Rogue Officer (2 page)

It came not from the mouth of the young man, who was now stone dead, but from one of his horrified companions. An equally youthful friend bent over the body. Tears were coursing down his cheeks. He cradled the limp corpse in his arms, rocking with it.

Deighnton stared in scorn at this exhibition of sentiment.

The dead boy’s friend wailed. ‘Danny, Danny, what will I tell them?’ Others bent down, solicitous. Faces were pale and drawn, turning to haggard.

A shaken surgeon unfroze and stepped forward, but in such a way as to indicate his services were useless. The young ensign had no life in him. His chest spurted blood on to the breeches of his seconds who tried to lift him up. Others began to assist. They carried the body off, away to a cluster of mango trees, into the shadows. There they could grieve outside the glare of disdain from the other camp.

Jack felt the Shockwaves coursing through him. Shock and fear. How swift it had been. One moment alive, the next gone. Quick, and then dead. Such a young man. He had probably been goaded into the duel. Now, because of a flash temper or a high sense of honour, his parents and sisters and brothers would be mourning. What a stupid thing to die for. Yet here was Jack, facing the same fate, for equally stupid reasons.

Deighnton had turned away from the carnage he had caused and was chatting idly to his cavalry friends. It was as if he had simply shot at bottles. There was not a spark of remorse evident. And now he planned to kill Lieutenant Jack Crossman with equal contempt for his life.

Jack’s legs felt weak. He could hardly find the strength to step forward to where his seconds stood. Could he do this? He had been in many battles, many skirmishes, where death was present. But this? It seemed like tossing life away. He was an idiot for agreeing to the duel.

Jack Crossman had tried everything to get out of this duel with Deighnton. However, the cavalry captain would have none of it. He had Fancy Jack Crossman in his sights and was not going to allow him to get out of them, unless of course Crossman trod his own honour into the dust, something the lieutenant could never do.

Out here in India honour was everything, even more so than at home. A man without honour lived a miserable friendless existence, rejected by all but the most understanding of close friends and family. A man without honour was nothing but a walking shell.

‘Have some coffee ready, Raktambar,’ said Jack as he stepped forward. ‘Not too bitter, if you please.’

He hoped his voice did not betray his fear.

The Rajput, who was acting as his second, nodded and signalled to one of the local men outside the village: a vendor carrying hot coffee in a container on his back. Raktambar was Jack’s ‘protector’, sent by the Maharajah of Jaipur, and since none of Jack Crossman’s men were of officer status, he was the only one permitted to attend the duel. Of course Deighnton had at first objected to him being present, but on reflection decided that it would be entertaining to shoot Crossman dead in front of his own man. Deighnton had scores to settle with Raktambar too. The captain had imprisoned the Rajput on false charges, but to Deighnton’s fury Jack Crossman had managed to get Raktambar released.

Deighnton now turned and stood on his spot, a fresh single-shot duelling pistol in his fist. He did not look at Jack and this made Jack wonder whether his opponent was also afraid. Surely he had to be? Yet Jack knew that there were some men who were completely fearless. They were very rare, but they did exist. It seemed that Deighnton was one of these.

A velvet-lined box was thrust under his chin.

‘Here.’

Jack stared at the pistol inside.

‘Take it,’ whispered the officer holding the box. ‘Quickly, before he sees you’re in a funk.’

The officer was not being unkind. He was being helpful.

Jack’s only good hand closed around the butt of the duelling pistol. He lifted it out. It was surprisingly light. A quick check revealed that it was ready to fire. What a pity. He might have claimed cheating. At the very least he would have gained another few minutes of precious life while he or someone rammed home a cartridge.

But the pistol was already primed.

Jack then took his place, his back to the broad-shouldered but shorter man. He could smell Deighnton’s sweat. Jack’s head began to spin. He shook it quickly, horribly worried that he would swoon.

‘Sir? Are you all right?’ asked the adjudicator.

‘Perfectly fine,’ croaked Jack. Then cleared his throat. ‘Let’s get this farce over with.’

‘Walk. One, two, three . . .’

His stiff legs moved mechanically. The lump in his throat turned to concrete.

‘. . . ten! Turn.’

He tried not to crouch as he turned around, tried not to cower, managed, thank God, to remain straight and tall.

‘Fire.’

He snatched at the trigger, dear Lord, when he should have squeezed it with great deliberation.

The shot went wide, over the left shoulder of his opponent.

A fatalistic feeling then swept over Jack. He expected to die and was now strangely at peace. He waited calmly for the pain to arrive.

It never came.

It was a full minute before he realized that Deighnton had already discharged his pistol. A misfire? Deighnton was at that moment inspecting his weapon with an annoyed and frustrated expression. Relief and dismay met in a confluence within Lieutenant Jack Crossman. On the one hand he was unharmed, on the other he would no doubt have to go through the whole thing once more.

He was just so glad they were Deighnton’s pistols, and not his, or the other officer would be bellowing about cheating by now.

‘Crossman,’ called Deighnton, looking up. ‘Apologies. We need to do it again now.’

Jack’s stomach turned over.
Do it again now?
He could not. It was impossible. His courage finally failed him.

Jack gripped the empty pistol hard. The point of the trigger at the end of its gentle curve was sharp. He pressed his finger harder into this, piercing the skin. Having gone so far he went further, until he reached the bone. The pain felt good. It meant he was alive and going to stay alive. Then he let the pistol fall from his hand to the ground and presented his hand to the adjudicator. Blood was pouring from the hole, covering his palm, his fingers.

‘An old wound,’ he said, lying. ‘It opens on occasion. I’m afraid I can’t continue today. As you see –’ he held up his left arm with the missing hand – ‘I can’t use the other even if I wanted to.’

The elderly officer nodded.

‘The duel is over, gentlemen.’

Deighnton, still busy with his pistol, looked up sharply.

He cried, ‘It’s over when we say so. You, sir, will simply do your duty.’

The lieutenant spoke in measured tones. ‘Captain, I may have remained only a lieutenant but I am nearing my middle fifties. I have witnessed more duels than you have drunk bottles of port. I
know
when a duel is over. This man’s hand is not fit to hold a pistol. Besides, you have each had the opportunity to fire your weapon and both have done so. The fact that your pistol failed is neither here nor there, sir. One cannot continue to load and fire at will until someone is either dead or wounded. The duel has been fought, you have both come out of it alive with your honours untarnished, and there’s an end to it.’

He spoke with finality in his voice. As he had said, he might only be a lieutenant, but he was quite senior in years, and therefore entitled to the respect those years should bring to him. This was not the battlefield. This was a private affair between gentlemen. Captains could not order lieutenants about in a mango orchard as they might on the parade ground.

These facts did not prevent Captain Deighnton from trying to bully him.

‘I shall have satisfaction, sir.’

‘Not today,’ remarked the lieutenant, ‘and if it must be it will on someone else’s time, not mine. Good morning.’

‘You will regret this, lieutenant.’

The older man turned and smiled wearily.

‘You threaten me too? Captain, I’m too long in the tooth for such games as these. You’ll need to find another playfellow.’

Deighnton must have known then that he was beginning to look the fool, for he turned and threw his pelisse over his shoulder. There was no glory, no elan to be had, in forcing into a duel a passed-over lieutenant with grey hair and lank beard. Besides, the high clear notes of a bugle were sounding over the forest scrub. Deighnton had to be with his troopers. Before he left though he wagged a finger at Crossman, saying, ‘We will do this again.’

‘Go to hell, you pompous fart,’ Jack said under his breath. ‘I’ve had enough of you for one war.’

‘Connaught Rangers,’ Deighnton was still muttering to himself. ‘Irish Regiments of foot. Bloody peasant army of potato eaters.’

‘And it’s pronounced
Connocht
,’ Jack corrected him, for Deighnton had called it Con-nort. ‘Connaught, as in the Scottish loch. Time you went back to school.’

However the last word was not to be Jack’s.

‘Damn cripples,’ snarled Deighnton, making reference to Jack’s missing left hand, where the sleeve was pinned back towards the elbow. ‘Chuck ’em out, I say. Send ’em back to their maters.’

The original quarrel between Jack and Deighnton was both complicated and simple.

Before Jack had married his wife Jane, she had been attached to an aristocrat by the name of Hadrow, a rake who eventually cast her aside. In deference to Jane’s wishes, Jack avoided any encounter with Hadrow, but the man had decided otherwise. Hadrow and two others from his club had followed Jack through the streets of London intent on conflict. The conflict indeed took place and ended with Jack drawing Hadrow’s cork with his wooden left fist, letting the claret flow on the flagstones.

There ended the complicated part.

The simple part was that Captain Deighnton claimed to be a ‘good friend’ of Hadrow and was determined to right his friend’s wrong. In Delhi, Deighnton had challenged Jack to a duel, which Jack had thought ridiculous and refused the offer. The captain persisted however, in front of witnesses, insulting Jack until he was honour-bound to accept the challenge. Jack suspected there was more to the thing than Deighnton simply acting for his friend Hadrow – Jack had never heard of a duel fought in proxy – but could not for the life of him think what it was. He had no recollection of ever meeting Deighnton before their encounter at Delhi and was completely bewildered by the man’s hostility.

Someone came up to Deighnton and told him that General Martlesham awaited him in the officers’ mess. Deighnton trudged off, followed by his servant, who cradled the captain’s slippers, one under each arm, as if they were newborn twins.

Jack took a cup of coffee from his Rajput’s hand. Surprisingly his own bloody fingers were now steady. The body could lie too.

The coffee scalded his tongue; bitter but so welcome.

‘You will kill him next time,’ said Raktambar, his eyes revealing nothing. ‘When your hand heals.’

‘Yes – yes, I will.’

He looked towards the part of the orchard where they had taken the corpse of the young ensign. It was empty. They had gone.

The magnificent blood-red dawn that flowed across the sky above Oudh began to fade. In the bungalows and the palaces the servants had long been awake and busy, while those they served were just stirring in their warm beds. Mosquito nets were thrown back, copper washing-bowls were carried into bedrooms, the scent of tea was in the air. Inside the relatively cool mud or marble dwellings life was tolerable. Outdoors the heat would rise to savage levels bringing with it hot dry winds and choking dust storms. Any business not related to war was best done before the sun rose any higher in the heavens. Even killing another man, if it was a necessary thing, was carried out more comfortably in the early dawn.

Jack walked back to his tent with Raktambar at his side. Both men were silent. Jack wondered whether the Rajput had guessed what had happened. Did Raktambar know of Jack’s cowardice? The fear had gone now, of course, with the removal of the threat. Now Jack simply felt appalled at his actions. To have faked a wound in order to avoid a duel? It was unthinkable. There was a hard lump in his throat. Guilt. It would clog his brain for a long while to come. Perhaps for ever? How disgusting of him. How despicable. Yet he
was
still alive, if indeed a coward.

A horrible secret. Was it worth it? Surely it would have been better to die marching into the mouth of a cannon than give that bastard Deighnton the satisfaction.

Yet that ugly word remained – coward.

That poor but honourable young man with a hole in his chest: at that moment Jack would have changed places with him.

Jack and Raktambar made their way towards the tents where Sergeant King, Corporal Gwilliams and King’s adopted son Sajan were waiting for them. There was relief on the faces of his waiting crew. Jack was touched by that. He and King did not always see eye to eye and though Gwilliams, the North American, was loyal enough, Jack believed the corporal did not have a sentimental bone in his body. He felt sure news of his death would have drawn a shrug at the most from both of them. Yet here they were, seemingly concerned for his well-being. Yes, he was touched.

‘Didn’t he even hit you
anywhere
?’ drawled Gwilliams, his eyes running over Jack’s form, presumably looking for signs of blood. ‘I thought he was supposed to be a dead shot?’

‘He is. He certainly mangled the poor boy who went before me.’

‘Then how come you’re all in one piece?’

Jack said, ‘Don’t sound so disappointed, Gwilliams. His pistol misfired.’

‘What about yours?’

‘It went off.’

Light came into Gwilliams’ eyes. ‘He’s dead then?’

‘No – he’s unharmed.’

The light faded and Gwilliams now spat in disgust. ‘You missed!’

‘I missed.’

‘You should let me go next time – I’ll blow the bastard’s head off.’

Jack smiled at Gwilliams’ enthusiasm. ‘You can’t, you’re a peasant. Deighnton won’t duel with peasants.’

‘We don’t have none of that malarkey back home,’ snarled Gwilliams. ‘Don’t matter whether a man’s a king or a cobbler.’ He paused before adding, ‘’Cept them so-called Southern gentlemen can be a bit picky sometimes. Mostly though, you can fight who you like. I’d sure like a crack at this prig of a captain, sir, if it can be arranged.’