simplestgift | Seventeen Bells: [WRITTEN/ACTION]

Entry tags:

Seventeen Bells: [WRITTEN/ACTION]

On July the 4th, 1776, one Horatio Hornblower was born in Kent. If you see him, bid him many happy returns. He will most likely grump about it all day and act ungrateful, but don't allow it to discourage you. He does appreciate it, he simply does not know it.

[For most of the day, Archie will be running around trying to furnish a bedroom in the house for a new housemate. He'll end up in the library, Good Spirits, the grocery store, then finally the Battle Dome, mostly staring in bewilderment at the controls before deciding this is too scary and leaving. At some point, he'll also take a walk in the woods, rain or no rain, in shirtsleeves and waistcoat but no coat. After a while, he'll get back on the journals.]

[Filtered away from Grell, 44%]

If you wanted to surprise someone dear to you, to cheer her up when she returned from being kidnapped, what would you do for her?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Indy battled a 74 on her own during a storm, for some time till the Amazon arrived. One death, a handful of wounded for the Indy, and we sunk the Frenchman. Pellew was bold as brass, challenging her that way.

Sounds like a great battle — I can't believe I don't remember it at all. Like I said, you'd be better off if Jules was here, too. Sometimes I think he has those books about memorized.

[There's a hesitation before the next message.]

Do the books speak of Captain Sawyer?

Oh, that one just came out last year — that one's a great book, really well-written. Pushed down the hold, and no one knows who did it. And then there's the mutiny, Bush nearly getting killed, the enquiry —

[But hey, she promised.]

I can't imagine it was all that pleasant, but it makes a fine story.

[Another long pause.]

How did the court-marital end?

The enquiry? Hornblower's made commander and Buckland stays a lieutenant.

Are you saying there wasn't even a question asked of whether or not Horatio pushed Captain Sawyer?

Oh, there is — that's the point of the enquiry. Nothing's ever really decided for sure, though, and since Captain Sawyer's dead anyhow, they sort of give up.

[It's a while before the reply is written.]

I understand.

[What was he expecting? He should have been able to guess something like this. But to be erased from history so completely...

He'd known what he was doing. He just hadn't expected to see the consequences.]

Did it happen differently?

[There's neither confirmation nor denial of her version, and while it might be treading on thin ice, Archie knows how to say he doesn't want to talk about it.]

Quite differently. [Another pause.] It took the intervention of a friend to save Hornblower from the noose.

[This is not a story Archie has told many people, but he somehow wants to prove his realness, and not just to her. Though he won't continue unless asked explicitly.]

Seems like that'd be no small task. [She doesn't suspect him of "my friend"ing her, as it were, and so replies as though they're talking about some unknown third party.] What happened to him?

He took the blame for pushing Sawyer.

[Resisting the urge to write "I got that," resisting. Here, she'll do some of the guesswork.]

Same punishment as they were threatening Hornblower with?

It would have been, had he not been wounded in battle before. He died a short while later.

Huh. Well, that's no small task — laying down your life for a friend, I mean. Sounds like an admirable fellow.

[There's a pause.]

He would tell you he was only doing his duty.

Plenty of people ought to do as much and don't. It's a pity Forester didn't include him.

He would have preferred it so. He would not have wanted to risk Horatio's career, or his future good name.

Edited 2011-07-07 17:56 (UTC)

Isn't that just the way of things. [All the best people get lost to history--or "history," as it were.] Well, it's nice to know about nonetheless.

["I am glad to entertain you" is one of those responses he knows is uncalled-for, so his reply takes a second.]

I imagine this Forester fellow thought it impolitic to mention him, at any rate.

[Nah, that'd probably be pretty called-for. Let's be honest, Kay would be treating the matter with a bit more reverence if she had any idea they were talking about Archie, though she hadn't meant to imply she'd found the story purely entertaining.]

Maybe so. I'll have to ask him if I ever meet him — it's a real pity not to recognize someone for what he's done.

[But he hasn't told her, and that is why it's not called for. There's a long pause in which he's desperately trying to think of a topic to switch to.]

I have a task I must see to, Mrs Eaton. I beg your leave.

Sure. [So, uh, what does she say now? Platitudes ring false to her ear.] I ought to get back to writing, anyhow.

Good day, then.

[written - filtered 43%]

poorneedyand.livejournal.com - 2011-07-11 02:27 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only