Rapscallion

“You do surprise me,” Lasseur said.

Murat’s brow wrinkled, unsure how to respond to Lasseur’s barb, before it occurred to him it was probably best to tell them to wait once more and that he would return.

Hawkwood and Lasseur watched him go.

“I have a son,” Lasseur said. He did not elaborate but looked down. “How old are you, boy?”

The boy gripped his bedding. In a wavering voice, he said, “Ten, sir.”

“Are you now? Well, stick with us and you might just make it to eleven.”

Murat reappeared and, unsmiling, crooked a finger. “Come with me.”

Stepping around and over bodies, heads bent, the two men and the boy followed the interpreter towards the starboard side of the deck.

“You’re in luck –” Murat spoke over his shoulder “– another place has become vacant. The former owner doesn’t need it any more.”

“That’s fortunate,” Lasseur said. He caught Hawkwood’s eye and winked. “And why’s that?”

“He died.”

Lasseur halted in his tracks.

Murat held up his hands. “Natural causes, Captain, on my mother’s life.”

Lasseur looked sceptical.

“From the fever. They say it’s due to the air coming off the marshes.” Murat jabbed a thumb towards the open grilles. “It’s the same both sides of the river. It’s what most men die of, that and consumption. That’s the way it happens on the hulks. You rot from the inside out.”

Hawkwood noticed that the prisoners near the gun ports were making use of the light to read or write, using the bench along the side of the hull as a makeshift table. Some were conversing with their companions while they wrote. As he passed, Hawkwood realized they were conducting classes. He looked over a hunched shoulder and guessed by the illustrations and indecipherable script that the subject was probably mathematics.

“It’s best to try and keep busy,” Murat said, interrupting Hawkwood’s observations. “You’ll lose your mind, otherwise. Many men have.” The lieutenant pointed. “Here you are, gentlemen. Welcome to your new home.”

Compared to where they’d just come from, it was the height of luxury. Hawkwood wondered how Murat had persuaded the previous incumbents to relinquish such a valuable location. It didn’t seem possible that anyone would want to do so voluntarily. Maybe they were dead, too.

They weren’t, Murat assured them. “It’s just that they prefer food to a view. You’d feel that way, too, if you hadn’t had a square meal for a week,” Murat added, pocketing his fee. “You’ll learn that soon enough. If I were you, I’d guard my purse. Don’t indulge in fripperies. The price you’ve just paid for your sleeping spot will buy three weeks’ rations. Not that they give us anything worth eating, mind you. There are some who’d say death from the fever would be a merciful release. If you want to make a bit of money, by the way, you can rent out your part of the bench.”

“I knew I could count on you,” Lasseur said. “I had this feeling in my bones.”

The interpreter permitted himself a small smile. His teeth were surprisingly even, though in the gloom they were the colour of damp parchment. “Thank you, Captain. And might I say it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”

Murat turned. “And the same goes for you, Captain Hooper. It’s a pleasure to meet an American. I’ve long been an admirer of your country. Now, if there’s anything else you require, don’t hesitate to ask. You’ll find I’m the man to do business with. You want to buy, come to Murat. You have something to sell, come to Murat. My terms are very favourable, as you’ll see.”

“You’re a credit to free enterprise, Lieutenant,” Lasseur said.

Murat volunteered a full-blown conspiratorial grin. “You’re going to fit right in here, Captain.” The interpreter gave a mock salute. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, gentlemen.” And with that, he turned on his heel, and walked off. To hand the money on, Hawkwood assumed, minus his commission, of course.

“I do believe we’ve just been robbed,” Lasseur said cheerfully, and then shrugged. “But it was neatly done. I can see we’re going to have to keep our eyes on Lieutenant Murat. Did you ever have any dealings with his cousin?”

Hawkwood shook his head and said wryly, “Can’t say I’m likely to, either, considering I’m an American and he’s the King of Naples.”

“I keep forgetting: your French is very good. Murat’s cousin served in Spain, though.”

“I know,” Hawkwood said. “And your army has been trying to clean up his damned mess ever since.”

Lasseur looked taken aback by Hawkwood’s rejoinder. Then he nodded in understanding. “Ah, yes, the uprising.”

It had been back in ’08. In response to Bonaparte’s kidnapping of the Spanish royal family in an attempt to make Spain a French satellite, the Spanish had attacked the French garrison in Madrid. Retaliation, by troops under the command of the flamboyant Joachim Murat, had been swift and brutal and had led to a nationwide insurrection against the invaders, which had continued, with the assistance of the British, ever since.

Lasseur gave a sigh. “Kings and generals have much to answer for.”

“Presidents and emperors, too,” Hawkwood said.

Lasseur chuckled.

The boy moved to the port and stared through the grille.

Hawkwood did the same. Over the boy’s shoulder he could see ships floating at anchor and beyond them the flat, featureless shoreline and, further off, some anonymous buildings with blue-grey rooftops. He heard the steady tread of boot heel on metal. He’d forgotten the walkway. It was just outside the scuttles. He waited until the guard’s shadow had passed then gripped the grille and tried to shake it. There was no movement. The crossbars were two inches thick and rock solid.

“Well, I doubt we’ll be able to cut our way out,” Lasseur said, running an exploratory hand over the metal.

“Planning on making a run for it?” Hawkwood asked.

“Why do you think I would never ask for parole?” Lasseur said. “You wouldn’t want me to break my word, would you?” The Frenchman grinned and, for a moment, there was a flash of the man who had arrived in the gaol cell at Maidstone looking for a means to light his cheroot. He regarded Hawkwood speculatively.

“I’m still considering my options,” Hawkwood said.

Lasseur smiled.

The irony was that Lasseur wouldn’t have been entitled to parole anyway, even if he hadn’t already proved he was a potential escape risk by virtue of his earlier breaks for freedom.

There were stringent rules governing the granting of parole, which entitled an officer to live outside the prison to which he’d been assigned. It meant securing accommodation in a designated parole town, sometimes taking a room with a local family or, if possessed of sufficient funds, within a lodging house or inn. In return, the officer gave his word he would not break his curfew but would remain within the town limits and make no attempt to escape. The penalty for transgressing, if apprehended, was a swift return to a prison cell.

The rules were stricter for men like Lasseur. A privateer officer’s eligibility for parole status depended upon the size of the vessel in which he’d been taken. If the ship was less than 80 tons and mounting less than fourteen carriage guns of at least four-pound calibre, he would not be accorded parole status. Lasseur’s command, at 125 tons and mounted with six-pound cannon, qualified, but unfortunately for the privateer he had not been captured on his own vessel.

Lasseur’s ship, Scorpion, was a ten-gun schooner and his eyes lit up whenever he spoke of her.

“She may not be the biggest vessel afloat, but she’s as fast as the wind and her sting is deadly, and she’s all mine.” Lasseur had given a rueful smile. “And if I’d had her beneath my feet, we’d not be having this conversation.”

Scorpion had been laid up in Dunkerque for repairs following a difference of opinion with a British fifth-rate on blockade patrol. On that occasion Scorpion had not been fast enough to avoid the British gun crew’s aim, but with the aid of a convenient fog bank she had managed to give her pursuer the slip and make a successful run for home. While awaiting repairs, Lasseur had been talked into delivering dispatches between ports along the North French coast. His transport had been a two-masted caique or – as Lasseur had described it – a floating piece of excrement, and no match for the British sloop that had appeared out of nowhere and which, with a twelve-pounder carronade, had blown the caique’s main mast and rudder into matchwood and taken her crew and temporary captain captive. Lasseur had told Hawkwood that he didn’t know which would prove the most embarrassing experience, his capture or the ribbing he’d receive when he was reunited with Scorpion’s crew: “They will make my life intolerable.”

When Hawkwood hinted that any reunion was liable to be some way off, Lasseur had fixed him with a steadfast gaze. “They know I’m a prisoner. When I escape, I will send word and they will come for me.”

Recalling Lasseur’s words and watching him test the strength of the bars, it was hard not to admire the man’s faith, though Hawkwood still couldn’t help but feel that the privateer captain was being a tad over-optimistic. He wondered whether Lasseur, confronted with the reality of his incarceration, was secretly harbouring the same thought. If he was, the man gave no sign.

Hawkwood’s musings were interrupted by a sudden warning shout, followed immediately by the clatter of boots on the stairs. The prisoners seated around the gun ports scrambled to put away their paper and pens. Standing up, they moved towards the centre of the hull. Not knowing why, Hawkwood, Lasseur and the boy followed suit and watched as a dozen guards wielding lanterns and iron bars, led by a bovine corporal, thrust their way on to the deck.

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