The wind, driving storm-scattered ships, blew
gale-force during the night. John Killen lay in his swinging bunk, unable to
sleep. Through a thin canvas bulkhead he heard horses bang about the hold,
struggling to keep on their feet as the transport pitched deep into the troughs
between waves.
Major Cavendish proved accommodating to his
unexpected guest but not to the extent of allowing Killen a share of the
cramped officers’ cabin in the bows. Instead, an extra hammock was hung in the
hold alongside the remainder of the major’s squadron, men of the 7th Hussars
who had sailed, full of hope, with Lord Paget and now found themselves facing
an ignominious repatriation.
When it came, the tearing, grinding cacophony
as the transport struck rocks took Killen by surprise. The ship heeled over,
sending horses crashing around the hold in pitch darkness. One animal off its
legs lashed through the bulkhead into the makeshift sleeping quarters,
splintering timbers. Water cascaded through cracked planks.
Those men not thrown from their bunks when the
ship foundered clambered out. Killen dragged on boots and coat while from
around him hussars dashed at the broken bulkhead, one screaming as the still
flailing horse smashed his leg with a single blow. Killen forced his way past,
men behind pushing at his back in growing panic. He hugged the ship’s side
until he touched the nearest companionway, hooking his hands over each worn
tread to claw his way out of the fast-flooding hold.
On deck he found chaos. Any escape at the
stern meant climbing over the fallen mizzen mast, still tethered to the hull by
a tangle of ropes and sailcloth.
“Captain!”
Killen
turned. The farrier, Ravel, was shouting at him, windblown hair a black halo
round his face.
“This
way, sir.” Taking Killen’s arm he walked purposefully amidships. “We’ll have to
jump for it! She’s fast starting to break up!”
Killen looked over the bulwarks, at inky-black
waves tearing the transport to pieces, “What about boats?”
“No time! They’d be swamped in this sea, if
they’ve not been smashed already!” He pulled Killen closer, shouting over the
wind, “You need to go now, sir!”
Killen put a foot over the side and felt
Ravel’s shove. He plunged deep into raging water, kicking frantically until his
head broke the surface. He must get further away: falling masts might crush him
or rigging drag his body under.
from "Leopardkill" by Jonathan Hopkins
Buy your copy at Amazon or a bookshop
Book Description
A thrilling war novel set against the dramatic backdrop of
the Peninsular War that saw a small British force pitched against
Napoleon's Grande Armee. It is Autumn 1808. The French army is gone
from Portugal...except for one man. And what he has stolen is deadly
secret. Sergeant Joshua Lock and Captain the Honourable John Killen
pursue the spy deep into Spain ahead of Sir John Moore's British army - a
force now ordered to fight the French alongside native troops. But
instead of helping their new allies, the Spaniards seem to have turned
against them. Their quarry still free, Killen's discovery of Lock's
affair with a fellow officer's wife drives the childhood friends apart
as savage winter storms grip the Galician mountains. With discipline
breaking down, and Spain's armies in disarray, every man must decide for
himself - who is friend and who is foe? Should the outnumbered,
starving British stand and fight, or run for the sea, and home? Whilst
unbeknown to the bickering allies, Bonaparte himself is storming through
Spain with but a single purpose...to destroy every 'mangy English
leopard.' Meticulously researched to be historically and militarily
accurate, this dashing novel of cavalrymen at war is written by an
expert horseman.
Book Description
A thrilling war novel set against the dramatic backdrop of
the Peninsular War that saw a small British force pitched against
Napoleon's Grande Armee. It is Autumn 1808. The French army is gone
from Portugal...except for one man. And what he has stolen is deadly
secret. Sergeant Joshua Lock and Captain the Honourable John Killen
pursue the spy deep into Spain ahead of Sir John Moore's British army - a
force now ordered to fight the French alongside native troops. But
instead of helping their new allies, the Spaniards seem to have turned
against them. Their quarry still free, Killen's discovery of Lock's
affair with a fellow officer's wife drives the childhood friends apart
as savage winter storms grip the Galician mountains. With discipline
breaking down, and Spain's armies in disarray, every man must decide for
himself - who is friend and who is foe? Should the outnumbered,
starving British stand and fight, or run for the sea, and home? Whilst
unbeknown to the bickering allies, Bonaparte himself is storming through
Spain with but a single purpose...to destroy every 'mangy English
leopard.' Meticulously researched to be historically and militarily
accurate, this dashing novel of cavalrymen at war is written by an
expert horseman.
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