THE DEPRIVED...Chapter 4...Part 6.

A continuation of my book.

This routine took place immediately after the ships bell was rung and the whistle blown ten minutes before twelve and lasted till the stroke of twelve o’clock, when the boys had the lashes taken away and were then given the order to be seated on the deck where each received a bowl of gruel and a crust of hard bread to be eaten in silence. The midday meal was the only meal of the day and the clatter of tins lifted and hungry mouths slurping the drink from the bowls was the only sound made during the time until a quarter of an hour later when the boys were told to give up their bowls and then ordered back to work.

Like all young boys put together, the tendency is to form friendships and within such a hard environment friendships are a comfort with secrets whispered and shared. But Sam had too much in his heart and head to forgive and to form any friendship which meant opening out and giving confidences away. His hatred was within his subconscious and within revenge for the death of his parents and especially for the way his mother had been treated by her so-called friends, those Night-Girls who pushed her out into the cold. And it was that same cold which froze his feelings so they remained unexplored or even thought about. In this way, Sam remained friendless and unresponsive to any attempts made by other boys to befriend him.
“He’s a loner, Sir and dangerous with it. He aint got no feelings and don’t even feel the rope’s end when I beat him.” said Master Bonsy to Mr. Cameron after one particularly brutal thrashing. “Dropend will tell you, he aint human. He’s dark and dangerous, he is.”
“Then we have to punish him all the harder.” came the Governor’s reply when this was reported to him.

Sam took all they could give, sullen and silent at any punishment even when he had been thrown overboard and left floundering in the sea for some minutes before a boat was lowered to lift him out from the water in a state of near unconsciousness and having to have the water pumped out from his lungs. Sam remained silent, his dark brooding eyes reflecting no emotive response. Dropend was the only one who tried to talk to him, telling Sam in earnest that unless he gave something of himself he would never be allowed to be transported to the Colonies.
“I aint your friend and I aint working for the others. I aint a Governor’s boy like Master Bonsy. I do what I does for a quiet life and to gets me just deserts which is to get meself posted to a cushy posting abroad. That’s the same as all the boys aboard this ship.” said Dropend.
Sam continued to lower the bucket and lifting it back from the sea handing it to the waiting hands of boys who scrubbed at the deck.
“I know you can hear me.” continued Dropend. “What I’m in saying is that if you aint put to a vessel and carried abroad by the time as you reach fifteen then you is liable to be put into a prison till you is hung in a public square, if you catches me meaning. You’ll be strung up!”
Sam continued to work, saying nothing.  Dropend shrugged and walked away.  While Sam made no comment to what was said, he understood that his commitment to silence would be seen as dumb insolence. Although he knew this it went against his grain to be free and easy with his thoughts or to join in with the camaraderie among the boys during the times when speech was allowed, for an hour after work when the boys would be allowed to lie on their hammocks and converse with the boy next to them. This often necessitated the boys to exchange hammocks with others so they could be next to a friend they wished to talk to.

It happened that Sam lay next to a small fair-haired boy of around nine years old. The boy spent most of his time laying with his face hidden beneath the sack blanket, silently weeping so that his body shook. Sam had heard him called Heathfield and thought the boy weak and showed his disdain by turning his back on him whenever the boy looked his way.
“Change with me!”
Sam looked up as he heard the demand from a boy who stood with a hand on Heathfield’s hammock and pushing at it so the hammock swayed and almost tipped the boy out. Heathfield said nothing but gripped the sides of the hammock tightly.
“Get out!”
Heathfield gripped tighter as the hammock swung. The boy now swung with both hands so that Heathfield tumbled out onto the floor where he lay sobbing. The boy, hard-faced and with light hazel eyes kicked Heathfield’s uniform and boots away from beneath the hammock and placed his own there. Ignoring Heathfield, the boy jumped up easily into the hammock and lay there to idly swing while the deposed boy took up his clothes and boots, going off in search of the now spare hammock.
The boy turned to face Sam.
“Hoi!” he said.
Sam ignored him and closed his eyes.
“Me names Collier and I’m fixed to be shipped out next week. Are you listening?”
Collier’s voice softened to almost a loud whisper.
“I’m for going over the side. Are you interested? I hear that you has a lifetime to do, or be strung up, is that the case?"
Sam turned his head to look at him.
“So what’s your thinking?” asked Collier.
The boy gave a grin, showing black and broken teeth.
“I can’t swim.” said Sam.
“I can swim and if you come with me, you can get a hold of me and I’ll pull you along.” returned Collier.
Sam smiled, the first time since he had lost his mother.
“So.” he said slowly. “I put my life in your hands and trust to luck.”
“I’m off to going overboard on the morrow, matey. Make up your mind if you wants to come or not.” urged Collier.

The ship’s bell rang out, followed by the whistle, telling the boys that the time for talking had to cease and all went quiet as Master Bonsy and others walked between the aisles of the hammocks, swinging their rope’s end. Sam lay quiet with Collier’s offer on his mind. Deciding against it, he closed his eyes and slept.

The next morning, in the rush to get up on deck and as the boys lined up for the throw of cold sea  water, Sam told Collier that he would not be going with him in his swim to the shore. What happened next was totally unexpected and Sam could only watch as Collier, bending over the roped rails of the ship to get a bucket of water, slipped beneath the ropes and slid down the side of the hulk and vanished into the sea. Sam stood, not so much in shock as in awe-filled silence to the fact that Collier had gone into the sea and no-one seemed to notice except himself. Suddenly gearing himself into action, Sam hurried to take Collier’s place at the rail and drew up a bucket of water while his eyes searched the murky grey of the sea. There was no sign of Collier and Sam tipped the bucket over himself before standing back in line.
It was not until the boys sat on the deck at dinner-time that Collier was reported missing and two hours later it was reported that his body had been found washed up on the shore. Sam shrugged at the news, spread by Master Bonsy and thought no more about it. And that evening as Sam climbed into his hammock he saw the small fair-haired boy, Heathfield, was back in the hammock next to him and from that time the boy cried no more.

Life on the prison hulk was a routine of work and beatings which served to draw attention to a good Christian way of life, to work and to beat the devil out of those who had lost their way. On the Sunday, while it proposed itself to be a day of rest and while the Lord may have rested, much of Sunday was taken up by the boys being seated cross-legged on deck and attentive to the Governor who stood high on the bridge, a loud-hailer in his hands and with his monocled blue eye in manic flare, he preached a continuous sermon about the changes needed to become a good Christian. This sermon would go on for two hours, with a hand-over of the loud-hailer to Mr. Cameron, who continued the message. And woe-betide any boy caught talking or even fidgeting, such was punishable with the birch. Sam found this enforced position quite painful so that when he was allowed to stand there seemed to be no feeling to his limbs and he joined others who stamped legs and flapped arms to gain some sense of circulation to the blood.