The Silver Swan (12 page)

Admiral Nelson, Baron of the Nile and of Burnham Thorpe, Champion of England, was a wiry man with a thin beaky nose, his forehead pale with dustings of powder from his tightly curled white wig. On his right breast he wore a bright diamond-studded star — a decoration awarded by one of his many regal admirers. His empty right sleeve was pinned across his uniform, and a white haze covered his blind eye.

Apart from the jewel, he wasn't much to look at. I thought he'd be bigger. If you'd seen him on a crowded wharf, you'd hardly have noticed him. But there was something about him; somehow he made you feel nervous and fascinated, and noble, just because you were near him.

Even Papa could feel it, I could tell. He'd been anxious all day and had trimmed his beard and hair so he no longer looked like a wild corsair, or even the skin-scraped Ottoman he had once pretended to be. In his best waistcoat and a clean shirt, he looked almost like a normal person.

Mama had been fussing over Lucas and me all
morning, straightening our clothes and sticking down Lucas's wayward hair with a licked palm. Her own dress was new, some floaty fabric in a lovely lemon colour — a gift from Aunt Lily. She'd let down her hair so it cascaded in dark waves over her shoulders, and at her throat she wore the gold locket that had been hers since she was a child.

But Mama wasn't nervous at all. She strode into the admiral's cabin with her hand outstretched.

‘Horatio!'

‘Ma'am.' The great man bowed. ‘I am, as ever, your humble servant.'

‘Oh, don't be silly.' She kissed him on the cheek. ‘Let me look at you. There's less of you than I remember, and yet you seem to be larger than life.'

‘I am the same poor wretch I always was,' he said, smiling. ‘Only now I wear more baubles. Sit down, Frances, please.'

At last his gaze settled on the rest of us. ‘By Jove,' he said, ‘is this your famous brood?'

Before Papa could step forward to greet him, Lucas piped up. ‘Excuse me, sir, but where's your arm?'

Nelson didn't blink. ‘Shot off,' he said, ‘and only one damned eye as well.'

‘Gosh,' said Lucas. ‘You've been in the wars, haven't you?'

The admiral let out a peal of high-pitched laughter. ‘Indeed I have, young man. All me life.'

‘So's my sister. She nearly got her foot cut off.'

‘So I hear,' said Nelson.

‘I'm going to be an admiral,' said Lucas. ‘You get all the best ships.'

‘Bully for you, lad,' said Nelson, heartily. ‘I have no doubt you will be.'

He gestured to Papa and me.

‘Don't be a stranger, sir. How d'you do? And this must be the girl, eh? The maid of the
Mermaid
. You must sit down, my dear. I understand your wound is still healing.'

I'm not used to feeling speechless, but there was a paleness about that man: he was almost transparent, like a phantom not long for this world; but at the same time he exuded an extraordinary power. It was all too strange for me, whatever it was. I simply nodded and limped towards a stool, close to his chart table.

‘Come in, come in,' he was saying. ‘There's not much time.'

He turned his attention to Papa. ‘I've just had word the French are marching on Naples. The royal family is in danger, as is our envoy, Sir William Hamilton, and his wife.'

At last I felt able to speak. ‘You're sailing to fight them?' I asked.

‘Alas, we are too few, and the Neapolitan Army is not as organised as it should be,' he said, shaking his head. ‘The best I can do for the moment is to try to rescue the royal family.'

‘Then we have something that might come in handy,' I said. I fumbled in my coin pouch. In among the gold pieces and the pearls was a folded piece of parchment. I smoothed it flat between my fingers and moved closer to place it in the admiral's hand.

‘What is it, child?'

Mama was nodding at me, smiling encouragement.

‘A map,' I said. ‘We thought it showed secret tunnels under Valletta, but we were wrong.'

I glanced at Papa. ‘We were all wrong,' I went on. ‘Mama thinks it might be a map of Naples instead.'

Nelson laid the map flat on his chart table, placing books on each corner to stop it curling. ‘Good Lord,' he exclaimed. ‘You might be right.'

‘Wherever it is, it's no use to us any more,' I said. ‘You may as well keep it. You never know, it might be of some use.'

He nodded so definitely that powder drifted from his wig down onto his blue collar.

‘Thank you, child. I will treasure it, if for no other reason than as a gift from you.'

‘Horatio, you were ever the charmer,' teased Mama.

There was a knock on the door from a black-coated secretary waiting on the threshold.

‘Beg pardon, Your Lordship,' he said. ‘Captain's compliments, sir, and we'll be ready to sail at six bells.'

‘I should damned well hope so!' Nelson slapped his hand on the table in front of him, dismissed the clerk, and then turned back to us.

‘Well, then, my little flock of Swanns, you'd best be off,' he said. ‘My dear, this is for you.'

He handed me a letter topped with a big blob of blue wax, fixed with his seal. It was so beautiful, I could hardly bear to break it, so I slid a finger underneath to slip off the seal. Before I could read
it, he handed another letter to Papa.

‘I've recommended to the Admiralty that we continue your services, Swann,' he said.

Papa cleared his throat. ‘I'm honoured, sir, of course, but —'

‘But you're sick of the whole damnable show,' the admiral interrupted. ‘I know, I know, and I sympathise. But I cannot help that. You are valuable to us, so you must understand we are reluctant to let you go.'

Mama leaned forward in her chair. ‘It's just that we thought we'd make a new start, Horatio, somewhere else,' she said. ‘We need to get away from here — we have too many sad memories.'

‘Perfect!' Nelson exclaimed. ‘That's just what I had in mind.'

Mama and Papa looked at each other, confused.

Admiral Nelson smiled gleefully. ‘I'm sending you to the other side of the world. Would that be far enough?'

‘I'm sorry, sir,' said Papa. ‘I don't understand.'

‘The South Pacific?' I asked.

‘Dead right, girl,' said Nelson. ‘You're as smart as they say. We've got valuable new colonies there, and we don't want Napoleon snatching them away while we're not looking.'

‘That's a very long way, sir — a year or two's sailing,' said Papa.

‘That's the point, Swann. It's so far away, the French are traipsing all over the damn place, and we don't have a clue where they are or what they're up to. We need someone to find out.'

‘Let's go!' said Lucas. ‘Where is that, exactly?'

‘Much further than your father had intended going,' Mama said. ‘Horatio, please, I only just got Rafe back. I don't want him sailing off again for another four years.'

‘Of course you don't,' said Nelson. ‘I rather thought you'd like to go, too.'

Mama gazed at him, still not understanding. ‘Me?'

‘All of you.'

In the silence I scrambled to unfold my letter. ‘To Miss Lily Swann,' it read. ‘In recognition of her services to the Admiralty, the Board awards her possession of the captured sloop
Mermaid
.'

There was lots of other legal stuff in grand swirling letters, but I couldn't read any more. It was signed by Nelson himself.

‘Papa,' I whispered, ‘read your letter.'

He looked a little dazed, so I snatched it from his hand and tore it open: ‘To Captain Raphael Swann. In recognition of his services to the Admiralty, the Board awards him possession of the captured brigantine
Gisella
.'

Nelson smiled again. He had a very winning smile. ‘I'm only sorry there isn't one each.'

‘What is it?' asked Mama.

‘The ships are ours,' I said, hardly daring to believe it.

Lucas jumped up in the air with excitement. ‘Hoorah!'

‘On one condition,' said Nelson, gravely, holding up his hand to calm Lucas down.

‘That we sail them around the globe to spy for you?' asked Papa warily.

‘No. I hope you will do that, but I can't force you, nor would I try to bribe you,' said Nelson. ‘Think about it, Swann. Of course you can refuse. But in two months' time I guarantee you will be bored to bricks by life on land and ready to set sail.'

Papa took the letter from my hand, and stared at it as if it were written in a language he couldn't understand. ‘So what is your condition?' he asked.

‘Simply that you rename
Gisella
. She's such a lovely ship that she deserves a new start in life, too.'

We must have looked as if we didn't believe him.

‘There's no such thing as a bad ship — merely rotten captains,' Nelson went on. ‘They may be incompetents or drunkards or madmen. Diablo was all three. His ship cannot bear the blame. We've had her repaired, and she's as good as new. Obviously we'll provide you with supplies and crew.'

I stood up and held out my hand. ‘It's a deal.'

‘Lily, wait,' said Mama.

‘You heard him,' I said. ‘That's the only condition. We call
Gisella
whatever we want, and then we can sail wherever we like in the entire world!'

The admiral coughed a little. ‘I didn't say you could call her whatever you want.'

‘Oh.' I sat down again.

‘I have a quite specific name in mind,' he said. ‘The
Silver Swan
. How d'you like the sound of that?'

Then the greatest and bravest admiral in the world winked at me.