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Allison; Taking Control Chapter 70
“Given my experience, I wouldn’t deem it truly safe for anyone wearing these blue uniforms to travel alone on the island right now. Sergeant White is a decent horseman; we’ll see if William might have another two or three amongst his detail. Then I’ll provide you with some coin from what we’ve been given to hire mounts so you can ride, escorted, to the Blevins’ plantation.”Caldwell suddenly blanched.“What... what name did you... I’m sorry Captain, what was that name again?”“The Blevins family, Henry. Gambles did mention them didn’t he?” Allison asked, though neither he nor Deakins really noticed Caldwell’s reaction.“Um... no sir. I think he neglected to mention their actual name,” he answered truthfully enough, though something was definitely agitating him.Still neither of his companions took note of his perturbed state.“Their lands are close by, not far south of town,” Allison went on. “Still, I think you’ll be grateful for not having to make the trip on foot. In the meantime
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 71
Caldwell motioned to Sergeant White to have his men dismount for the time being. With the grooms still obediently holding the horses’ bridles, everyone swung to the ground and began stretching their limbs. As he did likewise, Caldwell took in more of his surroundings. Movement could be detected in the far-off fields, no doubt the activity of slave hands at work tending or harvesting crops. The vanes of the mill continued to turn with the winds grinding out sugar, flour or whatever product the harvested crops provided. He looked up at the towering façade of the huge house. Between the columns of the portico and elsewhere, including the gables protruding from the roof were a collection of multi-paned windows looking out over the expansive lands.Which one? Caldwell found himself thinking, as his heart seemed to beat even faster – almost fluttering. Is it even any of the ones I see? Is she even here?After a short space of time, the servant reappeared on the veranda.“You may come with m
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 72
She didn’t say anything right away, slowly stepping around him while looking back and forth from him to her husband several times, all the while wearing the same wide-eyed look of surprise. Caldwell straightened up and clasped his hands respectfully in front of him as his hostess now stood before the master of the house looking at him inquisitively. An exasperated sigh and a curt nod from Blevins seemed to provide all the explanation she sought at that moment since she then turned to address the naval officer who was visiting her house.“Henry Caldwell,” she began, “you are quite possibly the last person I would ever have expected to see in my home.”“For what it is worth, madam,” Caldwell replied, “I had not thought to be here. Though, truth be told, I really had no idea your family was even on this island.”“Lieutenant Caldwell is here on official business for the Royal Navy, Katherine,” Arthur Blevins told his wife. “Perhaps my feelings regarding the man nearly caused me to forget
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 73
Blevins started to walk along the table toward the opposite end of the room. He stopped at a pedestal which bore one of the extraordinarily large books and casually turned several pages.“Sir, I...”The master of the house interrupted Caldwell yet again, turning back to look in his direction and shaking an index finger in the air as he spoke.“Listen to me, Gambles is a shameless opportunist, nothing more! The very post he now holds within the government is one that I myself had designs on when it became vacant two years ago. It might very well have been mine if he hadn’t resorted to such activity as I thought should be beneath him.”“Of what activity do you speak, sir?” Caldwell asked him.Blevins was now walking back toward him slowly wearing a sardonic grin.“Young man, I’m afraid you don’t yet possess the wisdom and maturity you claim to have achieved if you have to ask me that question,” he said. “Suffice it to say that no politician can truly count any other man in the same prof
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 74
“Father, please,” she said gently. “Certainly we can allow the past to be the past. None of us can change who we were or what we may have done in days gone by, but surely we can acknowledge who and what the gallant officer standing before us now has come to be? If what I’ve heard is true, he came here solely to fulfill his duty and you mustn’t condemn him simply for doing so. Just the same, I wish you would not keep me from speaking with him, if only for a short while.”Blevins let out a sharp exhale and turned his head to glower icily at Caldwell even as Sophie still imploringly cupped his hand in hers. His face bore some of the ruddiness Henry had seen when the man’s ire was raised, yet it was not nearly so pronounced as it had been at times during their interview in the library. The protruding blood vessel in his forehead was conspicuously absent and that was taken as a good sign.“This is wrong!” he said emphatically.However, when he turned his head back to see the pleading look
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 75
Sophie continued to grip Henry’s hand, squeezing it even more tightly at times as though lending emphasis to what she was telling him. “Oh, they had their arguments and some rather wide differences of opinion as most politicians do,” she said, “but at some point during the past year, things became quite heated and adversarial. Father often told of how he had intended to put several ideas for the benefit of the colony before the council and the assembly. Yet Mr. Gambles would either create opposition to their enactment or find a way of taking credit for them himself. He obtained an appointment to the position he now holds, even though his knowledge and experience in relevant matters doesn’t come close to father’s, but this was merely a pretext for enriching himself at the government’s expense – and for concealing probable French intrigues.”“Sophie, that’s a deadly serious accusation to be making against such an influential man!” Caldwell warned.“No accusation has been made, Henry,” s
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 76
“Please don’t forget these,” he said, handing them to Suggs. “However, I must ask for your understanding,” he said as he shut the marine clock in its case and rested his hand upon it. “I’m afraid the circumstances under which these instruments were granted to me dictate that I can never allow them to leave my ship.”“I’m sure I understand,” Suggs assured him. “Besides, I prefer to keep my master’s mates occupied, even if it means the continuation of lunar altitude calculations. Despite all outward appearances, they’re a bunch that needs to be protected from the deadly sin of sloth.” He made a toothy grin. “Of course, how difficult can things truly be if all we have to do is follow you?”Allison smirked at the comment. “Well, to that end, Captain, should we be in receipt of any further coded messages or other information, we’ll make sure you know about them forthwith.”“I appreciate that.”Allison walked to the cabin door and opened it to give one of the marine sentries a message.“P
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 77
Allison didn’t think he bore all of the world’s burdens, but there were times when he felt like a great many of them were present, weighing down both his spirit and his physical body. The Doctor was a man of fine discernment. Even though Allison had been through a great deal which had caused him physical pain and injury, it was plain that Deakins could see through the corporeal aspects of that adversity. Very possibly something about his mood and bearing was betraying hints of mental or emotional strain, despite his efforts to the contrary. Though any man might be expected to endure some measure of distress from frightful or dangerous experiences, Allison knew that as a commanding officer he didn’t have the luxury of allowing himself to be affected in such a way. Despite the constant reminders he provided himself daily, it was apparent that his efforts needed to be redoubled. Fortunately, the Doctor was also a man of discretion and could be counted upon to never allow anything he h
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Chapter 112
“Qui êtes-vous? Parlez, maintenant!” growled the sergeant threateningly, insisting they speak.Caldwell was just about to feign a weak answer when a volley of musketry crackled from a nearby alleyway. Five of the French soldiers immediately crumpled to the ground, while the sergeant and the one remaining foot soldier wheeled around to face whatever it was that just surprised them. All at once a group of yelling, shadowy forms charged through the floating cloud of smoke left by the musket discharge. Seen in the guttering light of the lanterns which had been dropped to the ground, the last standing soldier uttered a disgusting gurgle as the blood-soaked point of a bayonet protruded through the back of his neck. At the same time, two attackers grabbed the reins of the sergeant’s horse while a third pinned the man’s sword arm and pulled him down bodily from the saddle. The third assailant then brandished his own sword and slammed the point into the sergeant’s chest several times before dr
Chapter 111
“Arrêtez!” came the shouted command in French to stop. Before the two disguised British officers could even react, five of the vigilant fellow’s nearby brethren had moved in to surround them. Taken unawares, Caldwell and James instinctively raised their hands. The discovered men were then promptly urged out into the clearing by the soldiers’ bayoneted muskets. The man who had originally discovered them made no effort to interrogate them or to find out who they were. He immediately began to call out to another a short distance away whom Caldwell could tell from the soldier’s address was a sergeant. The men who captured them then began to walk them in that general direction.This was dire. Everything the Philadelphia men had accomplished was about to be brought to nothing by a wretched barking dog. Almost as if to taunt the men it discovered, the vile scrawny creature was still milling about nearby yapping and growling toothily at them while wagging its tail. Both British officers knew
Chapter 110
“Well, what now?” James asked as he and Caldwell ducked back behind the pile of logs. “We can congratulate ourselves after a fashion for making it here under such horrid conditions, but that alone will serve no purpose. I’m forced to repeat my previous question: how do we determine just who or what is in there?”Caldwell looked as if he was about to reply with something less than definite when providence managed to intervene on their behalf yet again, though it was not at first clear exactly what was happening. Shouts and calls echoing up from further down the narrow road preempted Caldwell’s response. Both men ducked down and silently moved further to their right so as to observe the unfolding scene from the screen of heavy brush.A torch-bearing advance guard of marching soldiers, conceivably a detachment of the large unit which had come toward Saint-Pierre earlier, tramped up the slope. Following behind were even more men, with muskets at the ready, escorting what was clearly a gr
Chapter 109
Caldwell shook his head. “We can’t have more than three hours of darkness left to us at this point... but I’ll be buggered if I simply turn about and run off with our task undone. I couldn’t so much as face the Captain if we did that.” He then lifted his head and looked intently off into the darkness to the East.James grasped his thinking almost immediately and he didn’t like it one bit. “Oh... oh no! Not again! Henry, are you daft? I’d swear our last trip through the rills and ridges out there made me bleed far more than that splinter in the arm ever did!” He held out the still bandaged forearm to which he referred.“There’s no help for it, I’m afraid,” Caldwell told him. “Anyway, I do believe there’s another rise just east of here that will more than suit our purpose. It should be an easier ascent than the first ridge we scaled, at least at initially, and we should be able to move up onto higher ground by concealing ourselves on its southern slope and moving under the trees.” He r
Chapter 108
“Well, this is rather tedious – and distressing, I might add,” Caldwell told him. “Given the time we noted seeing the soldiers outside Le Carbet, which is just ahead, I’m all but certain they should have reached this particular point on the road at least a half hour ago if they were on the same schedule.”“A varied timetable?” James suggested.“I suppose something like that would only make sense,” Caldwell conceded, “unless they were delayed for some unknown reason.”James held his palms up. “Well, then what should we...”“SHHHH! Quiet! Lower yourself down and stay still! Something is coming!” Caldwell rasped, cutting him short.The second lieutenant quickly complied and did his best to listen to the approaching sounds which were just now becoming audible to him.As if in answer to their question, voices were heard echoing in the distance off to their right. Though they were still too far away to make out anything being said, it sounded like a series of shouts or calls being relayed
Chapter 107
“You’ve both performed superbly, as evidenced by the information with which you’ve returned. However, the problem we now face with the two of you being more recognizable to local inhabitants requires a form of mitigation. After some deliberation, I’ve decided that you are in fact quite right about the language difficulty inherent in sending other men. For that reason one of you – that is you Henry – will have to return. I am not unmindful of the dangers this entails, so it would be advisable for you to vary your attire and outward appearance as much as you can manage.”The two officers listened obediently, but their discomfiture with the new arrangement was palpable. Allison expected nothing less, and he went on to address the concerns that he knew troubled them.“William, you are by a wide margin the most experienced and practiced in these matters, but given the additional precautions I have decided to enact, your talents will be needed in a different capacity.”Allison now turned
Chapter 106
“We made use of the man’s almost messianic view of LaTour to draw more useful information from him,” Weyland said. “Incidentally, he told us that LaTour does in fact hold a regular commission in the French Navy. His letter of marque is held only for the benefit of his men, who are employed in an auxiliary fashion.”Allison shook his head. “I need only have you recall the damage those ‘auxiliaries’ caused with a single broadside when we met them at sea off Antigua to reiterate my previous warning. Even so, the facts you give stand to reason and confirm something we’ve all but suspected up to this point. What else?”Caldwell picked up the narrative. “LaTour is a figure who, by all accounts, places great importance upon putting himself in the public eye for reasons he himself might refer to as esprit de corps – morale of the whole. However, much as he purposefully strode along Saint-Pierre’s streets in the past, gifting shopkeepers and citizens with the odd item of value, these activiti
Chapter 105
It proved to be more than many of the knaves and blackguards in that establishment could ignore, and the majority quickly lost interest in the prospect of punishing the strangers so as to fight over their valuable coins. With a loud cacophony of shouts and yells that was horrible to hear, men were suddenly jostling, shoving, swinging and kicking to get at the treasure that had just been dropped before them. Others were rolling on the floor, wrestling and even biting for the chance to scoop up what they could.Brossard and Guiteau wasted no time in bolting for the door. After leaping over the bodies of several men who were wrangling with one another to get at the coins scattered about the wooden floor, they discovered that not quite everyone had been distracted by their desperate gamble. Brossard had to swing his pistol by the barrel and brain one onrushing assailant to get by him while Guiteau threw his shoulder into another, knocking him down to barge his way past. Then the wide door
Chapter 104
The old sailor paused again, looking back and forth from Brossard to Guiteau as though he expected one of them to ask the obvious question he’d left unanswered. When his audience didn’t offer this time, he continued.“Obviously something of importance is being stored up there. Wagons which are always covered, usually with armed men riding aboard, make their way up and down at times, winding along the wide path that switches back on the hillside. I’m told regular army troops are actually posted to keep the place under guard.”“Does it belong to LaTour himself?” Brossard asked.Rougebec shook his head. “People suggested that at first, but then another story started circulating. A friend of mine told me. He said whatever happens up there is overseen by some high-up government official, an aristocrat of some standing from the old country by all accounts.”“And no one knows who this man is?” Guiteau questioned.“Nope, but word is not even Baron de Beauville, the governor himself, interfere
