Zealand

51. Plans

Friday, 25th March 1667

Mid-morning on Friday, at Captain's bidding, I fetched a large pot of tae and a big basket of scones from the cookery. He was not in the great cabin when I returned to it, so I set them in the pantry to await his arrival.

Should I place the dishes, tae bowls and basket on the table now? No, I do not know where they will sit. Will it be all on one side like they did when selecting the crew? Or around one end? If so, which one? Or will they sit along both sides at the middle? I stepped out from the pantry when I heard him talking with others as they entered. No need to pother – he will tell me.

He led the men across the cabin and directed them where to sit, and he took his usual place at the end of the table, positioned to look along its length and out the stern windows. Among the guests, I recognised only Captain Gilbert of Delfe, but there were none of his officers nor any of ours. The other men were equally well-dressed, so I assumed they were the captains of the Navy ships he went to visit after breakfast.

When they had settled, he turned to me and said, "You may now serve, Boy."

"Aye, sir." Back into the pantry, I placed the bowls and dishes on the tray, fetched it up and took it to the table, thinking as I arrived that I must set it down before I can serve. So different from doing this for only Captain.

When I finished pouring the tae, there was still a fair amount remaining in the pot, so I left it on the table and took the empty tray to the pantry. Should I leave? Or do I remain here, ready to pour more at his bidding? While I pondered, their intercourse became more interesting, so I stood still and listened.

"After the French recaptured Tobago from us last August, they had no further successes until November, when they joined with the Dutch to retake Saint Eustace and capture Antigua. Then, in January, the French occupied our halves of Saint Christopher and Montserrat. This now leaves us with only Nevis in the Leewards, Barbados here, Suriname to the south and Jamaica to the west."

Another voice said, "We received word two weeks past that a large Dutch squadron arrived in Cayenne the end of last month, and we fear the fate of Suriname." [1]

"What would you have us do?" I recognised Captain's voice, and my heart soared at the possibility of action, as he had so vividly related with his tales.

"Sail toward Cayenne and stand well off, capturing their merchantmen – both coming and going to disrupt their trade. With your ships appearing as Dutch and the strength and number of your guns, you should have an easy game of it."

"If we raise one of their naval ships, might we attack and disable it?"

"Only if they are not in company. You have a superb ruse, and it would be unwise to allow them to learn of it." The man chuckled. "Christ's nails! As you approached yesterday, we took you as Dutch, called all hands and scrambled to prepare our ships to defend."

"Even with us flying English colours?"

"Indeed! But that is a standard ruse of both privateers and pirates."

"Yes, of course. But we were only two ships approaching six ships of the line."

"You had the wind advantage, and we were at anchor – as if sitting ducks. You could have sailed past and raked us all."

"But you must have seen us coming in sufficient time to weigh and bring us to bear."

"We are expecting the arrival of more ships to assist here. It was not until your hulls had risen well above the horizon that we saw you as Dutch."

"Proving well the strength of your ruse," another voice said. "Your targets will be unprepared."

"What will you have us do with our prizes?"

"We will send four ships to Suriname to bolster defences there, and I intend sailing for there this week. Tow your captures to us in Fort Willoughby."

"And payment?"

"We will sell them and their cargo to your benefit after the King's share." [2]

"And the crews?"

"There is a strong and continuing need for workers on the plantations."

While they talked, I remained in the pantry, daring not to move lest I be discovered. But Captain would know I am here, and he has said nothing. Nonetheless, I stood as if my shoes were nailed to the deck, not wanting to remind him.

Their talking was filled with so many unknown words – names of lands and of islands, most of them seemed. But by their context, a few seemed as if names of ships and others as people. How will I remember them all? Then seeing my slate and chalk where I left them when he bade me fetch tae, I wrote the names I could remember. Rather, jumbles of letters to remind me of their sounds, but I should be able to find them on the charts with those.

A long while later, with my slate near filled by jumbles of letters, I heard the scraping of chairs on the deck, signalling their rising from the table. As I listened to their fading voices, I stepped from the pantry to watch them heading through the door – and Captain with them.

Maybe to show them the guns. No, by the way they talked, he must have done that when they came aboard. Aha! Thus, his delay in arriving here. So, why did he now go with them? Oh, of course, to see them to their boat and bid farewell.

I gathered the bowls, dishes, pot and near-empty basket and took them to the pantry. Two scones left – should I have one? Ask him first. Then, while I brushed orts [3] from the table, Captain entered and asked, "What did you learn, Boy?"

"That we have some exciting adventures coming, sir. Like in your stories, but these sound even better." I pointed toward the pantry door. "I chalked the places that were mentioned, and I want to find them on the charts, so I better understand what we are about."

"Excellent, Boy. But remember, this is the type of information we do not tell others unless they have a need to know."

I nodded. "But you allowed me to listen – to learn it."

"Aye, because you have a need to know."

"Oh! I do?"

"Indeed, Boy. With the way your mind works, you may well see possibilities I do not." He smiled and shrugged. "And two sharp minds are better than one."

Notes:

[1] After establishing colonies in the Caribbean, this was the low point in England's holdings there, having steadily lost possessions to the Dutch and the French during this war. Because of the reduced tax revenue in the aftermath of the plague and the fire, the future looked glum.
[2] Part of the agreement with a letter of marque is that the Crown would receive a share of all prizes and plunder taken.
[3] Orts are table scraps after a meal.