5_5

McKee was asleep when de Hogue quietly entered the room. He sat by the man’s bed and examined his face.
After a minute or so, he gently laid his hand on McKee’s arm and spoke the man’s name.
McKee opened his eyes slightly and regarded de Hogue through tight narrow slits.
“Who are you?” he croaked in a strange voice.
He began to cough and de Hogue helped him to sit up and passed him the cup of water which had stood on the small night stand.
“My Name is Morgan de Hogue” he replied in a soft voice. “I’m with the Admiralty”
“De Hogue?” McKee peered at him. “Ah yes… I remember you now. You came to see Captain Howard a few months ago.”
De Hogue nodded.
“We were ship mates back in ninety eight.”
“That’s right” McKee whispered almost to himself. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve been doing some quiet work on the island, and I was here when they brought you in.”
McKee stared at de Hogue’s eyes, focusing from one to other. He’d known straight away that there was something odd about de Hogue and this reference to quiet work picked at his curiosity. He knew it was no good asking though. Instead he lay back and closed his eyes.
“I’d like to ask you what happened to the Anson?”
McKee’s face creased at the memory. For a long time he lay on the bed with eyes tightly closed and de Hogue waited patiently.
“There were five hundred and sixty seven men aboard her when she went down” McKee spoke with a tremor in his voice. “Five hundred and sixty seven men and I am the only survivor!”
De Hogue said nothing.
McKee stared into space and spoke in a low monotone.
“Captain Howard had kept us running before the storm most the day and all night, but it finally caught up with us and I was standing on the quarter deck, just aft the mizzen, by the braces when he called me over. At first I didn’t hear him, the wind was howling like a banshee and the waves were terrible. The ship was taking on water and we had the pumps going…
Captain Howard was shouting to me, and I saw him calling so I made my way over to him. The ship was starting to list slightly and it was difficult to move… you know how it is in a bad blow…”
De Hogue nodded.
“The Cap’n told me the rudder lines had jammed on something and I was going to ask his orders when suddenly everything was lit up as if a fire had sprung up in the skies. Everything went bright and the Cap’n was staring up over me into the skies.
Well, I turned to see what it was and this great burning object passed right over me. Like a great fiery creature from the Bible.
It hit the main mast and carried everything away. The tops, the yards, everything. The storm sails. One minute it was all there, then this thing, this great thing like a dragon just plunged down through the masts and into the sea…”
There was a sound from the door and de Hogue turned to see Hampton’s wife entering the room with a fresh mug of water and a damp cloth.
“How are you doing Mr McKee?” she asked replacing the empty cup.
“A lot better thank you Mrs Hampton” he smiled. “Thank you for the water.”
McKee waited until his hostess had left again, before looking de Hogue in the eyes.
“I’m not mad I tell you” he hissed. “I’m telling you as I saw it happen. I don’t know what it was, or where it came from but it was as big as the ship. It cut clean through the masts and went straight down into the sea.”
“The ship was without its rudder or storm sails?” de Hogue asked.
“That’s right” McKee nodded. “I knew we were buggered then. Captain Howard knew it as well. He went down on his knees the poor sod.”
“And you?”
“I went over the side as soon as the barky started her lee shift. I knew she wouldn’t take that next wave and I was right.
She went right over and straight down.”
He took the fresh cup and sipped at it. “Five hundred and sixty seven men…” he whispered into the silence.

Later, as he walked back through the silent village, de Hogue pondered McKee’s fantastic story. A great object. Shaped like a dragon. As big as the ship.He shook his head softly as he walked. Try as he might, he couldn’t see any connection between McKee’s experience, if it was even real, and what was happening on the island. And yet he felt there had to be a connection since the one incident had followed so quickly after the other…