Mutiny(79)

A rising elation swept away Kydd's weariness.

'Where did you hear this?' Parker called, above the uproar. If it was true, and it was a victory, their own mutiny had lost its purpose.

'I got it straight fr'm th' telegraph office. They just got word fr'm Spithead, an' the Admiralty sends it on t' here.' By a miracle of the clacking shutters spaced out between Sheerness and the roof of the Admiralty in London, apparently word of the settlement had been relayed to them over the long miles.

'Clap a stopper on yer jabber, Joe, let's hear it all.'

The young sailor paused. 'Well, t' tell the truth, Mr Wells it was tol' me. He works f'r Admiral Buckner.'

The room grew quiet. 'So it could be a rumour, like?' someone piped up.

'No, can't be!' the sailor said scornfully. 'He showed me th' signal 'n' said I was t' find Mr Parker an' tell him.'

The room fell silent as the enormity of the event sank in. Kydd glanced over to Parker, who was shaking his head slowly, a weary smile on his face. 'What's t' do, Dick?' he said.

Parker didn't answer at first, then looked about the room, catching the eye of this one and that.

'Yair, what next, then, Dick?' came a call.

Levering himself to his feet, Parker stood before them. His hands grasped the lapels of his coat. 'Brothers,' he began softly, 'can I ask you one question? Just the one! And if you can answer it to satisfaction, then I'll sit down again and be silent.'

Uncertain smiles showed, men glanced at one another.

'This I ask, then. If you were in power — at the highest — and your entire fleet was in the hands of those who have embarrassed you with the exposing of your perfidy, and you are desperate, would it not be a rattling good plan to win back control by a very simple contrivance? You tell the Nore that the Spithead matter is resolved, and to Spithead you say that the Nore is reconciled. In this way, you get both to return to duty, and having dropped their defences you are then at liberty to seek whatever vengeance ...' The words hung in the silence. "Then, this I ask, shipmates, is this an impossible plan?'

'Be damned! They wouldn't—'

'The slivey fucksters! Once they got us t' sea—'

'They lied at th' Culloden trials. My mate—'

The room broke into angry shouts, but Parker held up his arms for order. 'I say then, we hold fast. We keep the faith. Only when we have proof— solid evidence - will we even begin to consider the situation.' He sat down to shouts and gusts of applause, accepting a large glass as he did so. But when Kydd next saw him, he was looking distracted.

'Why, Tom, m' darlin'!' Kitty laughed. 'Such a surprise!' She kissed him soundly. Then she gazed at him earnesdy, and hugged him tight. 'Do take care of y'rself, m' dear Tom,' she whispered. 'In m' bones, I have a dreadful feelin' this is all goin' to end wi' blood an' weepin' -there's been nothin' like it this age.' She let her arms drop, but when she looked up again, a smile adorned her face. 'Dick Parker, y' knows him now. What's he like — I mean, as a man?'

Kydd laughed. 'Well, he's a swell cove, right enough, his beaver hat 'n' all. But a great one f'r thinkin' and plannin'. None o' this would've happened but f'r him, an' I'm proud t' call him m' friend. An' has a wife in Leith, who he's very partial of,' he added.

They laughed together, but it died quickly and she looked him in the eyes again. 'Tom, there's somethin' on y'r mind.'

'Just worries — 't would oblige me if we could talk a while, Kitty.'

She caught something in his voice. 'We will, love. But not here - jus' wait for me to fetch m' bonnet an' we'll take a walk.'

Arm in arm, they stood on Minster Hill, looking down on Sheerness and the dockyard. At this distance, a couple of miles away, they were close enough for details, but removed from the noise and distraction. The walk had cleared Kydd's mind, and the sparkling air was invigorating.

'I jus' feel — well, it's such a - an awful thing that I did, Kitty,' he muttered. 'Here am I, master's mate, an' I turned an officer out of his own ship. It has t' be said, I'm a mutineer.'

She looked at him shrewdly. 'It's a big thing ye did, Tom, that's f'r sure. But that's not all, is it?'

'No.' In a low voice he went on, 'It's my particular frien', a shipmate o' mine since I was pressed. We — we had many a rare time together, been aroun' the world b' Cape Horn, been at hazard wi' the enemy so many times I can't count.'

He stared at the cold hard line of the sea horizon. 'We had hard words together, Kitty. He doesn't see that sometimes ye've got to — to follow y'r heart an' do what y' need to. Nicholas is a taut hand at logic, 'n' it's hard to keep with him at times. Says that th' gov'ment won't stand a second mutiny, an' will be down on us like thunder, an' we're going at it the wrong way — don't say what the right way is.'

Kitty squeezed his arm. 'I knows how ye feels, but there's sailors not born yet who'll bless ye.'