Faithful and Strong

by Golden Scribe

Chapter 2: Meeting the Natives

Bush could tell that Hornblower had been rendered speechless. To be fair, he was in the same boat himself. A brightly colored horse with wings that could speak? It seemed too fantastic to be believed.

The horse, perhaps understanding their befuddlement, gave a slight smile. “Never seen a pegasus before? Don’t worry, you aren’t the first ones who’ve been amazed by that. I promise you, we don’t have any intention of hurting you, as long as you don’t intend to hurt us.”

Hornblower blinked, shook his head a few times, and cleared his throat. “I am Captain Horatio Hornblower of the British ship Lydia. Our ship was damaged in a battle with a French vessel, and we put into this bay for repairs. Our apologies for disturbing you; we had no idea this island was inhabited.”

The horse nodded and held out a hoof. “Lemon Wedge, Mayor of Baltimare, at your service, Captain Hornblower.”

Hornblower hesitated for a fraction of a second, then bent slightly (Savage had been correct about their size; the horse only came up to Bush’s thigh) and took the hoof in his, giving it a quick shake. Lemon Wedge nodded and ruffled her—now that Bush thought about it, the voice was unquestionably feminine—feathers. “Now that we’ve got the basic introductions out of the way…what exactly do you need, captain?”

“What do you mean?”

“You aren’t the first ship that’s come in here for repairs, you know,” Lemon Wedge said, waving a hoof at the other horses, who started descending the hill, “Once we’ve determined that a crew’s intentions are peaceful, we’re more than willing to everything we can to help speed the repairs along. It gives the craftsmares something to do, and it minimizes the risk of discovery by another ship. So, what needs the biggest fix? I can have two ponies ready to go in half-an-hour if you just say the word.”

Hornblower blanched at that, and Bush could tell he was resisting the urge to take a step back. But the captain’s voice remained even and neutral as he said, “I greatly appreciate the offer, Mayor Wedge, but I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you. Really, we should be able to patch up the worst of the damage in less than a week. All we ask is permission to use your bay and to draw fresh water from your nearby stream. Otherwise, I believe we can manage things just fine on our own.”

Lemon Wedge looked him over intently, suspicion writ all over her face. Then she shrugged. “Suit yourself, Captain. But feel free to call on us if you change your mind.”

She turned to go, and that’s when Bush noticed the strange mark on her hindquarters. It was a small brown mark that was unquestionably in the shape of a judge’s gavel. It was surprisingly detailed, and Bush wondered how she had attained it. It seemed too specific to be a birthmark, too natural to be a tattoo. And why would a horse have a gavel on its flank, anyway?

His musing was interrupted by Lemon Wedge speaking over her shoulder. “I hope you don’t mind, Captain, but you’ll probably have a lot of curious observers watching as you undertake your repairs. We don’t get human ships here very often, but when we do, it’s always an event of note. They’ll do your best to stay out of your way, but you know how it goes, I’m sure.”

“Of course,” Hornblower said with a nod, “We’ll extend the utmost respect to them.”

Lemon Wedge nodded and rejoined the group of horses, conversing with them as they made their way back up the hill. As soon as the last tail had disappeared from sight, Hornblower turned to Bush and Savage. “I want repairs to get underway as quickly as possible. The sooner we’re away from this place, the better. Savage, take the men aboard and set to work repairing the masts.”

Savage saluted and led the men towards the ship. Watching them go, Bush noticed that the rest of the crew had gathered along the railing, no doubt having watched the entire exchange between Hornblower and Lemon Wedge. They were whispering amongst themselves, though whether it was out of curiosity or nerves, Bush couldn’t say. “That’s enough, men!” he barked, “I understand that this is a most unusual circumstance, but don’t neglect your duty because of it! There will be time enough to discuss this in your off hours. Away with you now!”

The men obligingly scattered, setting off to start repairs. Bush turned back to Hornblower, who was running a hand through his hair distractedly. “Captain? May I speak freely?”

“Very well, Mr. Bush.” Hornblower said, sounding like he knew exactly what Bush was about to say. Undaunted, Bush pressed forward.

“Why not accept their aid, Captain? It sounds like they know what they’re doing, and it would allow us to get underway much faster with extra pairs of hands…er, hooves, to help.”

“Because it’s madness, Mr. Bush!” Hornblower burst out, “Brightly colored talking horses that are capable of repairing ships? If the entire crew hadn’t seen it, I would have assumed I was under a feverish delusion! How on earth would I explain this to the Admiralty in my reports?”

“You could always omit the details, sir. I don’t believe these horses wish to be known by the outside world any more than you want to discuss it.”

Hornblower flushed, but Bush couldn’t tell if it was out of embarrassment or irritation. “I will not lie to the Admiralty if I can help it, Mr. Bush. By completing the repairs ourselves, I can merely say ‘Put in to an island for repairs’.”

“I understand your concerns, sir. But, well…the men are curious. I’m curious. We’d like to know more about these horses, and I suspect the horses feel the same. I don’t think talking with them is such a bad thing.”

“The matter is closed, Mr. Bush!” Hornblower snapped, “We will complete repairs on our own and make our way to the nearest English port for a proper fitting. Now, return to the ship to supervise the repairs. And pass the word around that contact with the…natives…is to be kept to an absolute minimum!”

Bush sighed slightly. “Aye-aye, Captain.” When Hornblower got into this sort of state, there was no talking him out of it. As he followed Hornblower back towards the Lydia, he glanced back at the hillside, and was almost positive he saw a small green head peeking over the top of it.
***

The crew did their best to work efficiently that day, sanding, hammering, and painting, but the work was nowhere as quick as it could have been. They muttered constantly about the island, wondering how the horses had gained the power to speak and demanding information about the town from the landing party. Bush and the other officers did their best to keep their minds on their work, but truth be told, they didn’t put much verve into the reprimands. They were just as curious as the crew.

When they dared (or rather, whenever Captain Hornblower wasn’t present), the crew would sneak glances over the railing, where a small collection of horses had gathered to watch them. Bush himself took a surreptitious look through the spyglass at one point; there were surprisingly few pegasus horses among the crowd, the presence of Mayor Wedge notwithstanding. Indeed, the majority of the horses seemed to be unicorns, which led to much snickering amongst the crew when they overheard, wondering which members of the crew would be “pure” enough to approach them. That, Bush put a stop to immediately—God only knew what Hornblower would do if he heard those exchanges. He seemed to be under the impression that the less he knew about the horses, the better. Indeed, he spent the rest of the day in his cabin, only emerging every hour or so to check on repairs, looking pointedly everywhere but at the beach. Bush just shook his head and continued supervising, having long accepted the captain’s odd whims.

Hornblower had ordered that the repairs continue throughout the night, and by the time Bush was relieved by Lieutenant Rayner, the sides had been decently patched, while the masts were starting to look serviceable, though it would probably take another day before they would be considered safe to climb. After giving his report to the captain (who responded with a curt “Good. Carry on, Mr. Bush.”), Bush returned to his cabin and climbed into his hammock, though it took an hour or so before he could finally fall asleep, mind buzzing with questions.

Hornblower hadn’t emerged from his cabin when Bush took up his station once more the next morning. Figuring it was best to let him be, Bush set the men to work, allowing them to gossip freely; it was good to keep the crew’s morale up, after all.

Bush was examining a particularly nasty gouge at the mizzenmast when the sounds of a faint commotion reached his ears. Whipping around to look for the disturbance, he realized that it was coming from the beach. Despite themselves, the men were inching towards the railing to take a look. Bush pulled out a spyglass and peered through it; there was still a small crowd of horses onshore, but they were separating, making room for what looked like a chariot that was drawn by two incredibly bright horses, which caught the sunlight and seemed to reflect it in all directions, nearly blinding Bush through the glass.

“Mr. Summers,” he said to the man next to him, “You’d best fetch the captain. I believe this is something he ought to know about.” Whether he likes it or not, he added silently.

Even as Summers saluted and moved away, Bush could hear a cry come up from the beach, and he felt his hands tighten around the spyglass. It seems that their presence had made more of an impact than Lemon Wedge had let on.

The cry rang out again, almost echoing over the water. “Make way! Make way for the Princess!”

Comments

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

As "Why not let the Ponies help?" I'd point out that the Ponies would likely expect to be paid and IMO are unlikely to take an IOU. It's a better reason than "because"

As to "When is this in the Hornblower books?" It's the start of book 5 Beat to Quarters. They were sailing up the Pacific coast of South America under orders to avoid contact with the shore as much as possible. The Lydia is a 32 gun (IIRC) frigate.

I'd recommend changing the battle damage to storm damage from the Straits. IIRC they fought a Spanish ship, the Cacafuego (I might be misremembering, it has been 20+ years). At this point in his career, Hornblower is married and has only his wages. Thus, he is pretty strapped for cash.