[As the story continues, I wish to thank those who have written regarding terminology and have asked what constitutes fact and what is fiction. The historical records relate to the voyage and the ship's company although their interaction comes from an over-active imagination. Some punishments described are recorded and preserved the Archives but only in the most clinical fashion. Descriptions are therefore possibly accurate but certainly not matters of record.]
4 The aftermath, our first stop and my meeting with a boy convict.
My beating had left Jim and I exhausted and in no condition to undertake our duties. We therefore sought out our respective masters and asked that we might be excused from duties and allowed to rest. Our requests being granted, we spent the day alone in the comfort of the cabins resting on our stomachs and trying to find anything that would make the pain in our backsides and thighs dissipate.
Nothing helped. And by the time Mr McAlister returned to the cabin I was still in agony. He showed no sympathy and suggested that I might be malingering. I protested my innocence and raised the sheet under which I was lying to show him the evidence.
He ran his hand over my buttocks and gave me a light slap which elicited a sharp squeal of pain. Apparently satisfied, he left me to my own devices and sought the assistance of one of the other cabin boys to fetch water for his bath. I watched as the routine was undertaken, neither McAlister or the cabin boy (William) taking any notice of my presence.
William took over my duties that evening and did so with alacrity. I watched as the tall, blond youth prepared McAlister's tub and then watched as the officer stripped and started to soak himself. William stood not a foot away from the tub as if to encourage McAlister's lust and before long a soapy hand stretch forth and started to fondle the boy. Instantly the boy showed evidence of his arousal as his pants tented out and I started to feel somewhat anxious for my own position. I knew that if McAlister chose to bed the boy this evening, I would have to vacate the cabin and I did not relish the idea of seeking out a hammock below decks with the rest of the crew.
To my relief, McAlister took the matter no further and dismissed William after he had been rinsed off.
Without speaking to me, McAlister went off to dine, leaving me feeling quite miserable.
Shortly the door opened and Gary entered carrying some food. It transpired that he had been ordered by McAlister to bring me my meal and for that I was grateful.
Gary sat while I ate and discussed recent events. He expressed compete contempt for his supposed mates on his watch who, he had subsequently found out, had conspired to get him into trouble by arranging in advance to use any shift in the wind to cause him to look bad. Gary said that he was the butt of many jokes and that sailors were making crude jokes at his expense.
When I lifted the sheet to show him my lacerated backside and thighs he showed no surprise saying that he "had seen a lot worse" and showed me the still painful evidence of his own punishment. He washed me with salt water to help the healing process and then promptly left despite my desire for some innocent company.
I was dozing when McAlister returned and the first I became aware of his presence was the feeling of his body beside me in the narrow bunk. I lay quite still hoping that he would pay me no attention. Despite my pain, the heat from his body lying beside mine went straight to my loins and when his hand crept under me it encountered the evidence of my pleasure.
He turned towards me and kissed my hair and gently touched my backside. I winced at the slightest pressure and hoped that he was not about to compound my punishment. His hand continued its exploration but it was apparent that causing pain was not on McAlister's mind.
I felt disappointed when the hand withdrew and moaned in delight when a saliva-coated finger returned to explore my anus. Despite the tenderness of that orifice, I was wild with excitement as the finger touched that inner spot which engenders so much pleasure and instinctively I reached down behind me to stroke McAlister's throbbing member. Gently he mounted me and slowly began the rhythm with which I was becoming familiar. The stretching of my tender hole by his massive weapon and the slap of his body on my buttocks brought tears to my eyes from the pain but mingled with them were tears of excitement and pleasure. We reached the pinnacle of ecstasy simultaneously and together groaned in the pleasure of the moment.
After we had tidied ourselves from our lovemaking, McAlister kissed me again most tenderly as if to take our relationship to a higher level than that of predator and victim. I kissed him back and lay back on my stomach, satisfied and content.
During the evening a storm broke but nothing required McAlister's attention so we remained in the cabin with his arm embracing me.
The following days were uneventful and we approached landfall at the Azores in good spirits. The small farming community welcomed our arrival despite the political tensions which characterised the relationship between our respective sovereigns. Our presence meant trade and provisioning of the ship for the community and for the crew and the convicts, an opportunity to get away from the confines of the ship.
Everyone took advantage of the short stay and longboats ferried the crew and the convicts ashore. McAlister allowed me to accompany him as the marine detachment oversaw security. Jim accompanied Mr Finch as he went about his duties.
On shore, the convicts were allowed to bathe in a fresh water stream which ran down from the hills and Jim and I also took advantage of the situation although we bathed well away from the convicts. When we returned, I was surprised to see that some of the younger prisoners were without chains. Taking this as a sign that the marines were somewhat relaxed about security, I went over to one of the boys and struck up a conversation.
At first Ned (for that was his given name) was reluctant to talk but given the similarity of our ages he gradually engaged in conversation. With gentle prodding, Ned narrated the misadventures that had brought him to this state:
"I were abandoned by my father," Ned explained "after me Mum died of the colic. I joined a gang and we had to fend for ourselves so we took any scrap of food which was available. Down the markets was the best place for there were always stuff being thrown away. Anyway, me mates and I were down there when I spied some apples which were not being attended and as I grabbed one, some oaf screamed blue murder and I was taken for being a thief. I was taken straight away to Newgate and thrown in with all manner of folk. Eventually I was sentenced to a birching and transportation for 14 years and so here I am."
With a little coaxing, Ned elaborated on events and told of the terror of Newgate and the rapes which he had endured as he awaited his punishment. The stench of the prison, the frequent abuse and the lack of compassion of the warders all remained etched in his mind and he shook as he spoke of them. His birching had been carried out in the prison yard just two days before he was shipped off to the "Agincourt" and he told me of being held down, his pants lowered and a warder using the heaviest birch time and again until the blood ran freely down his legs.
I sympathised with Ned and said that Jim and I had endured similar experiences but that a beating was something from which one at least could recover. When I asked him of conditions below decks in the brig on the ship, he said that the boys were generally separated from the adults and were not often bothered. Now and again, he said, one of the marines might take a boy for pleasure during the night but that the officers appeared to keep a fairly strict eye on such happenings. It transpired that Ned and his fellow boy convicts were more concerned about the lewd and threatening behaviour of the older convicts who were trying to coax the crew into allowing them to have some sport with the boys. Ned was fearful of what might happen on the next leg of our journey to Cape Town.
Having listened to Ned's story, I set my mind at trying to get McAlister to ensure that the boys were kept away from the other convicts and resolved to broach the subject once our journey resumed.
Our time ashore was all too brief. The crew had provisioned the ship and all were ordered aboard. I joined the rest of the crew in setting the sails as the anchor was raised and we began the long journey to the Cape.
Fair winds made the journey quite pleasant and McAlister appeared in good spirits. I did everything possible to avoid discipline although once or twice I felt the cane as a result of my not paying due and proper attention to our lessons. For the most part, Jim and I were untroubled but Gary was clearly singled out for special treatment. Almost daily we would be required to witness punishment in the Midshipmen's Mess and invariably Gary was amongst those who had to prostrate themselves for a beating. Such was the frequency of his punishments that he had great difficulty walking and instructions were finally given that he should be spared such frequent meetings with the cane.
Seeing what was happening, I asked McAlister what was the reason. As we lay in bed together, having just enjoyed our love making, McAlister explained that Gary had declined an invitation to serve one of the ship's officers in a _s_e_x_ual manner and was therefore being victimised. "The fool should realise," said McAlister gently, "that he will lose the battle in the end and, if necessary, will be taken by force. It would be far smarter to yield rather than take the continued beatings."
"Can't you do something?" I asked.
"None of my business," McAlister replied. "I can't interfere in the running of the ship but I have mentioned it to Captain Neatby and I have asked whether the boy can be assigned to the Marine's Mess where he will be treated somewhat more gently. I expect the Captain to let me know in a day or so."
"There is another matter that I would like to ask you about," I said somewhat boldly.
"What's that?" replied McAlister.
"Well, when were onshore the other day I was speaking with one of the convicts, a boy named Ned. He was saying that he was frightened that he might be put with the older men who were wanting his favours. And I was wondering if there was anything you could do to help him, please?" I pleaded.
"Is that the boy with the blond, curly hair and the fair features?" asked McAlister.
"Yes, that's him," I replied. "Do you know of him?"
"Yes," said McAlister. "I know what is going on. Indeed, he will be punished tomorrow because he was fighting with one of the men who was trying to have him through the bars of the brig. It's a pity really, he is rather pretty but there has to be discipline on this voyage and unfortunately he will have to pay the price. His partner in crime, who I am sure started the matter, will be severely flogged to impress upon the rest of the convicts the need for self control. As for the boy, I think he will spend the rest of the voyage with my men."
"Oh," said I, "but couldn't he serve you or Mr Finch rather than the other men?"
"Well, he could" replied McAlister "but then what would I do with you? Perhaps you would like to sleep with the crew?"
"NO!" I protested. "Please don't make me do that. I was just wondering if you could somehow protect Ned - he's is very pretty."
"Listen here boy," said McAlister. "That boy is off to Point Puer. He will spend his time being flogged and rogered until he qualifies for his ticket of leave. He's a criminal and there is nothing that can save him from his fate. He'll be lucky to survive a year in that penal colony. Now, I know it's unfortunate but that is how it is. And you had better get used to the fact that all those boys, and many of the men, will finish up having _c_o_c_k_s up their bums because there are no women available to serve the needs of the other men and the guards. That's how it is and I can't change it."
I lay there thinking upon McAlister's statement and realised that there was indeed no hope for young Ned.
Justice was delivered in the severest possible manner the following morning. All hands and the convicts were assembled to witness the execution of the sentences.
Ned was stripped naked in front of the assembly and me heart went out to him as he stood there looking so beautiful and vulnerable. Quickly he was bent over a barrel and two men held his arms while two others held his ankles as far apart as possible. He was given eighteen strokes of the cane and screamed and struggled as the pain tore through his sole. Blood was drawn and trickled down his inner legs as the strokes were delivered in a measured manner to ensure there was time for his brain to register the effect of each stroke.
Towards the end I though he might have passed away because his voice was stilled and his bucking ceased. He had fallen unconscious and a bucket of cold seawater was thrown over his prostrate form to help revive him as the final slash of the cane tore his backside apart. Naked, he was taken below to the surgeon while we remained to witness the flogging.
Ned's assailant was a brute of a fellow - strong and brawny. I was pleased that he was to be punished for having tried to have his way with Ned.
As he was stripped and tied to the grating, Mr Finch announced that he would received six dozen lashes on his back and breech. The man's trousers were accordingly lowered and the punishment commenced. The Bosun worked the cat from the man's shoulders down to his thighs bringing the first cries from the brute with about the fifteenth lash or so. The sight was ugly but I took some measure of satisfaction from the increased screams coming from the man as the whip tore open his buttocks and thighs. Blood splattered the deck in an arc which followed the course of the cat.
By the end of perhaps the fiftieth stroke, Ned's assailant was broken and I don't think that much further pain registered in his brain as the flogging was completed. Cut down and taken below I felt no sorrow for this brute of a man.
Once dismissed, I went to see how Ned was but he was already removed from the surgeon's cabin and had been taken to the marines' quarters. assured by the surgeon that he would be left to recover and not molested by the highly disciplined marine squad, I resumed my duties on deck hopeful of seeing Ned before the day was out.
As evening approached and the sun began to set on the starboard side, I sought out Ned and found him lying on his stomach on the floor of the cabin used by the marines. He was dozing but my approach wakened him and he smiled as I bent down to kneel beside him. His backside had swollen considerably from the punishment but there was little sign of blood except where the strokes of the cane had intersected and broken the skin. We spoke quietly about the situation and, to my surprise, Ned was well resigned to the fact that he would soon find himself at the mercy of the marines. They would undoubtedly use his charms during the evening and as I kissed him and left I wished him well, expressing the hope that they would not be too brutal in their assaults. He thanked me for my concern and relied that "some of them seem quite nice" which encouraged his belief that the ordeal yet to come would not be as savage as his previous experiences in prison.
That night, McAlister was quite demanding of me. I had yet to work out that the sight of the punishments aroused McAlister considerably and therefore his lust would need to be urgently satisfied in the privacy of his cabin. When he arrived after dinner he quickly drank the wine I had waiting and then pushed me over the end of the bunk. There were no preliminaries as he yanked down my trousers and speared his organ into my arse. His orgasm came quickly but his lust was not satiated. A short while later, as we lay in bed together, he mounted me again and plowed my backside for an eternity before he collapsed on top of me - spent and exhausted. He had not said a word throughout the entire evening. My arse was burning from his assaults and it was to my great relief that his organ subsided and he withdrew. I lay there feeling used as he drifted quickly to sleep. I turned over and with, one hand massaging the entry which he had vacated, I used my other to bring me some degree of satisfaction in which my partner had clearly had no interest.