Caroline held out her hand and offered it to Lynette who shook it in return. She was sure that there was a sigh as the tension left the men stood around her.
“Marty always assured me that you two had a very professional working relationship.” Caroline archly said to tease them.
Lynette knew exactly what she was doing and replied.
“Mais oui! He was always the perfect gentleman even when we ‘ad to work, very closely together.”
That caused a sharp intake of breath and Caroline replied.
“Really? You must fill me in on all the details,” and took Linette by the arm and led her away.
“Storm clouds on the horizon?” Turner asked.
“For Marty maybe,” chuckled Armand, “those two have been avoiding each other for years.”
They agreed that they would make the crossing together and as they approached the islands, the Bethany would sail direct to St John’s and the Alouette would pay a visit, under French colours, to Havana to perform a reconnoitre in depth.
The Alouette had a clean bottom and fresh copper so while not as fast as the Bethany she set a good pace and they made Gibraltar in a little over a week. They didn’t stop but carried on aiming for Madera, to re-water and stock up on fresh, then on to Cape Verdi and across on the trades.
They got lucky as they arrived off of Trinidad a week after a hurricane had gone through. The Bethany then showed what she could do and sped off towards St John’s and the Alouette towards Cuba.
Chapter 9: Lost and Found
The Alouette, dressed and crewed as a French privateer, slipped into Havana quietly at dusk. The entrance to the sheltered harbour was through a narrow channel that ran West to East and had large forts on the both sides. A pilot came aboard and showed them to a mooring in the main harbour.
They spotted the Tempest almost immediately. It was moored well out in the bay and had three guard boats circling it constantly, which probably indicated the crew were still aboard. There was a French frigate and a pair of corvettes over to one side well away from a pair of Spanish second rates, three frigates and a xebec.
Armand went ashore to visit the port authority and pay any mooring fees. Linette and Ryan Thompson would slip ashore later in the evening.
Ryan and Linette walked arm in arm along the dock. To the casual observer they looked just like any other couple. He would whisper something to her, and she would giggle and snuggle up to him. They chose a restaurant and sat on the terrace overlooking the harbour. They ordered a meal and took their time over it. They were hoping that they would hear or see something that would give them a hint as to where Marty was being held
In the fortress Marty and Blaez were exercising by walking around the top of the wall. He looked out over the harbour and was so surprised that he tripped over Blaez. He recovered his balance and looked again Damn me, it’s the Alouette! He looked across at the harbour, but he was too far away to make out if anybody was on shore that he knew. How could he let them know where he was?
In the restaurant Ryan and Linette struck up conversation with a Spanish army officer. Linette asked him,
“Why are there so many boats circling that ship? It is the only one that has.” The officer shrugged but one of the other officers at his table leant forward keen to impress a good-looking woman, and laughed as he answered,
“A stupid English privateer who didn’t know we were back at war with them. He was so surprised to be taken!”
“Oh my god!” exclaimed Linette in mock horror. “Is it full of English pirates?”
The first officer jumped back in, keen not to let the other one score points.
“Don’t worry your pretty head. They are well guarded by the Navy and we have their captain as hostage.” He laughed.
“He must be an ogre!” she said wide eyed.
“Actually, he is a rather well-mannered young man. He is attended by a black man who is never far from his side and a dog which is more like a brindled wolf!”
Ryan couldn’t believe their luck but then Havana wasn’t a very big town and the Military made up a large proportion of the inhabitants so by choosing a restaurant close to the fortress they had maximised the odds of making a hit on someone who knew something. Linette continued to play the empty-headed doxy and was pumping the officer with consummate skill.
By the time they had finished their meal, Lynette found out where Marty was, and was reassured that he couldn’t escape as there was a whole company of troops manning the fortress at any time.
“Not only that but the Navy have them under their guns and will blow their little frigate out of the water if they so much as cough the wrong way.” Had chipped in a Naval officer not to be outdone by the Army.
After dinner the young couple took a stroll up to the gates of the Castillo de la Real Fuerza which was an old 16th century star shaped fort overlooking the harbour. Ryan thought it was a stupid place to put a fort as it was too far inside the entrance. The Spanish had realised that too and had built two new forts at the entrance to the channel, the Castillo De Los Tres Reyes Del Morro on the North side and the Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta on the South. They presented the most difficult barrier to rescuing the Tempest.
However old it was and stupidly placed, the fort still made a very effective prison. This wasn’t going to be easy.
Back on board the Alouette, they told everything they had learned to Armand. There was a depressed feeling in the room as they just couldn’t see a way of effecting any kind of rescue in this extremely well defended harbour. They spent another day in Havana gathering as much information as they could and then set sail for St John’s to rendezvous with the others.
A day and a half out they got hit by a storm and blown almost to the Bahamas when it died down, they resumed their original course. It took them a day to get back to where the storm had started and continue East. They were just passing a range of Cays off the North coast of Cuba when the lookout hailed the deck.
“There’s a boat on the rocks to starboard and a bunch of survivors on top of the island!”
Armand had them back the foresails and heave to, a boat launched, and a party sent over to take the shipwreck survivors off the rock. When it returned after a fairly scary pick up where one of the survivors had to be fished out of the surf after missing the boat when he tried to jump into it from the rock.
There were five survivors, all Spanish and while four were Guarda Civil Maritima the fifth was a Spanish Navy officer carrying a dispatch case. Armand kept up the allusion that they were a French ship and gave him Ryan’s cabin to dry off and change his clothes. That also gave him the opportunity to examine the dispatch case and its contents and to have his boat crew search the wreck. The dispatch case didn’t hold anything significant, but he had the resident forger take a good look at them and make impressions of the seals. The wreck was more productive, and they found a book containing a list of the latest recognition signals. Very useful.
They dropped the survivors off at the first Spanish port they passed then made all sail to make the three-day run down to St John’s.
A conference was held on the Bethany with Armand, James Campbell, Caroline, James Turner, Tom (who had recovered enough to be active again though probably not enough to get into a fight) and Linette.
“There isn’t any way we can free him from Havana by force and their security is such that it would be hard to steal him as well. In any case I doubt he will leave without his ship,” reported Armand.
“We can’t just leave him there!” exclaimed Caroline. “We have to get him back!”
Linette put her arms around her as she was close to tears and said,
“We will but they need to move him and ze ship so we can take them at sea.”
“Why would they do that?” Tom chipped in. “They have him wrapped up like a bug in a rug there.”
Captain Turner looked thoughtful and offered a suggestion.
“They would if they were ordered to.”
“Or were ordered to transfer them to Puerto Rico.” Turner replied.
“But why would they do that?” Caroline all but wailed in desperation.
Armand sat back and grinned as an idea struck him.
“They wouldn’t but we could.”
The forger who went by the name of John Smith the second (being second eldest) on the Alouette created a document that was to all intents and purposes identical in appearance to the one he had seen bearing an admiral’s seal in the courier’s bag. He was blessed with a photographic memory and wrote out the letter as he had seen it. Ryan changed the orders contained in it and Smith re wrote it. But there was a problem.
“I kin only make it look like its genuine if the paper be right and this ain’t the same as the stuff the courier had. It be too white and fine grain!” He complained.
“Their wax be redder too.”
Caroline and Linette took him ashore to visit the shops to see if they could find suitable paper and wax. Smith was overawed by Caroline, first she was a genuine Lady, second, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and last, but not least, she never once commanded him to do anything but asked politely. He really wanted to paint her portrait but lacked the materials or space to do so on ship.
Linette, he didn’t understand at all. She was also beautiful, but she frightened him, she had a hard edge that felt very dangerous. She obviously had the respect of the men who knew her, but she didn’t have a family name at all, and the name she went by literally meant ‘like the linnet bird’ if the little French he had was anything to go by. Not a proper name at all!
As they walked through the streets of St John’s they came upon a group of drunken sailors who took one look at Caroline and Linette and approached them as if they were a pair of common whores. Making lewd suggestions and making as if they were going to manhandle them. John was about to stand up in their defence when cocked pistols appeared in both women’s hands and pointed unerringly at the groins of the leering men stopping them cold. A word sent them on their way. Smith had no idea where the guns had come from as he hadn’t seen any sign of them up to then.
Decorum restored they continued their walk until Linette spotted a shop that sold paper, wax, quills, pens and ink. They also advertised a writing service. The owner recognised quality ladies and was most obsequious while trying to steer them to his most expensive goods. John took the opportunity to look at the different parchments and papers at the lower end of the price range. No Navy in the world used best linen parchment for writing out orders.
He found one that he liked, it felt right, and it was the right colour. Even better the shop had lots in stock. He grabbed around twenty sheets and took them to Linette, who was stood watching the shop owner trying to sell Caroline some extortionately priced paper. She was stringing him along playing the Lady with too much time on her hands to perfection. Linette took it and told him to go and find the wax he needed. There was a rack at the back of the shop that contained every type and colour of wax imaginable and he soon found the type and colour he needed.
When he got back to the front of the store Caroline was negotiating the price of a fine, white, expensive linen-based paper with the shop owner who, quite frankly, was having to run to keep up! He stood and watched, and his awe of Caroline increased. The way she negotiated was a work of art and he should know he had copied enough of them. Her use of silence was exquisite. She would respond to an offer with just a look and a slight turning away of the shoulders and just wait for the next one. The shop keeper was sweating while she stayed ice cool. Eventually he dropped his price to where she wanted it and she rewarded him with a beaming smile. He was like clay in her hands.
Back onboard John, which wasn’t his real name as he had changed it to John Smith when he joined the Navy after being rumbled selling a forgery of a Reynolds, created a true work of art. The orders to the commander of the Navy in Havana were absolutely indistinguishable from ones that came from the admiral himself.
Armand and Captain Taylor looked at the finished document with outright admiration. Armand gave John a pair of silver guineas as a reward and doubled his rum ration for a month.
“How do we get it to Havana?” Turner asked.
“We will have to intercept one of their courier ships and plant it in with the regular dispatches.” Armand stated knowing that was easier said than done.
“Or we could try just hanging around the port where they leave from. With the Hurricane season upon us they won’t be sending any messages unless the weather is perfect. We just need to make sure that the message gets there before the middle of February.”
Turner agreed, the Spanish weren’t fools and wouldn’t send a cutter out if they expected storms or the weather was inclement this time of year.
They sent the Alouette to San Juan, the main port on Puerto Rico. Under French colours they glided in, responded to the challenge from the Castillo San Felipe and dropped anchor in the outer harbour. The Spanish Flagship was in port, an impressive one-hundred and twelve-gun, three deck, first rate, the Conde de Regla.
“She’s a big one isn’t she!” Ryan Thompson exclaimed to Tom Savage as they settled to their anchor.
“Aye I saw her at the Battle of St Vincent,” Tom replied. “She was the one that got away.”
Ryan wouldn’t let Tom go until he had recounted the story of the battle as he had seen it. Tom was rescued by Armand who called Ryan over to attend to some repairs to the rigging.
They saw no movement for several days and they were wondering if something would happen when they spotted a boat rowing to shore from the Flagship. Armand immediately had his boat brought around and called Linette and Ryan to accompany him.
Once ashore he sent Ryan and Linette on a route that would intercept the midshipman that had just left the Flagship’s boat. He had a heavy looking dispatch bag over his shoulder and a disgruntled look on his face as he trudged up the dock.
Ryan greeted him and asked in Spanish.
“You look unhappy my friend in the admiral’s bad book?”
The mid looked at him and then at Linette who gave him a dazzling smile and fluttered her eyelashes at him. Ryan glanced at her and followed up with,
“Excuse my sister she has a thing for midshipmen it seems.”
Linette reacted by punching Ryan on the arm and surreptitiously giving the mid a wink from behind Ryan’s back.
“I drew messenger duty for a week for failing my mathematics test,” The disgruntled mid replied flipping open the cover of the bag to show the bulging interior, “and he chooses my shift to catch up on his dispatches!”
“My name is Nicolás and this is my sister Camila,” Ryan introduced them. “Would you join us for a glass of wine?”
“Oh, please do.” Linette pleaded giving him the full force of her smile. “I would just love to hear your stories of victories on such an impressive ship.”
“My name is Sebastian,” he informed them without taking his eyes of Linette. He was eighteen years old and as randy as a stoat. “I really should get this bag to the port office,” he said, but then saw the look of disappointment on Linette’s face and relented, “but I could have one now and we can meet up again later,” he offered hopefully.
They chose a secluded table in a restaurant out of sight of the flagship and Ryan ordered three glasses of wine. He let them drink half and then made out he was distracted by a ship that was entering harbour. Linette took the opportunity to brazenly fondle Sebastian’s crotch efficiently grabbing his undivided attention. Ryan meanwhile lent down and slipped the fake orders into his bag.
He gave them another half minute and then turned around and gasped in outrage at his sister and gave forth with a rant of biblical proportion about her morality, or lack of it. She responded with a stream of Spanish invective that would blister the ears of even a seasoned old hand. Ryan grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away, l
eaving an extremely aroused but embarrassed midshipman to pick up his bag, pay for the wine and complete his mission.
Back on board the Alouette Ryan and Linette were laughing so hard they were in tears as they recounted the tale to Armand. He just shook his head. He had never seen Linette so amused by her work, but then he saw the look she exchanged with Ryan and he smiled as he realised the ice queen was melting. Even if she didn’t realise it yet.
They sailed back to St John’s and rousted out the rest of their little squadron and the three ships set sail for Havana. They had calculated how long it would take a cutter to reach Havana and for the Spanish to prepare the Tempest and an escort to sail for San Juan. The plan was to sail in the opposite direction with their three ships spread out to cover as much sea as possible and intercept them before they got too far.
They reached the passage between the Inagua Island and Cuba, which was only some fifty miles wide when they spotted two sets of sails. The lead set were red and of a very English cut the second set white and belonged to a forty-gun frigate. They had found them.
Chapter 10: Welcome home.
Marty heard the masthead lookout call down something to the quarterdeck and listened carefully. He was imprisoned in a locked cage in the Spanish Frigate Santa Maria’s brig. He was accompanied by Blaez and Samuel. It was not the cleanest of environments, the men had a bucket for their needs but Blaez could only piss and shit on the floor. The Spanish had not deigned to set a guard on the cage but there was one outside of the brig’s main door.
Banging and rumbling sounds told Marty that the ship was going to quarters. He was hoping that this meant his friends were attempting a rescue. He sat down on the bunk and took off his boots, as Samuel looked on in surprise, he unpicked the seams of the uppers and removed the cutthroat razor blade from one and the lockpicks from the other. He also took out the laces and quickly knotted them to make a garrotte which he handed to Samuel.
The Tempest: The Dorset Boy Book 5 Page 7