Felix Wild and the Blockade Runners , livre ebook

Andrews UK - Peter Broadbent

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

171 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Felix Wild is approaching his seventeenth birthday, if the horse doctor who originally estimated his age by examining his teeth is correct. He still has the remarkable ability to memorise and draw anything he has seen, but is now looking for a fresh challenge. Studying navigation appeals to him but fate - in the shape of Admiral Millinhall-Slice - intervenes, and he is whisked away from the comfortable home of Mr and Mrs Kettle on a dangerous mission into the heart of the American Civil War aboard a blockade-runner. In this witty and engaging novel, Peter Broadbent creates characters worthy of Charles Dickens, including Pearly Yardstick, a carriage driver who - to the astonishment of the Kettle household - is not only a woman but one with 'the backside of an Epsom Derby winner'; Captain Achilles De'Kedge, whose walking stick was fashioned from the timbers of HMS Pickle, the ship that brought home the news of Nelson's triumph at the Battle of Trafalgar; and Doshie Dibbler, a mere thirty-three inches tall, but a perfect example of miniature womanhood.

Sujets

Historical fiction

Informations

Publié par	Andrews UK
Date de parution	13 août 2018
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781911105398
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

FELIX WILD AND THE BLOCKADE RUNNERS
by Peter Broadbent

First published in 2018 by
Chaplin Books
5 Carlton Way
Gosport PO12 1LN
www.chaplinbooks.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed in 2018 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
Copyright © 2018 Peter Broadbent
Illustrations copyright © 2018 Yolanda Bull
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder for which application should be addressed in the first instance to the publishers. No liability shall be attached to the author, the copyright holder or the publishers for loss or damage of any nature suffered as a result of the reliance on the reproduction of any of the contents of this publication or any errors or omissions in the contents.

Dedication
I dedicate this book to my editor, Amanda Field of Chaplin Books. Faced with my jumble of words, she worked her magic and transformed my story into a book worthy of publication. Without her skills and advice this story of mine would have languished in a desktop folder entitled ‘Scribbles’... unappreciated and unread.

1. A Medal of Friendship

Saturday the fourteenth day of March 1863 is a day of unrelenting rain and blustery winds. Commander Maximilian Otter (RN Ret’d), the Senior Officer of the cadet training hulk HMS Impenetrable , carefully levers himself up from his plush cushioned chair. He takes a series of lung-filling breaths and faces the class.
‘Sit up straight, boys. Give three hearty cheers for your departing tutor. Hip-hip!’
‘Hurrah.’
‘Hip...’ the Commander coughs into his fist. ‘... hip!’
‘Hurrah.’
‘Hip-hip!’
‘Hurrah.’
The Commander lowers himself back onto his chair. He rearranges a swathe of his iron-grey hair to cover his war-damaged ear for which he has never forgiven every French person that has ever lived. He nods to Felix Wild who is standing alongside his lectern on the opposite side of the classroom’s raised platform.
Felix, surprised and a touch embarrassed, mouths ‘thank you’ and runs a hand though his blond hair. It is the first time he has been given three cheers.
The class stands and enthusiastically applauds. The sound of youthful hands rebounds off the wooden bulkheads and the low-beamed deckhead. Impenetrable sways over to starboard as a smoke-belching steamer passes close down her port side. The clapping dwindles as everybody adjusts themselves to the roll.
Comfortably seated once again, Commander Otter holds his left hand up for silence. One boy remains standing.
‘Sit, Mister Awari.’
Mister Awari looks around, realises that he is the only one standing and sits down.
The Commander runs a finger around his uniform shirt collar.
‘Sit up straight all of you and fold your arms.’ He scans the class until everybody is sitting up straight with their arms folded in the prescribed manner: left forearm to the front. ‘Today is Mister Wild’s final day with us. We have all benefited from the knowledge he has imparted to us all during the past eighteen months. His artistic aptitude and fluency with both pencil and navigational chartage has inspired all of us in different ways. I am confident that sitting amongst you are future ship’s artists and perhaps a few of you will eventually become ship’s navigating Officers... as I was many years ago. The most respected of Naval occupations.’
Abdullah Awari stands.
‘Permission to speak, sirs?’ he asks, looking from Commander Otter to Felix and back again.
‘If you must, Mister Awari,’ says the Commander. ‘We are acutely aware that you are rarely short of something to say, when given the opportunity.’
Awari bows his head.
‘Thank you, sir. May I say how privileged I have been to know Mister Wild. As a foreigner to this wonderful country of England, I was anxious when I first arrived, sent by my father, the Senior Prince of Riau-Tempasuk in exile, to train for Naval service before taking up my princely duties. I will never forget the friendship of Mister Wild and what he has taught me since I have been here.’
Felix likes Mister Awari. A thickset boy, his hair is black and straight and his skin is the colour of well-browned toast. His eyes are of the deepest brown, unlike those of Felix - one blue and one green. Awari has proved himself adaptable and willing to learn. He has been an effective and well-respected class-leader for the past six months. Felix has absolutely no idea where Riau-Tempasuk might be - or why it is exiled. He has not liked to ask Awari, for fear of an overlong explanation.
Silence.
Awari holds his hand aloft.
‘I have a gift for Mister Wild, sir.’
‘A gift?’
‘A medal, sir. From the Sultanate of Riau-Tempasuk in exile. A medal of friendship that I have the authority to award to persons who have assisted me outstandingly in my day-to-day development, sir.’
‘And you wish to present this medal to Mister Wild?’
‘Yes, sir.’
The Commander turns to face Felix.
‘Are you prepared to receive a medal?’
‘I would be honoured,’ says Felix, somewhat overwhelmed. He understands that medals are normally awarded in recognition of bravery in battle. Although teaching navigational techniques has sometimes been tricky, it has not been courageous by any stretch of the imagination.
‘Mister Awari,’ says Commander Otter. ‘Would it be fitting for us all to stand whilst you make your presentation?’
‘Yes, sir. After I have presented the medal, tradition dictates that there should be a cordial round of applause followed by a short period of silence before the recipient’s acceptance speech.’
The recipient’s acceptance speech? Felix wonders what the correct response should be.
‘Everybody stand,’ says the Commander, raising a hand. ‘Mister Awari, please come out to the front of the class and bring your medal with you.’
Awari takes a notebook-sized box from his valise and stands with it in front of the class. He is somewhat shorter than Felix.
‘Mister Felix Wild,’ he says, reading from a slip of paper. ‘By the authority given to me by the Sultanate of Riau-Tempasuk in exile, I present you with the gold medal of friendship complete with the chain of everlasting companionship, in recognition of your forbearance as my tutor onboard Her Majesty’s Ship Impenetrable.’ He offers the hinged box to Felix, who respectfully takes it.
The Commander invites applause.
Clutching the box to his stomach, Felix waits for the applause to die away and looks to the Commander for a signal to begin his acceptance speech.
The Commander raises his hand, Mister Awari looks at Felix and nods.
‘I am honoured to accept your medal of friendship, Mister Awari,’ says Felix. ‘Thank you.’
‘Class, sit yourselves down,’ says the Commander. ‘I have something to say before you are dismissed. Tomorrow is Mothering Sunday. The day when those of you who have families within a sensible travelling distance can return home - a carriage is arranged to take you into the centre of town. Those of you with more distant family will stay onboard and enjoy our annual luncheon to celebrate this special day in our calendar.’
Felix opens the box to display the medal and places it in full view on an adjacent stool. One by one the class line up to shake Felix’s hand as they leave the room.
Once all the students have left, the final handshake is between Felix and Commander Otter.
‘I wish you well in your future endeavours, Mister Wild,’ he says. ‘Working with you has been a pleasure.’
‘Thank you for your support, sir.’
‘What are your immediate plans?’
‘To return home and rest a while.’
‘To the home of Mister and Mrs Kettle?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘You have certainly made your mark. You have blossomed into a talented and inspirational young man. Plucked from the streets of Portsmouth-’
‘Gosport, sir,’ interjects Felix. ‘On the west side of Portsmouth harbour.’
‘My apologies. Spoken like a man who knows his compass bearings.’ Commander Otter sits down on his comfortable chair. ‘Let me continue with my farewell tribute to you - I have thought long and hard about what I wish to say.’
‘Of course, sir.’
‘From the back streets of Gosport to being awarded a medal of friendship in a span of three short years is a most remarkable transformation. Your ability to remember things that you see and subsequently draw them with stunning accuracy is an extraordinary skill. I declare that I have never met anyone with such a talent before.’
‘Thank you,’ says Felix. ‘I have to acknowledge your patience and understanding, sir. Without the encouragement of yourself and Mister Kettle, I would still be foraging in the mud of Portsmouth harbour.’
‘I understand you spent some time in gaol in Gosport? I have hesitated to mention it before, Mister Wild, for fear of embarrassing you.’
‘True, sir. But Mister Kettle rescued me from the Petty Sessions and all charges were dropped.’
‘Did you know your mother or your father?’
‘No, sir. I was taken in by the women of the laundry at Haslar Hospital when I was but a baby. They named me ‘Felix’ for luck.’
‘And the name ‘Wild’?’
‘Given to me by the Justice, sir.’
‘And now you are a man of standing, Mister Wild. To have been hired to draw the construction of HMS Warrior when only... fourteen years of age, was it?’
‘Approximately, sir. A Horse Doctor examined my teeth three years ago and declared me to be fourteen years of age.’
Commander Otter puts his hands over his face and Felix thinks he must be laughing about the Horse Doctor, but then realises that the Co