Prologue
Blue shoved the telescope into
Ashley's hands and exclaimed “Go on! Look! I’m telling the truth!”
“A lady lieutenant? You’ve
been at sea too long.”
“I’m not imagining it,
look!”
Ashley
lifted the glass to his eye
and peered through the lens in the direction that his friend had
indicated. To his amazement he perceived a dark haired woman dressed in a
lieutenants uniform standing on the quarterdeck.
“It must be a jest on the part
of the Athena’s captain-,” at the sound of approaching
footsteps Ashley cut his sentence short.
There was a loud “Ha h’m!”
from behind. He fumbled trying to shut the telescope and hastily spun a
hundred and eighty degrees to face an angry looking first lieutenant. As
he glanced to his left he realised that
Blue was no longer by his side and
had not had the grace to warn Ashley of Mr Alexander’s approach.
“I-I was just-,”
“I know what you were doing Mr
McKay as its my job to know. You will get a chance to meet Lieutenant
MacHenry later today and I am sure the young lady in question would be
interested to learn of your spying.”
“Aye, sir,” replied Ashley
sheepishly his gaze drifting to the deck.
“You will be a guest at the
captains table tonight along with Captain Tremayne and Lieutenant
MacHenry. You will arrive on time and in a reasonably presentable
order,” said Alexander in a patronising tone while looking
disapprovingly at the state of the midshipman’s appearance. Over the
last year Ashley had grown quite a bit and now his uniform did not fit him
as well as it used to; the jacket was worn at the elbows, his britches
were patched in several places and his shoes were covered in bite marks
where his dog 'Buckle' had decided to make a meal of them, all in all
he looked a mess.
“Aye, sir.”
“Now find something useful to be
getting on with!” declared the lieutenant turning sharply and striding
towards a group of men who obviously looked like they needed something to
do. As soon as he was sure that Mr Alexander was out of earshot Ashley let
out a sigh of relief. He turned to look towards the Athena but
Lieutenant MacHenry was no longer there…
Chapter 1
It was later that day and nearly
time for the meal. Ashley squeezed into his best uniform as he had decided
that his usual garb was not up to scratch and that he should make a
special effort as he was dining with not one but two captains. He hoped
that if he made a good impression that perhaps it would help him later as
regards promotion. Reasoning that yesterday’s captains are today’s
admirals. Ashley paused for a moment and pondered on how on earth a girl
got to be in the Navy. It would take a special determination to pursue
such a course. This Lieutenant MacHenry must have had the same strong
personality that his sister Charlotte displayed, although her
temper was rather volatile; he hoped this lady would not be as
temperamental. Ashley lent
down and took hold of Buckle by his blue handkerchief collar and dragged
the protesting creature over to where he attached a rope first to the
wheel of the gun carriage; then he took the other end and secured it to
the collar. The dog whimpered sadly. Ashley felt guilty at having to tie
him up like this but the first lieutenant had threatened to throw the poor
creature overboard if he got loose again. Last time Buckle had run rampant
through the ship, decimated Mr Alexander’s shirts and chewed his best
shoes without mercy.
Ashley
stroked the dog
apologetically.
“Now you have to stay here, boy. I can’t have you
showing me up. Stay,” he said firmly standing up and making his way
out of the gunroom.
***
When he arrived outside the
captains cabin he could see that the door was slightly ajar and a warm
glow emanated from inside leaking out into the corridor. The sentry
announced Ashley and the midshipman tentively walked inside. He looked
around nervously feeling his stomach do a nervous back flip and the hair
on his arms and hands stand on end.
The cabin when occupied by the
large captain, Ashley and the two other dinner guests was rather a tight
fit. The plates and cutlery were set out on a round table his place put
him in-between Captain Thompson and Lieutenant MacHenry. He stood their
stiffly feeling uncomfortably like the outsider. He wasn’t sure whether
he should take his place or wait for the captain to tell him to sit, but
his deliberations were interrupted before he could come to a definite
conclusion.
“Sit down boy, you look like a
startled rabbit,” declared the captain smiling, his voice so low it was
like rumbling thunder.
“Aye, sir,” replied Ashley
bowing his head slightly toward each of the guests leaving his head down
slightly longer in respect to the lady present then hastily took his seat.
The dark haired woman he had seen
on the Athena’s quarterdeck was sitting next to him large as life. He
could feel her gaze as analysing him, judging him he squirmed
uncomfortably in his chair trying not to make direct eye contact with any
of the guests.
Captain Thompson made the
introductions and embarrassingly he introduced the cringing midshipman
first, “This bundle of nerves is Mr McKay our newest midshipman; he's
Admiral Dovedale’s grandson. Now McKay, this is Captain Tremayne and
Lieutenant MacHenry of the Athena.”
The guests exchanged salutations
and other mundane pleasantries, then the proper conversation started.
“It seems our young friend is in
rare company this evening. It’s not often you meet a female officer and
might I add such a liberal captain as to accommodate such a radical
venture.”
At this speech Ashley noted the
other guests reactions Captain Tremayne frowned and made a kind of
‘harrumph’ sound and Lieutenant MacHenry raised one eyebrow in a
questioning expression although it was clear that she wished to say
something.
“At least I am not so up to my
neck in debt that I have to do favours for those I owe money,” replied
Tremayne tapping the side of his nose with one finger, his lips almost
bending into a smile.
At this potential clash of the two
captains Ashley sunk into his chair wishing that he could slide under the
table and crawl away. But any further conflict was cut short by the
arrival of the captain’s steward with the starter, soup. The fellow
currently employed as steward had only been in this position for a couple
of days. He had been hastily promoted from cooks mate due to the
unfortunate demise of his predecessor who had foolishly fallen overboard
three nights ago. The steward dished out the steaming soup although in his mind it looked a rather odd colour; it had a green tinge to it
and there were various indiscriminate objects floating in the bubbling
brew. The lieutenant looked at him again with her penetrating green eyes,
he squirmed again trying to avoid her glare. It seemed as if she was
enjoying making him uncomfortable. Suddenly she broke off her stare and
spoke.
“Does
he not remind you of Humphrey Fiske?” she asked inclining her head
towards him, he cringed.
“I suppose in a way he does, but
I am sure Mr McKay’s behaviour is better than that of Mr Fiske when he
came aboard.”
“He has learnt discipline
rapidly during his time aboard the Velox yet it is a shame he cannot learn
calculations and the like as quickly,” commented Thompson.
The midshipman
lowered his head embarrassed
and intimidated by this examination of his behaviour and abilities.
Captain Thompson indicated that
they should start and the other guests took a tentative spoon full. He
looked at their faces he noticed that Lieutenant MacHenry appeared to be
forcing herself to swallow the spoonful, Tremayne’s eyes were watering
and after Captain Thompson had taken a mouthful he broke into a sputtering
cough. Ashley lifted up the spoon containing the mixture closed his eyes
and put it in his mouth. The first thing that struck him was the fact it
was both bitter and very spicy. It was disgusting and he instinctively
spat it straight out. Unfortunately Captain Tremayne was sitting directly
opposite him and the table being small so as to fit in the cabin the soup
landed down the fuming captain's front. While apologising profusely Ashley stood up and tried to lean over the table and help dry up the mess using
his napkin only to cause even more chaos by upsetting the wineglasses. To
his embarrassment it was Lieutenant MacHenry who came to his aid.
“Now sit down Mr McKay
'tis only
a little spill,” she said putting her hand on his shoulder and pulling
him back to his seat.
“I'm so sorry Captain Tremayne,
sir. I didn’t mean to-,” Ashley stopped to his amazement they all
seemed to be laughing he didn’t know whether it was at him; he looked
down at himself to check he had not spilt any of the wine or soup down him
but there was nothing there bar a few spots on his shirt.
“Ah-ha that Tremayne repays you
for your comment,” declared Captain Thompson banging his hand on the
table and laughing heartily.
“I will remember to return the
compliment next time!”
“Many an accident can be caused
by an over exuberance Mr McKay. I am sure you will be forgiven for this
little mishap,” a playful smile flashed across the lieutenants face,
“maybe you will have more luck with the main course?”
“I will not be defeated by a
bowl of soup…mi-,” he paused momentarily, he wasn’t sure what he
should call her, “sir.”
“At least he’s persistent,”
commented Thompson.
“That’s the spirit!” boomed
Tremayne in agreement, banging his fist on the table for emphasis.
Surprised, Ashley almost
leapt out of his seat much to the amusement of all present. Disconcerted
he sunk back into his chair his blue eyes finding interest in the
tablecloth as an excuse not to look up and face his superiors.
“Look you’ve embarrassed the
poor child,” said Lieutenant MacHenry sympathetically although he caught
a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
“Talking about embarrassment
what will the crew think of me when I return with the remains of dinner
down me?”
“They will think that we had a
jolly fun time,” replied Captain Thompson, “and be rather jealous, I
might add.”
“I do hope so, can’t have these
new upstarts knowing that being a captain is so dull!”
“Dull, sir?” piped up Ashley,
intrigued.
“The life of a captain is not
all fun you know. You have to deal with Admirals and even worse cope with
the paperwork. You wouldn’t believe the mountain of paperwork you have
to complete. Sometimes I have half a mind to throw the whole lot
overboard.”
“Do you aspire to becoming a
captain, mis-sir,” asked Ashley addressing Lieutenant MacHenry.
“Why, Mr McKay my answer ‘tis a
strong affirmative for does not every officer yearn for promotion to
post?”
“I do not make a particular
effort to strive towards such a goal. I do believe that I would not care
if I were promoted or not. I am quite comfortable to be me, whether I am a
civilian, midshipman, lieutenant or captain.”
“Being comfortable with who you
are is admirable but have you not once wished that it were you wearing the
gold epaulettes?”
“The gold clashes with my
brown hair, silver suites my countenance better,” he replied grinning at
his jest while simultaneously feeling apprehensive as to whether it would
be taken in the same humour as it was intended.
His fears were quashed though when
the dark haired lieutenant smiled and replied, “Ah yes. I hear that,
that gold braid is deadly. And of course you cannot have your men going
around commenting on how your hair clashes with your uniform.”
Ashley
assumed that Lieutenant
MacHenry was being sarcastic with her latter comments and so joined in the
mirth as the guests laughed at such a notion as co-ordinating your
wardrobe so as not to decimate your countenance.
Captain Thompson interrupted the
jollity with his enquiry, “So Ms MacHenry as you seem to be so voluble
on the subject of promotion. What would you do ‘if’ you reached the
position of admiral, eh? Let women join the navy I suppose!”
“Excuse me if I sound a little
coarse but just because I am built slightly differently does not make me any less capable of fulfilling my duty, and
if other ‘women’ wished to join and were competent I would let
them,” replied the lieutenant, almost rising from her chair as she spoke.
“Ha-h’m! Well I-,” the
captain mumbled the rest of his sentence and blushed red at this lady’s
defiant speech.
Ashley again tried to slide down out of the field of vision
of the officers, but unfortunately it was at this point the evening took an
unfortunate turn.
Chapter 2
The first thing Ashley heard was a
loud screeching ‘Meow!’ then a challenging ‘Woof’ and in ran one
of the ships cats pursued by Buckle. The cat darted through the partially
open door into the cabin and onto the table upsetting all that was set
upon it. The glasses, the bottle of wine, the dishes and cutlery were all
knocked asunder. Buckle however stayed at the foot of the table wagging
his shaggy grey tail and barking like mad at the elusive feline who
taunted him from her lofty perch. Ashley alarmed at the presence of his pet
at this gathering and worried at the reaction of those present; concerned
that they might be displeased at this disturbance of their meal he grabbed
hold of the scruffy mutt by the scruff of his neck, for the handkerchief
collar had disappeared and proceeded to spill out a stream of apologies.
The sentry meanwhile had from an initial swift movement descended into
indecisiveness. The marine stood there not knowing whether to call for
assistance, shoot the cat, the dog or both his aim wavering between the
two animals. It was Captain Thompson who was first to take control.
“Stand down man!” he shouted
at the bewildered marine, “and Mr McKay shut your porthole and get
these…creatures out of here!”
“Aye, sir,” replied Ashley,
reaching for the cat who decided that it did not much like the prospect of
being picked up by the midshipman and leaped off the table and out the
door. Buckle being a rather foolish canine attempted to pursue the
fugitive feline, but was hindered by his master’s hand firmly restraining
him. Ashley looked up at his fellow guests Captain Thompson flushed bright
crimson and it appeared that he had the potential to explode. Whereas
Captain Tremayne and Lieutenant MacHenry seemed thoroughly amused by the
situation.
“This,” declared Captain
Tremayne barely containing a guffaw, “was the most interesting and
eventful meal I’ve had in ages. We
must repeat the experience again.”
“Next time I will trespass upon
your hospitality and see how you fare.”
“Indeed. I will look forward to
it with great expectation,” replied Tremayne giving Thompson a friendly
slap on the back, “And now I am afraid I must leave you to your…”
“Mess, Chaos, sir?”
“Erm whatever. Good day to you.
Farewell.”
“Ha-h’m. Farewell
Captain,
lieutenant,” said Captain Thompson giving a small bow to Lieutenant
MacHenry.
“Farewell. It was nice to
meet you, sir, ma-am sorry I mean, sir.” he replied while trying to keep a
grip on Buckle so that the creature couldn’t make a run for it. They all
exchanged the usual pleasantries and exited the cabin leaving Ashley to
face the wrath of Captain Thompson alone.
The End
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