The Devil to Pay by Katie Daysh EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: Katie Daysh
- Language: English
- Genre: Sea Stories
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
September 1801, the Mona Passage, between
Santo Domingo and Puerto Rico
Arthur Courtney, the first lieutenant of HMS Scylla, hauled his legs up into
the maintop and groped for the cap above his head. Feeling the comforting
presence of the backstays, he forced himself to rise to his feet, unsure if the
sea was rolling the timber or if his shaking knees were doing that. More
than ten years he had been on the sea and he still could not quite abide these
heights.
One look to windward softened those fears. HMS Meridian sailed within
signalling distance of the Scylla, close enough that Courtney could see a
little blue dot against the expanse of t’gallant canvas. That dot, a Meridian
man, had climbed far higher than Courtney. Sucking in his breath and
willing his palms to stop sweating, Courtney mimicked him, shoving his
heels into the mesh of rigging and making the accompanying Scylla topman
follow.
The world bloomed about him as he stuck his head into the azure sky.
Fragile ribbons of clouds echoed the sails, fluttering by, almost within
arm’s-length. The line of the horizon encircled the Scylla and the Meridian
as though they were two model ships in a miniature globe. The form of
Monito Island approached, its high rocky face jarring the expanse of the
sea. The Scylla was starting to feel the influence of the forceful tidal
currents which lashed white-rimmed waves up against its craggy shores.
There was reason for the two ships to brave the hostility of the Mona
Passage though.
A distant, tiny voice called from the deck below.
‘What do you see, Lieutenant?!’ shouted Captain Hugh Robinson
through a speaking-trumpet.
The unidentified ship was two points off the starboard bow. She was a
frigate, that much was certain – and had been certain over the day that they
had been chasing her. This, in the wind blowing one point abaft the beam
and favouring the British frigates, was the first time they had approached
her so close. Courtney steadied himself on the crosstrees and felt for the
spyglass in his belt. He focused it upon the vessel, knowing the Meridian
officer would be doing the same. Through the lens, he could count fourteen
guns on the frigate’s starboard side, with twelve on the quarterdeck and
forecastle; in all, she would have more armaments than the Scylla. He
recognised the French design.
Courtney was no stranger to long chases and all of the variables that
accompanied them, yet he still felt the impulsive itch of impatience as he
saw how they neared the French frigate. An enemy ship could form two
paths for a man who had been a dedicated lieutenant for eight years: the
potential of scrabbling up the tentative ladder of promotion, or being
thrown off it entirely into a bloody death. Courtney had been at those
crossroads for too long.
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