Flood of Fire Read Free

Ibis on the night of the storm, in one of the vessel’s longboats. When asked whether there was any possibility of their having survived, Mr Reid replied that there was not the slightest doubt in his mind that they had all perished.

    Moreover, he said, he had seen incontestable proof of their demise with his own eyes, in the form of their capsized boat, which was found far out to sea, with its bottom stove in.
    These details were fully corroborated by Captain Chillingworth, who similarly affirmed that there was not the remotest possibility of any of the fugitives having survived. These tidings caused a considerable stir in the Native Section of the Hall, where a good number of the late Raja of Raskhali’s relatives had foregathered, including his young son …
    It was at this point in the proceedings that Zachary had understood why the courtroom was so crowded: many friends and relatives of the late Raja had flocked there, hoping, vainly, to hear something that might allow them to nurture the hope that he was still alive. But Zachary had no comfort to offer them: in his mind he was certain that the Raja and the other four fugitives had died during their attempted escape.
    When questioned about the murder of Subedar Bhyro Singh Mr Reid confirmed that he had personally witnessed the killing, as had many others. It had occurred in the course of a flogging, when the subedar, on the Captain’s orders, was administering sixty lashes to one of the coolies. Being a man of unusual strength the coolie had broken free of his bindings and had strangled the subedar with his own whip. It had happened in an instant, said Mr Reid, before hundreds of eyes; that was why Captain Chillingworth had been obliged to sentence him to death, by hanging. But ere the sentence could be carried out, a tempest had broken upon the Ibis .
    Mr Reid’s testimony on this matter caused another Commotion in the Native Section, for it appears that a good number of the subedar’s kinsmen were also in attendance …
    Bhyro Singh’s relatives were so loud in their expressions of outrage that everyone, including Zachary, had glanced in their direction. They were about a dozen in number and from the look of them Zachary had guessed that many of them were former sepoys, like those who had travelled on the Ibis as the coolies’ guards and supervisors.
    Zachary had often wondered at the almost fanatical devotion that Bhyro Singh inspired in these men. They would have torn his killer limb from limb that day on the Ibis , if they hadn’t been held back by the officers. It was clear from their faces now that they were still hungering for revenge.
    At the conclusion of the Hearing the Committee retired to an antechamber. After a brief deliberation, Mr Justice Kendalbushe returned to announce that Mr Zachary Reid had been cleared of all wrongdoing. The verdict was greeted with applause by certain sections of the courtroom.
    Later, when asked about his plans for the future, Mr Reid was heard to say that he intends soon to depart for the China coast …
    And that should have been the end of it …
    But just as he was about to go off to celebrate with Mr Doughty, Zachary was accosted by a clerk of the court who handed him a wad of bills for various expenses: the biggest was for his passage from Mauritius to India. Together the bills amounted to a sum of almost one hundred rupees.
    â€˜But I can’t pay that!’ cried Zachary. ‘I don’t even have five rupees in my pocket.’
    â€˜Well, I am sorry to inform you, sir,’ said the clerk, in a tone that was anything but apologetic, ‘that your mate’s licence will not be restored until the bills are all cleared.’
    So what should have been a celebration turned instead into a wake: ale had never tasted as bitter as it did to Zachary that night.
    â€˜What’m I going to do, Mr Doughty? Without my licence how am I to earn a hundred rupees? That’s