Killigrew and the Incorrigibles

by Jonathan Lunn

  She sank her teeth into his fingers, biting down until she tasted blood in her mouth. He just grinned. ‘You think that hurts?’

  She could only abide having his vile fingers in her mouth for so long, and at last gave it up and spat them out. He tucked the revolver in the waistband of his trousers and shrugged off his jacket, turning his back to her so she could see that it was nothing but one mass of crisscrossed scars.

  ‘Eight hundred and thirty-six lashes of the cat,’ he said proudly. ‘Thirty-six the first time, a hundred the second, two hundred the third, and another five hundred three weeks ago. And I never once peeped.’ He shrugged his jacket back on and jerked his head to where the other convicts stood. ‘You ask any of the lads. So if you think you can hurt me, think again.’ He pushed her after the others.

  They reached the wooden derrick on the cliff top. In the moonlight, Mrs Cafferty could not fail to see the three-masted ship hove to about half a mile out to sea.

  ‘You’ve signalled her?’ demanded Wyatt.

  Fallon nodded. ‘They’re sending a boat ashore.’

  ‘Winch the cradle down to them, Swaddy.’

  Swaddy nodded and swung the arm of the derrick out, so that it reached beyond the rocks a hundred feet below, where breakers foamed whitely in the darkness. He started to turn the winch that lowered the cat’s cradle from the derrick.

  ‘Mal?’ a voice called behind them, and they turned to see Sol returning with Devin Cusack in tow.

  The two Young Irelanders embraced like old friends. ‘It’s good to see you again, Dev,’ said Fallon. Tears shone on his cheeks in the moonlight.

  ‘How touching,’ sneered Jarrett.

  Cusack jerked his head at the convicts. ‘What are they doing here?’

  Fallon grimaced. ‘I needed Jarrett to show me the way here. He insisted that we bring some of his friends. Although what Captain Quested will say when he finds out we’ve got six more passengers than he’s expecting remains to be seen.’

  ‘You let me worry about that,’ said Wyatt, waggling his revolver. ‘You’ll be Devin Cusack, then?’

  ‘And you are?’

  ‘Ned Wyatt.’ He gestured at the other convicts. ‘Speeler Jarrett you probably know already. These others are Solly Lissak, Swaddy Blake, Piggy Griddha and Jemmy Fingers.’

  ‘What are you all in for?’

  ‘Where I come from, that’s not a polite question.’

  ‘I can’t help being curious about what kind of scum I’ll be unleashing on the rest of the world if I let you come with us.’

  ‘Hear that, lads?’ asked Wyatt. ‘He’s letting us go with him.’ The other convicts laughed at the suggestion. Wyatt pulled back the hammer of the revolver. ‘Maybe I should just kill the pair of you here and now.’

  ‘There are more than two dozen men on that ship out there,’ warned Fallon. ‘D’you think the skipper’s going to be happy to take you wherever you are wanting to go, if there’s nothing in it for him?’

  ‘He’s taking you, isn’t he?’

  ‘Only because he’s getting paid five thousand dollars when we get to San Francisco. I’d like to see you match that.’

  Wyatt eased off the hammer of the revolver. ‘All right. You talk the skipper of that ship into taking us with you, and no one gets hurt. Deal?’

  ‘I can’t make any promises. Captain Quested is a hard man.’

  Wyatt grinned. ‘Not as hard as I am, I’ll bet.’

  Fallon smiled. ‘Let’s just say that if the two of you were in the ring together, I wouldn’t like to have to wager money on either one of you.’

  Cusack noticed Mrs Cafferty. ‘What’s she doing here? Don’t tell me she’s in on it?’

  ‘She’s our hostage,’ said Wyatt.

  ‘We’re not needing a hostage.’

  ‘Oh, yes we do.’ Wyatt indicated Fallon. ‘Or did your pal here forget to mention the Royal Navy paddle-sloop that’s anchored in Sydney Bay on the other side of the island? They’ll be coming after us, and when they do she could be the only thing that stops them from blowing us out of the water.’

  Cusack stopped abruptly and turned back to stare at Fallon. ‘The Tisiphone’s still here?’

  ‘I’m afraid so.’

  ‘Then the escape’s off. At least until tomorrow evening. Can you sneak back to Kingston without anyone knowing you left?’

  ‘Certainly. But that’s the least of our worries. It took the Tisiphone longer to get here than I anticipated. Tonight’s the last night our ship sails in under cover of darkness. It’s now or never, Dev.’

  ‘“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley”, Mal. We’ll just have to hope we can get far enough away before they realise we’re gone.’

  ‘I doubt that,’ said Wyatt. ‘The tocsin was ringing in the barracks when we passed.’ He turned to the Indian. ‘The garrison could come by at any moment, Piggy. Keep an eye on the road. You see anyone coming, I want to know about it, understand?’

  Mangal nodded and made his way back to the carriage, peering around the back of it down the tunnel of trees.

  ‘It will take them a while to get organised,’ said Jarrett. ‘And I left them something to distract their attention: a little fire at Government House.’

  Fallon stared at him in horror. ‘You mean, after we left Price and Killigrew tied up in the library, you set the place on fire? You murderous devil!’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ said Jarrett. ‘Killigrew got free somehow. I don’t imagine he left Price and the others to their fate.’

  ‘I don’t think we need to worry about Killigrew,’ said Cusack. ‘I met him at dinner tonight. I know his sort. A gutless fop, all mouth and no pantaloons. He probably only joined the navy because he thought the uniform would make him popular with the ladies.’ The Irishman grinned. ‘Or with the boys.’

  ‘You think so?’ demanded Wyatt. ‘It so happens that your gutless fop just chased us halfway out of Kingston, single-handedly killing two of our mates and throwing another four off the roof of the carriage.’

  Cusack blinked. ‘Killigrew? Are you sure it’s the same man we’re talking about?’

  ‘That was Killigrew all right,’ said Jarrett.

  ‘Well, we needn’t worry about him any longer,’ asserted Wyatt. ‘I did for him. We were going at a hell of a lick when I kicked him off.’ He smiled at the recollection. ‘I’ll bet he broke every bone in his body.’

  The winch was all played out now, and the rope hanging from the derrick arm swayed as someone below caught it with the aid of a boat hook. Wyatt crossed to the precipice and looked down. ‘All right, they’ve secured the boat to the cradle. Winch them up, Swaddy.’

  Blake reversed the winch. The gear mechanism was designed so that one man could lift several hundred pounds effortlessly, and he had no problem lifting the boat with five men in it, but it rose slowly: one turn of the handle raised it about one inch. It would take twelve hundred turns to raise the boat to the top of the cliff.

  ‘Five thousand dollars,’ mused Cusack. ‘That’s a divil of a lot of money, Mal.’

  ‘Ten thousand in total,’ Fallon told him. ‘He’s already had half in advance.’

  ‘Ten thousand dollars! Holy flip me pink! Where’s it coming from?’

  ‘Don’t worry about it. When I approached the Irish Directory with my plan, they were falling over themselves to put up the money. This is just the beginning, Dev. If we can get you out, why not the others? There are already plans afoot to rescue Smith O’Brien from Maria Island.’

  ‘The authorities in Hobart Town might respond by revoking the paroles of the other prisoners. They’ll be waiting for us next time.’

  ‘You know the British – they’ll be so mulvathered that we were able to do it once, they won’t expect us to try the same thing again – and again, and again. And even if they are, we can outfox ’em every time. God knows, it’s not difficult. We’ll make ’em the laughing stock of the whole world! Holy Mary, what wouldn’t I give to be here t
o see Price’s face when he finds out I’ve spirited you away!’

  Cusack shook his head grimly. ‘You don’t want to be here when that happens. The man’s astray in the head. The things he does to the other convicts… not that he ever dared to lay a finger on me, no matter how much I provoked him, although I got the feeling he’d’ve liked to.’

  ‘You can tell me all about it on the way to San Francisco.’

  ‘San Francisco,’ mused Cusack. ‘And where the divil might that be? Mexico?’

  ‘Jesus, Dev!’ exclaimed Fallon. ‘You have been out of circulation for a long time, haven’t you? California? The Gold Rush?’

  ‘I heard something about that,’ admitted Cusack. ‘It’s true, then? More gold than Tom Tiddler’s ground?’

  Fallon grimaced. ‘Not exactly. But there’s plenty have already made their fortunes several times over, and more on their way. San Francisco’s crowded with prospectors right now: Yankees, negroes, Chinese… and lots of Irish. Just about everyone who emigrated to America during the Hunger is now heading west to California.’

  ‘What ship is it?’

  ‘The Lucy Ann – a Yankee whaler. I got the impression this isn’t the first time her skipper’s turned his hands to a bit of dirty work.’

  ‘Is he trustworthy?’

  Fallon grinned. ‘I’d be suspicious of the morals of any man who agreed to break a convicted traitor out of a penal colony. He’s got no great love for the British, that much I do know.’

  Cusack glanced at Wyatt and the other convicts. ‘One thing I’ve learned, my enemy’s enemy isn’t always my friend.’

  ‘True enough. He’s a mercenary divil, to be sure.’

  It did not take Swaddy long to winch the boat up to the level of the cliff edge. The whaleboat was nearly thirty feet long, tapered at both ends, with four oarsmen – three white men, and a Polynesian – sitting on the thwarts, and a fifth man at the tiller. Except for the steel hook where his left hand should have been, the man at the tiller did not look prepossessing; but then neither (in Cusack’s opinion, at any rate) had Killigrew.

  ‘Well, Mr Fallon!’ the man at the tiller declared in an American accent. ‘This is quite a reception committee you’ve arranged for us. Who are the lucky two who get to come to California with us?’

  ‘We’re all coming,’ said Wyatt.

  ‘Are you now?’ The man smiled. ‘I think my boys might have something to say about that. Explain it to him, boys.’

  The four oarsmen abruptly snatched muskets from the bottom boards and presented them at the convicts.

  ‘I don’t like to be double-crossed, Mr Fallon,’ explained the man at the tiller.

  ‘It wasn’t his doing,’ said Wyatt. ‘We insisted he take us. You’re Captain Quested?’

  The man at the tiller glanced at Fallon. ‘You told him my name?’

  ‘I didn’t think—’

  ‘You’re right,’ agreed Quested. ‘You didn’t think. You’re a halfwit, Fallon. Now he can identify me, if we leave him behind… alive.’

  Wyatt pulled back the hammer of his revolver and levelled it at Quested’s head. All four oarsmen pointed their muskets at the convict.

  ‘For God’s sake!’ pleaded Cusack. ‘Killing each other isn’t going to resolve anything. Could we at least settle our differences until we get on board your ship? The garrison’s on its way here even as we speak, not to mention the Tisiphone.’

  Quested glanced back at Fallon. ‘The Tisiphone’s still here?’ Fallon shrugged awkwardly. ‘They came here under sail power alone. It took longer than I expected…’

  ‘Spare me your pathetic excuses,’ sneered Quested. ‘You’re worse than a half-wit, Fallon. You’re a quarter-wit! Maybe I should cut my losses and leave all nine of you here on this island.’

  Wyatt grinned. ‘And how are you going to winch the boat back down to the sea?’

  ‘You’re right,’ allowed Quested. ‘We do seem to be in something of a predicament, don’t we? What’s your name?’

  ‘Ned Wyatt.’

  ‘Are you the leader of these men?’

  Wyatt nodded.

  ‘Oh-kay, Mr Wyatt. You seem like an honest guy, to judge from the way you owned up to forcing Fallon to bring you. Although I don’t doubt that’s what you wanted me to think when you did it. But I’m willing to cut you a deal. It so happens I’m four hands short at the moment—’

  Fallon opened his mouth to protest, but Quested waved him to silence. ‘Oh, I’ve got more than enough men to work my ship to California; but I was kind of hoping to do some whaling on the way, cut my losses on this voyage. For that I need a full complement. Maybe the six of you can take the places of the four men I lost in Hobart Town. So here’s the deal: I’ll take you all to ’Frisco with Mr Cusack and Mr Fallon, but it will be a working passage. You’ll take your orders from me. If any one of you or your friends gives me any trouble, he goes over the side. There is but one God in Heaven and one master on board the Lucy Ann, follow me?’

  Wyatt nodded. ‘Mister, you got yourself a deal.’

  ‘Don’t get too enthusiastic, Mr Wyatt. I have two more conditions that require your agreement yet. First, your gun. Now.’

  Wyatt laughed hollowly. ‘You must be joking!’

  ‘Only my men carry guns on my ship.’

  The convict hesitated. ‘What’s the second condition?’

  Quested held out his hand. ‘The gun first. Believe me, the second condition is not negotiable.’

  ‘Don’t give it to him, Ned!’ protested Jarrett. ‘You don’t think we can trust this fellow, do you?’

  ‘We don’t have any choice, Speeler.’ Wyatt handed the revolver to Quested and stepped back from the brink, spreading his arms wide. ‘Now you’ve got all the guns, Captain. What are you going to do? Shoot me?’

  ‘You’ve got sand, Mr Wyatt, I’ll say that for you. Sand… and brains.’ Quested tucked the revolver inside his coat. ‘The second condition is that there isn’t room for all nine of you in this boat. Two of you will have to stay behind – and even then we’re going to be dangerously overloaded on our way out to the Lucy Ann.’

  ‘We can make two trips, can’t we?’ asked Wyatt.

  ‘If I might remind you gentlemen, time is of the essence,’ ventured Fallon.

  ‘So let’s stop arguing about it and get on with it,’ said Quested. ‘Which two are staying behind?’

  ‘Oh, no you don’t,’ said Wyatt. ‘We’ll leave one of your men ashore, in case you have second thoughts about sending the boat back once we’re on board your ship.’

  ‘Oh-kay, but one of you will have to take his place at an oar.’

  ‘I’ll do it,’ said Vickers. ‘I can row.’

  ‘Give your oar to the gentleman and climb out of the boat, Jeffries,’ Quested told one of his oarsmen.

  ‘Why me?’

  ‘Because you ask too many stupid questions, that’s why. Now do as I say.’ Jeffries climbed out of the boat and Vickers took his place.

  ‘We still need one more man to stay behind,’ said Cusack.

  ‘I’ll stay,’ said Fallon.

  Cusack shook his head. ‘No, Mal. Not you. One of these gatecrashers can do it. ’

  Fallon smiled. ‘You want to try persuading them? Better I stay – all they’ll have on me is aiding and abetting a prison breakout. Besides, I told you I wanted to see Price’s face, did I not?’

  Cusack shook his head. ‘No, Mal! You don’t know what you’re saying!’

  ‘He stays,’ Quested snapped impatiently. ‘I don’t see anyone else volunteering.’

  ‘You’ll send the boat back for him?’ Cusack asked as he climbed into it.

  ‘Certainly. I might even send a couple of men with it. Jeffries and he can winch it to the top so they can get in, then my men will winch it down and climb down the cable. Oh-kay?’

  Cusack still did not seem convinced. ‘If anything goes wrong,’ Fallon told him, ‘if that navy sloop shows up on this side of the island, you tell
Captain Quested here to set sail and go without me, d’you hear?’

  ‘If a navy sloop shows up, I shan’t ask Mr Cusack his opinion before I set sail,’ Quested assured him. ‘What’s the heifer for?’ he asked as Mangal handed Mrs Cafferty into the boat.

  ‘Hostage,’ grunted Wyatt.

  ‘I don’t want a heifer on board my ship,’ said Quested. ‘Don’t you know it’s bad luck?’

  ‘It’ll be worse luck if that sloop turns up and we don’t have a hostage to protect us.’

  Quested looked inclined to argue, but he just scowled and banged the palm of his hand against the boat’s side. ‘We’re wasting time – lower away, Jeffries!’

  The sailor swung the derrick arm out beyond the rocks below, and started to turn the winch. The boat began its long, slow descent into the darkness. When they finally reached the water, they released the boat from the cat’s cradle and Vickers and the three oarsmen started to pull for the Lucy Ann. Mrs Cafferty sat wedged uncomfortably between Blake and Mangal in the stern sheets as the boat pitched over the white-capped waves in the darkness. The boat skimmed across the waves at an impressive rate, but they were severely overloaded and water splashed over the gunwales to gather around their feet.

  Quested picked up a bailing scoop and handed it to Blake. ‘Put that to some good use.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘What is it?’ echoed Quested. ‘It’s a bailing scoop, you half-wit.’

  ‘Why me?’

  ‘Stop arguing, Swaddy, you idle bastard, and do as he says,’ snapped Wyatt. ‘You heard what he said. While we’re on his ship, we do what he tells us. I’d say now would be as good a time to start as any.’

  As Blake began to bail, Quested nodded thoughtfully. ‘I like your attitude, Mr Wyatt. Keep it up and I think you and I are going to get along just fine.’

  It was not long before the Lucy Ann loomed over them out of the darkness, a three-masted barque a little over a hundred feet in length, with three more whaleboats hanging from the davits on her port side. Quested steered the boat around the whaler’s stern, and Mrs Cafferty expected to see two more boats on that side, but there were none, just an empty pair of davits for the boat they were currently in. Vickers and the other oarsmen manoeuvred the boat until she was immediately below the starboard gangway, where a long section of the bulwark seemed to be missing beneath a kind of scaffolding that hung out over the water.