The Flag of Freedom Read Free

its principles to the extent of paying a subsidy to the worst and most dangerous of the corsairs. The remnant possessed nothing more startling than a few lightly armed galleys manned by starving slaves. The
Saratoga
could see them off with a stout broadside, he assured her. Besides which, her present course, down the western edge of the Adriatic and through the Strait of Messina, would keep them well clear of the danger zone. As for the practice of flying under false colours, this was a stratagem more to be expected of the English and the Venetians.
    And so, much to Caterina’s irritation, the Stars and Stripes continued to fly from the masthead. And for four days the
Saratoga
continued her steady progress towards the heel of Italy.
    And then the wind changed.
    This was not immediately apparent to Caterina, but she was informed by the first officer that it was no longer possible, with the wind in its present quarter, to navigate the Strait of Messina. Instead, they were obliged to sail much further south and would not be able to land at Naples as promised. Caterina and several of the other passengers would be put ashore in Sicily and obliged to find another vessel to take them to the mainland.
    Caterina was sorely displeased by this information, but in the event she was spared the inconvenience it would almost certainly have caused her.
    On the morning of the fifth day, she and Louisa were taking the air on deck when a sail was sighted some little distance to the south-west. This appeared to cause someagitation among the officers and crew, and the Captain’s steward shortly came over and advised them to return to their cabin. The approaching vessel was thought to be an Algerine, he confided, and ‘purely as a precaution’, the Captain had determined to run for the port of Masala, some several leagues to the north-west. As the women were ushered below, they saw the guns run out.
    They remained in the gloom and stench of the lower deck throughout the ensuing encounter, news of which was conveyed to them by the dull report of cannon fire, initially at some distance but growing increasingly closer. Louisa was now quite fearful, Caterina only slightly less so, though her annoyance far outweighed her apprehension.
    â€˜Idiot,’ she berated the Captain. ‘I’ll give him an Ave Maria. I hope they bend him over one of his precious guns and take turns.’
    Certainly the guns did not seem much use for any other purpose. Possibly the ship was heeling too far over for them to bear – a mishap of which her Admiral had warned her during one of his weighty expositions – but for whatever reason they remained silent. The only sounds that carried to the two women were the wails of their fellow passengers, the occasional drumming of feet upon the upper deck, and, of course, the distant guns of the enemy. They became less distant as time went by and finally there was another, sharper report, and the crash of something large and solid hitting the hull. Shortly after, the vessel made a violent lurch and appeared to stop dead in the water.
    Caterina climbed irritably to her feet. ‘Be damned to this,’ she said.
    Among her possessions that were not stowed out of reach in the hold of the ship was a travelling bag containing a pair of pistols which had been given her by the English Ambassador shortly before his own flight from Venice. Caterina began to load them, ramming home the wadding, powder and shot with the tool provided for this purpose and distributing the required measure of powder into the firing pan.
    Louisa observed these preparations with some astonishment.
    â€˜What are you doing?’ she enquired at length.
    â€˜I am doing whatever may be necessary to defend our honour,’ Caterina replied, more to shut her up than anything, for the loading of a pair of pistols required considerable attention.
    â€˜You do not consider that a prayer would help?’ Caterina detected the irony