Prison Games

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

"Institutional pound? What's that?" "About fourteen ounces, but before the prisoners get it, it gets picked off. The agents, cooks, inspectors, and boat crew help themselves first. They're lucky to get six ounces. Salt horse is a staple. It's brined beef. Then they usually get rice, plum pudding with suet, pork with peas, and the like. Of course, scurvy was a problem a while back, but they have a handle on it now. At times they are given small beer, a brewery byproduct. Ale and real beer are never allowed. Poorly filtered river water caused dysentery and typhus, but there aren't as many outbreaks now that the cause has been discovered."

"That's exaggerated," Trace quipped. "You sound like you favor the convicts over authority.

"Just stating the truth as I found it to be," Knotts said.

"What about the trip itself? How bad is it?" was Lord Wilson's next question.

"It's a hardship for sure. Hard for the captain, crew, and their families that go, but hell for the prisoners. They're chained below; don't see the light of day sometimes through the whole voyage. Sick and laying in their puke. They get bloated and suffer starvation. If the bloke next to you kicks, you hope nobody finds out until the body begins to swell and stink. That way you can have his ration of slop along with your own. It's bad. You sail from Portsmouth to the Canary Islands, where you pick up supplies and water. Then to the Cape Verde Islands. After that it's the long haul to Rio de Janeiro, then Cape Town, which is 3,300 miles itself. From there you travel 6,500 miles to Botany Bay. Once there, it's a whole different story. Surviving there in the past made the trip look like an outing on the pond, but things are better, like I said."

Throughout the afternoon the men shared what they knew. Much of it was not encouraging. The conditions weren't as bad as in the past but were far from good. There had been vast numbers of prisoners lost on the prison hulks and on the journey. Even though all the information shared by Trace was one-sided, he did give some insight to the horror faced by the poor, wretched souls.

All this tragic talk was taking its toll on Lord Wilson. Certainly he had seen the poor on the streets his whole life-the beggars, prostitutes, orphans but he never gave them any serious consideration. They were a part of the scenery, castoffs of society who were given as little notice as possible. At Christmas time he would give to the workhouses and hospitals... enough to ease his conscience for another year. Lord Wilson abruptly stood. "Gentlemen, I just realized the time. I fear I need to

end this. Thank you for coming to share your insights and knowledge." After everyone but the detective had left, Lord Wilson sat back in his chair. "Grimes, how can I allow Mrs. Murphy to go on such a terrible voyage? How would

she ever survive? I never realized the horror going on outside my door."

"How could you, sir? If something hasn't touched your life, then how would you

know of it?"

"I don't think that's any excuse. How will I ever be able to, in good conscience, allow Mrs. Murphy to walk innocently into such a horrible situation? She's going because her husband is being transported, and she's only married to him because she was forced to. It was my daughter who lied having her locked up. Tell me I'm not responsible. And yet aren't we responsible even if we don't know these people? Who is responsible for those who can't help themselves? Do you really want to live in a world where no one looks out for anybody but themselves? What hope is there then?"

Grimes was surprised by his employer's words. Wilson was a shrewd businessman, a caring family man, but not given to sentiment. For him to show such emotion meant he must have been touched deeply by what he had heard. Nonetheless, this conversation was becoming a little uncomfortable for Grimes.

"Get me a list of the prison ships and all of the prisoners' names," Lord Wilson ordered, "then find out what transports are listed to leave for Botany Bay. When you've done that, get me the names of the captains, and who they are contracted with to sail. I want to know if they are private or government contracted. I want to know everything about these men. How many times they've sailed, their past records, what their crews think of them. That's important, you know, and if they are family men. Give me the names of any agencies that help these prisoners and their families. Please do this as soon as possible. I'll write the governor of Botany Bay, letting him know that I am interested in helping the colonies over there. I'll tell him that I realize there is much to do, so I'll ask him to prioritize the needs. I need to be realistic. Perhaps there is some good that can come out of all this."

Grimes thought about the gargantuan task setting before him, but also about the money he was about to make. One thing was sure: Wilson kept him busy, and in money. He extended his hand to the older man as he got up to leave. "You've got it. I'll contact you as soon as I have any information."

After Grimes left, Lord Wilson needed to decide how much he would tell his wife. Protecting her from the truth was tricky at times, but necessary. He would have her help him plan what they could do for the prisoners. She would need something to occupy her time after Tess was married. He didn't feel any better even after making his decision to help others. He had a nagging feeling as if someone was pointing a finger at him, blaming him for all the misery in the world. He decided he would give a lot of time and money to his new cause. That would ease any guilt he may have for not acting sooner to help others. He knew it would. It had eased his guilt before...many times.