A Certain Threat (The Merriman Chronicles Book 1) (24 page)

Mcbride, his face haggard, his shirt and apron covered in blood, approached through the men working on the deck and stood in front of Merriman, absently wiping his hands on a rag already soaked in blood.

“What’s the bill Mr. McBride?” asked Merriman gently.

“
Of the men Sir, fourteen dead, fifteen wounded of whom three or four are not going to live to see another day.  Those who have lost a limb should survive but I can’t be certain.”  His face twisted, “I’ve done my best, but I have never seen such carnage before Sir, I don’t know if I can -------” His voice trailed off miserably.

“
Steady Mr. McBride, I’m certain you have done all you can.  How about Mr. Cuthbert and Mr. St James?  How are they?”

“
Mr. St James will recover Sir, he has a clean sword thrust through his shoulder and will be himself again in a few days, but the Master’s condition is more serious.  A large splinter pierced his side from front to back, I don’t think it damaged anything vital but he’s an old man and has lost a lot of blood ----- I can only depend on his own resources to pull him through.  I learned a lot from Doctor Simpson in the short time I was with him but it didn’t prepare me for this.”

“
Carry on Mr. McBride and do your best, I’ll come down and see the wounded when I can.”

“
Thank you Sir, that will please them.”

“
Mr. Laing, have a boat brought alongside and manned.  Mr. Oakley, I want you to take the boat’s crew and pull for the
Pilote
still in sight over there.  Find out how they are coping with the damage and see if they can manage to bring her nearer so that we can get a line to her to tow if they need it.  Stay there with the boat’s crew to help.”

Aphrodite
was lying into the wind with only the spanker set to keep her head to the wind whilst the work went furiously ahead to raise the new fore topmast.  The boats had been towed astern to avoid damage and one was quickly ready to go.

“
Mr.Oakley, you and Mr. Shrigley did well to prepare the swivels when you did. That was quick thinking.  It gave the chance for our men to get back aboard”

Oakley looked down at the deck and then at his captain, drew a deep breath and said,
“It wasn’t me Sir, it was Mr. Shrigley, he thought of it and got the men to help.”

“
Nevertheless Mr. Oakley, it was well done.”

Oakley disappeared over th
e side and Merriman took a moment to consider what the lad had said.  Oakley was honest enough to credit Shrigley with what they had done without trying to claim the credit for himself and little Shrigley had the makings of a competent officer.  He was quick witted and had used his initiative to bring the swivels into use.  He watched the boat until it reached the
Pilote.
The snow had stopped, the wind had abated and the clouds were parting to show a few gleams of weak sunlight.  There was no sign of the French ship which would have been able to make a fair speed once the smashed mizzen mast and top hamper had been cleared.

“
Damn that fellow Moreau, I would have liked to have taken him back to present to Mr. Grahame.  As it is we haven’t seen the last of him I’ll be bound.”
mused Merriman,
“Could I have done more to capture him?  Probably not, shorthanded as we were with so many men and marines aboard the cutter.  Jeavons did well to find us and his action in putting two broadsides into the Frenchman’s stern certainly saved us.”

He dragged his mind back. 
“Mr. Laing, please see to it that the galley fire is relit and the men have some hot food.  Also I want every man to have an extra tot of grog including the wounded.”

Below, in the cramped orlop deck with low
headroom, dimly lit by a few lanterns, it was a scene from some terrible nightmare.  Wounded men were lying where they could, some unconscious, most nursing their wounds in silence, a few groaning in agony and even several corpses with their faces covered with scraps of cloth.  The stench was appalling.

“
Get these bodies out of here” snarled Merriman to one of the surgeon’s assistants, “Immediately.”

“
Captain’s ‘ere lads” said a voice from the gloom and there was an instant stirring from the men.

“
Rest easy men, Mr. McBride is doing his best for you and there’s a tot coming down for each of you.  You’ve done well, I’m proud of you.”

“
Did we finish those Frogs Sir?”

“
No, they got away when the foremast came down, but we hurt them, we hurt them badly.”

“
Will we get another chance at ‘em Sir?  We’ll finish ‘em next time.”

“
Maybe, but not today. They must be running back to France as fast as they can go with their tails between their legs.”

Merriman looked down at a man with a bloodstained bandage round his
head and over his eyes, who was shaking the man next to him, saying “Wake up Tom, come on lad, Captain’s come down to see us, come on mate, wake up.”  Merriman bent, touched the man on the shoulder.  “It’s no use I’m afraid, he’s gone.”

“
But ‘e were talking to me but a bit ago Sir, ‘e can’t be gone,  ‘e’s me mate Sir.”  He reached out a shaking hand and Merriman took it in his own.

“
I’m sorry, your friend is dead.  You were at the smasher with the gunner weren’t you.  That last shot was a good one, sent the Frogs packing and saved this ship.”

“
Aye Sir, but I wish Tom were alive to see it.”

Merriman stood and looked around.  What men these were, living in awful conditions with poor, often rotten food, with a rope
’s end on the back of a man if he were too slow to obey an order and the lash if he dared to answer back.  Probably none of them had anything better to look forward to except more of the same, but it was pride and loyalty that kept them going.  Pride in the ship and loyalty to their mates, not wanting to let either down and even now wanting to fight again   He turned away, feeling diminished in himself by their sacrifice for which he alone was responsible.

Back on deck he was surprised to see the
Pilote
appreciably nearer.   Somebody over there had managed to raise a scrap or two of canvas on the stump of the mast which was helping to keep way on her.  He looked at his own foremast and was pleased to see that the new spar was already being swayed aloft with new shrouds and stays attached.  The next step was to guide the butt of the spar into the repaired crosstrees and secure it as the shrouds and stays were taken up to support it.  Then yards and canvas could be sent up.

“
Mr. Laing, have a party rig for towing and prepare to pass a cable to
Pilote
when she is near enough.”  It meant grinding toil for the already exhausted men but he had to ensure the safety of the other ship and crew.

Eventually all was done.
Pilote
was secured to the tow rope and
Aphrodite’s
new foremast was stayed and ready for the repaired headsails and square sails to be bent on.  Merriman went forr-ard to where the bos’n and carpenter were overseeing the final part of the work.

“
Another hour Sir,” reported the weary bos’n, “and she’ll be almost as good as new.”

“
I’m pleased Mr. Brockle, Mr. Green, you and your men have done well.”

The
boat had returned and the worn-out men climbed slowly aboard, Lieutenant Andrews from the cutter among them.

“
Welcome back Mr. Andrews, what have you to report?”

“
Sir, I’m sorry to report that Mr. Jeavons was severely injured when the French broadside hit us.  He was under the topmast when it fell.   His plan was to go alongside the Frenchie and board to take them in the rear while they were still fighting with you.  We didn’t expect that they would be ready to fire a full broadside.  In addition to Mr. Jeavons being wounded we lost five seamen and three marines dead or wounded including the sergeant  Before all that Mr. Jeavons carried out his orders exactly.  The fishing boat and the smugglers were taken and we found a cargo of graphite aboard which is now aboard
Pilote
.”

“
An excellent report Mr. Andrews.  I’m sorry to hear about the First Lieutenant and the others, the surgeon  must go across right away.   But tell me, where is the fishing boat and the prisoners?”

“
When it was realized that
Aphrodite
was in action, Mr. Jeavons took us off and we released the prisoners and left them behind, but not before taking the sails off her.  Even if they can find something to make a sail from, they can’t get under way easily, or get very far, so we should be able to find them again.  There are only ten of them Sir.”

“
And the condition of the cutter?”

“
Not too bad Sir, the hull is sound but I’ll need more men to effect repairs to the mast and rigging, especially the carpenter and bos’n.”

“
That must wait for now.  The first priority is to make
Aphrodite
seaworthy and ready to fight again.  Then the next thing to do is to bury our dead.  When I’ve finished that sad duty here I’ll go over to the cutter and do the same.  Then we’ll see about temporary repairs to the cutter.  So far as the smugglers are concerned we’ll try to recover them when we can.”

Merriman smiled briefly,
“I don’t think they were directly involved in murdering the Revenue men, so when we have them aboard I think it will be a fair punishment for them  to be pressed into service.   We need extra hands now Mr Andrews and they are all prime seamen.”

“
Aye-aye Sir. I’d like that.  One of them is the man calling himself John Trevor that I met on the ship I boarded some time ago.  You remember Sir, he was with the fat man and the small wizened little man you were interested in.  And there is another man aboard, not a seaman, a fat man wearing grey breeches and coat.  He may be the man you told us of, the card cheat.”

“
You’re right Lieutenant, he is.  It seems certain that the man Trevor is the leader of the smugglers.  Owen will be able to identify him for sure, so if it is he, we must turn him over to the justices together with the other fellow.”

And
rews looked at the state of the ship and the corpses still lying amidships.  “Your plans succeeded Sir, the French are defeated and we have the fishing boat and the cargo of graphite it was carrying. We’ve been lucky, Sir.”

“
Lucky, yes I suppose so, but remember David, an ounce of luck is worth a pound of wisdom.”

             
“One other thing Sir, it is perhaps inappropriate at this time, but may I wish you a happy Christmas.”

Merriman suddenly realized it was Christmas day tomorrow.

A week later
Aphrodite
lay to her anchor off the Point of Air under the command of Lieutenant Laing.    Six more of the badly wounded had succumbed but the rest, even two amputees were recovering well.  The Master, old Mr. Cuthbert, was still weak but recovering so well that McBride was beginning to boast of his skill.  Lieutenant Jeavons, suffering from the blow to the head when the spar fell on him, was hovering between life and death, sometimes raving and babbling incoherently, at other times quiet and staring into space not responding to attempts to talk to him.

“
I can do no more for him Sir,” reported the Surgeon.  “The actual wound to his head is healing well but the blow has affected his mind.  I can only hope that time will help him.”

The
Pilote,
under a temporary rig had been taken to Parkgate and moored alongside the fishing boat with a skeleton crew aboard, but until he received orders he could not hand her over to the Revenue service.  The Navy might decide to treat her as a prize of war and keep her or even to give her back to the Revenue.

Merriman
’s report was ready to send to Admiral Edwards at the Admiralty, but it was urgent that Merriman first reported events back to Mr Grahame who was still in nominal command of Merriman’s services.  And so, once again he was on the way back home, driven as before, in the same shabby carriage by the same scruffy individual with the evil breath, but this time accompanied by Lieutenants Andrews and St James.  That languid individual had his left arm in a sling but in spite of that was remarkably cheerful.

“
Fine view of the Welsh coast and hills Sir,” he commented, reminds me of the Northumberland coast near to where I grew up.”

“
Really, I never realized that you were from the north Edward.  I’d always assumed that you were from the south somewhere.”

“
Truth is Sir, I was only eleven when my mother died and my father decided to sell his property and move to London, where he set up in business as agent for the coal owners and manufacturers of the north east.  Did very well for himself I must say.  Then he concentrated on turning me into a fashionable gentleman.”

“
He provided the best tutors, tailors, fencing instructors that he could find, but by the time I was eighteen I was liking the life too well.  Oh I liked the fine clothes and the company of the ladies at parties but in some quarters I was looked down on as only the son of a tradesman.  The drinking and gambling was getting to be compulsive so my father decided he had had enough,  paid my debts and bought my commission in the marines. So I could see something of life and the world d’you see, beside the gaming tables and bordellos of the city.  He told me that my future debts were my own and he would provide nothing but a reasonable allowance per annum.”

“
Strange thing is Sir, I took to the life right away and am happier in the service than I ever was ashore.”

“
As I am happy to have you in my ship’s company Edward.”

“
Thank you Sir, I appreciate that.”

As they finished talk
ing, the disreputable carriage turned into the gateway of the Merriman residence, crunched over the gravel driveway and stopped by the front steps.  The three officers alighted and entered the house.

There was almost a party atmosphere in the Merriman hous
ehold.  He found that Doctor Simpson and his daughter Helen and Mrs. Prentice were there combining a social visit with the need to attend to Mr. Grahame who was now staying at the Merriman household.  Grahame was still weak but recovering well under the doctor’s careful ministrations.  Even Captain Saville was there.

Merriman introduced his officers to the gathering and after the usual polite courtesies were exchanged Captain Merriman turned to the two lieutenants. 
“I’ve heard a lot about you Mr. Andrews, the fight with the corsairs and all that.  You did well, very well.”

Before Andrews could reply, the Captain said,
“And you Mr. St James, what happened to you?” indicating the sling round the marine’s neck.

“
A small sword thrust Sir, from a damned Frenchman who was better with his sword than I could believe.  I thought I had him but his last riposte was faster than my parry and he pierced my shoulder.  And of course he had a longer blade than my shorter regulation sword.”

Captain Saville who had been listen
ing with interest to this conversation, added, “I’m reminded of our conversation about swords and swordplay the last time we all met here James, I believe you said that a shorter blade was better for shipboard fighting than a rapier.”

“
That is true, and I still believe that to be the case, but obviously here is the exception that proves the rule.”

Af
ter more general conversation, Merriman, his father and Grahame retired to a quiet room where Merriman reported everything that had happened since Grahame had been wounded.

“
So Sir, in short, the Lord Lieutenant and his party are safe and the plot to seize the graphite was foiled, indeed, we found a cargo of stolen graphite on the fishing boat.   Some Irish rebels were caught and will be tried for piracy and murder but I failed to capture the French vessel and I fear that the man Moreau, who appears to have been the ringleader, will likely be a trouble to us in the future.”

“
Nevertheless Lieutenant, thanks to you and your men events have concluded better than we could have hoped and I have you to thank for saving my life by bringing me to the good Doctor Simpson.”

“
The ship’s doctor did the best he could but I believe you would have died if left aboard ship Sir.”

“
Well, I shall be sending a most favourable report to Lord Stevenage.  I am sure that he will be well pleased.  If you have completed your report for Admiral Edwards, perhaps they could be despatched together?”

“
Thank you Sir.  There is one other thing to report. You recall that you told us that you believed someone of the Quality could be involved in treason, well, I believe it to be Sir William Forrester.”  Merriman went on to relate what he knew and suspected about Forrester’s connection with the smugglers and also the French.

“
Doesn’t really surprise me,” said Grahame, “We’ve had our suspicions about him too.  With this information we shall be able to convict him.”

“
James,” asked his father, “what happened to the smugglers left adrift?”

“
When the weather cleared we saw them not too far off and we were able to capture them again very quickly.  They were struggling to make a sail out of fishing net with scraps of old canvas woven into it..  The fishing boat, a handy two masted smack is alongside the
Pilote
at Parkgate and as for the men, they are now pressed into my crew in
Aphrodite,
to replace some of my losses. That will be punishment enough I think.”

“
Yes James, serves them right, a good move on your part and if you mentioned it in your report the Admiralty won’t worry.  Always glad to find more good seamen for the navy.”

“
Father, what of the lawyer, Robinson and his clerk, have they been apprehended?”

“
No,” replied his father, “Mr. Flitwick and some of his men went with myself and the Chester constables to Robinson’s premises but they weren’t there.  We went to his house where we found his wife barely alive, suffering from some fearful head injuries.  A serving girl had also been badly beaten but she was able to tell us that Robinson had been there with his clerk.  They had ransacked the house and beaten the women until they told where the money and jewellery was hidden.  The wife died soon after.”

“
So, not only are they to be arrested for treason and other villainy we can only guess at, but they are now wanted for murder as well,” said Merriman.

“
Indeed so, Mr. Grahame and I have taken steps to inform various authorities, and handbills with their description are being issued round the county.  I hope to have news of them soon.”

“
Surely their only hope is to leave the country, once aboard a ship they may never be caught.  I would think that they would probably head for the ferry across to Liverpool to find a ship there to take them to France or even to America.  Only the gallows awaits them here and they have money and valuables enough to bribe a not too fussy captain to take them and keep quiet about it.”

“
That is so I’m afraid James; we thought of that and sent constables over there but with no luck..  Anyway, it’s out of our hands now.”

“
Mr. Grahame, now that this matter is concluded, do you have any further orders for me Sir?” enquired Merriman.

“
Not at present Lieutenant.  If we send our reports to London tomorrow by courier we may hear from our superiors within the week.  In the meanwhile, you must be in Dublin to give evidence in the trial of the rebels you caught.  I expect that the trial will be speedily arranged once you present yourself over there.  You should leave for Ireland tomorrow Lieutenant and I will sail with you.”

“
Yes Sir, but are you sure that you are recovered enough to face the journey.”

“
Tut man, of course I’m well enough, even though your excellent Doctor Simpson may not agree.  I must go and see how many of my people have survived.  Certainly two of them were killed and I must know if my network of agents is still capable of sniffing out plots by the King’s enemies.”

“
I suggest that we ask for further orders to be sent to us here, to await our return from Ireland.”  He turned to Merriman’s father.  “My apologies Captain, for assuming that you are agreeable to your house being used as a sort of relay station for messages.”

“
No need to apologize Sir, I’m only too happy to help.”

“
Thank you.  Now, as our business is finished, perhaps we should join your other guests.”

When they rejoined the others, Merriman was di
smayed to see his two officers paying close attention to Helen, who was laughing at something one of them had said.  By the window his sister Emily was deep in conversation with Captain Saville, watched closely by her mother.

“
I hope that young man is going to make his intentions clear,” she said to Mrs. Prentice, “If he is the right one for her there could soon be a wedding,” She looked over at her eldest son who was glowering in the direction of Helen and her admirers.  Just then Helen caught sight of Merriman and with a word of excuse left them and went across to him.

“
Do stop frowning James, from what I hear you have everything to be pleased about. What makes you so gloomy?” she said coquettishly.

“
Nothing Ma’am, it is just that I hoped, I mean, I would like you to, that is – if you could see ---.”  He stopped, realizing that once again she had reduced him to stammering inadequacy.

She took his hands in hers and the look in her ey
es told him all he wanted to know.  Mrs. Prentice leaned nearer to Merriman’s mother with a smile, “There might be two weddings to plan for.”