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Ashley had just welcomed Mr Blue back onboard. His
friend had gone ashore to take his lieutenants exam and he had been
waiting eagerly to hear whether he had passed or not. Ashley wasted no
time in procuring the information, “So how did you do?” he asked
impatiently.
Blue put on a solemn face – for a moment Ashley
thought his friend had failed -, “I'm afraid…I passed! You are looking
at, Lieutenant Peter Blue,” said Blue. He smiled then let out a whoop
of joy.
Ashley shook Blue’s hand and said,
“Congratulations. I knew you would do it,” then added on the end,
“sir.”
Buckle gave his bark of approval agreeing with his
masters’ sentiments and proceeded to run round in circles to express
his joy.
“Ah! The perks of promotion; next I’ll have Frost
calling me ‘sir’, that will be something to remember.”
“Lets go and tell everyone your good news, sir.”
“I would like to but first I must see the captain.
My uncle wanted me to tell him my news first so I should better go and
inform him.”
“Should I tell the others for you or do you want to
tell them yourself?”
“Wait till I get there. I want to see their faces
when I tell them.”
“Well I'm supposed to be on watch in about half an
hour so you will have to face them on your own, sir.”
“It’s really disconcerting you calling me ‘sir’ but
it’s something I’ll have to get used to.”
“Aye-sir.” Said Ashley waving to his friend, as
Blue wandered off to the captain’s cabin.
***
Ashley sat in the corner of the gunroom away from
prying eyes. They had just been given their post and he was eager to
find out any news from home. He had received several letters. Ashley
opened the first letter it was from his mother. It had the usual
content of his mother’s correspondence, some gossip, how she and the
family were doing and reminders that he should wrap up warm and other
such concerns. He scanned the text but there was nothing he did not
know or wanted to know. Why his mother would want him to know about
the quality of Tuppence Halfpenny’s hospitality.
The second letter was from his sister. It mainly
consisted of her usual brand of sarcasm and insults. The only thing
that caught his eye was her reference to Scarlett. Ashley had not
heard anything from his old friend Scarlett since he joined the navy.
He had feared that his friend may have perished in service to his
country but it seemed from the gist of the letter that Christopher
Scarlett was alive and well. Not only that but his friend had received
a promotion to lieutenant not more than four weeks ago. Ashley was
happy for his friend and at the same time slightly jealous. He could
barely stifle his laughter when he read Charlotte’s scathing comments
on the matter.
The third letter was from his grandfather. It was
written in his rather rough hand and contained both favourable and
unfavourable remarks. His grandfather explained that he had been in
correspondence with Captain Thompson and had heard of his exploits
both good and bad. That he and the captain had decided that it would
be prudent for Ashley to take his lieutenants exam as soon as possible
and that he should be diligent in his preparation and study. He
encouraged him not to let his family down making reference to the
incident that happened earlier in Ashley’s career. He folded the
letters up and put them in his inside pocket. He would read them more
thoroughly when he had time but at the moment he was due on watch and
didn’t want to be late.
*
Taking a deep breath Ashley pushed open the two
thick oak doors, which made anyone who stood beside them look small,
with all his strength. A big mistake. Ashley cringed as the doors
flung open and banged against the furniture that was set against the
walls behind them, causing a loud crash to resound down the corridor.
“Come in, then,” boomed Rear-Admiral Burton, his
tone deeply sarcastic.
“Do you wish to destroy anymore admiralty
property?” asked Admiral Gordon.
“No, sir,” came the swift reply. Ashley hastily
added without thinking of the consequences, “I’ll pay for any damage.”
He sighed mentally, not knowing how he would afford to pay for it on
his current salary.
“Now,” started Admiral MacHenry, glancing at the
piece of paper in front of him, “Mr McKay, these are the people you’ve
got to impress. I’ve had to put up with them so I don’t see why you
shouldn’t,” he said, a half smile on his face.
Rear-Admiral Martin gave a little pointed cough.
They all looked over at him.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Standing in font of such an esteemed collection of
officers, Ashley’s eyes widened in fear. He wondered what he had
forgotten, was it something to do with his uniform?
“Ah, of course,” said Burton, “Your papers?”
Ashley opened his mouth to let out a stream of
apologies, but stopped himself just in time, “Aye, sir.”
He reached into his inner jacket pocket only to
find it empty. He panicked, fearing that he’d left the papers behind.
Suddenly he remembered, and pulled the elusive papers out of one of
his out side pockets, sending a cascade of lemon drops which were
stuck to the oilskin in which the relevant papers were wrapped, onto
the polished floor. As he handed it over, Ashley noticed a few raised
eyebrows and Admiral Gordon seemed to be going the same colours as the
burgundy velvet curtains hung near him.
“Having a little snack were we,” asked MacHenry, as
he picked off one of the sweets and popped it in his mouth, “Lemon
drops, my favourite.”
“If you have quite finished bribing one of the
board with sweets, we shall proceed,” suggested Martin.
Ashley flushed red when he heard the word bribery.
Standing in front of the men who would decide whether he would receive
his promotion to lieutenant or not he felt immensely nervous. Ashley
had a sick feeling in his stomach. He did not think much of his own
abilities to command or his aptitude at his duties, but Captain
Thompson and his grandfather had deemed him ready and Ashley did not
wish to disappoint them. He had studied for hours on end to prepare
for this exam. Lieutenant Bentley had even asked him practice
questions to help him remember things, but standing in front of the
examination board, going through the real thing was at that point more
terrifying than climbing up the side of the tallest ship, facing
Lieutenant Alexander on a bad day, or Frost on the warpath. This was
the moment he could make either a brilliant or a disastrous
impression.
“Your ship,” began MacHenry, “Is involved in an
action as part of a major battle. You find yourself cut off from the
rest of the fleet. You are fighting an enemy ship of equal
proportions, but have suffered heavy damages, your crew is depleted
and most of your sail gone…what do you do?” |
