Richard Testrake - (Sea Command 2) (15 page)

The second shot afterwards caused the door to sag as a hinge was shot away. When the pile of shot was almost gone, the door suddenly dropped to the ground as the last hinge went. Captain Aldrich and his Marines led the way, with the seamen supporting. As Mullins ran toward the entrance, sword in one hand, Manton pistol in the other, the expected volley of musketry did not come. The leveled bayonets of the Marines were a powerful deterrent to the defenders. Entering the courtyard, he saw the captive seamen swarming the guards, who were doing little to defend themselves, in view of their present situation.

The interior of the courtyard was filled with crude huts the men had constructed for themselves and Mullins asked the freed captives to ensure all of their people were out of the huts. With everyone accounted for, the enemy soldiers were searched for weapons, then driven into the forest. One of the freed captives told Mullins it would be hours before they could reach any force that could give their party trouble.

There were some badly injured men among the freed captives and all were hungry and some were sick. The men’s rations were shared out among the hungry and the wounded and ill-treated. All of the enemy weapons that could be found were gathered up and issued to any freed captives well enough to carry them. The men unable to march were loaded on the carts and wagons and the party set out. It went much slower than they had marched on the outbound trip, and Mullins called a halt in the late afternoon, still with several miles to travel.

Several bullocks were slaughtered for beef and the party rested until later in the evening. Mullins was concerned the enemy may have organized and could be on their trail, so the protesting men were aroused and the party set out, at a faster pace than previously.

They reached the beach early in the morning watch and found the boats awaiting. A scouting party sent out earlier had brought back word they were approaching. The vehicles and animals seized from the locals were returned to their owners, and the process of ferrying the survivors out to the ships began.

Mullins was in the last boat to leave the beach and reported to the commodore. It took hours to cover all of the details, then he had to explain why he had allowed Prince Adolphus to accompany the mission. The commodore was most displeased a relative of the King had been allowed to accompany the rescue party. He assured Mullins his own report would include this lapse.

As soon as he was dismissed, he found his boat crew and set out for Valkyrie. It was a tired captain that found his bed that night.

The incessant patrolling continued, fighting the weather as well as the enemy. As the spring weather approached though, the declining stocks of food and other supplies demanded attention. Supply vessels were sent out to the fleet, but it was often difficult or impossible to load those supplies aboard the ships desperately in need. Water was especially difficult to get aboard ship in the heavy seas. Ships and men wore out in the never-ending work at sea and the day came when Valkyrie received her orders to return to port.

Upon taking up her mooring, the hands spent the next few days unloading the ship and then were sent to an old, hulked second rate, serving as receiving ship. This was a part of coming home that Mullins disliked. Any ship ready to sail that needed men, could draw on these trained hands. When Valkyrie sailed again, she might very well be staffed with strangers or sweepings of the press.

At any rate, there was little he could do about it. The officers left in their own good time and soon all that remained on the ship were the standing officers, who would remain with Valkyrie as long as she was still in commission.

Now on half-pay, there was little to keep Mullins in Portsmouth, so he decided to take the mail coach to London. There, he could stay in the family town house and visit the Admiralty now and then to keep current on naval affairs.

It was a cold, raw day in early spring when he left Portsmouth. The roads would be bad with this spring mud, so he thought the trip might take more than a day to complete. He had a heavy boat cloak to keep him from freezing and the cook at the inn gave him two hot bricks from her oven to put under his feet. The driver up in the box was clad in a moth-eaten fur robe. He wore a top hat with a woolen scarf around his ears.

They started out easily enough, the driver wanting to spare the horses until they were thoroughly warmed up. Besides, several stops needed to be made to pick up passengers on the way out of Portsmouth. At the moment, Mullins was the only passenger, and he gloried in the privacy.

Soon enough though, they stopped at an inn on the outskirts and picked up two passengers. Both women, one was an ancient crone who looked as if she could curdle milk with her glare. The other, apparently her maid, was a likely looking young lass, much bullied by her mistress. No beauty, to be sure, but well worth a second glance on occasion. Much too young for him, her freshness was a welcome sight on a miserable day like this.

Trouble started early on. They sat in the coach with Mullins facing aft, looking at the two women. The elder women took umbrage at Mullin’s long legs and continually ordered him to move his feet out of her way. Mullins shifted over to sit across from the girl. Her legs were shorter and there was more room. Besides, the view was better here. However, the woman took offence at Mullin’s frequent glances toward the girl. To be fair, there was little else to gaze upon, the windows of the coach being covered with leather curtains to keep out a bit of the cold, At the next stop, she tapped on the roof with her cane to get the driver’s attention. The driver put his head through the leather curtain and wondered what was needed.

The crone loudly told the driver Mullin’s attentions to the girl were offensive and he must be put off the coach. The coachee asked the girl if she had any complaints to make. Red-faced with embarrassment, she made no answer, for which her employer loudly admonished her.

When the woman was told he was unable to remove a passenger purely on her unsupported complaint, she then changed course, asking the driver to compel Mullins to ride up on top with him. Mullins interrupted, saying he had paid for an inside seat and was going to stay where he was.

The journey continued in uncomfortable silence for several hours, interrupted by the crone with verbal attacks on her maid for stupidly forgetting to pack some item. Eventually, the woman seemed to fall asleep. Wishing to do nothing that might wake her, Mullins remained silent, hardly daring to move. At length, the coach came to a hill, for which the passengers were expected to dismount to ease the work of the horses. At the call of the coachee, Mullins and the girl dismounted into the cloying mud of the road. Mullins was prepared to help push the coach.

No amount of pleading would rouse the woman. The girl refused to touch her and Mullins had no intention to attempt to rouse the old biddy.

The coachman was made of sterner stuff, and reached in and touched her face. Leaving his hand there a moment, he withdrew it and announced, “She is stone cold dead!”

Having some experience with dead persons himself, Mullins now examined her. He then gently told the girl her employer was indeed dead and he was sorry for her loss.

With the horses straining and Mullins pushing from the rear, the coach made it to the top of the hill and they were presently at the next coaching inn. The death of the passenger was announced and the local magistrate was called. He confirmed her death was from natural causes and wondered what they wished to do with the body. If she was to be buried locally, burial expenses must be paid at once, otherwise the coach was free to transport the body to London. The magistrate took all their names, which was where Mullins learned the young woman’s name was Doris Walker.

Mullins, was not all that anxious to make the rest of the trip with a corpse, so he called the girl aside to ask for her ideas. She had no opinion, merely saying she had not been paid in weeks and was without funds. She said she was merely the servant of the deceased and had no knowledge of her affairs. Mullins explained the predicament to the magistrate who had no problems with searching the body and the victim’s luggage. Nothing more than a few coppers were found.

At an impasse, and wishing to continue the journey without the body, Mullins took the magistrate aside and stated that if the matter could be kept quiet, he would pay any needed expenses. He especially did not wish the girl to believe she was under any obligation to him.

After the secretive transfer of funds, the trip resumed. To make conversation, Mullins asked the girl if she had any plans. She told him she had no idea of what she would do. With no money, she could not afford even the simplest meal and what she would do for shelter upon reaching London, she could not imagine.

She refused to go into the next inn they stopped at because she would not be able to pay. Mullins paid for a plate of food and a pint of beer to take out to the coach. She initially refused to accept it, but Mullins told her the only course to take if she would not eat the food was to throw it out. In minutes, she cleaned the plate and drained the mug.

Deep in thought for the rest of the trip, Mullins pondered the problem. The idea of taking the girl in keeping was tempting, but he put the thought aside. This seemed to be a rather intelligent young woman, who had fallen on hard times. It was not his task to make life even harder for her.

After some thought, an idea came to him. When the coach reached a section of the road that was a little smoother and the constant jolting decreased, he turned to the girl.

“Miss Walker”, he said to the pensive young woman. “I happen to know a woman in London who is the head housekeeper for a townhouse owned by a wealthy nobleman. He rarely visits, but when he does, he likes everything to be in order. It is Mrs. Cooper’s task to keep the place up to his wishes.”

“Of course, I cannot speak for her, but I know she is often looking for people to do domestic housework. I doubt the work would be strenuous and her people live in the house and eat in the kitchen. If you wish, I could speak to her to see if she might have an opening.”

Doris immediately brightened with hope and said she would like to talk to Mrs. Cooper. Mullins said he would make it the first item on his agenda when they reached London. He told her he hated to spring this as a surprise on Mrs. Cooper, so would arrange for her to stay at a nearby inn for a day or so until matters could be settled.

A frown came over her face as she imagined the possibilities. Mullins hastily assured her that the inn she would stay at was run by a respectable family that would put up with no nonsense. Any bill that might be presented could be arranged to be paid later on, after she received her own wages. He mentioned that he would himself stay in other quarters. With no other options available, she reluctantly agreed.

The mail coach clattered up to its final stop in London in late morning. The exhausted couple got down and Mullins negotiated with the driver of a cabriolet to take them to the suggested inn. He had stayed here himself in the past and was acquainted with the publican and his wife. Out of sight of Doris, he handed the innkeeper some of the new paper currency and the publican’s wife showed her to her room.

Now by himself, he took the cabriolet to his father’s town house, where he embraced the housekeeper. She had known him since he was a boy and was well used to the escapades he was apt to indulge in. Mrs. Cooper sat him at the table, placed a cup of tea in front of him and demanded he tell her what he was up to this time.

Somewhat guiltily, he explained the situation with Doris Walker. He insisted he had no ulterior motives, just wished to see her in a safe environment. Mrs. Cooper reminded him of the young woman who had bilked him of hundreds of pounds just last year.

She then wondered how he would explain to her his frequent visits to the house. Mullins told her he regarded her as a good friend who would put him up gratis whenever he was in town, short of funds. Perhaps she could explain that to her new servant. Mrs. Cooper sniffed at such nonsense, but agreed to go on with the game.

“Mark you, young master. The first time I catch her sneaking out of the house with our silver in her satchel, she will be gone. And there will be no furtive nightly visits or I will be gone!”

Doris moved into the big house and soon had all the staff mesmerized with her youth and freshness. After some weeks with no instance of impropriety, even Mrs. Cooper was won over. The first sign of any discord happened when Doris received her first month’s wages. She asked for a few hours to take care of some personal business. The time being granted, she went to the inn where she had spent a day waiting for this new job, and attempted to pay her bill.

The publican turned her over to his wife who explained that young Captain Mullins had paid the bill and she owed nothing.

Outraged, she went back to the townhouse and told her troubles to Mrs. Cooper. Cooper revealed that Mullins was a decent young man, who was forever slaying dragons for young women. She assured Doris there was no harm in him, he just had more money than sense. She then told Doris, over a cup of tea, some of the escapades Mullins had been involved in. Satisfied she was not being used as some kind of pawn, Doris decided to keep her silence.

After a month of leisure, Mullins came down to breakfast one morning to have Doris place a silver salver in front of him. On the salver was a letter bearing the Admiralty seal. He had been expecting a call to take command of Valkyrie again, but apparently this was not the case. He was directed to call upon Secretary Evan Nepean at his earliest convenience. He doubted the Admiralty secretary would wish to see him over routine business. More junior functionaries handled that sort of thing.

Over the past month, the fiction that he was merely a guest in this house had been more or less discarded and while Doris did not know quite the whole story, she did know he was a wealthy captain in the Royal Navy who did not abuse young women. She knew he was no stranger to danger and would likely be going off to war sooner rather than later.

Doris was developing a fondness for this officer and was dreading the day he would leave. Apparently, this could well be that day. With his quarterdeck bellow, he called the staff of the house and directed his sea chest be packed and brought down. In the event of sailing orders, he wished to be ready. The hostler was notified to have the cart brought around for his call at the Admiralty. Hopefully, he would have more to tell them when he returned from his appointment.

Captain Mullins appeared early for his meeting with Secretary Nepean but was admitted to his office a few minutes later. Nepean was most cordial, but soon got the pleasantries out of the way.

“Captain, you have the reputation of being the naval officer one should approach when faced with a difficult problem. I see that you have had previous experience operating on the North African coast. The Navy has a difficult problem on its hands which I would like any advice you may be able to give me.”

Calling his clerk to bring in the chart, he went on to say. “The situation is this. On the coast we find a small cove and hamlet of a few hundreds of people. These people, as with most others along this coast, do whatever they need to do to keep alive. In addition, several pirate raiders make their base there. The local strongman has been well paid to refrain from attacking British shipping, although the rovers are not shy of attacking others.”

The chart was now spread on the table and Nepean pointed out the site. He continued, “In recent months, we have visited this place several times, purchasing cattle for our Mediterranean Fleet, always dealing with the local chief with no difficulty.”

However, as you have learned from your previous experience, one can never depend on the stability of these local rulers. As is frequent in these parts, a neighboring band has now seized control of the hamlet and the leader of that band has proclaimed himself as the Bey ben Mohamed. He controls the hamlet, its harbor and the lands surrounding it. Sooner or later, someone will slap him down, but for now, he is a thorn in our side.”

“Not realizing the change in administration, one of our transports, escorted by the gun brig Achilles, visited this place with a view to purchasing what cattle were available. As was customary, the native leaders, including this bey, were invited aboard the brig for the negotiations. These lasted into the evening, and after dark, several boatloads of tribesmen came alongside surreptitiously and swarmed aboard. With only an anchor watch on deck, they took control rapidly and the brig was lost.”

“During the fighting, a charge of powder below was exploded, tearing a hole in her bottom and sinking the brig in place. Unfortunately, the brig was in shoal water and on the bottom as she is, her deck is only a few feet under water.”

“We doubt the Moors will be able to salvage the brig, but her guns and equipment should be easily accessible to native divers. The Navy wishes to avoid having this equipment falling into the hands of Moorish pirates. What might you have to say about the possibilities?”

Mullins carefully examined the chart, paying close attention to the depths marked. Some of the tiny harbor was clearly too shallow to safely take a ship the size of Valkyrie. There was a deeper channel that could be used to enter but it would be necessary to remain an uncomfortable distance from the sunken brig. In the approaches to the protected cove, there was deep water right up to the harbor.

“Sir, what happened to the transport the brig escorted into the harbor? Is she still there?”

Nepean shook his head. “No, the transport’s master was wiser than the idiot commanding the brig. At the first sign of trouble, he cut his cable and sailed out of the harbor. The crew, by the way, of the brig were ransomed shortly afterward, those that were not killed in the fight.”

Mullins then wondered about possible gun positions on shore that might threaten salvage operations. Nepean assured him guns were unlikely, save possibly for some old Turkish antiques that might be hidden away. He reported any guns acquired by these people usually ended upon the decks of the ubiquitous raiders.

Thinking out loud, Mullins said, “I do not like the proximity of the wreck to the shore. Even without guns, tribesmen ashore could give us trouble with musketry fire from the beach. We will need to be able to put fire on any threat while we are salvaging what we can.”

Nepean said, “I seem to recall you commanded a gun brig similar to Achilles. Supposing we sent a pair of gun brigs into that harbor to offer support?”

Mullins agreed. “That should work admirably sir. For that matter, since the guns we are to retrieve are probably in only waist deep water on the deck of the wreck, we could use one of the brigs to hoist the guns aboard while the other stands over watch. Anything more than a pair of gun brigs will likely be superfluous.”

The secretary wondered, “What would you do about the wreck itself? There are doubtless articles, perhaps below deck, that we would not wish the Moors to have. It might even be possible, given enough time, for the locals to salvage the vessel. It would be desirable to prevent this.”

Mullins replied, “It is difficult to make definite plans from here, but perhaps we may be able to send down some sealed casks of powder, and blow up the wreck.”

“How would you set off this charge under water?”

Thinking for a moment, Mullins replied, “Since we will be working in shallow water, I believe we might lower sealed, weighted casks of powder through one of the hatches. A length of lead pipe long enough to reach the surface from the sunken charges will connect to one barrel. All joints sealed of course. Quick match down the pipe will fire the charges.”

Nepean pondered and said, “This seems to be a good plan to begin with. I realize circumstances may require modifications. Perhaps I may have a little addition to the plan. It occurs to me that a ship of force might come in handy here. As it happens, HMS Leviathan, 74, is here waiting to sail to the Med, where she is to join the fleet there.”

“Of course we would not wish to bring a liner into this small harbor, but perhaps if she anchored close offshore, where her guns could command the port, she could supplement the fire of the gun brigs. It happens that such a liner, now lies at anchor here in the Pool, manned and ready to sail, save for a captain. Captain Broderick has reported sick and has gone ashore. On my list of callers this morning, I see Captain Hennings wishes to see me about a ship. Do you know this officer?”

Mullins spirits dropped when he learned a post captain would be joining the venture. He had hoped to be in command of the force himself. Of course, this would be impossible with a senior captain present. However, he assured Nepean that Hennings would be an excellent choice and he was certain he could work efficiently with him.

Nodding, Nepean called for his clerk to fetch the captain. Hennings, when he came through the door proved to be a rotund, jovial sort. Mullins had met him casually before and knew him to be a capable, intelligent officer.

Both Nepean and Mullins arose to greet Hennings and the secretary asked the captain if he was familiar with the Achilles affair. Hennings said he was. Pondering a bit, he offered, “Gun brig sunk in a Moorish harbor? Bad show that was!”

Nepean explained, “Captain Mullins here is developing plans to salvage the guns from the sunken wreck, and hopefully destroy the remains so that it cannot be salvaged. He will take a pair of gun brigs into the enemy-held harbor to raise the guns.”

“While we know of no enemy gun positions on shore, there is probable musketry fire from the locals to consider. Captain Mullins believes it might be advisable to have a ship of force to lay offshore and provide cover for the brigs.”

“We have a 74 here in the Pool destined for duty in the Med. Captain Broderick of HMS Leviathan has reported sick and gone ashore. I understand he intends to retire. Now, Leviathan is manned and ready to sail but needs a captain. Would you be interested in the command? Leviathan would accompany the salvage force into the Med and lay offshore while Captain Mullins does his work.”

Captain Hennings accepted the command with enthusiasm. “Sir, I am sure Leviathan, under my command, will be able to give the salvage fleet all of the fire support they require.”

Nepean continued, “Of course, Captain Hennings, while at sea, you would be in command of the expedition, but once Mullins and his force enters the harbor, he will command the salvage fleet. After the successful mission, Leviathan would join the Mediterranean Fleet while the gun brigs will return to Britain, perhaps engaging in a commerce-destroying cruise on the way.”

“Captain Mullins, since you will be in effect, a commodore, commanding two gun brigs while you are in that harbor, perhaps we will leave your Valkyrie at home. I can always find a use for a well-kept sloop-of-war.”

“When you return successfully from this mission, we will see what ship we can find for you to command.”