Unlikely Heroes by Carla Kelly

Author:Carla Kelly
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2020-08-10T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-one

The Mercury sailed two days later in early September with the tide and the wind from the right quarter, blowing them toward Spain. Meri and Ben saw them off from the Gunwharf, Nick standing beside the woman he called Mum, looking not even slightly sad, because he had his own sea duty ahead in mere weeks.

Even Smitty had been properly impressed when informed that Nick’s duty would see him aboard the HMS Victory, the flagship of Lord Nelson himself. “Good God, Nick!” he had exclaimed in his inimitable Smitty way, “Who do you know?” That made all the Gunwharf Rats laugh, Able included. They knew they didn’t know anybody.

“Smitty, sometimes you just get lucky,” Able told his Mercury sailing master later that evening. “It so happens that the admiral’s secretary is drowning in paperwork and needs an organizer to stack, file and collate.”

“That would be Nick,” Smitty agreed. And still being Smitty, he had given Able a long look. “We Rats don’t get lucky often, though. Master Six, did you get lucky?”

Oh, my word did he ever. How to tell someone like Smitty? He could have described Sir B’s mentoring, or Captain Benjamin Hollowell’s willingness to take a chance, but that wasn’t the supreme stroke of luck. “I did, Smitty,” he said finally, and found himself hard put not to struggle. “I got lucky the day this half-pay bastard caught the eye of Meridee Bonfort. Since then, I don’t know a richer man than I.”

“A woman makes that big a difference?” Smitty asked, sounding younger than usual, which made Able feel surprisingly paternal toward this young-old Rat.

“She understands me,” Able said, unable to think of a better answer, and if truth be told, a little surprised that all the geniuses inhabiting his skull couldn’t suggest anything better. Perhaps he was right. “She’s pretty, too,” he added a bit feebly, which made Smitty laugh.

He regarded the Mercury’s young sailing master, seeing Smitty as an equal as he saw Jamie MacGregor, an earlier St. Brendan alumnus now serving well in the fleet. “Smitty, the luckiest thing you have done so far is show up at St. Brendan unannounced and declare that you were meant to be here,” he said, “no matter how poorly Sir B’s rascal brother treated you and your mother. You took a chance. It’s making all the difference.”

Able watched a light come into Smitty’s eyes. He wondered if the normally taciturn lad would say something more, hoping he would, in fact. Smitty merely nodded, said “Aye, I did, sir,” and walked away. Smitty made a point before the Mercury sailed to help Nick decide what should go in his duffel bag, as the younger boy prepared to ship out on the Victory. Bravo, Smitty.

But oh, the tug of domestic life, before shipping out again, with Ben to enjoy, and Meridee to tease and love. It was enough to make a seafaring man question if life on shore was better. He had said as much to Meri one early morning.

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