“Well,” Custer said, his voice slightly slurred, “who the hell won the battle?”
Secretary of the Navy Hunt put down his drink. He had scarcely touched it. “Unlike a land battle where the victor usually claims the battlefield, no one can lay claim to the ocean. However, the Spanish did depart and leave the convoy and the rest of the escorts to proceed uninterrupted to Matanzas. Therefore, it is safe to say that we were victorious.”
“But we lost ships,” Custer insisted. “The Baltimore is gone and the Chicago is almost destroyed. Only the Atlanta remains and she too was damaged. What the hell ships do we have left if that damn surviving Spanish battleship and their remaining cruisers come out to play?”
This time Hunt did take a swallow of his drink. “We have it on good authority that the remaining Spanish battleship, the Vitoria, is in Havana harbor where she is being watched by some of our smaller ships. The Atlanta is also off Havana and will engage the Vitoria if she tries to come out. We are confident that the Atlanta can handle her. Despite sensationalist rumors in the press to the contrary, the Atlanta’s damages were slight and she will be completely ready in a very short while. In the meantime, the Chicago will be temporarily repaired and then sent to Charleston for more complete repairs. Unfortunately, she will be out of the war for several months at the least.”
Custer turned to his secretary of state. “Blaine, you’ve got to get us more ships.”
Blaine shrugged. “It’s not going to happen. England and France are now working together and have decided that it would be in their best interests to not play a part in this war; therefore, they will not be arming either side. Apparently they are concerned that the war between us and Spain could spread. They are also concerned that Germany might try and gobble up Spanish possessions if Spain is defeated too utterly.”
“I thought we had a deal with the Brits,” Custer said petulantly.
“Britannia rules the waves and Britannia waives the rules,” said Blaine with a wry smile. “And British wealth rules the land the waves surround. If the British decide to renege on a deal, there’s not much we can do about it except send diplomatic notes that will be read and ignored.”
Hunt finished his drink and poured himself another one. It was far too hot for whisky, even on the pillared veranda of the Markland House. There was no breeze and he’d begun to sweat profusely. “Then we must go ahead with first arming merchant ships and, second, building our own battleships no matter the cost. Unfortunately, that latter course will take time.”
“And we might not have time,” said Robert Lincoln. “Reports are that the Spanish will launch a massive attack against General Miles’ army at almost any moment. They’ve moved more troops around Matanzas than we thought they would. There are enough Spaniards to overwhelm our men.”
Custer stood and staggered slightly. The men could hear Libbie gasp through the open window. Fortunately, the president did not fall down. “Damn it to hell. And I’m sick and tired of reading about all these problems in the newspapers. I want someone to arrest that bastard Kendrick and send him back here to St. Augustine, and preferably in pieces.”
Robert Lincoln looked away. Nobody was going to arrest Kendrick. The man was too popular with the army for the simple reason that he reported the truth. Besides, nobody was certain where to look for the man. After his latest report of the heavy casualties suffered by the navy, he’d decided to make himself scarce. There were even rumors that he’d fled to Havana where he had friends who would hide and protect him.
* * *
With her husband gone to the war at Matanzas and then to a hospital bed, Juana felt liberated. Gilberto’s wounds weren’t that serious, just debilitating. He’d dislocated his shoulder, sprained a knee and, worse, suffered a major and excruciatingly painful groin pull that, according to what she’d been told, made it almost impossible for him to sit, much less stand.
Even though her husband was generally impotent, it pleased her that he would be useless to any other woman, even Helga, his mistress. To her astonishment, Helga felt the same way.
“He has been a pig to me, just as he has been a monster to you,” Helga told her one afternoon. “He uses me and then ridicules me. He says I am fat and stupid. If I didn’t need the money he gives to provide for me and my child, I would have left him a long time ago. Of course, you understand fully what kind of a man he is.”
Child? Juana had no idea. “Helga, who is the father? Is it Gilberto?”
Helga thought that idea hilarious. “No, the girl’s father is a merchant in Mexico City. He had been sending money, but then it stopped. He must have found out about Diego. So now I must work for a living and that means satisfying your husband’s strange cravings.”
Juana did not think Gilberto’s cravings were all that strange, just nothing she wished to do with him. With Kendrick, fine, she thought and felt her cheeks flush, but not with Gilberto.
“Do you hate him enough that you would help me conspire against him?”
“With greatest pleasure,” Helga said. Her cheeks shook. She’d been gaining even more weight and it wasn’t flattering. Juana thought that Gilberto would soon dismiss her and look for a replacement. She shuddered. Just as long as Helga’s replacement wasn’t named Juana. One of her fears was that he would use his greater strength to force her to perform distasteful acts on him.
“Wonderful. I will see to it that you have funds to provide for your daughter if you will aide me in shaming Gilberto.”
Helga beamed. “What do you want me to do?”
“I have friends in the revolution who will help me get in contact with James Kendrick. Your job will be to go to the hospital and see to it that Diego stays there. If it looks like he will be heading home, your second job will be to warn me so that James and I can go back to our normal lives and forget we know each other.”
Helga actually giggled. “And where will you and your paramour be staying and for how long?”
It was Juana’s turn to smile. Actually, she was beginning to feel like a mischievous schoolgirl. “I have friends who are discreet and will provide a place. You just keep an eye on Diego.”
“You are not ready to trust me fully, are you?”
“No.”
Helga was not upset by the reply. “I wouldn’t trust me either.”
Chapter 10
“Well,” said Lang, “what do you think?”
Ryder looked at the way the barbed wire encircled much of the defensive perimeter on the top of the hill. There wasn’t enough to totally go around the hill’s defenses without making it a fairly useless single strand fence, but what Lang had done with what little he had was impressive.
“I can’t believe the army wasn’t interested. After all, similar defenses like chevaux de frise or abattis have been around for centuries,” Ryder said, referring to many styles of obstacles that had been developed over time. “This is so much quicker to install and possibly more difficult to remove.”
“Not only that,” Lang added, “you can shoot through the stuff if it isn’t too thickly stranded. I’m not trying to butter you up, but your idea of using the wire to steer any attackers towards your Gatling guns is brilliant. It’s just human nature to not want to be impaled on something sharp, so, like the way water flows, the Spaniards should go to where they think there is no wire.”
Ryder thought of piles of bodies stacking up in front of his guns. It was unsettling, but what was the alternative? “We need more wire, lots and lots of wire.”
“It’s coming, but just when I don’t know.”
“And you’re paying for it?”