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published timetable put us at Penarth fifteen minutes before
Explorer
,
although Corbitty might ignore that. His nature would be to ignore it.
The
Explorer’
s call was mainly for setting down some of its passengers from the West Country, not for picking up – except stragglers who’d missed the
King Arthur
.
Or some might especially want to go on the
Explorer
,
maybe to try its speed and see if she got across the Channel quicker, even though she might leave Penarth
after
us. Dominal would not like that, and nor would the crew on
King Arthur
. He could be a nuisance and a show-off but he was our captain and we had to give him loyalty. This is how a ship works, unless there’s a mutiny.
    â€˜Some passengers had come aboard the
King Arthur
in Cardiff, including a young woman, Emily Bass, and her family and several friends. This name would become important. Remember it, Ian – Emily Bass. Our passengers could see it was a race, naturally, although it wasn’t supposed to be, and they were excited – thrilled – yelling up to Captain Dominal to get her going faster and also yelling at
Channel
Explorer
across the gap between the two ships, telling Corbitty he was beaten and should give up. Cheek. People on
Explorer
shouted back. The insults could be heard all right above the din of the paddles, same as with the
Messiah
etcetera
.
But it was harmless – no proper dislike, just a sort of holiday game to both ships’ passengers.
    â€˜Not to Corbitty and Dominal. Like gladiators. They’d be mostly gazing ahead, with no time to look at each other. They stood on the bridge of their ships, giving orders to the helmsman, one hand ready on the lever of the engine room telegraph to alter speed. There was going to be some tricky manoeuvring. Each of them thought he could handle it. Neither would doubt it of himself. Maybe each thought he could handle it better than the other. Neither would want it to go around the Bristol Channel ports that he – Dominal or Corbitty – had lost his nerve and come second out of two. This was the kind of tale that would get repeated and repeated, maybe with some trimmings, to make things even worse for the defeated one. We had a saying, Ian: “The captain’s on the bridge” – meaning everything was under control because the master had charge. If the captain on the bridge failed, though, that saying would lose its force – lose its force for the also-ran.’
    â€˜The bridge being where the wheelhouse was, and the engine telegraph and voice pipe.’
    â€˜Now, the piermaster at Penarth has a problem, hasn’t he, Ian?’
    â€˜Flags.’
    â€˜It’s his job to hoist one to show which should come in first. He has a box with the particular flags for each Channel paddle steamer. The
King Arthur
’s
is silver coloured, like the funnels of the fleet, with a white lighthouse on it sending out golden beams. The
Explorer
’s is dark blue around the edges.’
    â€˜And a map of the world that showed the five oceans in red, to remind everyone
Explorer
belonged to the Ocean Quest fleet.’
    â€˜Not easy for the piermaster, Ian. Oh, the rules would say he’s in charge and can hoist whichever flag he wants. But he would be unsure which ship was ahead of the other – just these two prows bustling on towards him, carving their way towards him, rushing towards him, and about level pegging. He knew the timetable said the
King Arthur
should precede
Explorer
and take all the passengers who wanted to board the Masthead
ship. But he also knew about Corbitty and the sort he could be once he thought someone had crossed him, such as a Penarth piermaster. Corbitty was a
ship’s
master, and he would consider himself very much more important than master of a pier, because piers just stood there – they didn’t have to be navigated through the waves and tides faster than rivals. Ships’ masters