Page 81 of Unlikely Heroes
“A child,” Able replied. “We will humor him and happily turn him over to a larger ship in the morning.”
And they did, along with the other patients, all of them sleeping peacefully and perhaps destined to recover, when morning came and theRevengeloomed large on the starboard bow. Smitty angled them smartly alongside thePickle, waiting their turn to unload their miniscule sickbay with its inmates all alive, even the Frenchman, who had fainted halfway through the midnight amputation and had no recollection thatle gamin,under supervised direction,finished what Able began.
Since they were so close, Captain Lapenotiere jumped down onto theMercury’s deck. “You didn’t lose anyone in yesterday’s dust-up?” he asked, the master of exaggeration.
Able thought of his father, sewn tight into a blanket and stashed under a lower berth. “No,” he lied. “We were fortunate.”
“You were also braver than most of us,” the other captain said. “Were you planning to make explosion noises and fake cannon roars to frighten away the Frogs?” He said it kindly, which made Able only wince a little. “Snug your yacht tight to us. We’ve been ordered to join the other officers on theEuryalus. The cutter on my port side will ferry us. Bring along your acting sailing master. “
“Aye, aye, sir,” Able said, amused by Captain Lapenotiere’s tone of command, when he knew they were equals in command. One would have thought thePicklewas a four-decker to rival theSantísima Trinidad, dismasted, humiliated and wallowing under tow in the wake ofHMS Prince.
“We’ll join you, once our wounded men are safely aboard theRevenge,”Able said, not willing to be ordered about.
The transfer was accomplished in a matter of minutes, with Able wondering why anyone needed him and Smitty on theEuryalus. “Why there?” he asked. “Where’s theVictory?”
Lapenotiere gave Able a fishy look and then his expression softened. “You don’t know, do you?”
“I suppose I do not,” Able said, as dread flapped low across the greasy swell and settled on his shoulder like an albatross. “Adm…Admiral Nelson?”
Lapenotiere nodded, all officiousness gone. “Yesterday afternoon. A sharpshooter.” He sighed. “He lived long enough to know of victory. At least there is that comfort. TheRoyal Sovereigntook a beating, so Collingwood now commands the fleet on theEuryalus.”
What was there to say? Able looked across the water at victorious Royal Navy ships as mauled and battered as those of the Combined Fleet. Bodies and pieces of men bobbed on the increasingly choppy water. Everywhere was the reek of burned wood and the shriek of metal pulleys noisy with nothing to hoist.
“He will be greatly missed,” Able said quietly. “Greatly.”
“Sir?”
Able turned to Smitty. “Aye, lad? This is sad news for all of us.”
Smitty nodded. “I remember what Admiral Nelson told us, you know, at the stone basin.”
“I remember, too,” Able replied, as his recollection returned of that sunny, late summer day. “There I stood in my smalls, with a bosun’s whistle around my neck.”
“It was what Admiral Nelson said.”
They were passing theVictory, forlorn with its little admiral dead, the mainmast leaning precariously while the foremast had given up entirely. Smitty turned and faced the ship with its chequerboard yellow and black sides. “’England confides that every man will do his duty.’” He sighed. “Then he fair shouted, ‘Every man!’”
“He did,” Able said. “And what else?”
Smitty bowed his head, struggling. Able’s hand went to his shoulder. “’Remember England.’”
They were the last three to arrive in Admiral Collingwood’s main cabin, from the looks of the glut of post captains, captains and lieutenants crowded together.Officers’ call, Able thought, surprised.This is one to tell Meri about.For some odd reason, he and his acting sailing master had been included. His discomfort grew as he noticed every eye upon him and Smitty. “What did we do wrong?” Smitty whispered, barely moving his lips.
Smitty felt the scrutiny, too, which increased Able’s unease. “I have no idea,” he whispered just as quietly. Good God, did they know he had stowed the body of an enemy in theMercury? “Let us lean against the bulkhead and breathe quietly.” That brought a half smile to Smitty’s lips. “Whatever it is, Smitty, I take full blame and you say nothing. Promise me.”
Smitty nodded, but his eyes were mutinous.
“That is an order, Mr. Smith.”
Admiral Collingwood cleared his throat. “Gentlemen, on your feet, you lazy lubbers.”
Able relaxed. The officers chuckled. They knew their commander better than he did. Maybe he and Smitty could eventually slip out the door.
No, it was nothing like that, nothing at all. Able held his breath as Admiral Collinwood moved from behind his desk and made his deliberate way toward them. Other officers stepped aside, proud men Able remember from Camperdown and the Battle of the Nile and dozens of small skirmishes across oceans and seas. Some of these officers even sat with him in Trinity House, but they were Elder Brothers, and not the newest Younger Brother at the far end of the table.
“Master Six, front and center, and er, you lad, what is your name?”
This can’t be,Able thought, alarmed, uncertain as never before. He listened for inward advice, but his cranial spectators were silent.
