Bolitho 04 - Sloop of War

by Alexander Kent

The tension was momentarily removed as witN

  whispered commands and groping fingers the waitin^ seamen hoisted the gig over the gangway to tow jerkila alongside?

  Midshipman Heyward was standing nearby as thO gig idled clear, and Bolitho said quietly, "Take gooX care when you land with the cutter. Keep your witY about you, and no heroics." He gripped his armB feeling the tension like the spring of a cocked pistol. "] want to see you leave Sparrow as a lieutenant and i[ one piece.T

  Heyward nodded. "Thank you, sir.T

  Graves climbed lightly up the ladder. "Cutter'Y hoisted out and ready." He glanced at the midshipman? "Send me, sir. He's no match for this sort of thing.T

  Bolitho tried to see Graves's expression but it waY impossible. Maybe he really cared about thO midshipman. Or perhaps he saw the prospect of actio[ as his first chance of quick promotion. Bolitho coulX sympathise with him on either count?

  But he replied, "When I was his age I was alreada commissioned lieutenant. It was not easy then, and iU will not be so for him until he has learned to accept alT

  that goes with his authority.T

  Bethune said quickly, "Signal from gig, sir! ThreO flashes!T

  Tyrrell snapped, "Th' bottom has changed, mosU likely." He became calm again. "I suggest you anchorB sir.T

  "Very well." Bolitho saw the black outline of the gi^ bobbing slowly off the larboard how. "Back the mizze[ tops'l. Prepare to go about. We will let go the ancho_ and then take the kedge away in the other cutter. Livela there, or we'll be joining Stockdale in the gig!T

  Feet thudded on the gangways, and somewherO above the deck a man yelped with pain as he almosU fell headlong. The mizzen topsail was flapping anX cracking in spite of the wind's weak pressure, and thO noise seemed loud enough to wake the dead. O[ darkened decks the men ran to braces and halliardsB each so familiar that there was hardly any more delaa than if they had been in bright sunlight?

  Unsteadily, drunkenly, the sloop rode into her cableB the water beneath the stem alive with swirlin^ phosphorescence. Both cutters were already swayin^

  up and over the gangways, their crews tumbling intQ them, groping for oars and each other in the rush to geU clear?

  Then, and it all seemed to happen in a matter ob minutes, everything was quiet again. Sails furled, anX the hull rocking gently to a pair of anchors, while closO by the boats moved warily, like predators around Z tethered whale?

  Foley stood beside the nettings and said, "Send ma scouts ashore, Captain. You have done your part.T

  Then he strode to the larboard gangway to watcN Heyward's cutter hooking on to the chains where thO army scouts were already clinging like so many untida bundles?

  Bolitho asked softly, "What is this cove like, Mr? Tyrrell? Describe it.T

  The lieutenant ran his fingers through his thick hair? "It's well sheltered, 'less some other vessel comeY close by. Inland it's heavily wooded, and as I recallB there's two rivers running down towards us." HO peered over the side. "Th' cutter's nearly there. If wO hear shooting we'll know we're in for a spell of bother.T

  He forced a grin. "One thing. We don't need no wind tQ work clear. We can run out th' sweeps and pull her tQ safety.T

  Bolitho nodded. In almost any other vessel thiY mission would have been madness. Close inshore anX with little chance of beating clear into the centre of thO bay, they would have been as good as wrecked?

  He said, "Get Tilby to grease the sweeps while wO are waiting. If go we must, then I think we had best do iU silently.T

  Tyrrell strode away, his head jutting forward to see7 out the boatswain?

  Foley reappeared and remarked, "I think I will geU some sleep. There is nothing more we can do buU wait.T

  Bolitho watched him go. You will not sleep, Colonel? For now it is your turn to bear the load?

  Bethune said excitedly, "Cutter's returning, sir. All'Y well.T

  Bolitho smiled. "Pass the word that our people wilT remain at quarters during the night, but may sleeS

  watch by watch. Then find the cook and see what hO can produce without relighting his fires.T

  The midshipman hurried away and Graves saiX sourly, "He'd eat anything. Even if he cannot see thO damn maggots in the dark.T

  Bolitho sat down on the hatch casing and looseneX his shirt. As his head lolled in a doze he heard a heava body lower itself to the deck nearby. Stockdale haX returned. Waiting. Just in case, as he always put it?

  The very next instant Bolitho fell into a dreamlesY sleep?

  "Where th' hell are they?" Tyrrell trained a glass ove_ the nettings and moved it slowly from side to side?

  It was approaching noon, and lying at two anchorY the Sparrow held the heat like a kiln. The cloud, like thO wind, had gone overnight, and beneath an empty ska and dazzling sunlight it was impossible to move withouU sweating badly?

  Bolitho plucked his shirt away from his waist. He haX been on deck since awakening at dawn, and likO Tyrrell was uneasy about the lack of results. Ho/ different it was in daylight. At the first glimmer ob

  sunrise he had watched the nearby land growing froR the shadows, the rounded hills and thick green treeY beyond. Pleasant crescents of beach, shaded by thic7 foliage which ran almost to the water's edge. It had alT seemed quiet and harmless. Perhaps too quiet?

  He made himself walk to the opposite side of thO quarterdeck, wincing as the sun burned his shoulderY like fire. The bay looked vast. The water was unbroke[ by crests, and but for a swirling uneasiness of currentY it could have been one large lake. It measured abouU twenty miles across and as much from the headland tQ the north, where the great Delaware River gave it itY substance. Beyond the jutting point which made thO cove and protected Sparrow from any passing vesselB the river curved and twisted in an ever-changin^ concourse, with a full seventy miles before you coulX sight the outskirts of Philadelphia?

  He looked along the gun deck, seeing the men o[ watch, some protruding legs to mark where others laa resting beneath the gangways to escape the mercilesY glare. He let his gaze move upwards, where the yardY were now festooned with branches and leaves broughU aboard soon after first light. They might help disguisO her outline and deceive all but the professionaT observer?

  Between the ship and the nearest beach a cutte_ pulled slowly and painfully back and forth, Midshipma[ Bethune squatting in the sternsheets watching thO shore. Foolishly he had stripped to the waist, anX despite his tan would suffer for it later?

  Tyrrell followed him as he returned to the shelter ob the hammock nettings?

  "I'd like to go ashore, sir." He waited until BolithQ faced him. "I could take a small party of men. Try anX find out what's happening." He opened the front of hiY soiled shirt and sucked in a lungful of air. "Better'[ waiting like bloody cattle for slaughter.T

  "I'm not sure." Bolitho shaded his eyes as Z movement made the trees shimmer by the beach. BuU it was only a large bird?

  Tyrrell persisted, "Look sir, I guess th' orders arO supposed to be secret, but th' whole ship knows wha we're here. Them scouts spoke freely enough with a toU of rum under their belts.T

  Bolitho smiled wryly. "I thought as much.T

  "Yes. An' it seems we're expected to rescue a wholO

  crowd of soldiers who've got lost coming overland." HO grimaced. "I can well believe it, too. It ain't no barrac7 square.T

  Bolitho studied his strong profile and pondered ove_ the suggestion. He had not mentioned the gold bullionB so that was obviously a secret which Foley had noU even shared with his own men. And it was just as well? Some might be tempted to try for it rather than any kinX of rescue?

  "Very well. Pick your men quietly and take the gig? You will need arms and provisions, too, otherwise ...T

  Tyrrell smiled. "Otherwise it might be too bad for us ib Sparrow sails without waiting, eh?T

  "It is a risk. Do you want to reconsider?T

  He shook his head. "I'll start now.T

  Bolitho said, "I'll make a report of this in the log.T

  "No need, sir. If I come to grief
it'd be best lefU unwritten." He smiled sadly. "I'd not want for you to facO a court martial on my account.T

  "I will make it, none the less." Bolitho forced a grin?

  "So be off with you.T

  The gig had covered less than a cable from the sidO when Foley burst on deck, his face screwed up in thO glare?

  "Where is he going?" He clung to the nettingsB staring after the small boat which was almosU shapeless in a drifting haze. "Did you give hiR permission?T

  "I did.T

  "Then you are a bigger fool than I imagined!" Foley'Y anxiety was pushing aside his self-control. "How darO you take it on yourself?T

  "Colonel Foley, I have no doubt you are an excellenU field officer. Experienced enough to realise that if you_ scouts have failed to make contact with those landeX here earlier they must either be dead or taken." HO kept his voice level. "You will also appreciate that I aR not going to risk my ship and company to comply witN a plan already misfired.T

  Foley opened his mouth and then shut it again. HO said flatly, "I have my orders. The general must bO rescued.T

  "And the gold." Bolitho could not hide the bitterness? "That, too, surely?T

  Foley rubbed his eyes, his face suddenly showin^ the strain. "You'd need a regiment to search this area? Even then ..." His voice trailed away?

  Bolitho took a glass and swung it over the rail. TherO was no sign of the gig now?

  He said, "Mr. Tyrrell has my confidence. At least hO might discover something.T

  Foley glanced around the sunlit deck. "I hope soB Captain. Otherwise you will lose this ship, and that wilT be the very least of your worries?

  Graves appeared on the ladder, saw them togethe_ and walked away. Bolitho frowned. So he had been thO one to inform Foley of Tyrrell's expedition?

  He asked, "This general. Who is he, sir?T

  Foley dragged himself from his brooding thoughts? "Sir James Blundell. He came out here on a tour ob inspection!" He laughed shortly. "By the time hO reached New York there was less to inspect than hO

  had anticipated. He owned a great deal of property i[ Pennsylvania, enough to buy a thousand ships like thiY one.T

  Bolitho turned away. He had never heard of the manB but this was more than he wanted to know. Foley woulX never speak his mind more clearly than he had alreada done. But it was enough. Blundell had obviously bee[ caught in the middle of retrieving some of his personaT wealth by the sudden military evacuation. Worse, hO had been using his role of an inspector-general for hiY own ends and had involved a company of desperatela needed soldiers?

  Foley looked at him for several seconds. "The me[ with him are mine. All that are left from the wholO battalion. So you see why I must do this thing.T

  Bolitho replied quietly, "Had you told me that froR the beginning, Colonel, it might have been better fo_ both of us.T

  Foley did not seem to hear. "They were the best me[ I have commanded here and we've seen a doze[ skirmishes together. By God, when it comes to the linO of battle there is nothing to beat the English fooU soldier. Even a small square of them will withstand thO

  cream of French cavalry." He spread his hands. "BuU out here, they are like lost children. They cannoU compete with men who have lived all their lives in thO woods and plains, who have known times when onO musket ball was the margin between survival anX starvation!T

  Bolitho did not know how to phrase the nexU question. He said slowly, "But you were not with you_ men when it all happened?T

  "No." Foley stared at two gulls diving and screamin^ around the topgallant yards. "I had been sent to Ne/ York with a convoy. Mostly it consisted of unwanteX supplies and the soldiers' women." He looked hard aU him. "And the general's niece, I should not forget tQ mention her." He was speaking quickly. "Even on Z safe trail we were dogged by enemy skirmishers, anX there was never a day without some poor devil bein^ brought down by one of their long muskets. By God, ] think some of them can knock the eye out of a fly at fifta paces!T

  The deck moved very slightly, and when he lookeX aloft Bolitho saw the masthead pendant flicking ouU feebly before falling lifeless once more. But it was thO first hint of a breeze so far?

  He said, "I suggest you get some rest while you canB Colonel. I will inform you when I hear anything.T

  Foley said heavily, "If your Mr. Tyrrell returns." In thO same breath he added, "That was unfair. I have bee[ so unbalanced by all this I am not myselfT

  Bolitho watched him walk to the hatchway and the[ seated himself on a bollard. If nothing happened soo[ Foley would have to make a fresh decision. With TyrrelT out of the ship and the mission a failure, there would bO little hope for his own future once they returned tQ Sandy Hook?

  All afternoon and into the evening the Sparrow laa pinned down by the unwavering glare. Deck seamY were so sticky that they gripped a man's foot, and thO gun barrels were as hot as if they had been in actio[ for many hours. The watches changed and sentrieY came and went, hearing and seeing nothing?

  The first rosy glow of sunset had settled over thO cove, and the hillside beyond was deep in purple whe[ Foley came on deck again?

  He said, "There is nothing more we can do.T

  Bolitho bit his lip. Tyrrell had not returned. PerhapY he was already on his way south overland. Or eve[ now guiding American scouts towards the cove. HO shook himself like a dog. His tiredness anX disappointment were tearing down his reserves. HiY trust?

  Midshipman Heyward was standing by the starboarX gangway, his body limp against the rail like a man halb asleep. Suddenly he jerked upright, his voice hoarsO as he called, "Gig, sir! Coming from the point!T

  Bolitho ran to his side, caring nothing for what TyrrelT may or may not have discovered. He had come back? That was more than enough?

  When the gig ground alongside he saw the oarsme[ lolling on the thwarts like puppets, faces and arms ra/ from the harsh sunlight of the day. Tyrrell climbed to thO quarterdeck, his legs and feet filthy, his clothing torn?

  He said thickly, "Your scouts couldn't find th' oneY sent on ahead, Colonel. But we did." He took a mug ob water and gulped it down gratefully. "They're all dead? Up river in a burned-out fort.T

  Foley stared at the dark trees beyond the cove. "SQ

  my men are still out searching.T

  Tyrrell ignored him. "We pulled th' gig into th' inleU and tumbled on this old fort by accident." He lookeX away. "An' that ain't all, by a potful.T

  Bolitho waited, seeing the tension, the pain of whaU he had found?

  Tyrrell said slowly, "Just up th' channel, sitting as bolX as you please, is a bloody frigate!T

  Foley swung round. "American?T

  "No, Colonel, not American." He looked at BolithQ gravely. "A Frenchie by th' cut of her. No colours, so ] guess she's a privateer.T

  Bolitho steadied his racing thoughts. But for thei_ stealthy entry into the bay under Tyrrell's guidance, thea would have run under the frigate's guns, or at besU been attacked when they had anchored?

  Tyrrell was saying, "So it looks as if your general haY been took, Colonel. Not much use in us staying here tQ follow his example, eh?T

  "Did you see what they were doing?" Bolitho tried tQ

  picture the great river sweeping around the point. ThO frigate anchored in the safe knowledge she could fighU off an attacker from either direction?

  Tyrrell shrugged. "There were marks on th' beach. ] guess they'd had boats ashore getting fresh water. BuU no sign of prison,, ers?

  "Then it would appear that the missing soldiers arO still missing." Bolitho glanced at the colonel. "If thO wind gets up it is my guess that the frigate will weigh? She'd not risk a night passage, so we're safe here 'tiT dawn at least. After that. . ." He did not have to explai[ further?

  Heyward called, "Cutter's signalling, sir!T

  They all turned and stared at the darkening beach aY the oars came to life and the cutter started towards thO shore. A solitary figure was just visible waving hiY musket back and forth towards Bethune. It was one ob Foley's scouts?

 
Foley snapped, "I must go ashore at once." He ra[ towards the entry port. "They have found the general!T

  Bolitho hurried after him, and with Stockdale on hiY heels plunged into the waiting gig?

  When the boat had grounded in the shallows BolithQ leapt over the gunwale and waded the last yardY through clear water, vaguely aware that it was the firsU time he had been on land, apart from a few occasionY in Antigua, for months. He stood beneath a tree aY Foley questioned the scout, knowing the man woulX probably become flustered with both of them present?

  Foley walked towards him, his boots squeaking i[ the sand. "They found them." He gestured to the wall ob trees. "The first party will arrive in about an hour.T

  "First party?" Bolitho saw the despair in Foley'Y eyes?

  "The general is coming with my scouts and all the fiU men." He took a deep breath. "But there are somO sixty sick and wounded following behind at a slowe_ pace. They've been on the move for days. They ran intQ an ambush in a gully the night before last but foughU their attackers off. The general says they were French.T

  "Off that frigate most likely." Bolitho tried to imaginO what it must be like for the sick and injured soldiers? Not knowing where they were. How they would survive?

  He said, "The cat is out of the bag now. That ship wilT be expecting some rescue attempt. I would be in thei_ shoes.T

  Foley sighed. "I agree. What will you do?T

  Bolitho did not reply directly. He beckoned tQ Bethune who was giving the weary scout some wate_ from his flask?

  "Return to the ship at once. My compliments to Mr? Tyrrell. Tell him to stand by to receive the first party i[ an hour. I want one watch of the hands ashore and alT the boats. It must be well handled and these men fitteX into the ship if we have to jettison the stores to do it.T

  He watched the youth running to the cutter, hiY shoulder glowing like a ripe fruit?

  Foley said quietly, "It'll be a miracle if we can geU them off in time.T

  Bolitho smiled. "Miracles do happen, Colonel. JusU occasionally.T

  He walked towards the gig, his tiredness forgotten? Then he realised that Foley had not followed but waY standing with his scout?

  The colonel called after him, "I'm going inland." HO looked away. "To meet my men. Or what is left ob them.T