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  Once Lord Ragland had departed, Sir Victor turned back to Anthony and Bart. “You realize this mission is probably our last chance to get some very key people back before their identity is discovered and they are hanged as spies.”

  Seeing the look on Anthony and Bart’s faces, Sir Victor nodded. “Yes, we have men who could ruin us to save their own necks if they were to choose to do so.”

  “Does the war depend that much on these individuals?” Anthony asked.

  “Yes…well no. Damme sir, but the war is lost.”

  Lord Anthony looked stunned.

  Then, agitated at his loss of control, Sir Victor poured himself another glass. “The damnable politicians have looked at this war as a lark. Not really willing to supply the forces or provide the resources to bring a quick end to the conflict. Meanwhile, the French have been rebuilding their navy and biding their time. Now it’s here. With their alliance with the Colonials they have been given the perfect opportunity to settle some scores from the Seven Year War. We cannot protect our borders at home and fight a long distance war. If something is not done soon we could be forced to dine on frog stew.”

  Chapter Three

  The door opened and Bart padded into the captain’s cabin aboard HMS Peregrine. After spending the last few years aboard a flagship he’d forgotten how small the space was aboard a frigate.

  HMS Peregrine was one of the larger frigates of the time. It was larger than Lord Anthony’s first frigate but smaller than HMS Drakkar, which had been a razed sixty-four, turning the ship into a heavy frigate of forty-four guns. Thinking back, it was hard to believe all the water that had gone beneath the keel since that time. His Lordship’s brother, Gabe, had been a midshipman on Drakkar and now here he was a captain in command of HMS Peregrine. Lord Anthony had just put his boots on and looked Bart’s way. Eyeing the two jugs in Bart’s hand, he said, “I hope one is coffee.”

  “Aye,” Bart replied. “The other is hot water for yew’s shave.”

  “How are things on deck?” Anthony inquired.

  Setting the jugs down, Bart was about to shout for Silas to fetch his Lordship a cup but recalled, just as he opened his mouth, that Silas was back aboard the flagship.

  “Mr. Gunnells says it’ll be another roaster,” he informed Anthony.

  Bart had been facing Lord Anthony as he was speaking and therefore didn’t see Nesbit, Gabe’s servant, as he entered the pantry. The two collided, with Nesbit hitting the deck with a thud.

  “Clumsy oaf,” Nesbit hissed. Bart couldn’t believe his ears. Clumsy oaf!

  “You little bugger,” Bart snarled. “For a man sitting on his arse you got a lot of wind and I’m the salt what will take some of that wind out of yews sails.”

  “Bart.”

  “Aye.”

  “Leave Gabe’s man alone.”

  “Don’t worry, my Lord. It’s too early to keelhaul this poor Christian soul.” With that Bart strode out of the captain’s cabin.

  Something’s definitely amiss with Bart, Anthony decided as he walked over to help Nesbit to his feet.

  “I apologize for Bart’s behaviour,” Anthony offered. “He’s usually not like this.”

  Nesbit didn’t know how to respond. He had never had a cross word with Bart so he knew his Lordship was right. However, what amazed him the most was his Lordship actually cared enough to apologize.

  Making his way on deck, it was light enough for Anthony to make out a group of officers on the quarterdeck. Bart and Dagan were sitting on the taffrail. Hopefully Dagan will help Bart work out whatever ails him, Anthony thought as he made his way to the quarterdeck.

  Gabe had his back to his brother but the gentle nudge and eye movement by Lieutenant Davy did not go unnoticed. Even if the admiral was the captain’s brother he was still the admiral. A good officer Lieutenant Davy, Anthony thought. His actions show loyalty. An officer who was trying to seek favour with the admiral and having an axe to grind with the captain would have waited until the admiral was present and then make a show of greeting him.

  “Good morning, my Lord,” Gabe greeted his brother in the official manner. “Wind is almost directly astern and blowing to the north-northeast. Mr. Gunnells promises a blistering day. Except for Dasher and Pegasus, the horizon is free of sails.”

  “Very well,” Anthony replied to the report. “Any word as to whether our passenger has roused out as yet?”

  “No, my Lord. Lieutenant Lavery said he could hear snoring when he passed his cabin. I would say Sir Victor is sleeping a peaceful, much needed and deserved sleep.”

  “Aye,” Anthony agreed.

  From the conversation last evening, Sir Victor had confided he’d not had many peaceful sleeps of late. There had been several attempts on his life. He wondered if somebody didn’t want this prisoner exchange to take place. Who and for what reason was yet to be discussed. Unless…they had a spy in the midst of the prisoners that was having success gaining and passing information. Or was he just being jumpy?

  Lord Anthony had offered to share Gabe’s cabin with the Foreign Office gentleman but Sir Victor had declined and borrowed the first lieutenant’s cabin. Gabe had slept in the chart room but the three men had taken their dinner together. Nesbit’s cooking was not to be passed up. Thinking of the evening meal, Anthony looked at the officers, Gabe’s officers, standing but not speaking. Protocol demanded they remain until dismissed by the admiral. I’m in the way. He thought, these men have their duties to attend. I know how Gabe must feel. I wish the admiral would go below so we could go about our routine. Gabe would never say a word but Anthony knew what he was thinking. It hadn’t been that long ago he’d been standing in the captain’s shoes and thinking I’d give anything if the admiral would just go below. Well, he wouldn’t keep Gabe and his officers in agony any longer; he’d go below. Besides, Nesbit was sure to have something to tempt the palate.

  “Captain, I think I shall go break my fast. If you have the time, please join me.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Bart.”

  “Aye sir.”

  “Shall we break our fast?”

  “Aye,” the burly cox’n replied and started toward his admiral.

  Anthony was almost to the companionway then as an afterthought turned. “Captain, if Sir Victor wakes before the noon meal, extend the invitation for morning coffee to him as well.”

  This brought a smile to all within hearing. A little jape at the Foreign Officer’s expense would do no harm.

  * * *

  Mr. Gunnells, the master, gripped the quarterdeck rail and peered blindly into the foggy abyss. “Damn this mist,” he snarled.

  Gabe said nothing as he watched the mist drip from his hat. They should have raised the Florida coast off Saint Augustine at dawn. He listened as the leadsman standing in the chains heaved the lead and, marking the depth, called out his findings from the weather side of the ship. The crashing surf could now be heard.

  Looking aft and to the starboard, Dasher would appear and disappear like a ghost in the fog. Pegasus had not been spotted. An early morning fog was not unusual in these waters at this time of year but this was lasting longer than expected. The sound of the crashing surf had the crew on edge.

  Turning to Midshipman Hawks, Gabe ordered, “My compliments to the admiral and I think I’ll anchor and wait till this soup clears before closing with the land.”

  “I’m here, Gabe.” Anthony had made his way on deck without being spotted; every eye was concentrating on the fog. Catching his brother’s questioning look, Anthony replied, “She’s your ship, Captain.”

  Nodding, Gabe turned to the first lieutenant. “Mr. Lavery, prepare to anchor. Mr. Ally.”

  “Aye sir.”

  “You profess to have a good set of lungs. Take yonder speaking trumpet and see if you can raise Captain Markham aboard Dasher. We need to advise them of our anchor…else he’s likely to run his jib boom right up our arse.”

  “Aye, Captain, alert them I will.”r />
  Once Dasher was alerted to anchor, the ship took on an eerie silence. Looking skyward, not a thread of sunlight seemed to penetrate the fog. The slapping sounds of waves lapping against the hull and the groan of timbers as the ship tugged on its anchor cable added to the mystique. It was like a phantom. Not a man whispered as each listened and waited.

  It was Ally who broke the silence and was hushed by his fellow midshipmen. Ignoring Hawks, Ally made his way to the nearest officer. “Lieutenant Davy, sir…Lieutenant Davy,” Ally whispered.

  “Yes, what is it, Alejandro?”

  The use of his full name was not lost on the midshipman. “Permission to speak to the captain, sir.”

  “Speak to the captain?” Lieutenant Davy asked, not believing what he’d heard. The immediate reaction was to deny permission but the look on the youth’s face made Davy reconsider. “Very well, young sir, follow me quietly.”

  Gabe could see the two approaching the quarterdeck. “Yes,” he asked without giving the two a chance to speak.

  “I’m…I’m sure I heard the sound of small arms to larboard, sir.”

  Gabe had never known the boy to speak lightly so he believed him. Almost like magic, Dagan appeared.

  “I think the boy is right,” he said.

  “Mr. Lavery.”

  “Sir.”

  “I want you to take a boarding party in two longboats toward the sound of gunfire. Alejandro will be your guide. Mr. Wiley, send a boat over to Dasher and let them know what’s about.”

  “Aye Captain.”

  The longboats were put over the side quickly and quietly. Seeing Dagan about to go over the rail, Gabe spoke, “You don’t have to go.”

  “Might help the boy if I did.”

  Gabe nodded. His lieutenants may question Alejandro but they’d never question Dagan. Turning back Gabe saw his brother standing. Damme, he thought, I didn’t even ask his permission. He then recalled his brother’s words: She’s your ship, Captain. Well, this went a bit farther than anchoring so he’d better inform his…ah…the admiral as to his actions.

  Chapter Four

  Dagan watched as the armed men quickly lowered themselves into the longboats. Tough, seasoned men, every jack tar, marine, and officer. Lieutenant Lavery had instructed Mr. Ally to take the lead as he had a better sense of the direction the sounds had come from. Taking his job seriously the midshipman sat down next to the tiller, “Cast off. Out oars, give way all.”

  Sitting in the stern sheets Dagan wiped the mist from his eyes and strained to hear anything that would direct them in this hellish fog. Toward the bow of the boat somebody’s hands slipped off his oar, causing another to chuckle.

  “Silence there,” Ally hissed, iron in his voice.

  “A boat, fine to larboard,” the bowman called, his voice barely a whisper.

  “Up oars,” Ally ordered.

  The movement of the boat slowed significantly and soon the other longboat with Lieutenant Lavery was up to them.

  “The buggers are going to ram us!” the man sitting next to Dagan cried out. But the look on Dagan’s face silenced him before he could say more.

  The men rested on their thwarts, letting their muscles relax from rowing. When alongside, Lieutenant Lavery’s men hooked on to the other longboat. Ally told of sighting the boat just ahead. Nodding, the lieutenant started to speak when another gunshot broke the silence, then a second.

  “Move out with caution,” Lavery ordered. “We’ll stick close.”

  The men were all alert now. There was no doubt as to what Mr. Ally had heard. They were headed in the right direction, but the exact bearing and distance could not be judged. The men had only been at their oars for a few minutes when the bowman again called out.

  “Something’s in the water.” Before the bowman could get his boat hook, it thudded into the bow, causing ripples of waves to slosh inboard. Taking the boat hook and pulling on the object the bowman gave a sudden gasp.

  “What is it?” Ally hissed as he stood up to see better, taking Dagan’s offered hand to help maintain his balance.

  “It’s a man…a dead man, sir.”

  Gazing at the naked corpse it dawned on Ally that the man had a third eye. He still had powder burns on his forehead where he’d been shot at point blank range. The men stared at the man’s dead fixed eyes.

  “Why did they strip him?” Ally asked.

  “Wanted his uniform,” Dagan replied. “They shot him in the head so as to not ruin it.”

  Turning aft to seat himself, Ally watched as Lieutenant Lavery and his crew looked on spellbound as the body floated past.

  “Can’t be far,” Dagan advised. “Body was not stiff yet.”

  This news sent a shiver through Ally as he firmly gripped the tiller. As the boatmen took up the oars Dagan touched Ally’s hand and nodded. The boy had gripped the tiller so hard his knuckles had turned white.

  In the distance voices could be heard: curses, shouts, and then a scream followed by a splash.

  “Another one done for,” someone volunteered.

  “Silence in the boat,” Ally responded.

  “A ship…a small ship,” the bowman called.

  “Ease your helm,” Dagan whispered to Ally.

  “Toss your oars,” Ally ordered.

  Lieutenant Lavery drifted up as voices could clearly be heard coming from the dense fog.

  “A small ship directly ahead,” Ally reported.

  Lieutenant Lavery spoke, looking to Dagan. “Come up on both sides and board her from two directions?”

  “Aye. I think that would be best,” Dagan replied.

  “Give me a five minutes head start,” Lavery said. “However, if we’re spotted you row like hell.”

  “Aye sir,” Ally replied then asked, “In which direction?”

  Lavery looked thunderstruck for a moment then a smile creased his face. “To the sound of gunfire, you sod.”

  This caused a chuckle from the boatmen. Ally peered at his watch as Lavery’s boat disappeared into the fog. In five minutes he ordered the men to start rowing. The fog, which had been their enemy, was now on their side as they closed with the unsuspecting vessel.

  “She’s a pinnace, sir,” the bowman called again.

  “Probably used as a pilot’s boat or a guard boat,” Dagan explained.

  Suddenly they were alongside.

  “Ship your oars.”

  The bowman hooked onto the main chains without being told as Ally swung the tiller hard over. A loud clink came from the bow as a discarded wine bottle bounced off the longboat’s bow.

  “Damnation,” a voice cried out and a shot was fired.

  “They’ve spotted Lavery,” Ally said.

  Dagan held his fingers to his lips. “Quietly board her. Let them rush to the other side then we’ll attack once their backs are to us. Once we are aboard scream like bloody hell and watch for your mates with Lieutenant Lavery.”

  “I wished we’d tied on armbands,” Ally whispered.

  A lesson he’ll not likely forget, Dagan thought then wondered why he hadn’t suggested it before they left the ship. Silently the men boarded the ship while the rogues’ attention was drawn to the other side.

  Seeing the last man crawl over the rail, Ally shouted, “Attack…attack, at ’em lads.”

  Men rushed toward the enemy, screaming curses at the top of their lungs. Cutlasses waved in the air and another gunshot was heard. A mixed bag of rogues turned to face this new onslaught. A few clangs and grunts were heard and one yelled out in pain before slumping to the deck.

  Dagan parried a boarding pike then struck down his assailant. Another rogue hacked awkwardly and Dagan clubbed him with his pistol.

  “Stand fast!” Ally shouted. “Stand fast or die!”

  The fire in the midshipman’s commands brought the fight to a halt. In his Spanish accent Ally called out, “In the king’s name I order you to surrender.”

  That was the end of it. Hemmed in from both sides the rogues had
two choices: jump ship or surrender. They put down their weapons and begged mercy. Lieutenant Lavery walked over to Dagan, a grin on his face.

  “Regular fire-eater, Mr. Ally is.”

  “Aye,” Dagan replied. “More-n-likely mad at the delay in seeing his folks; had to take it out on somebody.”

  “Huzza! Huzza! Cheers for Mr. Ally.”

  “That’s something he won’t forget,” Dagan said.

  “Nor I,” Lavery added. Then he added, “Tell me, Dagan. When our midshipman yelled ‘In the king’s name’, do you reckon they knew which one he was talking about?”

  Thinking on Ally’s Spanish accent, Dagan replied, “I wouldn’t bet on it. My question is why the devils wanted the pinnace.”

  “Maybe we can find out,” Lavery answered. “Faced with a hanging, I’m sure some of them will find their tongue.”

  “Aye,” Dagan replied. “Might be after they’ve seen a mate dance on air but one of them will talk to save his skin.”

  Recalling the eyes of the floating corpse, Lavery shivered. “I’d hang a few of the whoresons regardless.”

  Nodding, Dagan cocked his head as he heard a rustle overhead. The wind has picked up. Won’t be long before the fog clears.

  Chapter Five

  Gabe smiled as the pinnace was brought into position alongside Peregrine towing the longboats astern. The wind had freshened and only small patches of fog remained. The prisoners were brought on board Peregrine and placed under guard of the marines while Lieutenant Lavery, Midshipman Ally, and Dagan went below to make their report.

  “The pilot and the pinnace’s master were both murdered outright and the mate was about to get his turn had we not shown up.”

  “Did you discover what they were after?” Lord Anthony asked.

  “Aye,” Lavery replied. “Ere…actually it was Dagan who came to the bottom of it.”

  “How so?” Lord Anthony asked.

  This brought smiles to Lavery and Ally. “It was actually a ruse,” Lavery volunteered. “We had the men lined up facing forward, and when nobody would speak up, Dagan called to Dunmore, a bosun’s mate, and said sling a noose over the yard arm. A few heads turned as a rope was slung over. Dagan ordered eyes front. I’ll shoot the next one that turns his head. Dagan then goes to the rear of the men and whispers to Dunmore again. Dunmore motions to a couple of his mates and they go take up station beside him as Dagan passes back and forth only pausing to give Mr. Ally and me a wink. He then says, ‘Lieutenant Lavery, I recall once when we captured a band of pirates his Lordship had to hang near half of the whoresons before he got one to talk. Started at the rear he did and had nearly a dozen doing the Newgate shuffle before some bloke broke down. It was a fine day for the sharks once we cut them down, course they didn’t know any difference. Mr. Ally, I said. Yes, Lieutenant Lavery. If that’s the way his Lordship handled it should we do any different. No, sir, Ally replied. Seems to me the way has been set. I nodded my agreement then spoke to Dagan. How would you proceed; Dagan, I asked. Dagan paused crossed his arms and rubbed his chin as if in deep thought. Finally he said you’re the officer, sir, but was it me I’d hang one of the sods just to let the rest know we mean business. Make it happen, I replied. Dagan then called to Dunmore again and said to hang that man and pointed toward the rear. Men went to turn but stilled themselves as Dagan cocked the hammer on his pistols. The men kept looking forward even though a hellish commotion went on behind them. Finally the man started to scream but soon the screams were choked off. I then told the men to face aft. Seeing a man swinging from a noose will loosen tongues quicker than anything I know. I ordered Dunmore to cut the man down and toss him over the side.”