The Delfe Treasure

5. Details and Complications

Aldrick sat in the drawing room with Matthew and Elizabeth, offering details of the new sloop. "She will be eighty-eight feet on deck, and her beam will —"

"Why only forty-four in the crew?" Elizabeth wrinkled her brow. "I thought you had said the complement was eighty?"

Matthew guffawed while Aldrick stifled a laugh before replying, "Feet on deck is one of the measurements of her length. There are several of these, others being length of keel, length of hold, length overall. Length on deck is the measurement in feet of her weather deck, the uppermost one which is exposed to the elements."

"Oh, dear! I will need to learn all these terms before I dare go aboard, else I will invite ridicule."

"You will find it all easy and mostly logical, like using the term beam for the measurement of her width. It relates to the length of the beams which support her broadest deck. We will go often to the yard to watch her building, and I will explain all her parts to you. By the time she has been completed, you will know her inside and out, topmast to keel."

After Aldrick had given other dimensions and details, Matthew asked, "What news of John Roberts? How close is he to sailing?"

"I learned last week he had sailed in early March."

"With the new map?"

"No, it was not printed until last week, the end of March. But I would think he has Moll's new one, though that shows only the edge of the shoals, not the islands."

Elizabeth had listened to the intercourse, remaining silent until it paused, then she asked, "Who is this Roberts?"

"John is the son of Joseph, my bosun in Delfe." Matthew washed his face with his hands. "A renegade, a selfish recreant. The son now seeks the treasure for himself while we seek it for the families."

"The families?"

"The descendants. The heirs to the shares allotted by our ship's articles. We have maintained a communication over the years, and many of them have served aboard during our searches."

Elizabeth looked back and forth between Matthew and Aldrick. "Will any of the descendants be among our crew?"

Aldrick nodded. "I expect to assemble the entire ship's company from the families. They are known and trusted, and I have sailed with many of them."

"And John Roberts?"

"His father led a mutiny against Grandpa many years —"

Elizabeth tilted her head. "Mutiny?"

"A rebellion among the crew against the authority of the Captain. Most often it is to seize command of the ship for their own purpose."

"Like piracy?"

"Yes, I suppose it is," Matthew replied. "But this is from within."

"And what did he do with the ship?"

"His mutiny was ill-conceived and poorly organised." Matthew recounted the actions of the twenty mutineers, concluding with, "The next day, the crew took back the ship and released me and my officers."

"Does such activity have a punishment to deter? I am sure it must." 

"In the Navy, it is death for all involved, but in —"

"Oh!" Elizabeth interrupted Matthew, raising a hand to her mouth. "This seems excessive. Why so severe?"

"The authority of commanders of His Majesty's ships must be absolute to take a ship into battle. Disobedience is to invite chaos which leads quickly to disaster. The threat of death is a great deterrent."