The Delirium Passage Read online

  “It is. It’s about time to tell all the men where we’re going and what we’re up against – at least as much as I know of it. Call the men together. We’re on a steady tack now, so we should be able to bring everyone except the lookout and the helmsman on deck.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir.”

  The men assembled, and Dagleishe began: “We are going to rescue my wife and her friend Miss Marion Stillwater, from under the noses of the French Governor in Guadeloupe. Miss Stillwater’s fiancé, Captain Neville Burton, sailed from Jamaica a week ago with a cargo of rum for a ransom, but his ship is probably slower than ours. He is not fully aware of the danger he is in, although I assure you, he is probably a better fighting captain than I am.”

  Shouts of disagreement greeted his last statement.

  “You have been hand-picked by Lieutenant Morris for various skills. Our guise on entering Guadeloupe is that of privateers, which is to explain why we have so many men aboard. We must locate and coordinate with Captain Burton, who is acting Master of the merchant brig Elizabeth. I have charts of the island, but they don’t show much of the terrain inland. I hear they are quite mountainous. Lieutenant Morris will be called Mister Morris for the remainder of this mission. We don’t need the French to hear us calling him ‘lieutenant’. That’s all I have for you now.”

  Twenty man-o-war’s men hooted, slapped each other’s backs and cheered such things as “Let’s go eat frogs,” or “Kick ‘em back to France.”

  “Come below, if you please, Mister Morris. Let us think of ways to annoy the enemy.”

  In the first of several sessions they conducted during the passage to Guadeloupe, they discussed what they knew – or strongly suspected. “How can we help, Captain Burton?” was Morris’ first question. “If we were going in by ourselves alone, we would make a plan before we arrive, and just go at it. As far as I understand it, though, we have to rescue two women from some house and help Captain Burton to assist some others from a gaol, all while doing whatever mischief we can.”

  “Mischief is the last of our objectives, unless we have a great opportunity. Rescuing my wife and Miss Stillwater is first and assisting Captain Burton is second. Captain Burton should be viewed as having to take care of himself, although he doesn’t have the fighting men we do. So, we hope to coordinate.”

  “He’s gone a week ahead of us, you say. He may be gone when we reach Guadeloupe, then. I doubt the Frogs will let him stay in port more than a few days.”

  “We certainly are taking a chance, but it doesn’t worry me. If he has come and gone, someone in the harbor should be able to tell us, and we can depart as soon as we’ve come. So, yes, this might be all for naught.”

  “And if he’s there? We can’t start a war in the harbor. The chart shows a fortification here.” He tapped the chart.

  “No, we can’t do that if we want to live but… Oh, I’ve forgotten to tell you something. Several men from a British merchant ship, the Speedwell, were also captured and are being held in their gaol. Those are the ‘others’ Captain Burton is to bring.”

  Morris let his deep breath whistle through tight lips. “Now, we do have a bit of a twist in the knickers,” he said.

  “Not a war in the harbor, but maybe a fire for distraction. Did you bring a swimmer?”

  “Two, Sir. James and Thorpe.”

  “Does anyone speak French?”

  “Aye, Sir. Mister Legard is French, but he was raised in the Channel Islands.”

  “You’ve thought of it all, haven’t you?”

  “Tried to, Sir,” Morris said with a grin.

  “Keep thinking, then. We will probably need the diversion and, together with the Speedwells, we may have enough men to cut out some other small ship. That’s all for now.”

  19: Madame Dufour

  The same marine guard escorted Neville from the Governor’s mansion to the pier. When Neville dismounted, the guard took his horse and left him to walk down the pier to where he’d left his jolly boat. The lax security surprised him. The mounted marine did not seem to be watching him walk away.

  Two marines now guarded the Fleur de Lorient. There may have been two previously, with one below out of sight, but now one stood aboard on deck and one on the pier. They were waiting for the Speedwells to straggle off the ship. Three of them were on the pier and five were still aboard.

  Neville took the chance while walking by to quietly say, “Good evening, gentlemen,” in English.

  Those on the pier heard him. Their surprise at hearing English was obvious. One replied, “Good evening. Where are you from?”

  Neville stopped and faced him. The guard took notice. “Elizabeth, out there.” He pointed. “Privateer.” You’re from Speedwell, correct?”

  “Aye. Are you here for us?”

  “Not directly. How many are you?”

  The guard interrupted. “You not talk. Go,” he said.

  “Oui, mon ami,” Neville said

  “Eight,” said the Speedwell sailor. You’re cap...”

  “I am, but don’t say it, Neville interrupted quickly. As he turned to saunter away, he added over his shoulder, “We’ll get you a note,” and waved his hand. At the end of the pier, he hollered for his jolly boat. While he waited, the Speedwells were organized into a clump and marched away.

  While Neville waited for the jolly boat to row in, he took the opportunity to walk to the pier to take a brief look at The Fleur des Lorient. She was similar to the Elizabeth, but better armed. Four twelve-pounders were mounted: two on the bow, and two more amidships. All sails, except the main course, were furled. The missing sail had probably become the deck guard’s lounge. Deck repair work looked complete.

  He returned to the end of the pier. From where he stood, he saw a boat tied to Elizabeth, which he had assumed to be hers. But when another boat appeared from the other side of Elizabeth, the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. An anxious feeling crept over him as the jolly boat neared, even though he now recognized the rowers as Elizabeth’s men.

  The first words Neville uttered to the men when the boat arrived were, “Who’s aboard? I can see their boat from here.”

  The coxswain answered, “We dunno ‘oo he is, Master. Said he were a friend, though. Navy Captain, we thinks, by the way he carries ‘imself.”

  Neville climbed down the slimy ladder, stepped aboard, and sat in the stern. “No marines or weapons?” As the coxswain pushed the boat off the pier, Neville dipped his hands in the water to wash off the green goo.

  “No, but the boatmen look man-o-war-like to me – or pirates.”

  “Let’s get on. Who would come ship-visiting here?”

  Neville climbed Elizabeth’s ladder spryly and glanced about the deck. The small launch’s crew sat about the mainmast. They looked to him as described. The three looking his way knuckled their foreheads in salute, to which Neville nodded.

  Yes, Man-o-war’s men. No question. And they knew who he was, although none looked familiar.

  “Where’s my guest?” he asked Rawkins, who had been waiting for him at the top of the ladder.

  “Your cabin, Master. He insisted.”

  “My cabin, really? With a guard?”

  “Says he’s your good friend.”

  Neville was very much on alert when he walked below and pushed his cabin door open. Who he saw almost made his heart stop.

  “Neville!” yelled a familiar voice.

  “Joseph! How can this be?”

  Joseph jumped up and the two embraced like brothers who hadn’t seen each other in years. Neville was moved almost to tears. “I see you’ve brought some fighting men. What ship? Certainly not the Galatea. Ellen is fine. Better. Radiant, actually, but they are prisoners here, the both of them. How is Chester? Where did you get a ship? Chester didn’t have another. How…”

  “Whoa, Neville,” Joseph said. “All in good time. This is wonderful rum, by the way. I think you should sit and have a cup.”

  “Aye, aye, sir,” Neville said. He t
urned and yelled out the door, “Mister Rawkins, all’s well. We have reinforcements. Serve the boatmen each a tot, if you please.”

  Joseph poured a glass for Neville, to which Neville said, “Make yourself right at home, won’t you?”

  “I have, thank you. Here’s the story, Neville. I know most of yours from Mister Stillwater. And he’s well. Improving. But I have not seen him more than for a few days after you left. Galatea came to anchor the day after you sailed, as did another ship from here.”

  “From here? Oh. One with a letter for Chester, wasn’t it? I have only just learned of the letter this afternoon.”

  “Mister Stillwater has written to Barbados but we expect nothing to come of it. There is a new acting governor there whom Mister Stillwater does not know. So, it’s up to us, as I see it.”

  “I thought the same, although I had no idea Barbados was involved, at all.”

  “I doubt they are, really. Mister Stillwater borrowed my ship, the Pelican, from someone he knows is out of action for a bit. It’s a Bahamian-rigged sloop – wonderfully quick. When did you get in?”

  “Yesterday.”

  “Yesterday? I caught up a week on you, then. Your future father-in-law sends his apologies for the ship he offered you. He knows it is serviceable, but not so fast.”

  Over the next half hour, Neville described the situation he encountered in Guadeloupe, and Joseph gave detailed descriptions of his ship’s armament, capabilities of his men, and the thoughts he had on conducting a cutting-out raid.

  “I must go now, Neville. Dusk is coming on, and I should take a close look at the harbor in the near-dark.”

  “Where’s your Pelican?”

  “In the outer harbor. In case you weren’t here, I could have run off. The gendarmes came aboard, and I told them I came here for a privateering letter, but I had to repair steering before I dared enter the inner harbor. I’ll come in tomorrow morning.”

  “Good. Cheers, Joseph. I’ll need to have some words with my first mate, and I’ll write the note to Speedwell.”

  20: The Note

  Marion was still furious when she arrived at her room. Ellen followed. “I can’t believe it!” She banged her fist on the bed once, twice, three times. “Seeing Neville is the best thing that’s happened to us in months, but now even that has gone to rot.”

  “I can believe it. Captain Ernouf is nice enough, to a degree, but I don’t trust him. It made no sense to me when they sent the courier to Jamaica and didn’t put us aboard.”

  “I angered me also, but the ship had gone before we had a chance to object – and, of course, there’s Ernouf’s excuse.”

  “Don’t despair, Marion. You’ve seen Neville much more than I’ve seen Joseph in the last year. I certainly long to see him, but I haven’t just been teased with a glimpse and a short hug.”

  “Hug. Oh, yes, the hug. Neville passed me a note. He told me not to read it then.” She fished a small folded paper from her décolletage. “Just a minute… a minute… here.”

  My Dearest Marion,

  Don’t trust your host. We were ordered to unload and leave without you. Will try an escape soon. Need to know your guards - and the Speedwells’. My ship is the Elizabeth.

  All my love, Nev.

  “What do we do with it?” Ellen asked, “We know most of it, now. We must have more communication. How do we…”

  “Madame Dufour,” interrupted Marion. “I whispered her name to Neville during our last hug – after Ernouf told us we wouldn’t be allowed to leave – or to speak.”

  “You’re a genius, Marion. I love you all over again. We must consider what they will need to know to accomplish anything but getting themselves killed.”

  “Guards. It’s always about the guards.”

  “I’ve only seen two guards here – although we’ve not tried to go much of anywhere beyond the garden and the stockade.”

  “Verily, but there must be some… farther away, maybe. You know. I doubt there are guards for the likes of us,” Marion said.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “They’re for French prisoners, I expect. Those who have run afoul of the local laws or privateers who have robbed the wrong ship, I don’t know. There is a fort to guard the harbor. And they might guard the Governor against an errant lunatic, but where would we ‘guest foreigners’ go? Very few of us might speak French as well as you and me – and it’s an island. We may be suspicious simply as foreigners, but otherwise, who would care? The Speedwell guards already know us and that we go there for Mister Flood’s welfare. We can easily pass all the letters we want to him, and he can give them to Neville. I can’t believe Neville hasn’t found a way to contact the others.”

  “He’s just arrived. But, yes – Mister Flood. How does he escape?”

  “He’s quite a bit better last I saw him,” Marion said, “He has been practicing walking a bit with a cane.”

  “So, we must worry about ourselves, guards, the Speedwells, and Mister Flood. We can assume our heroes can take care of themselves – or we’ll all go in the bin. What message should we send?”

  “If they are in the harbor, and the Speedwells are in the yard, Neville should look to the Speedwells. I don’t know if the ‘yard’ means the ship is in… what do they call it…? ‘ordinary’, or… ‘drydock’… or if it’s floating – tied to a pier, do you?”

  “I think it’s time for a visit to Mister Flood, although he may not know the answer, either.”

  “He should. His mates will talk about it enough, surely.”

  “You know we’ll have to leave all our things – including your wedding dress.”

  “I’ll marry Neville in a sack if I must.”

  “I’ll begin the letter,” Ellen said. “We’ll take it to Mister Flood tomorrow morning.

  21: Knock-down

  “Please join me for breakfast, Mister Rawkins,” Neville said early the next morning. “I have some plans I’d like to discuss.”

  “It will be my honor, Master Burton. Something special from the galley?”

  “You may choose, Mister Rawkins, and I’ll join you – but for me, a plate of collops is as good as it gets. One hour from now, if you please.”

  “Penguin is moving into the harbor, Master,” Rawkins said, after he arrived in Neville’s cabin.

  “Excellent. Have a seat. Coffee?”

  “No, thanks, I’m a tea man meself.”

  “Wave for Mister Stiles, then, and let’s get started. We’ve talked about this at length, but the time has come, and we know much more about the situation than we did before. The ladies ashore will not be allowed to leave with us.”

  “I thought they are why we came, though, aren’t they, Master?”

  “Aye, they are. We’ll have to kidnap them, as it were. And I’ve been threatened by the Governor if I stay.”

  “A bit of a sticky wicket, ain’t it? What do we do?”

  “Your ship, Mister Rawkins, has a serious problem which will endanger us if it is not repaired.”

  “It does? What’s wrong? Nobody has reported it to me.”

  “I’m reporting it now. I begged a few days from the Governor to repair it. What’s broken? Something visible from shore.”

  “What’s broken? I just told you, Master, noth… Oh, I see.”

  Rawkins waited a moment before speaking. “Will you pass the salt, please?” he said. “The foremast, Master. I think it must be re-stepped.”

  “Very unfortunate. How long will this repair take?”

  “Three days, I should think. First we must…”

  “Can you do it in two?”

  “Maybe … Yes, yes. I think we could.”

  “That will be most important, because we need to depart the day after tomorrow.”

  “I’ll begin immediately after this last bite of ham.”

  After breakfast, Neville pulled a piece of paper from his desk drawer and wrote a letter to Master Carstens.

  Elizabeth, anchored to your port
>
  To: Master Carstens of Speedwell.

  DO NOT read this aloud to your men or announce it in any way that might cause a cheer. It is very important that everything appears normal. I intend to free you, as well as Miss Stillwater and Mrs. Dagleishe, two days hence. We must make all our arrangements today and tomorrow.

  I expect the French will come to unload our cargo today, and we will be making obvious repairs to be allowed to remain another day. There is far more help here than you know, but I need information from you. Exactly how many are you? What is the status of the ship you are working on? Is she fit to sail? If yes, what number of crew do you need?

  I suggest you respond by way of a crumpled paper in my empty ale tankard ‘unintentionally’ left on deck or the rail where it could be reached from the dock, or some similar ruse I can recognize.

  Pray,

  Ne. Burton

  Neville climbed the main stair to the deck, where he called for Elizabeth’s jolly boat and four men to row. He dared not take too many men from the repair work in progress forward. Scanning the harbor before leaving, he saw Penguin at anchor a cable beyond the pier. Between Elizabeth and Penguin, a barge moved slowly toward him. He walked forward to where Rawkins had organized the block and tackle to lift the foremast for re-stepping.

  “Mister Rawkins, the French are coming for our cargo, you see? I am going ashore to see if I can beg a small amount of water for our return passage. Afterwards, I intend to go ship-visiting with Penguin. When the French arrive, make it clear they must do the unloading themselves; your men are needed forward for the repair because we are under orders to leave at our earliest convenience.”

  “Aye, aye, Master Burton. I’ll be quite well chuffed to do so.”

  The high tide gave Neville a short and dry climb up the pier ladder. He told the men to wait, either on the end of the pier or in the boat, and not to make contact with the Speedwells unless someone beckoned them over without a guard watching. Even if that were to occur, only one should go. He began his walk toward shore. He held his note, folded as small as he could manage, and sealed with a tiny dab of blue wax to hold it shut, in his right palm. As he approached the Fleur des Lorient, he immediately knew his timing was inappropriate. Although three Speedwells stood on deck, one of the guards stood with them – the one who had shooed him away before. He stared at Neville and tapped his musket. His message was clear enough. Continuing along the pier, Neville saw a man approaching on foot. Even from this distance, he looked familiar.