Beyond the Bounty

Beyond the Bounty
Tony Parsons

From the number one bestselling author comes a swashbuckling tale of mutiny and murder in paradise . . .Even Paradise can turn into a nightmare . . .The Mutiny on the Bounty is the most famous uprising in naval history. Led by Fletcher Christian, a desperate crew cast sadistic Captain Bligh adrift. They swap cruelty and the lash for easy living in the island heaven of Tahiti. However, paradise turns out to have a darker side . . .Mr Christian dies in terrible agony. The Bounty burns. Cursed by murder and treachery, the rebels’ dreams turn to nightmares, and all hope of seeing England again is lost forever.A story of low treachery and high adventure, murder under the palm trees, trouble in paradise and a lost Eden in the South Seas.

Beyond the

Bounty

Tony Parsons

For my father, the old sailor who told me, ‘One hand for the ship – one hand for yourself.’

Author’s Note

The mutiny on HMS Bounty occurred in the South Seas on 28th April 1789.

Eighteen sailors led by Fletcher Christian rose up against the ship’s cruel commanding officer, Captain William Bligh.

The men who joined the mutiny set Captain Bligh and those loyal to him adrift in a small boat, many thousands of miles from the known world.

After sailing further, the mutineers settled on the island of Pitcairn, which was not yet on any map. Here the Bounty was burned to stop it being found by the Royal Navy.

Nearly twenty years later the American trading ship Topaz discovered the secret community on Pitcairn. They found nine women, many children and just one man left alive.

This is his story.

Contents

Cover (#u4332230f-2518-5abe-92b3-cb450be20def)

Title Page (#ude1f9a2f-1b6f-5b66-a5b0-c72380758437)

Dedication (#u3f7b6d80-9861-591d-bf22-e1b047dc245d)

Author’s Note (#u5c3daa0f-9b49-59df-b459-184b155cd5e0)

1. A Mighty Fire (#uf743915d-d18d-5997-bc03-e98586e5df1e)

2. The Angry Widow (#u7136d324-bb28-53b4-aa88-f65a38cdc80d)

3. Wives of the Bounty (#litres_trial_promo)

4. The Last of the Rum (#litres_trial_promo)

5. The Woman on the Cliff (#litres_trial_promo)

6. Crime and Punishment (#litres_trial_promo)

7. The Shipwrecked Sailor (#litres_trial_promo)

8. The Best Time (#litres_trial_promo)

9. Civil War (#litres_trial_promo)

10. King of the World (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

By the same author (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

1

A Mighty Fire

Our ship, the Bounty, was made of English oak and it made a mighty fire.

We watched her burn from the shore of the tiny island. She was the ship that had been our home, our prison and our mad dream of freedom. The ship that had carried us to the end of the world.

It burned.

And before this night was over, our captain would burn with it.

The night was full of the sound of the animals we had brought ashore and the crackle of burning wood. But there were no human sounds. Not until our captain howled with pain.

‘You burn our ship?’ cried Fletcher Christian. ‘You fools! Then how will we ever go home?’

We watched him row out to the Bounty. We made no move to help or to hinder him. We just stood watching on the narrow beach of soft sand at the bottom of steep white cliffs.

What a strange little party we were – eight English sailors from the Bounty, six men and eleven women from Tahiti, one of them with a babe in arms. After our many adventures on the rocky road to Eden, and after leaving some of our fellow sailors on Tahiti, that was all that we had left to build a new world. One of the women was crying. This was Maimiti, daughter of the King of Tahiti, a great beauty and wife of our captain, Fletcher Christian.

We saw him reach the Bounty, climb on deck and go below. He stood out like a little black insect against the flames. We watched him throw useless buckets of water on the burning masts, the flaming sails and the smoking deck.

We knew it was a battle that he could never win. When his clothes began to smoke and flame, we knew he knew it too.

We watched him come back. Slowly, wearily. Rowing with the good arm he had left.

There was not much to be done. He was badly burned and the life was already ebbing out of him. We lay him down on that narrow sandy beach. We gave him water. The women comforted his wife.

And I held him as he died.

Some of the men wept.

The Tahitians who thought he was some kind of god. And even a few of the English seamen, who also placed him high above other men.

I held him, but I was dry-eyed. Because I had never liked Fletcher Christian.