He said, 'I'll take the cutter. You stay with the flag captain.'
Jago watched the boat pull clear of the side, frowning at the stroke.
Then he said, 'I'll 'ave the gig ready when you says the word, Cap'n.'
Adam looked at him and saw that Tolan, Bethune's loyal servant, was still on board, and recalled that they had ignored one another.
Then he saw Jago's face.
'What is it?'
Jago pushed through some seamen and leaned over the gunwale again. Athena's gig was tugging at her painter, two injured sailors squatting on the bottom boards as if nothing had happened.
'Where did you find him?' He could scarcely form the words.
'The bloody Royals got him, would you believe.' He could not control his pleasure, but it was far more than that.
Adam stared at the slight figure propped in the stern sheets partly covered by a jacket, the white collar patches very clear in the sun's glare. His legs were bare, and he could see the same savage scar, as if it had just happened.
Jago said, 'There was two middies when they found 'em. But the other one was dead. It seems that young David swam with him to the shore after Audacity went down.'
Adam saw the boy looking up at him, saw him smile, and the two seamen turning to share the moment.
Jago was saying, 'He's a bit weak. But he's through the worst of it.'
'What did you tell him?' He thought of Bethune's anguish, and the woman who lay in the cabin below their feet.
Jago smiled freely for the first time.
'I told him you would be takin' him home, Cap'n.'
Soon he would be that captain again. But now, the words would not come.
Jago had found two mugs from somewhere, and put one in Adam's hand.
He glanced over at Athena's loosely brailed topsails, and something flashing from her poop, catching the sun.
Then he looked at Adam, and was glad. 'Not a bad old ship in some ways, eh, Cap'n?'
