Kings Pinnacle by Robert Gourley

water as fast as they
could pump the handle. Some of the rigging fowled in the wind and
broke loose. The bosun sent the seaman who had been working the
pump with Alex aloft to help mend the broken sheets and hawsers. He
sent one of the cabin boys below to commandeer one of the other
passengers to help Alex, who was now pumping out the bilge water
alone at the bilge pump handle.
    Alex glanced up from his
task and saw the cabin boy leading Samuel Ruskin to the pumping
position beside him. As the big man grasped the moving pump handle,
he turned to Alex and said, “Let me show you how a man works a
pump, laddie.”
    Alex smiled at him and just
kept working the pump. Samuel started pumping furiously and Alex
was pressed to keep up with the pace that Samuel had set. But
Samuel soon began to tire and then fell back into a more reasonable
pumping rhythm. Alex was having no trouble keeping the pace now and
holding up his end of the task. As the day wore on, the pumping
became all-consuming for Alex and Samuel, and the rain and rough
seas did not let up. Samuel’s hands soon began to blister, and the
blisters broke open and bled. He was definitely not used to this
type of work, so his hands were soft. Alex had been pumping from
time to time throughout the entire voyage, so his hands were as
tough as leather.
    “You had better go below and
have those hands looked at,” Alex yelled at Samuel through the rain
and howling wind.
    “Mind your own business,
Scot.”
    “Suit yourself,” said Alex
as he glanced at Samuel’s bleeding hands.
    It wasn’t long before Samuel
couldn’t bear the pain anymore, so he let go of the pump handle and
glowered at Alex. Alex ignored him and kept on pumping. Samuel
sulked away to the deck ladder to go below, not looking back at
Alex. Alex smiled to himself. He knew that he had won that round,
but the fight still wasn’t over by a long shot.
    The worst of the storm was
soon past, and the rain began to let up. Alex was finally relieved
at the pump by one of the seamen and soon the rain stopped
altogether. Alex finally went below and dropped into a deep sleep
in his hammock.
     
    * * * *
     
    Hugh
     
    “ Major Leyden Thomas, at
your service, Sir,” said the dandy British major in a much clipped
British accent as he strode into the Fort Craghead commandant’s
office.
    He reported to the
commandant with a smart salute, as required by military protocol.
The major’s uniform was very crisp and clean. It was cut into the
latest style, with a high collar, and tapered to fit his trim
physique. His knee high boots were polished to a high gloss. His
mustache was waxed, with the ends twirled into military points. He
sported a monocle that was tied to a black leather band around his
neck, and it was resting on his chest. He was the very epitome of a
British upper-class army officer.
    The major had ridden into
Fort Craghead with two mounted troops, who wore the insignia of his
aides, and up to the commandant’s office, where they dismounted.
The major had handed his reins to one of his aides and given him
instructions to wait for him to return.
    “ Welcome to Fort Craghead,
Major; I’m Colonel Barkley” replied the commandant.
    “ How may I assist you?”
continued the commandant.
    “ I have orders to collect
one of your prisoners, if you would be so kind,” replied the
major.
    “ May I see your orders?”
asked the colonel.
    The major unbuttoned his military
jacket and reached into an inside pocket to draw out a folded
document, tied with a ribbon and sealed with a wax seal, which he
handed to the commandant.
    “ This may take a moment;
if you wouldn’t mind waiting, I would appreciate it,” said the
commandant, gesturing toward an empty chair on the other side of
his desk as he broke open the sealed orders.
    “ It’s no difficulty,”
replied the major, as he took the offered seat, crossed his legs,
yawned, and patted his mouth with a very bored
expression.
    The major then raised his
monocle to