I have to thank Randi for encouraging me to participate in this event. While not a Legends Day, it is still a special day, and to have my story up beside so many great writers is truly an honor. Thanks to Randi, of course, for her impeccable editing.
*
Reading has always been a quiet hobby. My nature wasn't all that outgoing, so reading was what I did. Reading brought me to something that seemed to bring me back, often, to a story about an officer on the
U.S.S. Constitution
who had the same last name as mine, Edgerton, who was lost at sea. I often wondered if the man was an ancestor.
The
Constitution
was berthed at Boston, and when I learned I was going with my family to Boston to drop my sister, Suzy, off at Boston University, I was very excited.
I had never been out of our small town in New Hampshire, and since I wasn't a total nerd, I was hoping that I'd get a chance to go to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game!
As we drove through the Back Bay to get to Suzy's dorm, I caught a glimpse of the Fenway Park lights and the big Citgo sign, and started pestering my parents to take me to the game.
"We have a lot to do, Jimmy," my father said, "and not much time for a game. Tickets are expensive and hard to get. I'll see what we can do, but no promises." I was bummed out and sulked until we reached the dorm and I had to help unload all of Suzy's stuff.
The next day, my hopes of going to a game were once again dashed, but I brightened up when my parents told me that we were going to see the
Constitution
!
I was afraid that the reality wouldn't live up to my imaginings, but as we approached the ship my concerns vanished. She was magnificent! It was hard to take it all in, from the cannons sticking out of the gun ports, to the tall masts, to the American flag snapping in the breeze.
I was lost in thought, day-dreaming about what it would have been like to actually sail her into battle, the sights her crew would have seen. My father had to give me a gentle shove as our turn came to walk up the gang plank onto the ship.
I only half-heard the tour guide in his period uniform droning on through his rote speech as my head swiveled, trying to take in everything at once.
"Watch out!" was the last thing I heard before my head banged into a low entryway and the darkness took me.
When I came to, I thought that I must still be dizzy from the blow to my head, because it felt like the ship was moving but that was impossible, she was in dry dock; she only left under tow for her annual turnaround cruise so that she would weather evenly, and there was no way that we could be on one of those.
Looking up, I saw the billowing sails, then saw and heard the hustle and bustle of an actual man-o-war at sea.
Just as I was noticing that I no longer had on my usual jeans and t-shirt, but was wearing a very rough version of what the tour guide had been wearing, I was nearly knocked over by a burly seaman.
"Step lively there, lad," the man said, "there's a war to be won!"
I shook myself out of my daydreams enough to look around and saw that we were indeed under sail, with no land in sight.
If I had any thoughts that simply being under sail would be relaxing, I was quickly disabused of that notion. All around me was the hustle and bustle of constant activity, dozens of men rushing about doing all sorts of tasks that none of my reading had prepared me for, when suddenly a shadow came over me.
Looking up, I saw a man who was obviously an officer looking at me with a severely stern look on his face.
"What's the matter, midshipman, have you no work to do? I'm sure that we can find something that even a puny lad such as yourself can handle!"
"I... I'm sorry, Sir, I seem to have bumped my head and I'm a little confused."
"Then go below and see the Surgeon; after he has you sorted out, go find Mister Himes, the Bosun, I'm sure that he can find something useful for you to do."
"Y... Yes, Sir," I said as I tried a weak salute, but he was already off to torment someone else.
I knew enough from my readings that the Surgeon would be somewhere below deck. I could only hope that I could find him without too much difficulty.
None of my reading could have prepared me for the smells I encountered. On deck, the sea breeze masked most of the odors, but the cramped spaces below decks seemed to only amplify them. Bathing on a ship of the line was an almost unheard-of concept, and don't even think about deodorant.
It wasn't hard to find the Surgeon; I just had to follow the moans, groans and screams of the sick and wounded sailors. Nothing in my reading could prepare me for what I saw in the surgery. There was blood everywhere, some severed limbs were still lying in a pile in the corner, and if I thought the rest of the ship smelled bad, the smell here nearly caused me to throw up.
A man, I presume that he was the surgeon, looked up at me from his task of re-bandaging a sailor's amputated leg.
"Well, boy," he said gruffly, "Don't just stand there, what do you want?"
"I was feeling a little dizzy, and I was sent to see you."
"As you can see, I'm a bit busy right now! How are you feeling now?"
"O... Okay, I... I guess," I managed to say.
"Then get out of here so I can get back to work!" he said as he turned back to dressing the wound.
As I made my way aft, I saw a sailor coming my way.
"Excuse me," I said, "Do you know where I could find the Bosun?"
He gave me an odd look, then said, "'E's prob'ly where he usually is: aft, 'neath the quarterdeck," and went on his way.
I found the Bosun with no further difficulty, and not knowing if I should salute, I just cleared my throat.
He looked up from his work frowning.
"What is it, boy?" he said, "Can't you see I'm busy?"
"The Lieutenant said that I should see if you had any work for me to do."
"Damn officers, do they think I've got nothing better to do than play wet-nurse to some useless midshipman?"
