Chapter Eleven

Archie left the captain's cabin and went belowdecks to his own. He closed the door behind him and sat upon his bed, his hands locked around his knees. His body wanted to shake, but he forced himself to be still. It could have been worse, he kept telling himself, over and over. You could be put ashore, and then what would you do? You have nothing but the Indy.

Thirty-six lashes. That was unexpected. The captain must truly be angry with him to order such a number. Twelve was supposed to be the limit, but very few captains abided by that rule, with three dozen regularly administered, and three hundred lashes not uncommon for the worst offenses.

Three hundred. Archie shuddered at the thought. How was it possible to survive that? It was going to be difficult enough to bear three dozen without breaking. He buried his head in his arms as he thought on that. Could he do it?

Yes, he thought determinedly. I can, and I will, for otherwise Malley wins, and that is completely unacceptable. I must prove to the captain, and to myself, that I am strong enough to withstand this, and that he will never have need to order it again. I must prove myself worthy of his respect.

A soft knock sounded on his door. Archie sighed, knowing who it had to be.

"Archie?" It was Horatio.

Not moving from his bed, Archie raised his head. "Come in, Mr. Hornblower."

Horatio, hat in hand, stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "I'm sorry to intrude, Archie. I wanted to be sure you were all right."

Archie smiled faintly up at him. "All right? As of right now, I suppose I am. Ask me again tomorrow at this time." He indicated the foot of his bed. "Please, Mr. Hornblower. Have a seat."

Horatio regarded him for a moment. "You are all right with that?"

Sighing, Archie shook his head. "Mr. Hornblower, right now I have more things on my mind than the accusations of a drunken seaman who hates me. You have given your word on the nature of our friendship, and I accept that. Please sit."

Horatio sat, and an uncomfortable silence filled the tiny cabin. He looked around the room for a moment, and then turned his face to Archie's. Blue eyes regarded him steadily.

"I'm sorry, Archie," he said softly.

"For what? It is not your fault."

"But this should not be happening. I should have tried to convince the captain to come up with some other punishment, some other way..."

"No, Mr. Hornblower," Archie broke in. "I want no special favors from the captain, or from anyone else. He has already done more than enough for me, by allowing me to remain aboard Indefatigable and perform my duties. There are not many captains who would have taken the time and effort to test me as he did. I deserve what he has assigned me."

Horatio looked at him. "Why, Archie?"

"Why what? Why do I deserve the punishment? You know the reason."

"No," Horatio answered, shaking his head. "Why were you not here for your watch? I know how happy you were to still be serving aboard the Indy. There had to be a reason why you were missing."

"I don't think it really matters anymore."

"Of course it does. Please, Archie, tell me. Were you so upset about what Malley accused us of that you could not bear to come back to face me? Did you drink more? Were you with another young lady?"

Archie chuckled softly. "I certainly wish that had been the reason. No, it was none of those."

"Then what was it?"

Archie leaned back against the bulkhead and quietly studied Horatio. His friend looked genuinely upset about what had transpired, and Archie found himself wishing that he remembered all the experiences they shared, and wondering if they had been through something similar to this before. A smile touched his lips as he thought about how close the two of them had become during the past near-fortnight since his accident. They must truly have been best friends before, for him to feel so comfortable with someone who should be as a stranger to him. The ties that bind, he thought, remembering Horatio's earlier comment. They are stronger than I would ever have expected.

"Archie?"

"Sorry," Archie said with a smile. "I was just thinking."

"About tomorrow?"

"No," Archie said slowly. "I was thinking that I want to tell you the truth about why I was not here for my watch."

Horatio settled himself against the bulkhead, glad that Archie was willing to confide in him. "I'm listening, Archie."

Archie drew a deep breath. "You were correct, in a sense. I was angry about what Malley had said, and I wanted to confront him about it. If that rumor went any further, it could destroy both of our futures, and I knew it had to be stopped now, so I went to the Smiling Mermaid, figuring that he would still be there."

"And he was?"

"Oh, yes," Archie said. "He was indeed. Drunk as a lord, cocky and irritating. He challenged me to a fight, and I accepted."

"A fight?" Horatio was appalled. "Archie, he is near twice your size!"

"Don't I know it," Archie said grimly. "But I couldn't let him get away with what he said. He started to accuse us, Mr. Hornblower, right there in front of everyone. I had to stop him before he said all of it, so I hit him."

"You threw the first punch," Horatio said slowly. "I thought you said he challenged you."

"He did, from a certain point of view. He accused me of something which could cost me my life or my career." Archie sighed. "It never amounted to anything. He got to his feet, but before either of us could go any further, someone hit me over the head."

"Someone. You mean Fuller."

Archie shrugged. "I don't know who it was. Truth be told, I never saw Fuller there at all that night, not the first time I was there, or when I went back to confront Malley. I can't say if it was him or not."

"So what happened?"

"I don't know. I went down, unconscious. The next thing I knew, I woke up, locked in a storeroom in a warehouse, with no windows or any way out. I banged on the door, but of course, no one answered. It was about six or seven hours before someone came for me."

"Not Malley," Horatio said, doing the math quickly in his head. "At that time, he was here aboard Indefatigable, skylarking on deck. In full view of everyone."

"Most likely to provide himself an alibi," Archie agreed. "No, it was three men I'd never seen before. They called me several rather nasty names, and gave me a thrashing, then threw me out into the alley. I finally made my way to the jetty and out here."

"Archie, you must tell the captain this! He will realize that you could not help missing the watch, that you were held captive."

"No, Mr. Hornblower," Archie said quietly. "I cannot."

"Of course you can! Archie, this will fix everything. There will be no flogging, you will be back in the captain's good graces..."

"I will not tell him. Look, if I come forward with this now, it will look as if I am trying to avoid my punishment."

"No - "

"Yes. There were no witnesses, Mr. Hornblower, no one to say that yes, I was locked up and could not get here. The captain will not believe me, and he will look at me with disgust, thinking me a coward. I do not wish that."

"But Archie, surely someone from the Mermaid..."

"No one from the Mermaid actually saw me locked up. The only ones who could verify my story are the three men who took me, and I do not believe they would tell the truth. Do you?"

"No," Horatio said disappointedly. "I fear you are right." He looked at Archie, his own unhappiness shining in his eyes. "Archie, I am so sorry about what you must face tomorrow. I wish there was something I could do."

"There is one thing you can do for me, Mr. Hornblower."

"Anything."

Archie smiled softly at him. "You can be there for me when it is over. I fear I shall need assistance when it is all done."

"Of course I will be there, Archie. I'll always be there for you."

Archie nodded. "Thank you." A silence again filled the air, but it was a comfortable, easy one, with no need for conversation. Eventually, Archie broke the silence.

"Will you tell me something, Mr. Hornblower?"

"If I am able."

"I know that you said you have never been flogged before. My question is - have I?"

Uneasy once again, Horatio looked at Archie. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that, when I was with Molly, she commented on all these scars I have on my back. Are they from floggings?"

Oh, lord, thought Horatio. Please don't make me tell him how many of those came from Jack Simpson, how they were often the prelude to something so much worse...

"Mr. Hornblower?"

Moving carefully ahead, Horatio spoke slowly. "I do not believe that you were ever ordered flogged by your captain, Archie. I guess it is not something we ever talked about. I do know that there were several canings when you first came aboard Justinian, but I do not recall you ever mentioning a flogging. I do know that many of the scars on your back came from beatings and whippings at the hands of the prison guards when you escaped."

"Escaped? Oh, when I was imprisoned after that raid on that French ship, you mean? So it was the frogs who gave me these?"

"Frogs and dagos both, Archie. You were very persistent in your escape attempts, and they were none too happy about it. I imagine you were quite a handful, at least until Don Masserado put you in the oubliette."

"Well, I must say, I'm very grateful I do not remember that part of my life, at least from what you have told me. It sounds to be a very unpleasant experience."

"It was indeed. I do not know how you endured it for an entire month, much less having to come out of there and face the world alone. I was ever so grateful that you were there for me after I was released following only one week."

"As you will be there for me tomorrow."

"I will, Archie. I swear it."

"Yes."

The two friends looked at each other, a long look of understanding, and Horatio felt a stirring of hope. They were friends, despite Archie's lost past, friends who would always be there for each other. It was truly amazing, that he had found such a friend after never knowing one, truly wonderful that they could support each other through whatever life chose to throw at them.

"I think perhaps you will need this," he said, going to the door and picking up a canvas bag. "Usually, before a flogging, a man's mates give him a great deal of grog to drink, so that he will not feel the sting of the lash so intently."

"You've brought me grog?"

"Not exactly," Horatio grinned. "It is a bottle of the captain's finest claret."

"Claret?" Archie said, sitting up. "Mr. Hornblower, you stole this from the captain?"

"No, indeed, Archie. This is a gift from the captain himself."

Archie paused and looked up at him, amazed. "The captain sent this?"

Horatio nodded. "He does not want to do this, Archie, but he must. He cannot show favoritism towards any officer, even if he feels it."

Archie was silent for a moment, staring at the bottle in Horatio's hand. "You think he feels favoritism towards me?"

"I know he does," Horatio said fervently. "He knows of the battles you have fought throughout your life, and he knows the one you are waging now. He may be disappointed in what happened, Archie, but he also has faith in you, in your abilities. As do I."

"Thank you," Archie said softly. "That truly means a great deal to me. Mr. Hornblower, you have been very good to me, but I must ask you one more favor."

"Name it."

"Will you stay here tonight, with me? I admit that I fear the morrow, and this will be a long night for me. I should enjoy your company."

"And so you shall have it, Mr. Kennedy," Horatio responded. "Perhaps you could read some of that infernal Shakespeare to me. I might yet develop a tolerance for it."

Archie grinned. "Ah. Hamlet it is."

"No," Horatio groaned. "Not that one."

Archie laughed and opened the book. "Quiet, Mr. Hornblower. Since I do not remember this, we shall learn it together. Would you deny a condemned man his last request?"

Horatio, forced to listen to his friend reading the hated play, was quite tempted to do just that. At least I have a wonderful claret to drown my sorrows in, he thought miserably. Why do I never know when to be silent?