Heartstone

I started awake. A voice, somewhere, shouting, 'Hurry!' Other noises were audible from above, footsteps and whistles, scurrying feet, and though I had no way of knowing I guessed dawn had come. Someone shouted for crews to move into position; I realized with relief that the guncrews had come down. They would probably be here the rest of the day, preventing West from dealing with me. His mission on shore and the posting of guards by the guns had made him miss the opportunity of dealing with me at dead of night.

I heard whistles, then a steady rumbling that set the plank floor of my prison vibrating. Then another whistle and a series of clatters. It sounded as though the gun ports had been opened, cannon moved forward and then back. A practice? It must have been, for it happened two or three more times. From the noises, there seemed to be activity all over the ship. I tried to work out what people were saying, but could only catch stray words.

It was impossible to calculate the passage of time. The room, which had cooled a little in the middle of the night, became very hot again, the stink of rotten meat even stronger. Sometime later I heard distant gunfire, whether from our ships or the French galleys I could not tell. At one point I heard a loud cheer from the decks above, a distinct cry of 'Got the galley!' There was more gunfire, sometimes close, sometimes far away. After one shot I felt a dull reverberation through the deck beneath me, and outside someone shouted, 'Are we hit?' Then I heard a number of men running down the companionway and continuing down to the decks below. I thought I caught the word 'Pump!' My heart raced with panic at the thought of being trapped in the tiny cabin if the ship was hit, but nothing more happened. I felt sick, and despite the pain the effort brought to my bound arms I leaned my head forward as far as I could, for were I to vomit with the gag in my mouth I would choke. Then I heard a knock on the door, a gentle hesitant knock, and a voice calling, 'Matthew?' It was Leacon.

A wave of relief ran through me. I tried to move, despite the pain that flashed through my body, terrified he would leave. I managed to scrape my bound heels across the floor. 'Matthew?' he called again. He had heard. I scraped my heels again. There was a moment's silence, then a crash as Leacon put his shoulder to the door. Someone outside called 'Hey!'

'There's someone shut up in here!' A moment later, with a tremendous crash, the flimsy door splintered open and light spilled through, searing my eyes.

The voice outside called again, 'What in God's name's going on, man?'

Leacon was staring through the open doorway, unbelievingly. 'There's a civilian in here!' he called back. He smashed his shoulder against the door again, making a gap wide enough to enter. The officer who had called out to him came across and stared in at me, wide-eyed.

'What the hell—do you know him?'

'Yes, he is a friend.'

'God's holy wounds! Who the fuck tied him up in there? Sort it out,' the officer snapped. 'Get him off the gundeck!'

Leacon stepped into the cabin. He took out his knife, cut my bonds and removed the gag. I lay on my back and groaned, sucking in air, unable for the moment to move.

'God's death, who did this to you?' Leacon's face was tired, dirty, streaked with perspiration. He wore his helmet, a padded jack and his officer's sword.

'Philip West.' My voice came out as a croak. 'I found out—something—that he once did.'

'You came on board to confront him?' Leacon asked unbelievingly.

'Yes. What time is it?'

'Past three o'clock.'

'Jesu. I've been here since last night. What's happening? I heard gunfire—'

'The French have brought five of their galleys forward again, but our guns are keeping them at a distance. We hit one. It trailed back to the main fleet, listing. There's no wind, neither our warships nor theirs can move. The French have used some galleys to land on the Isle of Wight. We can see fires. Just as well, if they'd sent them all against us we'd be in worse trouble. If there's a wind when the tide is right we're going to sail out against them.'

'What's happening outside? I heard the cannon being moved, but no firing.'

'They're making the guncrews pass the time with practice. This waiting is hard.'

'Someone shouted something about a pump. I thought we'd been hit—'

'Some men went below to see, but they don't think it's anything serious.'

I sighed with relief. 'How did you find me?'

'I overheard two sailors saying a lawyer boarded last night and went below with West, and the boat left without him. They said you were still on the ship, you never came back up. They said—' he hesitated.

'I can guess. Hunchbacks bring bad luck. Well, this time their superstition saved me.'

'I questioned them and they were definite. So I came down to look. I started by going along the gundeck, found that closed door and found you.'

'Where is West?'