cramped surroundings, all it took to alter the mood of these men was a slim prospect of a prize and a bit of money. The men fighting the wheel and rudder were probably the same and that led him to the conclusion that he was probably wasting his time in his efforts to undermine Colbourne’s authority.
It was Littlejohn who answered Michael’s question. ‘Gravelines is the port the East Coast smugglers make for to pick up their goods. The town lives off such trade and it’s castle pennant is known to all.’ He then called to Latimer.‘Reckon she stuffed with brandy and lace, do you?’
‘Not this far down Channel, mate, when there’s a crossing to the Kent coast that can be done in a night even on a headwind. No, she’ll be armed and prize hunting, and if she’s new out she’ll be crammed to the gunnels, so let’s hope she is not fresh for if she is, we’ll have a right fight on our hands.’ If that was intended as a warning of possible tough times ahead it had no effect. ‘Mind,’ Latimer added, ‘if she can stay out of range till nightfall, which will come early given the cloud, she might just get clear.’
‘Then it be best we crack on and bring her to,’ called Blubber.
‘God forbid with this wind,’ said Littlejohn quietly.
The hatch above Pearce’s head was lifted and Midshipman Bailey’s voice rang out. ‘All hands to make sail.’ That was followed by another stream of cold green seawater.
‘Christ Almighty! Make sail,’ crowed Blubber, as jolly as ever. ‘Old Coal Barge must have heard me.’
There was an eagerness to the way the crew ascended the companion ladder that had been lacking this last week; clearly nothing that anyone said would puncture their love of a fight. Colbourne was back on the quarterdeck, speaking trumpet in hand, to direct things as the Pelicans found themselves, soaked once more, hauling on the falls to bring round and hold the upper yard so that the topmen could get on to it from the shrouds, this while the rudder was eased to allow the ship to fall off on to the wind. If the weather had changed, apart from the lack of teeming rain, Pearce could not detect it; the wind seemed as strongas it had been previously, so loud through the rigging that it was a permanent, near-deafening whistle.
The topmen went aloft with all the assurance on which they prided themselves, acting as if the ship was on a mill pond, making John Pearce grateful for his lowly, landsman rating. Even running before the wind Griffin was heaving fore and aft and what he felt on deck would, he knew, be exaggerated ten times aloft. Spreading out along the yard the topmen lent over and quickly, on command, they undid a set of knots to let a reef out of the topsail, that followed by a command to those on the falls to sheet it home. The effect of that was immediate as the bows, pressed so much harder, went right under the first wave they met, washing aft two of the gun crew, who had been left at their post, leaving the rest hanging on for dear life. One was brought up by a second cannon, the contact so painful that his scream could be heard clearly above the noise of wind and rigging. The second had good luck, missing that same obstacle by a whisker and being washed towards the open hatch from which the crew had just emerged. A desperate hand got hold of the edge and brought him to, while others grabbed for his hurt companion to hold him from pitching toward the bows as they dropped into a trough.
‘Topmen down,’ Colbourne yelled.
As soon as that order was obeyed, with those sailors still on the shrouds, he ordered the yard braced round and the helm ported so that they could come back into the wake of the chase. Not that anyone could see a wake; in fact as soon as the they hit the base of the trough all theycould see was a wall of water, into which disappeared the bowsprit, followed once more by the bows, deeper than they had been hitherto.
‘Saints in heaven,’ Michael screamed, ‘The
It was Littlejohn who answered Michael’s question. ‘Gravelines is the port the East Coast smugglers make for to pick up their goods. The town lives off such trade and it’s castle pennant is known to all.’ He then called to Latimer.‘Reckon she stuffed with brandy and lace, do you?’
‘Not this far down Channel, mate, when there’s a crossing to the Kent coast that can be done in a night even on a headwind. No, she’ll be armed and prize hunting, and if she’s new out she’ll be crammed to the gunnels, so let’s hope she is not fresh for if she is, we’ll have a right fight on our hands.’ If that was intended as a warning of possible tough times ahead it had no effect. ‘Mind,’ Latimer added, ‘if she can stay out of range till nightfall, which will come early given the cloud, she might just get clear.’
‘Then it be best we crack on and bring her to,’ called Blubber.
‘God forbid with this wind,’ said Littlejohn quietly.
The hatch above Pearce’s head was lifted and Midshipman Bailey’s voice rang out. ‘All hands to make sail.’ That was followed by another stream of cold green seawater.
‘Christ Almighty! Make sail,’ crowed Blubber, as jolly as ever. ‘Old Coal Barge must have heard me.’
There was an eagerness to the way the crew ascended the companion ladder that had been lacking this last week; clearly nothing that anyone said would puncture their love of a fight. Colbourne was back on the quarterdeck, speaking trumpet in hand, to direct things as the Pelicans found themselves, soaked once more, hauling on the falls to bring round and hold the upper yard so that the topmen could get on to it from the shrouds, this while the rudder was eased to allow the ship to fall off on to the wind. If the weather had changed, apart from the lack of teeming rain, Pearce could not detect it; the wind seemed as strongas it had been previously, so loud through the rigging that it was a permanent, near-deafening whistle.
The topmen went aloft with all the assurance on which they prided themselves, acting as if the ship was on a mill pond, making John Pearce grateful for his lowly, landsman rating. Even running before the wind Griffin was heaving fore and aft and what he felt on deck would, he knew, be exaggerated ten times aloft. Spreading out along the yard the topmen lent over and quickly, on command, they undid a set of knots to let a reef out of the topsail, that followed by a command to those on the falls to sheet it home. The effect of that was immediate as the bows, pressed so much harder, went right under the first wave they met, washing aft two of the gun crew, who had been left at their post, leaving the rest hanging on for dear life. One was brought up by a second cannon, the contact so painful that his scream could be heard clearly above the noise of wind and rigging. The second had good luck, missing that same obstacle by a whisker and being washed towards the open hatch from which the crew had just emerged. A desperate hand got hold of the edge and brought him to, while others grabbed for his hurt companion to hold him from pitching toward the bows as they dropped into a trough.
‘Topmen down,’ Colbourne yelled.
As soon as that order was obeyed, with those sailors still on the shrouds, he ordered the yard braced round and the helm ported so that they could come back into the wake of the chase. Not that anyone could see a wake; in fact as soon as the they hit the base of the trough all theycould see was a wall of water, into which disappeared the bowsprit, followed once more by the bows, deeper than they had been hitherto.
‘Saints in heaven,’ Michael screamed, ‘The
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