Mutiny Read online

  “Dead,” the boy said. “So’S the first and third lootenant. We’re getting replacements, o’ course,” he confided, then added a hasty, “er, sir.”

  Kydd went up the main hatchway to the upper deck, marveling at the ruin on all sides. There were overturned guns, beaten-in bulwarks, broken spars hanging from aloft—and a tattered figure hobbling about, using a broken rammer as a makeshift crutch.

  He stopped, staring keenly. It was—it couldn’t be—Renzi? “Nicholas! You’re—you’re wounded!”

  “I fear so, old fellow. It is but an inconvenience, the doctor assures me that I shall be made whole in some weeks.” A warm smile stole over his face. “Thomas! You have survived our day of trial!” He held out his hand. Kydd gripped it, the events of the day threatening to unman him.

  The midshipman appeared. “Shall I stow your gear in the third’s cabin for now, sir?”

  “Please.”

  He turned back to Renzi, but the cat was out the bag. “You—you have been—”

  “I have,” said Kydd, in the purest happiness. “Ye have t’ call me sir, now, Nicholas.”

  “Oh. I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

  “Er, may I know why not?”

  Renzi looked down for a moment, and when he looked up again, Kydd could see he was struggling for control. “Because, Thomas, you will be grieved to hear that as senior master’s mate, I also have been elevated to the quarterdeck. And, given recent promotions, you will be fifth, and I the fourth, so it will be you who are obliged to render the honorifics to me.”

  Their heartfelt laughter brought grins from the others on deck.

  Kydd had just one question. “Nicholas, does this mean that—y’r intent, you know, t’ leave the sea …?”

  A half-smile showed briefly. “It rather appears, dear fellow, that I may have to revisit that decision …”

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Some people have asked me how much my books are based on my own life. In a way how could they be? The protagonist and I are separated by two hundred years and a revolution in technology and I chose the sea while he had little choice; but as I got into the series I realized that Tom Kydd and I do share much.

  We both deeply relate to the sea’s magic, its potency and vast majesty and both of us feel a clutch at the heart at the sensation of a live deck beneath, with all its promise of adventure and excitement. That first deep scend of the bows outward bound—the “curtsy to Neptune” every ship must make on entering His realm. The contraction of your world into the ship’s comforting, never-changing rhythms—so different to life ashore with all its distractions.

  In the course of this book I revisited Sheerness, the bleak setting of this most awesome of mutinies. As I looked out over the cold, drab wilderness of the Nore one particularly raw winter’s day, seeing back into time to those great events, into my mind, too, came remembrance of myself as a very small boy looking out from that very spot to low, gray shapes slipping out to sea, disappearing over the horizon and taking my imagination with them. You can still walk out at low tide over the mudflats and find clay pipes of Kydd’s time, but he had quite a different experience—this was where he first set foot on the deck of a man-o’-war, and met his future.

  As ever, this tale has materially benefited from the time and kindness of people at the various locations I researched; I think particularly of Lorna Swift, at the Garrison Library of Gibraltar (which still exists), who found for me priceless documents of the time; Admiral Lorenzo Sferra, conservator of the Naval History Museum at the Arsenale in Venice, who at short notice deployed the full resources of his museum for me; and David Hughes, a local historian in Sheerness who was able to reveal to me fascinating hidden facts and color of this underrated part of the naval history of England. To the many others I consulted, my deep thanks.

  I’m blessed with a knowing and professional literary agent, Carole Blake, and Susanne Kirk, my editor at Scribner, heads an enthusiastic and hardworking team that is bringing the world of Thomas Kydd to life for so many.

  As each book is finally launched on the world, it only increases my respect and admiration for my creative partner and wife, Kathy, who was originally responsible for my embarking on the voyage of my life. And it is certainly time I acknowledge my parents-in-law, Keith and Cressey Stackhouse, who believed in us both from the beginning.

  The end of this book marks a watershed in the series; Kydd is now an officer and in the next book he begins the transition from the fo’c’sle as a common seaman to the quarterdeck as a gentleman. It will not be an easy journey …

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Julian Stockwin was born in England in 1944 and was sent at the age of fourteen to Indefatigable, a tough sea-training school. He joined the Royal Navy at fifteen, before transferring to the Royal Australian Navy when his family emigrated. He served in the Far East, Antarctic waters, the South Seas, and in Vietnam, where he saw active service in a carrier task force. After university, he became a teacher and an educational psychologist and lived for a number of years in Hong Kong, where he was commissioned into the Royal Naval Reserve and received Britain’s MBE award. He retired with the rank of lieutenant commander. Mutiny is Julian Stockwin’s fourth novel, following the successful launch of the series with Kydd, Artemis, and Seaflower. He lives in Devon, England, with his wife, Kathy, where he is at work on the fifth Kydd adventure, Quarterdeck. His website is www.julianstockwin.com.