Battle Fleet (2007) by Paul Dowswell Read Free Book Online Page B

even viler place to wait out this ordeal.
    Then came the thunder, creeping nearer, an unseen menace, loud enough to shake the strakes from the hull. As the thunder passed over our heads, lightning split thesky so close I imagined the ship hit and shattered into a million pieces. Actually, this
was
worse than any storm I had endured before.
    A rumble of thunder seemed to steal the air from the atmosphere and a blinding flash of light shook the ship from foretop to keel. We heard a creaking, splintering of wood and the braces and shrouds and ratlines shrieking in their posts. A brief silence followed. Then a huge crash rocked the ship from bow to stern.
    One of the passengers screamed.
    ‘That’ll be a mast,’ I said to Bel. ‘I’m needed on deck.’
    I was almost knocked off my feet by the force of the wind and drenched in a second by sheets of blinding rain. Gigantic waves towered above the weather deck on either side. I saw at once the mainmast had been struck close to the deck and toppled. The smell of it smouldering caught in my nostrils. Evison and the officers were out on deck, frantically trying to save their ship. The mast had fallen over the larboard fo’c’sle, mangling the rigging of the foremast and smashing one of the ship’s boats. Now the topmost part of the mast lay broken in the sea, with the canvas on the upper yard soaking up water and giving it greater weight to drag the
Orion
down. The lower part stood crooked above our heads, trailing a tangle of ropes. Leaning over the rail, I could see the larboard gun ports perilously close to the waterline.
    I seized a boarding axe and I began to hack away at the shrouds and ratlines still holding the upper mast to the ship. Richard and John Garrick joined me. Other men hacked at the mast itself, close to the rail. The three of us made quick work of the ropes, though I’ll never understand how we managed to miss each other’s flailing arms with our axe strokes. As we cut through, the mast splintered and the stout lower portion crashed down on to the deck. The remaining rigging attached to the upper mast was quickly severed and with a noticeable lurch the
Orion
raised itself in the water.
    Now the lower mast rolled to and fro on the deck, threatening to crush any man who got in its way. William Bedlington came to join us. Never was I more pleased to see this hulking brute of a man. As we pushed our backs against the mast, a huge wave rolled before us across the deck. The water swept the mast and us along to the side of the ship, snatching our breath away. Soaked and spluttering out seawater I may have been, but I was grateful not to have been crushed against the rail or washed overboard. We heaved the remains of the mast over the strakes with a final, almighty effort. If we could safely ride out the rest of the storm, the worst of our troubles were over.
    As we watched the mast drift away, Garrick said, ‘That’ll put another two months on our return. I hope we don’t have to outrun any more pirates.’
    Navy ships carried spare masts, but not the
Orion
.
    Evison spoke to him. ‘We shall go ashore at the first opportunity and fashion ourselves a new mast. Plenty of trees close to the shore. You can choose one and we’ll plane it down.’
    When the storm had blown itself out, we sighted land on the starboard horizon. As we drew nearer, I looked over the dense green shoreline and wondered what lurked within. I was curious and I was apprehensive. Evison gathered us round to announce we would be looking for food and water as well as a new mast. ‘There’s plenty to do, so we’ll be here a few days. We’ll come back to the ship every night, though. I’m not leaving anyone on land after dark.’
    What might we find ashore? Evison volunteered no information. Did he just not know, or was there something he didn’t want us to know? I would ask at a suitable moment.
    Close to the shore it did not take long to find a favourable spot and Evison launched the