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.Kechiroski staggered up above the waterline and dropped it with the rest oftheir gear."That should do it, I think, Lieutenant," he said.His English wasvery good; Sir Guy had to give him that."Time for you to be off, Emmons," Cully said from right behind Sir Guy,startling him.Sir Guy hadn't heard him at all, although how he had made hisway down the slope without being seen or heard was another one of his woodsmanthings, Sir Guy supposed."Good luck and fair winds, Sir Cully."Cully briefly clasped hands with the boy, and then beckoned to Kechiroski."The cart's going to be the worst of it.Let's get it up the hill.Sir Guy, ifyou don't feel like grabbing what bags you can manage, I'd appreciate it ifyou'd at least dry off what's here."* * *It was more than an hour later, soaked with sweat, that Cully gesturedKechiroski toward the handles of the cart, and they set off across the barrenground, looking for the road.They found it at first light, and headed east, walking as quickly aspossible.Sir Guy took his turn at the arms of the cart.Yes, it was undignified, butCully just shrugged at his initial mild protest, and offered him a drink ofwater.He knew better than that.Page 58ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlHe drank from his own water skin.InterludeA Sore Temptation for aFormerly HonestFormer SailorThe most useless things that the world has ever known are male teats, women'stears, and a man who used to be a sailor. Sir Simon Tremaine DuPuyHe was holding onto the wheel, but he wasn't a sailor.Not anymore.Officially, of course, he had been placed on the Retired List at the pleasureand for the convenience of HM the king, and he doubted that it was accidentalthat the wording of his orders had been as little like those of a beachedofficer being put on the Inactive List and half pay as was possible.HisMajesty was a kind man, when he could be, after all.But the truth was that DuPuy wasn't a sailor anymore.The best thing to dowould have been to let the damned steersman do his own job which, at themoment, would have probably been locking the wheel down, rather than holdingonto it but the truth was that, as frustrating as it was to be what he hadbecome, the feel of the spokes of the wheel in his hand was an unadulteratedpleasure, and gave some balance to his humiliation.You could feel the seathrough the wheel, after all; holding onto it made him a part of the ship, ifonly for the moment.The steersman stood by, carefully not watching the admiral, having apparentlyinterpreted an order of "stand easy" to mean "assume a rigid brace of paraderest," and it didn't escape DuPuy's notice that the steersman was but a quicklunge away from the wheel, ready to take over his responsibilities the momentthat the useless old man stopped playing sailor.Well, enough of that."You may resume your post, Steersman," he said."Aye, aye, sir." As DuPuy stepped away, the steersman took the wheel, andgave a quick glance at the locking pedal, but didn't either touch it or askpermission.Hmmph.It was like the boy was afraid of him, or something equallypreposterous.Simon Tremaine DuPuy he had had to continually remind himself not to think ofhimself asAdmiral Sir Simon Tremaine DuPuy over the past year, and was finallyPage 59ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlgetting the hang of it, despite the almost constant, false reminders to thecontrary stalked the quarterdeck like a, well, like a plump, soft, old,useless man.Which he was.Emmons was standing by, just below the quarterdeck, waiting.He had, asusual, risen before DuPuy, and was quite properly arrayed in his Second Classuniform, entirely suitable for a naval officer at sea, even if he wasn'ttechnically in service aboard the ship, but seconded in service toCommissioner Sir Simon Tremaine DuPuy.If the uniform was just a touchthreadbare at the knees of the trousers, that was something that only asuperior officer would take note of, and not a despicable old man who merelycarried a title had any business noticing.Besides, it was preposterous whatthe cost of uniforms could to do an honest officer's finances, and if DuPuywasn't sure how honest Emmons would be under the right temptation, thattemptation had clearly had not happened while Emmons had been serving DuPuy.DuPuy shook his head, scowling to himself.It wasn't as though there was anysuggestion aboard the ship of his shame [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]