I get back to the ladder and Clarissa's blond head is still popped up, looking around. I shove it back down and together we feel our way back to the storeroom and quietly close the door.
"That was ... exciting," she whispers. "Are you going out tomorrow night?"
"Yes," I reply, not liking where this is going. "I have to start disabling the other lifeboat."
"Good," she says. "Wake me up then, too."
She's had a taste and she's gonna be hard to hold back.
Chapter 43
"Ship."
I hear the word uttered by Abby Pierce, up on port quarter lookout. I fly to her side to look out. She points to a sail on the far-off horizon. We can only see the tops of the sails, but it seems to have three masts. And it seems to be headed for us. I see the men on deck putting up more sail.
Damn!
"Everybody down," I say. "Emergency meeting. Down under the Stage. Yes, everybody, even the watches. It's important. Now! Let's do it."
For the first time since we came on board, there is no one on any watch—not on the Balcony, not at the gate, not at the edge of the Stage. The girls crowd into the space and look at me expectantly.
"Sit," I say, and they do.
I stand before them and begin.
"There is a ship out there that looks like it might be headed for us—"
I hear several quiet shouts of "Hooray!"
"There are those of you who think this is a good thing. That the ship we see out there might run us down and rescue us and take those who have taken us into captivity off to justice."
More quiet cries of "Hear, hear!"
"But, oh my sisters, I must tell you that it will not happen in that way."
They are quiet now.
"What will happen is this: Before any ship gets close enough to grapple and board and search us, Captain Blodgett will order that we be manacled by our necks on to one of those long chains you see lying down there next to the hull, that we be taken on deck in such a way that we cannot be seen by the other ship, that an anchor be affixed to the chain that binds us, and that we be thrown overboard, like bait on a fish line"
Shocked silence.
"I did not tell you this before because I didn't want to ruin your sleep," I say. As mine has been ruined, I think.
"But ... but who could do such an awful thing?" asks Cloris.
"Cloris, they know that if they are caught with any of us aboard, each and every one of them will hang for it. There's men on this ship who have done things as evil as what I have described. Don't judge them all by poor simple Mick and Keefe, here on their first journey and regretting it. Or even Cookie. There's men on this ship who have made fifteen, twenty, such voyages—who knows what horrible things they have seen? Who knows what terrible things they have done? Believe me, they will do it."
"They will drown us like helpless kittens," says Julia, her voice trailing off in despair.
"That will not happen," I say, "if we stand and fight"
"And that we will do," says Dolley firmly. "Better they kill us here so they, too, will pay with their lives for what they have done."
I nod and lay out my plan. "Right. Here is what we will do. When you hear the code words 'Plan B' we will do the following: Whoever is on watch at the gate and on the Stage will have a loop of wire about their waists—the wire will be passed from watch to watch—and they will take their wires and twist them around the gate bars and the bars to the side to slow up anyone coming in at us. Everyone will meet down here, and Abby and Helen will take down the boards covering the Rat Hole and the Powder Hole—start doing it now while you're listening to this, as we've got to go in to get the wire. We might well be implementing Plan B this very morning. I know we should have done this before, but I grew complacent because we had seen so few ships, and for that I am sorry. The Dianas will take up positions on the outside, to nail anyone who manages to get through the gate and tries to get at us. Everyone who does not have a weapon will grab a bottle from the Powder Hole and, holding the bottle by the neck, will smash it against the next bottle—it will give you a jagged, sharp, and very effective weapon. Annie and Martha will light two candles and place them on the Balcony. Clarissa and I will then take the two bags of powder, the ones that have the short fuses attached to them, up on the Balcony. We will watch the approaching ship and if it looks like the time is right, we will light our charges and throw them toward the quarterdeck, where they will flare up and, it is to be hoped, ignite the mainsail. At that time we will yell, 'Go! Go!' and all of you will go out the Rat Hole. Dolley will lead the way because she'll need to open the outer door. The Dianas will follow her to clear the way of any trouble. When you come out onto the deck, try to climb into the rigging where you'll be seen by those on the other ship, who will be watching through long glasses. If a seaman tries to stop you, come up with your broken bottle under his chin, as hard as you can."
I pause to take a breath.
"Any questions?" I ask. There are none. "It will be messy and bloody and many will die, but it would be far better for us to die fighting on deck than to submit to being slaughtered like animals." There are resolute nods all around. When I think of that cowed crowd of scared, whimpering girls who were first thrown down into this Pit, well...
"All right, everyone back on watch. Sally, when they get the boards down, get a candle lit and crawl through and set the wedge. You'll find the spool of wire on the deck to the right. The cutters are sitting on it. Take about six feet, then cut it in half. Now, let's see what that ship is up to." And with that, I spring back up on the Balcony, with Clarissa right behind me.
The ship is still out there and seems to have gained on us a little.
"What do you think it is?" asks Clarissa.
"Don't know. Too far away," I reply. "Could be a merchant, a warship, a pirate, even. Whatever it is, it's trouble, and I wish it would go away. Sure would like to pull out my long glass, but we can't risk that."
"How much do our little bag-bombs weigh?"
"About ten pounds."
She nods. "Yes. I could throw it to just about there. It'd be fun. Wouldn't those scum do some jumpin' around then?" She grins, picturing it in her mind.
"Yes, they would. But I like Plan A better than Plan B."
"Maybe. Still, I'd like to ... wait, what's happening?"
The ship, which had been on our quarter, was now dead astern. The Bloodhound had turned.
"Blodgett has come to a new course to see if that ship intends to follow us. We'll know in a minute if he changes course to match ours." I ready myself to yell out "Plan B" and set things in motion.
We watch, and the set of the sails of the other ship does not change. I let out my breath and relax. "He's not going to pursue us."
"Damn. I could have used a good fight," says Clarissa.
"Don't worry, Clarissa, you'll get that fight soon enough. This has been a good lesson for us—we can't just plan and plan and not act. Let's pass the word that we'll be leaving as soon as the fuse is done and the weather is right, and all should prepare themselves for it."
I turn back to the others and raise my voice. "False alarm. That ship is not chasing us. Let's get back to ordinary routine"
Ordinary routine is work continuing on the fuse while the dancers rattle overhead. The fuse work is tedious and slow—the seams have to be sewn very tightly so that the powder doesn't leak out—and Ruth has enlisted the services of Frances Wallace to spell her when her hand cramps up.
"I swear I'll never again touch a needle in this life," grumbles Ruth, flexing her fingers.
"Oh yes, you will," I laugh and pat her shoulder to show that we really appreciate what she's doing. "Soon you'll be back doin' those roses and vines and fancy scrollwork for which you are famous throughout the land."
"Hmmm," she says, unconvinced but happy to think of herself back home doing homely things.
Katy and the Dianas are in a line under the Stage, exercising with their new, stronger bows. Pull, hold ... hold ... relax. Pull, hold ... hold ... hold ... relax. Pull, hold ... hold ... hold till their arms quiver and shake with the effort of holding the string back ... relax.
The Dianas now not only roll up their cutoff drawers, but also the sleeves of their undershirts, and when they are in the "hold" position, I notice up-and-down grooves have appeared in their shoulder muscles. Their legs, too ... You can see the separate muscles, just like on me ... or on me when I've been climbing the rigging for a—
"Hey. Something's up," comes the call from Annie on starboard quarter lookout. I leap up to see what's what.
"It looks like the whole crew is out there," she says, and she is right. There's Mick and Keefe and Cookie and the rest, and that Carruthers is out in front of all of 'em with his arms crossed on his chest, his lower lip jutting out, lookin' seriously surly. He may be a bully and a thug, but he is without a doubt the crew's leader.
"It looks like they want a meeting with the Captain. That Nettles just went into the cabin to tell him"
I think Annie's right—Chubbuck and Dunphy are standing by and lookin' just as serious as Carruthers.
The cabin door opens and Blodgett comes out, wearing both his sword and his pistols, which he doesn't ordinarily do. He goes up to confront Carruthers.
"What the devil do you men want?" he demands.
Carruthers pulls off his cap and says, "We got some questions, Captain, and we wants 'em answered"
"So ask them," says the Captain.
"First, how come you and the Mate and the Bo'sun is the only ones aboard with weapons? There's some on board that says you plan to kill the lot of us when we get to Africa, 'cause of the nature of this cargo, which you think we might talk about sometime and get you and your bosses in trouble. What you got to say to that?"
The Captain breaks out in a big smile. "Now, boys, when have you ever been on a ship where the crew is armed, unless you've sailed on a pirate? Think back, now, have you?"
The crew thinks on this and mumbles things like, "Well, maybe not," and "Come to think of it..."
"And as for killing you? Why, you're the best crew I've ever had. I know you each for a good closemouthed lad who ain't never gonna peach on nobody. Besides, everyone back in the States thinks these girls are dead. Who's gonna be lookin' for 'em? Or news of 'em? Nay, these girls are a dead issue, count on it."
Carruthers thinks on this for a moment and then says, "There's been some strange things happenin' on this ship lately. Ghostly things, and we don't like it. There's talk of a Black Ghost what maybe slipped a noose over Henry Pritchett's head one night. There's seaweed poppin' up where it ain't supposed to be. There's big sharks followin' us. Strange noises..."
The Captain continues to smile. "Now, Carruthers, you know what a superstitious lot sailors are. It's in our very nature. There ain't no ghost, trust me, and sharks always follow a ship, surely you know that."
But Carruthers is not yet through. "Has this ship always been the Bloodhound? Or did it have another name in the past, like maybe the Marie Celestine?"