Deep Seas War 5.1

5.

The Surface

The carriage tore into the late afternoon with Jones whipping the horses to run. He did not bother to look behind for the Sergeant Major had that covered. His concern was the country roads with the intersecting smaller paths. There the local patrons may rush onto their path without stopping. They won’t stop for a carriage rushing at above normal afternoon riding speed. After all this was not the race tracks. They rode past the other estates but out here each of them will have a spread of over fifty acres or more. Even if you holler, the neighbours won’ bother to reply. Gunshots are common to them with the game keepers bringing in the rabbits or pheasants for the dining table. The paths they took were cobbled stones or untarred roads but the weather then was hot making the ground hard on the horses’ hoofs. They are cladded with the metal shoes but the carriages were not exactly bouncing comfortably to the uneven surface.

“You could slow down, Jones. We are ahead of time by ten minutes.” Lord Henry checked his watches. His wounded leg had begun to ache then. The Corporal was to comply when he heard the warning from the Sergeant Major.

“They are on the horses.” The Sergeant pointed to the open fields where the guards were galloping the mounts.

“Darned!” His Lordship screeched out. “They are destroying those studs. They are not meant to run but hump.”

The Sergeant Major turned his gun on them. With the rapid firing option, the NCO did was point and pressed the trigger. His firing was however passable for one who spend more time hollering than practising at the shooting range. He brought down two of the pursuers.

“You shot my horses, Sergeant Major.” His Lordship screamed then. “They are worth thousands.”

“You ask and do not receive, because you….” The Sergeant Major recites James 4.3 but was interjected by his Lordship.

“Ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. Thank you, Sergeant Major. You may continue on.” His Lordship slumped back onto his seat inside the carriage.

It was then they saw the new threat coming from the skies. There was two flying contraption with the wide double wings and the tiny rudder at the rear. The plane was piloted by two persons with the rear one manning the Lewis gun there. The Sergeant Major cursed under his breath. They were path of the Lord Henry’s guards too. His Lordship considered them as sound investment in the face of military innovations.

 “Jones, we got two eagles on our rear and five horsemen.” It was Jones who named the flying contraption as eagles.

“Well shoot the eagles down first. They are the real nuisance.” Jones pushed the horses towards the treelines. He reckoned they won’t be blimey easy to detect there. The carriage shot off into the woods and soon they were riding past uneven grounds, and caused his Lordship to screech out in anger.

“Jones, you better have an explanation for this. The humping is doing the devils’ work on my spine.” Lord Henry had a back pain which he claimed was from riding the infernal creature named a horse.

“Uffar gwirion, I am trying to save our asses.” Jones cursed in his native tongue. He rode the carriage to the hunting lodge in the woods. He stopped there before he disembarked in a rush. He rushed in and then came out with the long barrel Whitworth rifle. That rifle was locally invented and proven to be a sound shot at over a thousand five hundred yards. It fires a .45 calibre bullet with the single muzzle loaded shot. It was a unique design then with the hexagonal barrel instead of the rounded one. It outshot the popular Pattern 53 Enfield rifle issued to the Army but the cost of the Whitworth was too costly. Nevertheless, the rifle made its way across the islands to the continent.

“My Uncle Ernie will not leave home without it. He took off many intruders during the battles.” Jones’ uncle was a rancher in the continent who fought off the others from encroaching into his land. Jones stepped up on the carriage and then rode the carriage off to the nearby hill. It was then the woods were raked by the Lewis gun mounted on the Eagle’s flying contraption. The gunner could not make out the carriage hidden beneath the canopies of the leaves but he was firing blind to scare the horses. Jones did not stop the horses but kept on whipping them to stay at the fast paces. Once he reached close to the peak, he held back the reins. He then took up the rifle and aimed it at the circling flying contraption.

“I disliked the eagles. They took my Maedy (it’s Mother in Welsh) chickens.” Jones fired the rifle at the pilot of the first eagle he sighted. His shot blew half the pilot’s face at four hundred yards and then he aimed for the second eagle that was still unaware of the other pilot. His fright on seeing the other flying contraption diving down in a steep decline made him shudder with fear but it was only seconds before the second shot took off his heart to vitalise the soul.

“Bloody good shot, Jones.” Sergeant Major complimented the other. “But we best get the battle going on my side too.”

The Sergeant Major had the Lewis gun to slow the other horsemen from approaching them. Sure enough at that moment, Jones had whipped the horses on the carriage to move on. He was directing the horse up to the peak and then he pulled up the reins.

“Surely you do not want to do that…” The words of the Sergeant Major were taken off his mouth when the carriage was sent speeding down between the trees towards the road at the bottom of the hill. It was the nature of Jones to do the unexpected. The Sergeant Major held on tight to the carriage top with his face drawn tight with fright at the speeding descent. It was grim when it comes to shaping boys into real man but here it was back to the reckless living of boys when they chanced anything to do it once. Or twice in the case of Jones.

Both men on the carriage top ducked down to avoid the hanging branches and God knows what else that were lurking there. Or maybe a couple of fornicating pheasants with an unpleasing outing. At that speed, the overhanging leaves from the branches could cut into the exposed flesh like paper onto the skin. When they were to reach the road, Jones had the horses steered to the right and then they were running parallel with the road. The pull on the reins almost cause the man to lose his arms but he held on hard. The Sergeant Major was almost thrown of the carriage but managed to secure a hold with part of his right legs hanging over the side.

“Could….you…..reconsider the speed….please?” The Sergeant Major had to swallow his pride then to ask but the Corporal expression was that a speed fiend. Eventually they reached the intersecting point and then continued with the race along it towards the airfield.

“Did you check on this Lordship?” The Sergeant Major asked of Jones by changing the subject. The later shook his head while his focus was on matching the Sunday race records.

“I dinna think so. Guess we will leave it till we stop. It won’t matter now anyway.” The Sergeant Major joined the other at the front. “Do you happen to know which horse is racing on Sunday?”