Come Looking For Me (45 page)

Another round of tears threatened to make their unwanted appearance. Emily squeezed her eyes shut to thwart them and dreamed she was back on the
Isabelle.
In her mind she could picture it: Mr. Crump was squawking like a squirrel over the inconvenience of his stump, and lambasting Osmund Brockley for slopping the fetid contents of the chamber pot upon his blanket; from his swinging hammock, Morgan was gazing shyly upon her, distracted only by the chirping Biscuit who was carrying on about the wonders of his sea biscuits; sunshine was pouring in through the open gunport beside her cot, and she was enjoying its warmth as Gus sat upon the three-legged stool, reading passages of
Sense and Sensibility
with careful diction; near the hospital entrance, little Magpie was stamping about like a spirited colt as he waited his turn to visit her; and Leander was writing in his medical journal, occasionally casting his blue eyes in her direction as if to make certain she was still there.

As the poignant images faded away, Emily opened her eyes.
He
was standing there now, alone at the taffrail, the beam of his smile evident across the distance, his right arm raised and waving frantically in farewell.

Afterword

Most of the characters in
Come Looking for Me
are fictional, but several require a word of explanation.

HENRY, DUKE OF WESSEX: George III had a large family. Six daughters and seven sons lived to adulthood, including his eldest son, George, the Prince Regent (later George IV), and his third son, William, the Duke of Clarence (later William IV), both mentioned in
Come Looking for Me
. The two youngest sons of George III, Octavius and Alfred, died when very young. The character of Henry and the title I bestowed upon him, “Duke of Wessex,” are both fictitious. George III did not have a son named Henry, but even if he had, Henry would not have been given the title of Wessex. In creating the fictitious father of Emily, I initially considered an “if only he had lived” scenario with Prince Alfred, but as his date of birth would have made it impossible for him to have fathered Emily, I chose instead to take literary licence and imagine a son that never was. I gave him the name of Henry as it is a popular name among the royal family, and I borrowed Wessex from the present Earl of Wessex, Queen Elizabeth's son Edward. I imagined Henry to have been born between the Duke of Cumberland and the Duke of Sussex, as Queen Charlotte – who was pregnant most years of her early marriage – had a window of child-bearing opportunity between these two sons.

FLY AUSTEN: The novelist Jane Austen had two seafaring brothers, Francis and the younger Charles. Francis in particular had a most distinguished naval career. Many of the personal details I ascribed to the fictitious Fly are true to the real Francis Austen. For example, his nickname was “Fly,” his eyes were described as being “alert,” and he did – to his great disappointment – miss seeing action at Trafalgar. Still, I took literary licence with the character I ultimately created. Francis Austen did fight the Americans in the War of 1812, but not in the Atlantic, and not as the commander of a ship of seventy-four guns known as the
Isabelle;
in 1813, he had long since been promoted to captain. I do like to think, however, that the well-respected, intelligent, courageous, and humourous Fly Austen in
Come Looking for Me
is very similar to the man that once was.

WILLIAM, DUKE OF CLARENCE: William was appointed Admiral of the Fleet by his brother the Regent in December 1811, and maintained the post until 1821 when it passed to the Earl of St. Vincent. It was more of a titular position than an active role for him, although he was known to seek permission from the Regent and Parliament to go off on various missions now and again – thus lending credence to his mounting of an expedition to find his fictional niece, Emily. When at sea, he flew his own “Duke of Clarence” flag. William became the Lord High Admiral in 1827.

While researching over the course of writing my book, I found intriguing revelations in Philip Ziegler's biography
King William IV
. Although William was known as being hot-headed, impulsive, silly, and boorish, he also had a generous heart. It is well documented that he helped two penniless orphans – one in Newfoundland and one in Plymouth – by financing their clothing, schooling, and training as midshipmen. In time, one of these lads became a rear admiral, and William had the pleasure of signing his commission. I was delighted to discover that my fabricated storyline of Clarence's generosity towards young Magpie is in line with the man's true character.

SHIPS: Although there have been several ships known as HMS
Amelia,
HMS
Amethyst
, and the USS
Liberty,
the vessels and their crews in
Come Looking for Me
are fictional.

Credits

Come Looking for Me
took years of research and writing. I could not have reached this point if it were not for the support of a group of individuals to whom I owe my deepest appreciation: My good friends and fellow writers Karen Hood-Caddy and Cathy Cahill-Kuntz – there is no one else with whom I would rather discuss the joys of similes and syntax; Dr. Walter Hannah, physician, retired midshipman of the Royal Canadian Navy, for reading my manuscript and answering my numerous nautical and medical questions; Canadian writer and journalist Roy MacGregor, for his support of the annual Muskoka Novel Marathon; Anne Millyard, co-founder and retired editor of Annick Press, who entered my world at the completion of the 2004 Marathon and has been my friend and mentor ever since; my sons, Evan and Brodie, who happily joined me in my dream of publication, and my husband, Randy, who has continually supported me in my desire to write; the Blue Butterfly team – Gary Long, for creating a cover design that captured the essence of my story; Sonia Holiad, for volunteering to do the final proofing, and Dominic Farrell, my meticulous editor, for his many excellent suggestions and his sense of humour throughout the substantive editing process. Heartfelt gratitude to publisher Patrick Boyer – how fortunate for me that our paths crossed while working on the documentary
Life on the Edge: Stories from Muskoka's Past.

Finally, I would to like to acknowledge the excerpt from Jane Austen's
Sense and Sensibility
, and the lines and verses taken from the songs “While Up the Shrouds,” “Can of Grog,” “Spanish Ladies,” “Heart of Oak,” “Don't Forget Your Old Shipmates,” and “The Coast of High Barbary” that appear in my book, all of which are in the public domain.

CHERYL COOPER was born in Toronto and now lives in Muskoka. She holds degrees in English and education, and her articles and stories have appeared in numerous Canadian periodicals. Cheryl makes her book publishing debut with
Come Looking for Me
. She completed the first draft of this work of historical fiction in three days of non-stop writing to win first prize in the 2004 Huntsville Festival of the Arts “Novel Marathon.” After several more years of research and writing, her greatly expanded and refined first novel is published by Blue Butterfly Books.

Author photo by Randy Cooper

Interview with the Author

You portray life and death aboard ships of war in the early 1800s, offer readers details of real shipboard conditions, and describe the configuration of those vessels. How did you research these scenes from two centuries ago?

CHERYL COOPER: I avoided the temptation to read any contemporary novels; instead, I put myself on a steady diet of Patrick O'Brian, Captain Frederick Marryat, Jane Austen, and literature set or written before 1813. I read a number of works on the War of 1812, naval warfare, the history of surgery, and so on, and relied particularly on such books as Brian Lavery's
Nelson's Navy
with its clear illustrations of the various parts of the ships.

Anything else? Your images are so vivid.

COOPER: I studied hundreds of old drawings and paintings depicting scenes of a sailor's existence: working the sails, tossing the lead, raising the anchor, enjoying a meal or leisure time with his mates, being punished, or battling the enemy.

That must have been engrossing.

COOPER: Often, an afternoon of research would net nothing more than a few paragraphs of writing because the smallest of details might have taken me age to research. But that was where so much of the enjoyment lay in writing this story – discovering the fascinating world of these old ships.

Emily, who is held hostage, is the centrepiece of this story. Did you set out to give readers a different perspective on war and the place of women in it?

COOPER: Yes, that is one perspective I wanted to offer. In researching, I discovered that, though there were restrictions on women being present aboard Royal Navy men-of-war, those rules were often not adhered to. Several ships carried women whose duties usually included helping with laundry, sewing, or cooking. When wives of the officers were on board, they often were assigned to assist the surgeon with the ill and injured. All these women would have been exposed to the same horrors and deprivations as the men. In a battle, they had to be prepared to wield a sword or a pistol, or risk perishing. There are several documented cases of women who joined the navy under the guise of a man. They learned the ropes and seamanship, just as the men did. How they kept their true identity a secret is beyond me. They must have been a brave lot. In imagining Emily, it was my hope to create a character who reflected the courage and spirit of these women.

In
Come Looking for Me
, some characters live and others die, not always in predictable ways. Do you think survival is merely a matter of fate?

COOPER: Sure, and a matter of luck. We're always asking why some of us are taken early while others enjoy long lives. The men and women on warships during this period faced the prospect of death daily. The ones spared the splinters and grapeshot of battle were fortunate, blessed by fate.

The War of 1812 is known to Canadians and Americans mostly for its land battles, yet these do not figure at all in your novel's action. Why did you take a different tack?

COOPER: When I was in school, the War of 1812 never seized my imagination. My teachers always breezed over its events and, perhaps naturally, concentrated on the Battle of Queenston Heights and the military victories of Sir Isaac Brock and Tecumseh. Had their history lessons also included the struggle at sea, I believe more students, including me, would have sat up straighter in our chairs. So my main intent is to shed much-deserved light on the men and women – old and young alike – who lived, dreamed, fought, and died in the crowded conditions upon those floating timbers.

As an author, you first came to public attention by winning a competition for writing a novel in seventy-two hours. How intense was that?

COOPER: Incredibly intense. It began at 8:00 p.m. on a Friday night and ran seventy-two hours straight. There were twenty-six of us, jammed into the old National Bank building on Main Street in Huntsville, pounding away on our laptop keys, completely high on caffeine and sugar. The camaraderie and energy around me was exhilarating. By Monday afternoon, my back was in knots – most likely from having slept two out of the three nights on the floor – and my brain was no longer functioning; but, in those hours, I had been able to complete seventy-five pages of my manuscript, and I had developed a clear idea of where I was going to take my story. It's amazing what can be accomplished when we leave our lives behind to focus exclusively on writing.

Writing
Come Looking for Me
clearly took more than seventy-two hours.

COOPER: Oh, I needed at least one or two further weekends to complete it! Actually, all told, it was three and a half years in the making.

How did your interest in historical fiction first arise?

COOPER: When I was eight years old, my parents took me to Washington, D.C., and Virginia. I was completely smitten by such places as Mount Vernon, the Custis-Lee mansion, and Williamsburg. The next year, our family went to Europe. Touring museums, castles, and cathedrals further intensified my interest in history. I've been a reader of historical fiction ever since.

Do you think a similar story could unfold in our present day, or is this tale of captivity and Emily's struggle to escape unique to the War of 1812?