Under the Jolly Roger
Page 42
His eyes flutter open as he looks up at me. "I stood up, Jacky. I did. I ... I stood up." His eyes close again.
"I know you did, Georgie," I blubber, my tears falling on his bloody face. "I know you did." I hold him and rock him and keen, "I know you did," over and over and over.
All the survivors are on the boats now and next to us the Wolverine sighs, turns over, and slips quietly under the sea. The boats make for a ship that is taking on wounded from other ships. There is a floating platform tied alongside and a gangway leading from it to the deck, so that the wounded can be brought more easily aboard.
The other boat gets there first and takes off its wounded. Jaimy's on that boat and I see him going up. The rest of that boat's men go aboard and now it's our turn. Captain Trumbull is in my boat.
I hand Georgie up to men who take him and go up the ladder. I give Tom's shoulder a squeeze as he goes over. The other men file out, and then it's just me in the boat with the Captain. He gets out and stands on the platform and looks back at me sitting there in my grief and sorrow.
"Please don't put me back in a cage, Sir," I say wearily. "Please let me help take care of my friends. I promise not to escape again. You can take me back to London."
He reaches down and unties the bowline of the lifeboat from the cleat. He puts his foot on the front of the boat. "We take care of our own, Miss," he says, and he shoves off the lifeboat, sending it, me, and 250 pounds sterling drifting backward.
"The prisoner escaped during the heat of battle. Good-bye ... Lieutenant Faber," and with that, he turns and he goes up the ladder.
In wonder and with thanks, I again take the tiller and pull in the mainsheet. The sail fills and I'm off.
Where shall I go? I wonder. I can't go over there to Spain. I can't go back to England as there's a price on my head. Then I know.
I set my course westward and am under way when I look back and see Jaimy standing at the rail of that ship looking out at me. It's too far to say or shout anything, so I stand up in the stern of the boat and put my arms out to my sides and make the semaphore signals.
Jaimy reads them and nods and puts his own arms to his sides and starts to signal and he manages to signal the letter I before a burning hulk of a ship comes between us and I see Jaimy no more.
I sit back down and steer for the west. Oh yes, and the letters I signaled to him were:
BOSTON