Author's note: If you don't recognize the name, they're mine. All other characters belong to Patrick O'Brian and the basic plot to Rod Serling.
For Whom the Bell Tolls
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It had been a prodigious blow, and between three days and nights of being tossed hither and thither, with many injuries for Stephen to contend with, and discovering half their stores of foodstuffs had been destroyed, Jack couldn't help but wonder if there was a Jonah aboard. So he was in a mood of singular ill-humour when he asked the sentry on duty to pass the word for the bosun and have him shown to the great cabin.
But Jack was a fair man and when Mr. Kellin, who had recently transferred from the Amazon and for whom he received nothing but good reports, showed up so obviously out of countenance, he did his best to rein his temper in.
"Well, what do you have to say for yourself, Kellin?"
"Sir?"
"Kellin, the boats are your duty, are they not?"
"Aye, sir."
"So then can you tell me why I have been told that we lost both the jollyboat and the Doctor's skiff?"
Kellin blinked rather stupidly at him, Jack thought, and his ire rose again when the man answered, "I couldn't say, sir."
"You couldn't say, by God?" Jack shouted. "You are the bosun, are you not? Is the proper stowing of the ship's boats not part of the duties of the bosun and his mates?"
"Aye, sir."
"Then was it not your duty to see that they were properly stowed?"
Kellin looked dazed. He blinked again. "I'm sorry, sir. I… I haven't been feeling myself lately. I will do better."
Jack sighed. "Kellin, I like to think I'm not some floggee hard-horse skipper. Yes, I run a tight ship, but I am not unconcerned about the welfare of the men. Your former captain spoke glowingly of you (of course that could have been a ploy to get a Jonah off his hands, Jack considered). Has something happened? Is there trouble at home?"
"No, sir."
"Are you ill then, Kellin?"
"I… No, sir… I mean, I'm not certain, sir. I don't think that I am, leastways not enough to bother with."
Jack grimaced. "Well, you just cut along to the doctor now in any case. I suspect neither of us is fit to be making diagnoses, and the man would likely have our head if we tried."
"Aye, sir."
"You're dismissed, Kellin. And be sure to see the doctor directly after your watch. I'll be asking him about you this evening."
Just outside the cabin, Kellin squeezed his eyes tight in pain and had to put a hand to a nearby beam to steady himself.
-x-
"What's the word, Mr. Lamb?"
"It's the main mast, sir. There's cracks at its base what's weakened it bad. She's standing for now, and I'll brace it best I can, but I wouldn't trust it to hold in so much extra wind as a breeze from a waved pocket-square."
"If I'm not mistaken there's a wooded island not far from here. We'll put in there and see if we can't make the proper repairs," Jack said.
Just then there was a thump to aft and the men turned to find Kellin had fainted.
-x-
A sudden exclamation alerted Stephen that his patient had awoke.
"How are you feeling, Mr. Kellin?"
A skittish jerking of his limbs nearly had the bosun tumbling from his cot. "What happened, sir?"
"You collapsed and the men carried you here."
Kellin reeled as he attempted to rise. "It's nothing but a minor indisposition, sir."
Stephen took note of the man's wild eyes and pushed him gently down again. "Stay here, Kellin. You're in no condition to be up."
"But I must attend to my duty, sir."
"Have no worries on that score, Mr. Kellin. The Captain has relieved you of duty until you are well."
"But you don't understand, sir!" Kellin cried. "I have to get up.! I can't stay here!"
"Be easy, man," Stephen ordered as he did his best to hold the anxious man down. "I'm certain others will see to your duties for the day."
"No, sir! You don't understand," Kellin repeated feverishly. "I have to go! I can feel them pulling on me!"
"Pulling on you?"
"Yes! Yes! Pulling on me! They won't let me rest!"
"Who? Who won't let you rest, Kellin?" Stephen asked, regarding the man with perplexity.
But Kellin's struggling ceased as fatigue began to assert itself again. His eyes drooped closed and he could only whisper, "They're calling me to muster," as sleep overcame him once more.
-x-
It was deep in the middle watch when the bell was first heard.
"Alert the Captain," Mr. Pullings ordered Babbington.
"What is it, Tom?" Jack asked when appeared on deck a few moments later.
"A bell, sir. But we don't know from where. The lookout hasn't spotted any ship nearby, but the cloud cover is hiding the moon and stars and it's nearly as black as pitch up there."
"No ship's lights spotted at all?"
"No sir."
"If they were meaning to hide themselves from us, why would they let the ball ring? Whatever can it mean?"
-x-
The ominous tolling continued throughout the morning and forenoon watches, pausing only intermittently. No matter how many knots they made, the sound followed, never decreasing in volume. When they felt they should have been right on top of it, they could still see nothing - not even the Captain who had climbed to the main topgallant with his best Dollard glass - despite the cloud cover having blown away in the night.
Throughout the day, Jack could hear the bosun's mate who had taken over for Kellin increasingly shouting to the distracted men to attend to their duties, but it didn't seem to help. The men were clumsy and agitated, frequently looking over their shoulders, with the Papists among them occasionally dropping things when struck by a sudden need to cross themselves. However, as irritating as it was, Jack couldn't find it in his heart to blame them; somehow the pauses were even worse than the sound, as he found himself straining to hear the bell start up again.
-x-
As night fell once more, the men began to whisper of a Jonah.
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With apologies to Rod Serling and Mike Kellin