11 June - Reporting to the Captain

[Deverel comes from here]


Deverel headed to the great cabin, walking in long swift strides, not even bothering to see if the young boy Button was following. Sailors parted before him like the Red Sea, easily able to read his angry mood.

"I need to speak with the captain," he said bluntly to the marine sentry outside the cabin door.

Vining was on sentry outside the Captain's cabin, and stiffened at the Third Lieutenant's approach. He knocked on the door. "Third Luff, sir!" he said, and waited for the muffled reply that he took to be 'Come in!' He pushed the door open so that Mister Deverel could enter the cabin, and looked curiously at the boy following him, who looked scared almost out of his wits. Poor sod.

Terry gulped when he saw where Mister Deverel was taking him. Why did the Lieutenant want to take him, of all people, to the Great Cabin?

He couldn't think what he might have done... And if Mister Leat heard of this, he was definitely in line to get sent back to the purser, at the very least. He gulped again.

Bolitho looked up from his desk as Deverel entered the cabin. The announcement of the third lieutenant had been unexpected, and he wondered what it was that Deverel wished to bring to his attention. Then Bolitho noticed a small form shuffling behind the lieutenant, and he realised that young Button was accompanying Deverel. Clearly the third lieutenant had some urgent matter, but what did it have to do with the boy?

"Yes Mister Deverel? What is it?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Sir, I've come to report - "

Deverel stopped as he noticed the captain's gaze straying to something behind him. Oh, it was that wretched young boy. He had almost forgotten him. "Wait outside!" he ordered, seemingly shocked that the boy could have misinterpreted the "come with me" order so egregiously. What was the matter with him? Boxed in the ears once too many?

Oh, make your mind up, sir, can't you?! Terry flushed red, bit his lip and retreated, almost falling over his own feet in his hurry. Mister Deverel hadn't said anything about waiting outside, or anything else that might have meant Terry would have known not to come with him into the cabin.

He dropped to sit cross-legged in the shelter of the nearest gun, making himself as small as possible, feeling embarrassed and nervous by turns, and chewed his thumb while glancing at the Marine sentry every now and then. He was sure his face was as red as the Marine's coat.

Deverel turned to the captain again. "Sir, there has been a fire in the galley," he began.

"A fire in the galley?" Bolitho stared in surprise. "That is a serious matter indeed...though I take it from your use of 'has been' that the fire has been extinguished. So am I correct in assuming that the crisis has been averted?"

As he looked at Deverel, he now noticed that the lieutenant was holding his hand in an odd manner. Had he injured himself in dealing with the fire? Most likely, but if so, surely Deverel had at least enough sense to have it looked at by the surgeon. He did not need the captain to tell him to do so, hopefully.

Bolitho had also noticed that Button had ducked hurriedly out of the cabin after the reprimand from Deverel. Though he was still not sure as to why the lieutenant had brought the boy, he was beginning to have an inkling that it had something to do with the fire.

"Yes sir, I extinguished it myself," he answered with a wave of his hand, and then flinched slightly as the burn reminded him of its presence. He spared his palm only a brief agitated glance. "There was no one in the galley, but the stove was lit and food was left unattended, which is how the fire started. Apparently the passenger surgeon saw fit to whisk the cook away to sick bay, with the aid of Mister Gallien."

The stove had been left unattended with food cooking? That was inexcusable. Even if the cook had suddenly taken ill, someone should have extinguished the fire. Both Gallien and Maturin should have known better. Though they were surgeons and not sailors, surely they knew the dangers of fire on ships.

"Well, I am glad that you attended to the fire promptly, Mister Deverel," said Bolitho, rather surprised that Deverel had been the one to solve the problem instead of causing it. "I am sorry that Mister Kock was taken ill, but how could the surgeons have failed to see that the fire was still lit? And why was there no one else in the galley to attend to it?"

"I couldn't tell you, sir. I rushed to the scene when I smelled fire and saw the flames, and there was no one in the galley. However, the boy Button witnessed the preceding scene." Now that the adrenalin was wearing off, his hand was beginning to cause him agony. He spied a jug on the little table nearby. "Is that water? I burned my hand."

Ah, so that was the reason Deverel had brought the boy. Well then, there was nothing for it but to call the boy back in. The lad clearly did not want to be put on the spot in front of the captain, but Bolitho needed to know more about this incident.

"Then I think it best I speak with him. Please call the lad back." Bolitho said. "And yes, that is water. You may help yourself to it, Mister Deverel, but if your hand is badly injured, perhaps you need to see the surgeon yourself."

"Thank God," Deverel exclaimed heartily, seizing the water jug and moving towards the door. He opened it and called out "Button come here," while upending the jug over his hand. Then he handed the jug to a passing seaman, saying "Fill this with water for the captain at once."

Terry scrambled to his feet and blinked as the Lieutenant poured a jug of water over his own hand before handing the jug to a sailor to refill. "S... sir?" he said, wanting to be sure of what he was expected to do before doing something wrong again.

Deverel rolled his eyes in pain and in exasperation. "Come here, Button! Come into the cabin now. The captain will speak with you."

The Captain? Terry still hadn't been able to think of anything he might have said or done that would have got him in such trouble that the Captain needed to deal with it, but obviously there had been something bad.

He swallowed again and entered the cabin through the door that the officer was holding open, chewing his lip as he did so. He remembered to pull his hat off, but kept his eyes on the black and white squares of the canvas that covered the deck.

Bolitho watched Button shuffle in. He could tell the boy was nervous, so he spoke as gently as possible in the hopes of not frightening him even more.

"Button, Mister Deverel has told me about the incident that occurred in the galley, however I need to know more about what transpired, and I believe you are the one who can shed some light on the affair. Would you kindly tell me what you can about the fire? Anyone, anything you may have seen will be helpful."

Deverel pushed Button forward. "Well speak up, lad," he said impatiently.

Catchpole now entered with the jug of water. Deverel took it from him and plunged his hand into it, not caring what the steward (or the captain) might think.

Terry could not define the word 'loyalty' but he knew what it was. He might not really know the cook, but he couldn't split on him - it was the surgeons' fault, really, but they were higher up than the cook and the officers would take their side. Wouldn't they?

"I... I don' wanna tell no tales, s... sir," he mumbled, looking at the floor and rubbing his right foot up and down his left calf in an agony of indecision.

"I'm not asking you to tell tales, Button. I'm simply asking you to tell the truth. If you know something about what happened in the galley, it is important that you tell me. If there is even the slightest hint of a fire, the safety of the ship and all those aboard is threatened. That is why I need to know."

The boy was scared, but there was nothing more Bolitho could do for him. He needed to know whatever information Button had to impart.

Terry twisted his hat in his suddenly-sweaty hands, and swallowed dryly. This had better be the last time he ever came into the Cabin for anything at all. Ever.

"I wuz... I wuz gettin' Mister Leat a cuppa tea," he began, addressing the black-and-white painted canvas at his feet. "So I wuz inna galley, see. Sir. Wiv Mister Kock there. Dunno where Slushy was. Um. Cook's mate," he added, it suddenly occurring to him that such an exalted personage as the Captain probably wouldn't know who on earth was called 'Slushy', and not being able to recall Dyson's name.

Though Bolitho did vaguely recall someone being called "Slushy," he was glad that Button had clarified that he was referring to the cook's mate.

"Go on Button," he said gently, hoping to reassure the lad, "It sounds as though you were going about your duties perfectly fine, but please continue."

"Tell him about the cook leaving," Deverel prompted impatiently. "And the surgeons."

"I's just gettin' to that," Terry muttered defensively before remembering where he was and who he was speaking to, and coloured furiously. "I, ah, um... See, the surgeon - Mister Gallien, I mean - comes in an' starts all-on goin' on about a bag of sugar he had an'... an', well, all but says Mister Kock took it for hisself." He glanced up at this point, was met by the sight of the Captain's dark blue coat with all its gold lace and dropped his head again. "An' I dunno that the cook weren't feelin' too good anyways, but he was lookin' real bad after that. Sorta like he was... was all sea-sick, an' he had his head in his hands like he had a real bad headache an' all." He petered out at this point, realised there were two officers listening and mumbled a belated "Sir" in conclusion.

Bolitho frowned as he listened to Button's account. However, he was not frowning at the boy; he was frowning at the information Button was imparting. It confirmed Deverel's account of the event, but Bolitho still could not fathom how the surgeons could have been so careless. While he could understand them tending to the cook if he was ill, there was no reason that one of them had not thought to make sure the galley was being attended to as well. Especially with the fire being lit. And just where had the cook's mate been?

"So you are saying that you saw Mister Gallien and Doctor Maturin speaking with Mister Kock. And you also saw them take the cook to the sickbay without bothering to dose the fire?" Bolitho inquired, frowning again. That was inexcusable behavior for any man aboard ship, sailors or not.