“It’s a Quinton ship all right!” he called back. “I can tell by her lines. She’s been painted differently and she’s in some sort of trouble!”
Cloud cast a wary glance at Landis. “What do you think? Could it be her?” His voice was calm, hiding the anxiousness knotting his insides. He turned his attention back to the ship.
Landis was slower to answer, but finally he said, “If it’s her then she’s up to something and if it’s not, the ship needs assistance. Shall I straighten course and move in?”
As Cloud was nodding another voice caught his attention. He looked up to see Frank shimmying down the mast. In a few moments he was standing in front of Cloud.
“Another ship, Captain,” he said breathlessly. “Flying a Union Jack too. A frigate, heavily armed. They are going in to help the Quinton vessel.”
“Travers?” Cloud’s tone almost belied the fact it was a question.
“Most likely, Captain.” Before he was told to do so Frank swiftly reassumed his station above the ship.
“Damn!” Cloud muttered. He heard Landis echo his sentiments and he smiled wryly. He was glad Frank had the foresight not to yell the information down to him. It was hard on all of them, knowing they had to take Alexis, but knowing they were about to deny her her moment of triumph—or death, he thought suddenly—was more than he was willing to burden them with. For now only three of them would shoulder the responsibility of knowing.
“Hard to port!” Cloud’s order seemed more like a curse to his ears. As the ship maneuvered, the command was given to ready the guns. SoonConcordwas as busy asDiamond Maria,but the activity was no illusion.
“What’s that you say?” Captain Travers asked Ian Smith.
“Another ship. American. Forty-four guns. Have they declared war?”
“I haven’t been given word,” he answered. He looked atDiamond Mariaagain. She was in difficulty but he knew he could not hope to protect her and her crew if the Americans decided to engage him. The British merchant would be useful as a decoy though. She could provide the necessary time theFollansbeerequired to get away.
He issued his orders to Smith and the frigate began to change its course drastically. Travers was not prepared to start a war if one had not been declared. He wisely remembered theChesapeake-Leopardaffair. As his direction changed he never realized he had had a hand in it a long time ago.
Alexis clutched the taffrail. Her fingers whitened from the grip. She thought she could break it if she could have maintained her hold. She released the rail and in the same motion one hand whipped to her face and tore at her mask. She looked at Jordan and saw he was at a loss to explain what was happening.
“What is he doing?” she cried, expecting no answer but wanting to hear a voice give their situation some reality. She gave the order to start a pursuit, Travers’s sudden actions still a mystery. By the time the men moved to their stations and the sails were ready she saw the problem. “Randall!” she commanded. “Get to the cap and make that ship!” Pulling her mask back in place, she and Jordan went to the other side of the quarterdeck to get a closer look. TheConcordwas bearing down fast.
“It’s American!” Randall cried. “Navy! And she must be making twelve knots!”
Alexis paled at Randall’s words. “What do you think they’re doing?” she asked Jordan.
“Maybe they were coming to help us,” he replied. The shudder that ran through his body told him otherwise.
There was a jolt as the wind caught the sails andDiamond Mariabegan its course toward theFollansbee.
“They’re armed and they look like they’re ready to use everything they’ve got!” It was Randall again.
“Are they changing course?” Surely, she thought, the Americans would see that her ship required no assistance and they would put about or move toward Travers. If war had started then he was the enemy, not her cargo ship.
“No, Captain! They’re still coming for us and they couldn’t have missed theFollansbee!”
The American’s actions made no sense to Alexis but it did explain Travers’s sudden aversion to coming to their aid. She put the American frigate aside and focused all her energies on pursuing theFollansbee.
“She wasn’t in trouble at all!” Smith told his captain. “She’s pursuing us!”
Travers’s normally composed, chiseled features twisted in a brief moment of surprise as theDiamond Mariaglided through the water toward them. He grasped his telescope firmly and examined the ship more closely. She had more guns than necessary for an ordinary merchant, even in these waters. And the distress. It was a ruse.
“Danty!” The name was like a curse violently pronounced.
Smith stared at Travers. “Danty.” He merely mouthed the word.
“It has to be!” Travers said tersely, ignoring his officer’s confusion. He thought then theDiamond Mariawas a decoy of the Americans. It crossed his mind to stand and fight, but another look at theDiamond Mariaand her heavy arms changed his mind. He could fight one or the other, not both. He did not know he was the target of only one of the vessels.
“She’s giving us a good run, sir,” Harry said. The men were now aware Alexis’s ship was pursuing what had to be Travers’s frigate.
“She certainly is,” Landis whistled softly, ignoring Cloud’s scowl. “Considering she was practically sitting there when Travers made his move.”
