He hardly dared to say it. "I can see again." He did not resist as Lovelace lifted the lid of his left eye. For an instant Bolitho saw surprise, even shock on his face, but he said calmly, "I do not think this one will change, Sir Richard."
"Help me up."
Bolitho stood between them while Lovelace removed tiny splinters from around his eyes. Each one was so small that it could barely be seen in the smoky sunshine. But just one would have been enough.
Lovelace smiled gravely. "There were paint-flecks as well, Sir Richard." He looked away as somebody screamed out in agony. "I must go, sir. I am needed." He looked at Bolitho, and Avery thought that it was as if he were searching for something. "And yes, I will be glad to accept your offer! "
Urquhart yelled, "Baratte's Chacal has struck to Anemone, sir! " He was wild with excitement.
Bolitho strode to the quarterdeck rail with Allday's shadow covering him like a cloak.
"What of LaertesT He took a telescope and winced as the sunlight lanced into his eyes.
Before they blurred again he saw Anemone almost alongside the French frigate, her foremast shot away and lying across Baratte's deck like a crude bridge. Two cables away, Laertes had grappled with the renegade's ship Le Corsair. It would be a double blow to Baratte that his ship should be taken by Adam. He saw it all until the brightness forced him to lower the glass. Anemone'?" sails were in tatters, her rigging like tangled creeper, but he thought he heard cheering. Adam was safe. No other captain could have fought his ship like that.
He felt Herrick beside him and knew Allday was grinning despite the death and destruction which lay around them.
Herrick said quietly, They didn't need us after all. But if the Yankee had really had his say there's no telling what might have happened."
Urquhart called, "No signals yet, sir."
Bolitho nodded. "The most dangerous Frenchman afloat, and they did it. And I saw none of it."
Herrick swayed and looked at the spots of blood which were falling from his bandaged stump.
"And he wanted to parade us together as his prisoners, eh? God rot him! "
Avery asked, "What orders, Sir Richard?"
"We must assist the others with their prizes. After that…" He swung round and asked, "No signals, Mr. Urquhart? No wonder Captain Hannay gave up the fight. Baratte was playing another old trick! " They stared at him as if the fear for his sight had deranged him. Bolitho shouted, "Where is that brig?"
"Standing well away to lee'rd, sir! "
Herrick stood steadily as a warrant officer tried to retie the reddening bandage, but suddenly the pain was too much. He gasped, "We did it, Richard, like those other times…"
Then he fainted.
"Take good care of him." Bolitho laid Herrick's coat over him as some seamen carried him on to a grating. "But for him
Then he said, "Baratte was directing the fight from the brig but flew his flag from Chacal. Just in case Unity could not frighten us off."
Avery said quietly, "If Captain Trevenen had had his way…" He shrugged. It already seemed like history. Only the grim reminders were real.
Bolitho said, "Make all sail, Mr. Urquhart." He glanced down at the sailing master's corpse as if he might still respond. But his face was stiff, `?,:/' frozen at the moment of impact. "Baratte shall not get away this time."
Allday watched him grimly as he touched his eyelid. "You had me fair troubled, Sir Richard."
Bolitho turned to look at him, his eyes very clear. "I know, old friend." He fingered the locket through his smoke-stained shirt. "Now Commodore Keen's convoy will be safe. It is up to the military from this point." He seemed to see it in his mind. Too many men, too many ships. The price was always unbearable.
The depression lifted slightly. "I expect I shall be unemployed for a while."
A voice called, "The brig has set more sail, sir! "
Bolitho clenched his hands. "Too late. Tell the master gunner to lay aft."
Bob Fasken appeared below the rail and knuckled his forehead. "I'm ready, Sir Richard." His eyes seemed to ask, how did you know?
Bolitho stared past him as the brig seemed to drift into Valkyrie's mesh of rigging.
Tire when you are ready, Mr. Fasken." He smiled briefly. "Your crews did well this day."
It seemed to take an eternity to overhaul the enemy brig. Corpses were dropped overboard, and the protesting wounded vanished from the darkly stained decks.
Trucks squealed as one of the big eighteen-pounder bow-chasers was manhandled into position. The gunner watching with his arms folded. Handspikes were used to train the gun round, and some of the unemployed men stood on the gangway to watch, a few still searching for friends, a familiar face, which would never be seen again.
The bow-chaser banged out and the smoke was cleared away even as the crew were sponging out and reloading.
Bolitho saw the shot fall short of the brig's counter, and heard some of the seamen laying bets with one another, when only moments earlier they had been staring death in the face.
"Ready, sir! "
"Fire! "
This time Bolitho thought he saw the actual fall of shot. A dark blur, then wood splinters and rigging flying from the brig's hull to drift along her side.
Urquhart said in a whisper, "He must strike, damn him! "
Avery pointed. "Look, sir! He's running up his flag! "
Bolitho lowered the telescope. Like an answer to Urquhart's remark. He would never surrender.
"Fire! "
It was another hit, and men could be seen running like mad creatures as spars and rigging smashed down amongst them.
Fasken shaded his eyes to peer aft. When no order was given he took the trigger-line from the gun-captain and balanced himself in a crouching position inboard of the black breech, something which he had probably not done since he had been part of a gun crew.
Bolitho felt the deck rise and then settle, saw the trigger line go taut and then jerk to Fasken's strong pull.
For a moment longer it seemed that the gunner had missed. Then there was a mingled gasp of surprise and horror as the forepart of the brig exploded into a great tower of fire. Driven gleefully by the wind, the sails and tarred rigging were consumed in minutes, the fires reaching out along the hull and spitting through the open ports like tongues of bright sparks.
The explosion, when it came, was like a single clap of thunder. Perhaps a magazine had been ignited, or maybe the brig was carrying extra powder for Baratte's privateers.
As the sound rolled away the vessel's death pall was smeared across the sky like a black stain.
Bolitho watched the sea's face easing away the violent disturbances. For what, he wondered? So that Baratte could further prove he was a better man than his father and loyal to his country's cause? A vanity, then?
He heard himself say, "Rejoin the others, Mr. Urquhart. Then tell the purser to break out the rum." He looked at the men who had once been too cowed even to speak. "They are all heroes today."
Avery ventured, "After this, Sir Richard?"
"Home, if there is still justice in the world." He let his mind linger on it.
The mood changed just as swiftly. "Besides, we have a wedding to attend! " He slapped Allday's shoulder. "Keep this one up to his word! "
Surprisingly, Allday did not respond as he had expected.
He said quietly, "Would you really do that, Sir Richard?"
The men in the other ships were all cheering now, the fear and pain held at bay. Until the next time.