THE GUN KETCH

Then Finney would catch his accent and affect his more genteel persona, striving for more civil speech. Until his next enthusiasm which put the lilt and Gaelic structure to his words again.

'So, your reckoning, sir,' Finney said at last, after Alan hadmade his final selection. 'The split case of port, one cask of brandy, two of claret… le'ssee, one cask of Bordeaux… damn' good St. Emilion, thet is, an' tastes young f rever. Two cases Rhenish, one of hock, and the odd case of cordials, sherries, Holland gin and such…'

Lewrie saw why Finney had such a scrawl for a handwriting- he was a cack-hand, a left-hander! Another unpopular trait to rise above!

'Twenty-four pounds, six shillings, and… ah, the divil with it, let's say twenty pound even, an' be square, sir! Ain't that a handsome bargain for ya, now, Captain Lewrie?' Finney loudly decided at last.

That statement, such an eldritch echo of Billy 'Bones' Doyle's own words from the cave at Conch Bar, nearly set Lewrie's nape hairs on end, bringing back his every nagging suspicion.

'Twenty it is, though I fear 'tis at your loss, sir,' Lewrie found wit to reply, without betraying the cold fear-trill that took him.

'Don't go bruiting it about the town, though, Captain Lewrie,' Finney chuckled. 'Or the rest'll think they've been cheated. We're to have this delivered aboard Alacrity t'day, then?'

'If you could, that would be fine,' Lewrie replied.

'A final glass with ya, then, sir,' Finney smiled, reaching for a sample bottle of brandy. 'Wot yer hunters call a 'stirrup cup'?'

'Topping,' Lewrie allowed as Finney filled their glasses.

'Fine little ship you have there, sir,' Finney congratulated. 'May I be so bold as t'offer a toast, now? To Alacrity. Long may she swim in safety on the King's business.' They clinked glasses.

'Thankee, Mister Finney.'

'Ah, call me John,' Finney cajoled. 'Or Jack. 'Tis how I'm known best in the islands.'

'Jack. Thankee for the thought, then,' Lewrie said, restless to leave as Finney became bolder. Damme, the next I know he'll name me 'Alan, old son' and I'll have to be pleasant to him in public, or have him in for a home- cooked supper! Brrr!

'Before you sail, Captain Lewrie,' Finney suggested, 'You and your wife must attend one o' my little gatherings. A pleasant meal. Some cards… a little dancing, should you be able to stay later.'

Aha! Lewrie thought! So that's your chummy game, is it?

'I heard you weren't entertaining lately, Jack,' Lewrie told him. 'Nor do I recall you attending anything in the last week.'

'Well, life goes on, don'… does it not, sir?' Finney said, eyeing Lewrie sharply, and the geniality leaving those blue eyes.

'I'm told some of the men who were hung once worked with you,' Lewrie was emboldened to say, with a sad and sober expression of shammed sympathy.

'And so they did, sir,' Finney told him, speaking slower, and choosing his words and their pronunciation more guardedly. 'What my old Gran told me is true, y'know; you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink? There's some in this world will seize an opportunity to better themselves, and some as won't. For privateering, they were a grand crew, all tarry-handed and smart as paint, as willing to dare as any I'd ever seen, sir. When the war ended and I paid 'em off, I told 'em they'd have an honest berth with me whenever they needed it. Some signed on. Some went their own ways.'

'Like Doyle,' Lewrie needled, sporting a commiserating smile.

'Aye, like William,' Finney sighed, looking wistful for what might have been. 'Me… my bosun at one time. Met him, Lord, thirteen year ago when we were topmen on a Liverpool 'Black-Birder' on the Middle Passage. I made third mate, he made bosun's mate. He was the grandest seaman of all. But not a thinker, God have mercy. You know sailors, Captain Lewrie. They live from shilling to shilling. What would you find of yer fellow men from one of yer old ships, were ya all to get t'gither? Who among 'em'd prospered, and who among 'em'd sunk? The Fleet can't afford t'be picky when it needs seamen, an' I couldn't turn me nose up at the lads as signed aboard with me. And, when ya get right down to it,' Finney shrugged with a sad grin, 'ya can't be yer brothers' keeper. A man'll go his own way, divil a try ya make t'redeem him.'

'Quite so,' Lewrie had to agree with the sentiment, and the sense of what Finney said. 'Well, I must take my leave, sir. Thank you for a most enjoyable morning, and a most pleasing reckoning.'

'Wotiver yer needs, think o' Finney's first,' the man insisted as they rose from the table. 'There's no finer selection, an' for you and your fine wife, Captain Lewrie, there'll always be some specials held back, at the same pleasin' prices, break me though they might!'

'I shall keep that ever in mind, Mister Finney,' Lewrie said.

'You tell yer missus t'try us first, 'stead o' Misick's, or Frith's,' Finney rattled on as he walked him toward the door. 'Those stores on Shirley Street'd sell 'Ratty' his own pelt, charge extra for a good fit, an 'im niver knowin' 'twas skinned soon as he entered their doors!'

'I shall tell her that, sir.'

' 'Dobe planters from Santo Domingo, lime fertilizers…' Jack Finney rhapsodized about his merchandise. 'The latestfashions, just about anything the new homemaker needs for a burgeoning house, for the ball, for…'

'Good day, sir,' Lewrie beamed, offering his hand, which Jack Finney took and pumped vigorously. 'And once again, thankee.'

'I've a drum planned for Saturday, sir,' Finney announced of a sudden. 'I would be honored should you and Mistress Lewrie be able to attend. Late afternoon's cool, stand-up buffet, champagne…'

'Ah, I fear not,' Lewrie replied, though they had no current plans for the weekend. 'Should Alacrity still be in port, we will dine some guests in on Saturday,' Alan lied easily. 'There's a scheme afoot to introduce my first officer Lieutenant Ballard to a young lady of our acquaintance, and see how they progress over cards and music. A fearsome business! But, let a young wife see others unattached, and…' he concluded, making a face and faking a shiver. 'Some other time would be more convenient, perhaps?'

'Some other time, then, sir,' Finney replied with a shrug of his own, finally dropping Alan's hand. 'And good day to you, sir, and thank you for your trade. Do come again, mind.'

Lewrie stepped out the door which David the wine clerk held for him, doffed his hat in farewell once more, and strode away towards his horse. He undid the reins from the hitch-rail and looked across the saddle towards Finney's store idly as he fumbled with a stirrup.

Finney stood just inside the still-open door. In an unguarded moment, before he realized that Alan had glanced back at him, he was caught glaring at him from beneath blond brows beetled together with hate. And when caught, Finney put a shadowing palm over his eyes, as if the sun's glare had caused it, made his face bland with a smile of seeming sincerity, and used that shadowing hand to wave him goodbye.

Chapter 4

'You shopped at Finhey's?' Caroline goggled once he was home. 'Whatever possessed you to enter that man's stores, Alan?'

'Call it curiosity, my dear,' he allowed, stripping off his coat and waistcoat, undoing his neck-stock and taking his ease in a chair on the front porch where it was cool. Caroline had a pitcher of sweetened limewater near at hand. 'Damme if he didn't have good prices, too. And a wider selection. You do not?'

'Only with Wyonnie to accompany me,' she frowned. 'I find good bargains along the docks, directly off the trading ships.'

'Uhm, Caroline, those that sell direct off the ships…' Alan complained. 'Those goods aren't landed or bonded. The imposts aren't paid. Those are Yankee traders!'

'So I noticed,' she grinned between sips of limewater.

'They're violating the Navigation Acts, Caroline,' he pressed. 'Laws I'm sworn to enforce! Damme… dash it all, how does it appear, for the wife of an officer holding the King's Commission, to… to…!'

'Commodore Garvey's wife shops right alongside me, Alan,' she told him. 'As does the cook from the Governor's mansion, the butlers for every household that've ever invited us, the…'