He recognized the voice even as he turned to face it, and sure enough he found himself in the presence of Horatio’s commander, captain Pellew. They’d split off nearly two months ago – Horatio to work on maneuvering the frigate to the south side island without cluing this very man into the fact he was ferrying them to tasks both dangerous and incriminating if the admiralty were to catch wind of it. The intention was for Charles to cross the island and meet up with the ship on the other side, taking care of the job on land in the meanwhile.
Things had not gone according to plan though, and Charles had known it when the storm struck that his chances of actually being recovered again were damned slim. Still, he’d gone to the area he was supposed to be at and he’d waited. When he became too hungry and cold to wait any longer he had slipped back into the trees and settled in for the long haul. He knew he would not be abandoned indefinitely, but there was no reason to let himself suffer while awaiting Horatio’s inevitable return.
What he had not anticipated was getting picked up by Pellew – at least, not without Horatio in tow. That told him two things – either Horatio had overestimated Pellew’s goodwill and was now presently hanging at the gallows for witchcraft, or the clever little witch had slipped off to continue their work and Pellew had found him independently in the meanwhile.
This man was a safety beacon to Horatio – the witch would find his way back to Pellew, so it would be wise to linger with him and make it easier. So he answered semi honestly with, “Lost track – more than a month, to be sure, but less than three.” Which was precisely around the time that the Indefatigable had been in this region, stopping for water and game. “Guess I didn’t get back in time for setting sail.” There was no blame in his tone – he hadn’t meant to be on time for it, after all. “I’m guessing you’re not back for me, though.” This was a common trade stop, after all.
Ocean Archive 