Read Battle Fleet (2007) for Free Online Page A

rain and the seasickness and the awful food – seeing something like this. I never seen a sunset like this back in Bermondsey.’
    ‘Did you talk to the Captain about going ashore?’ I asked her.
    She nodded but her mouth puckered into a pout. ‘MrsEvison wun’t ’ear of it,’ said Bel, mimicking her Lancashire accent. ‘“More than my life’s worth t’tek the risk,” the Captain says. We’re not giving up though,’ she laughed. ‘We’re going to nag him to death about it!’
    She went below soon after and Evison came over to us at the rail. ‘I’m taking a small party ashore to meet the local merchants,’ he said to Richard and me. ‘I’d like you both to come with me.’
    ‘But I’m intending to leave the ship, sir,’ said Richard.
    ‘I know,’ said Evison. ‘Come anyway – you’ve plenty of time to find an American ship. This’ll teach you about trading here.’
    ‘The sly old dog,’ I thought. He wants Richard to stay, and he’s letting him know he’s valued. I was pleased he’d asked me too. He obviously thought we were worth a bit of his time and effort. I knew we could learn a great deal from someone with his experience.
    When Evison had gone I said, ‘You’re not really leaving me on my own with this lot, are you?’
    Richard’s mind was made up. ‘What’s that line from the Bible you’re fond of, Sam? “To everything there is a season …” Well my season in the British Navy, merchant or otherwise, is at an end. I’ll be sad to leave you behind, and Miss Lizzie. I shall miss seeing her every day.
    ‘Come with me, Sam,’ he said suddenly. ‘Or come over to visit when you can. My family would give you ajob. We can sail ships together. You’ll make your fortune there. We’re not so bothered about what a man’s station in life is. We take people as they come in Boston.’
    It was a tempting thought.
    Next morning Evison paid him off. Then we took one of the
Orion
’s smaller boats to the quayside, just the Captain, Richard and me. Although it took a while to get used to it, it was good to put my feet on solid ground again. Richard headed off, keen to find a ship to take him home. He promised he would return to say goodbye, but I watched him disappear into the crowded quayside with a lump in my throat, convinced I would never see him again.
    ‘Won’t we need more of us?’ I said to Evison. ‘Safety in numbers.’
    The Captain shook his head. ‘Natives round here are a pretty docile lot.’
    They seemed quite lively to me and very different from the wild inhabitants of New South Wales. Although most wore little more than a linen cloth around their loins, they were clean and healthy and the children especially seemed bright and curious.
    Evison had a few words of the local dialect and stopped to ask a young man directions. ‘I’ve been here before,’ he said to me, ‘but I need a slight reminder of where to go.’ The fellow disappeared, then returned amoment later with a pail of a slightly milky liquid. The Captain must have used the wrong words. He wasn’t concerned. ‘Try this,’ he said handing over a coin, and offering me a small wooden cupful. It smelled sugary. I took a sip. Cool and sweet, it slipped down like nectar.
    ‘Wonderful, isn’t it?’ said Evison with a smile. ‘It comes from those palm trees. Lontars they’re called.’
    ‘Is it coconut milk?’ I asked.
    ‘No, they tap it from the trunk – collect it twice a day. I’d buy it to sell in London if it would keep. We’d make a fortune. But it won’t travel.’
    Ahead of us was a large, noisy crowd. As we drew nearer, I heard angry squawking. It was a cockfight. Evison stopped a while to watch, but I held back, not wanting to look. I saw enough to know the birds had blades attached to their legs. When I was a boy, I had kept three chickens – William, Mary and Matilda – and had grown to love them. As far as I knew, they were still alive in Wroxham. They were so tame they would come to