The Guinea Thief - Chapter 2 Part 2 - A Game of Chance

Albert nodded his head in recognition to the oldest of the four men.

“Evening Robert. Good to see you, I trust all is well with you and yours?”

“Thank-you Albert. We’ve had better days, I can safely say. Four fingers of your best rum should help soften the blow.”

“Right oh.” said Albert.

Albert disappeared from the hatch and then just as quickly reappeared with a bottle of rum and four glasses. It seemed that he knew that the men would be staying a while and four fingers alone would not quench their thirst. The four men talked amongst themselves in loud voices. Jack heard snatches of the conversation in the distance but he was so bewitched by the sensations going on in his mouth that the words barely registered on his consciousness.

The four men took their bottle of rum and glasses and settled themselves down at one of the tables in front of the fireside. The rosy glow illuminated their outline. One of the men produced a set of dice and soon the four men were deeply involved in a game of hazard. Each man put a handful of coins down on the table in front of him and the conversation ebbed and flowed in time with the persistent percussion of the dice falling onto the rough wooden table.

The Sergeant had finished his pie and came over to see how his charges were faring. Again Jack barely noticed his approach as he savoured every morsel of food in his mouth. At last all that was left were a few crumbs and some drops of gravy slowly congealing on the pewter plate.

Once more light filled the room as Rosie returned to clear away the plates. She smiled and curtsied to the four men at the fireside who greeted her warmly and familiarly. She stayed with them for a few moments and the game ceases in mid-flight as all four men turned their attention to her, the game momentarily forgotten. Jack heard a voice declare how charming Rosie looked tonight and something in the timbre of the voice made Jack look up. Rosie giggled obligingly and Jack studied the four men. The two men facing him seemed very familiar but the light from the fire cast deep shadows over their faces and he couldn’t quite figure out who they could be. The two others with their backs to him were wearing big great coats and once again their outline seemed familiar. Jack forced himself to concentrate harder and wake from the pie enduced reverie. He was reluctant to bring himself back to the reality of his situation, but at the same time something about the four men struck a chord and he felt he had no choice.

Rosie moved on to the bar and took the Lieutenant’s plate. As she delicately bent down towards him the Lieutenant whispered something in her ear. Rosie blushed a deep crimson and for a second she lost her composure. Setting down the plate to steady herself she glanced up at the Lieutenant, ran her hands down the sides of her long skirts and then looking unflinchingly into his eyes she said,

“There’ll be no need to speak to me in that manner Lieutenant Sir. I may be working in a tavern but I’m not the kind of girl you think I am. I’d be obliged if you remember that.”

Rosie’s voice rang clear and true and she made no effort to say these words quietly.

The dice lay where they fell, silence engulfed the room. Rosie picked up the abandoned plate and walked back towards Jack’s table. The Lieutenant shuffled awkwardly and trying to live down his humiliation he went over to where the four men were seated.

“Mind if I join you four gentlemen?”

“Surely, don’t mind if you do.” replied the older of the four.

The Lieutenant sought to re-establish his dominance of the room after his momentary loss of dignity.

“I’m Lieutenant Shawcross of His Majesty’s Impress service. And you are?”

Robert, Robert Goody. And these are my men, Fred, Walter and Tom.”

Jack jerked his head up with a start. “Oh my God, no wonder they looked so familiar. How could I not have recognized them?” he thought to himself.

He studied the familiar outline of Mr Goody, it seemed to him like the second miracle of the day. His heart started beating fast, his mind was racing. “What was he supposed to do now? Were they going to set upon the Lieutenant and his men and overpower them to set him free?” Jack sought in vain for an answer. Mr Goody’s back was turned to Jack and he had shown no sign of noticing that Jack was even there.

“He must know I’m here, it can be a co-incidence can it?” he thought to himself.

After the initial exultance, Jack now felt totally confused. He needed to think. He glanced round the table at the boys beside him. They were both staring at the back of Rosie’s head as she made her way out of the room. The Sergeant and his men were discussing plans for the rest of the evening once they had delivered the three boys to their new ship. Jack watched as the Lieutenant settled himself down at the table. Without any other instructions Jack decided the best thing he could do was simply watch and wait.

The Lieutenant settled back in his chair and took a sip from his glass. He surveyed Robert with the air of a man who was used to quickly sizing up a person and deciding who was tougher, himself or the opposition. Rarely did the Lieutenant have time for more leisurely pursuits and all strangers were either potential prey or a possible problem. From his weather-beaten looks the man was clearly a sailor of sorts, the rough red skin, beard and long hair tied back, spoke of long trips at sea with no time for the kind of personal grooming city dwellers indulged in. His clothes were not extravagant but they were well made and the neat darning stitches could only by the handiwork of a woman. The man was clearly a local and had recognised Rosie when she passed by their table.

Robert too was busily sizing up the Lieutenant. Tall, with a direct and confident demeanour, he was a clearly a physically strong man. His uniform was in good repair and the buttons shined brightly in the dim light. He had the air of a man used to getting his own way. The Lieutenant paid no attention to the boys at the next table, in his eyes his job was done and the Sergeant and his men could handle things from here. The Lieutenant was looking for some kind of relaxation and Robert’s suggestion of a game of dice was the perfect answer, all Robert now had to do was to win it.

Jack watched Mr Goody and the Lieutenant, trying to grasp the plan, without making it obvious that he knew who the stranger was. At first Jack had expected Mr Goody to pull a knife and try to overwhelm the Lieutenant and his men, with the help of Fred and the lads. But it was clear that the Lieutenant, the Sergeant and his men would be tough competition and the certainty of winning was not high enough to take the gamble. So another gamble was being played, a simple game of dice.

Jack had spent many hours with Mr Goody over the years, but Mrs Goody had never encouraged Jack to join him at the tavern of an evening and for the most part Jack had dutifully obliged. He watched in grim fascination as the man he had come to see as his father, played a game of dice to win-back his freedom. Time passed quickly to the rhythmic sound of the dice on the wooden table. Every so often drinks would appear on the table, a miraculous gift from Rosie, pints for the Lieutenant and his men, a second bottle of rum for Mr Goody and his men. Jack tried to tear his gaze away from the two men gambling away his future, and focus on the room around him, but he found it almost impossible not to keep glancing back to see how he fared. Too much was at stake for Jack to sit idly by and the pain of sitting and watching the game play out was hard to bear.

A chair scrapped the solid floor behind Jack and he glanced across and saw it was Fred. Fred looked straight at Jack and nodded his head discreetly. It seemed to Jack he was saying that the game was going well, yet from what Jack could see the Lieutenant seemed to be steadily increasing the pile of coins on his side of the table. The Lieutenant appeared relaxed and in control, whilst Mr Goody was agitatedly playing with his last few coins. Fred went to the bar to order some more drinks and appeared to signal to Jack to come over and join him. Jack wondered how he could do this without attracting attention, but the Lieutenant and Sergeant were engrossed in the game. Jack leant over to the more senior looking of the two men guarding himself and the two lads and said he needed to excuse himself. Given the amount of ale they had all consumed this was no word of a lie, and the request was granted. Jack sauntered towards the bar trying to look as casual as possible. While Jack was waiting for Albert to come to the hatch Fred took advantage of the moment to warn Jack to make sure he was ready to make a quick getaway within the hour. Jack nodded his assent as Albert was approaching. Jack called out to Albert that he needed to pee, Albert pointed to the door in the far corner of the room through which Rosie had come earlier and said,

“Use the yonder yard lad, like everybody else.”

“Thanks.” responded Jack and he beat a hasty retreat towards the door Albert had indicated.

Jack checked to see what was happening in the game, and saw that Robert was betting his last few coins in a single throw of the dice. As he pushed the door open Jack glumly thought that by the time he returned Mr Goody would have lost everything, what was his plan? Jack had no idea how he was going to turn such a disastrous game into a successful rescue mission. He could only think that the plan was to get the Lieutenant drunk and overpower him later. Given the size of the Lieutenant and his men, it did not seem like the most promising plan ever.

Jack pushed open the heavy door and walked into the even darker passageway. At the far end he could see a door slightly ajar and moonlight on some cobbles. As he made his way a door opened half way down the corridor and Rosie stepped out of a room which gave off a homely smell of apples and custard. She acknowledged Jack with a dip of her head and a gentle smile. Jack could feel the warmth of her pity as strongly as he felt the warmth emanating from the kitchen behind her. He returned the smile forlornly, with a sense that others had been in this position before and none of these had managed to escape their fate, so why should he. With a heavy heart he walked out into the yard and took a deep breath of cold night air, he wondered if these precious few minutes could be his last free moments for a very long time to come.

The yard was full of barrels, some clearly empty having been put to good use, others still full and awaiting their chance to be enjoyed. The air was damp and Jack shivered, the contrast between the warmth of the fireside and the chill of the yard was greater than he had expected. But despite this Jack was still in no hurry to return. His sense of foreboding could not be shaken off. No matter how hard he tried to persuade himself that Mr Goody would be to find a way to save him, deep inside he find it hard to believe.

Jack was forced to come back inside when the Sergeant sent his man to fetch him back. His longer than necessary absence had been noticed. The Sergeant greeted Jack’s return with a gruff,

“You alright there Sonny, you’ve been gone a while?”

Jack acknowledged the Sergeant’s concern with a curt,

“Fine, thank you. I just needed,” he paused, almost audibly sighed, “ a moment.”

“Fair enough lad. Just wanted to be sure. Don’t want to lose you now you are so close to your new home. Do we lads?”

The Lieutenant and the other men around the table with him laughed. Jack could not believe it. Mr Goody was joining in the laughter. How could he. What was happening here?

What Jack had failed to notice was that in his absence the pile of coins next to Mr Goody had grown considerably and the Lieutenant’s pile had shrunk by the same degree. The Lieutenant was now beginning to lose his cool and scratched his head irritably. The evening was not going as well for him as he had expected. First the humiliation by a serving girl, now he was losing all his money. How could he have found himself in this position? One moment he was poised to clear the table and now suddenly he was down to his last few farthings. Mr Goody sensed that the Lieutenant was rattled and knew he would have to strike now or there was a good chance the Lieutenant would cut his loses and leave abruptly.

“How about we change the stakes?” he said, looking into the Lieutenant’s eyes. “I’m in need of a strong lad for me crew, I lost one to the excise last week. How about one last throw, this pile of coins, for one of the lads? Eh? They looks likely enough to me.”

The Lieutenant gave Mr Goody a long and considered look, then glanced down at the copper coins in front of himself.

“How much you got in that pile, d’you reckon? I need to figure out if it’s going to be worth my while if I don’t make my quota tonight.”

Mr Goody grinned. “Fair point.”

He slowly and deliberately counted out the coins in front of him so the Liutenant could see he was not trying to cheat him.

“I think you’ll find it’s four guineas, twelve shillings and thruppence. A fair sum wouldn’t you say?”

“Ay. Fair enough I say, if I lose one of these lads here these a reasonable chance I’d be able to find another before I make it to the dockyard gate tonight. I’ll take the wager.”

Jack gripped the sides of his chair. So this was it. This was the moment on which his fate would depend. One throw of the dice and he could be set free. But the wrong throw and he would be a virtual slave to the Navy for the next three years at least. And even worse with the war with France raging, the chances of him making it back to Portsmouth were pretty slim indeed.

The Lieutenant looked more relaxed now as he cast his dice. What difference would it make to him really. He had the chance to make a little money, and if he lost well, as he’d said, there was every chance he could replace the lad with some drunken fool stumbling out of the next tavern.

Mr Goody too looked very relaxed. Not once had he glanced Jack’s way. Not even now as he threw the final dice on the table. Mr Goody did not look down at his dice, to Jack’s surprise, he directed his gaze squarely at the Lieutenant’s face.

The Lieutenant winced a little, just enough to show he had lost. At that Mr Goody allowed himself to look at the dice. A perfect throw. Well it seemed that someone else was on Jack’s side tonight as well. He allowed himself a small smile.

“Well thank you Sir. You’ve done me a great service.” He reached over and shook the Lieutenant’s hand. The Lieutenant acknowledged his loss with an ironic smile and a gesture that suggested it was of no matter to him.

Mr Goody turned to Fred at his side, “ Fred you go over and pick out one of the lads over there. The blonde one looks an honest sort, but we can soon fix that!”

Fred grinned in response. “Right you are Robert.”

Fred stepped away from the table and made towards the boys. Jack’s heart was in his mouth, he could hear the blood pounding in his ears. Fred made a calming gesture as he strode towards him.

“Now then, which of you lads knows a thing or to about fishin?” Fred asked.

Before anyone else had a chance to answer the Sergeant said, “That’ll be the blonde one. Seems that’s all does all day.”

“Fare enough then, you’ll do.” said Fred and touched Jack on his shoulder. “Come over lad and meet your new captain.”

Jack sat rooted to the spot. He could hardly believe the turn of events. Had he really been saved?

Fred kicked his ankles. “Look lively then. You might not be happy about it, but you’re coming with us all the same.”

Jack realized he needed to move and not let the moment pass. The Lieutenant could easily have a change of heart if he realized he had been tricked. Jack got up slowly, and deliberately, making a show of his reluctance.

Fred clapped an arm round his shoulders, “ now then lad, what’s your name. I’m Fred and from now on you’ll do everything I tell you whether you want to or not. And you’ll do it straightways.”

“Jack, Jack Wilson.”

“Jack, eh? That’s handy, the lad we just lost was called Jack too. I like it when I don’t have to learn a new name.” Fred gave Jack a toothy grin.

Jack gave Fred a half grin back. Mr Goody stood up and Tom and Walter followed suit.

“It’s been a pleasure Sir. I look forward to seeing you again another time.”

“Indeed. I shall not be in such a hurry to wager my money next time we meet.” The Lieutenant responded sardonically.

Once again the two shook hands. Robert called out a farewell to Albert and with that the party left the Red Lion without a backward glance.