted from the forecastle of the
Chesapeake
. “All guns fire at the turn!”

The starboard side of
Carpenter
seemed to blow outward as all twenty-three gun crews opened fire one after the other in rapid succession.

John Henry was helped to his feet by Taylor as the
Carpenter
heeled to port after discharging her starboard battery. Before they knew what was happening they were again thrown from their feet and men fell screaming from the rigging above them. The third and fourth frigates of the French navy fired all forty-four guns on their port sides in as rapid a discharge as anyone had ever witnessed. Captain Jackson fell to the deck as grapeshot shattered the wooden railing and masts around him. Men again started screaming as the steel balls ripped mercilessly through their bodies. Rigging and sail fell to the decks.

The French navy had become serious in their attempts to stop the Americans.

John Henry heard the whistle of flying iron balls as they passed overhead and through the wooden hull of the large frigate. Taylor screamed in frustration as the
Osiris
passed close aboard and let loose with her port batteries.

The main mast of the
Carpenter
was struck and the thick wood splintered but held firm against the onslaught of wind and fire.

A quarter of a mile away the
Chesapeake
was circling aimlessly as her rudder was blown away. The Americans were now fish in a barrel.

The noise was tremendous as the six ships exchanged gunfire. Thus far the combined guns of the
Carpenter
and the
Chesapeake
had only managed to damage
Especial
, but the men came on deck to cheers as the
Especial
’s main mast came crashing down into the sea.

John Henry knew he had led them into disaster by pushing their luck a little too far in his recommendation to turn on their pursuers. The bluff had been called in no uncertain terms by the French.

The passing winds did nothing to clear the thick, acrid smell of gunpowder and burning wood from her decks. John Henry cursed as small hands helped him up. When he looked he saw it was Claire who had somehow shaken free of Gray Dog, who was still trying to physically coax her belowdecks. He was bloody from several large splinters of wood that had pierced his back and arms.

“Get below!” he screamed as more grapeshot tore into the
Carpenter
.

“Most are dead down there. I want to stay here!” she screamed and Gray Dog ceased pulling on her as
Carpenter
was rocked as one of her exposed deck guns exploded from a direct hit from
Osiris
.

As suddenly as the violence had erupted, it all ceased at once. The four French vessels circled the two heavily damaged American frigates. It was if they were viewing a wounded wild animal and were judging its lethality through cautious observation.

“They’ve stopped,” Claire said as she leaned over to assist Jessy to his feet. He looked at John Henry and all of the mirth from days gone by had vanished. For the first time Thomas saw real worry in the Confederate colonel’s eyes.

“They have to come in close now,” said Jackson as he moved over to the railing with his spyglass to his eye. They could see a man trying to tend to Jackson’s exposed wounds. He had been peppered by flying splinters from the helmsman’s station. The ship’s wheel was half torn away. Jackson ignored the corpsman and the wounds. The captain lowered the glass and blood dripped to the decking at his feet. John Henry saw the deep wounds and knew the captain was running on adrenaline alone. “They have to come close and destroy the evidence that we were ever here. They have to sink all trace of us.” Jackson finally acceded to the corpsman who was attempting to remove his shredded coat. “Colonel, get ready to get your men off. These bastards are not going to board my ships!”

“What is your plan?” Thomas asked as he tended to the wounds on Gray Dog’s back and arms. Claire was dabbing a dirty piece of cloth to Jessy’s forehead, which had taken a flying nail rather handily. Jackson held eye contact with the colonel for the briefest of moments and in that short time Thomas knew exactly what the captain was going to do. “Chief, inform the gun crew captains to spike their cannon. We’ll draw the enemy in and then take at least one or two of them with us. Colonel, get your men off my ship.”

John Henry shook his head. He was not about to give that order. The navy men under his command did not run under fire, so he would have to be thrown overboard before he ordered his men off.

“If we’re staying, I think I want my sword,” Taylor said as he smiled and then removed Claire’s soft hand from his head. He dipped his chin and kissed her hand. “You, on the other hand, must evacuate the ship my dear, dear lady.”

“Yes, lower a whaleboat. Gray Dog, get Miss Anderson off the ship and as many of the wounded from below that you can.”

Gray Dog stood his ground and shook his head. He was refusing the first order from his adopted father. He would die with the rest. From Claire’s angry face he could see he would have to physically remove her from the battle.

“
Osiris
is signaling, Captain!”

Once more Jackson raised the glass to his eye. Lowered it once more and swiped at the blood that coursed down from the head wound. He again raised the glass and watched the bright flashes of light from the forecastle of the
Osiris
. He lowered the glass and took a deep breath and then he faced John Henry.

“They’re ordering us to lower sail and battle flags. They intend to board us.”

Jessy was handed his sword by one of his men. He smiled as he rebuttoned his tunic. “Well, we didn’t get all fancied up for nothing. John Henry, shall we accept our guests’ invitation to board us?”

“Smoke on the horizon!”

The captain felt his heart go cold as he realized that the French must have a steam-driven reinforcement coming to their aid. “This is a tad bit of overkill, I must say,” he said as he raised his glass once more. Thomas joined him.

“It’s the
Argo
!” came the joyful yell from the lookout. ‘She’s under her own power!”

Jessy gave the smiling John Henry a funny look. “How can a sail barge full of railroad equipment be steaming to our aid?”

“Well, it’s not exactly a sail barge,” Thomas answered as he took in the confused faces of Claire, Taylor, and Gray Dog. “This is our little gift from the president and Mr. John Ericsson.”

“Thank God for Lieutenants Ferguson and Faraday!” Jackson said loudly as the first of the French warships turned to meet the new threat that did not seem much of a threat at all.

The slow-moving
Argo
billowed smoke from the center of her decking. The stack had risen in the days she had been absent and presumed sunk.