Passion's Tide (5 page)

“Please, ca
ll me Amber.”

“Amber, then
.
Well, the crew and I are all thrilled that you will be joining us on our journey
.
I am Captain Henry Watson, at your service
.
”

“Watch out!” She jumped to the side as two burly men carried her second trunk past them and onto the ship, the poor driver lugging the third one behind him
.
Breathless, he reached them, letting it fall heavily.

“Is there anything else you need, Miss Townsend
?” he asked her, panting between word
s
and inching backwards towards freedom.

“No, that will be all, thank you
.
I’m sure the Captain can carry my last trunk for me,” she said, turning towards him.

He cleared his throat
.
“But of course I can, Miss Town…Amber
.
If you would like to go ahead of me, I think we’ll be ready to set sail within the hour.” With a slight curtsy she turned and headed up the gangplank, aware that his eyes were following her
.

“How are you faring, Captain Watson?” she asked as she glanced over her shoulder
.
He tried to smile at her, but his teeth were clenched and the result was a half grimace, half grin that made Amber snicker behind her hand.

“Light as a feather!”
h
e wheezed, reaching the top of the ramp
.
He
struggled to rest it squarely on the deck, a process that had him on his knees and leaning over, ba
lancing the trunk with his other hand
.
He pulled himself to his feet and wiped his hands on his breeches
.
“If I may say, those must be some heavy dresses, Miss
Townsend.”

“Those aren’t dresses, Captain. Those are my books.”

He looked down at the trunk he had just wrestled to the ground, then back at her
.
“Books?”

“Yes, books
.
You know, Shakespeare, Plato, Homer, Aristotle? You can read, can’t you Captain?”

“Of course I can, but—” he stopped as he noticed her teasing smile
.
“I think you are going to be a much needed breath of fresh air aboard this ship, Miss Townsend
.
How about I show you to your quarters?”

She agreed, and he began looking around for a new victim to carry the trunks
.

All of a sudden, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she spun around
.
A tall
, skinny man with stringy brown hair stood with his legs planted and his arms crossed on his chest, glaring at her
.
His eyes were so dark they almost looked black, and they bore into hers with surprising animosity
.
She jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder, comfort
ed
only slightly as she realized it was just the Captain
.
He followed her gaze
.

“Ah, I see you’ve noticed my first mate, Lyle
.
His personality leaves something to be desired, but the men work harder under him than any other officer I’ve ever seen.” Amber didn’t doubt it, wincing as the Captain called out to the hostile looking man
.
“Lyle, don’t just stand there gaping. Either come say hello to Miss Townsend or make yourself useful.”

Lyle
blinked, as though taken off guard by the command, then pushed a strand of hair from his eyes and smiled, a cruel leer that made Amber want to bathe herself thoroughly, as if cleaning her skin would rid the feeling of being watched by such a malicious man
.
Instead, she repressed a shudder as he walked away and allowed the Captain to take her arm and lead her towards the stern of the ship
.
He stopped and opened a hatch on the floor, then turned and descended the narrow stairs
.
Amber climbed down after him, ignoring the hand that he offered, and looked around
.

“To your left is the doorway that leads to the orlop, which is where the men sleep
and eat
.
If you go down a second flight you’ll find yourself in the hold, where we store everything.”

“Where will you be sleeping?”

“I will be sleeping in Lyle’s quarters for this voyage
.
Can’t say he’s too happy to be displaced, either.
But here is where you will be staying,” he said, reaching past her to open a door
.
“This is my cabin, and I, uh, hope you find it comfortable
.
I know it’s not much,” he added, watching her face as she surveyed the small room, empty except for a small wooden bed, attached to the wall in one corner and single dresser
.
“But it’s cozy, and should provide you with some privacy
.
I’ve moved most of my things out, so that you may have room to spread out, if you so wish.” As if on cue,
four
of his men bustled past them and deposited her trunks on the floor with a loud thud, making Amber wince
.

She nodded to them as they left, noticing that
none
of them would meet her eyes
.
She turned to the Captain
.
“Have I done something wrong?”

“Absolutely not, my dear,” he said with unease
.
“It’s just that some of the crew are a bit superstitious
.
You see, it’s considered bad luck to have a woman on a ship.”

Amber laughed
.
“Well, please assure your men that they won’t even know I’m here
.
I have my books, and I hardly need someone to entertain me, so I think it’s safe to say I will keep out of your men’s way.”

He scratched his chin and gave her a smile
.
“I think you will be just fine
.
But if anyone bothers you, you just let me know and I will address the matter personally.”

“Thank you, Captain, though I’m positive there won’t be any problems.”

“I’m certain you’re right. We should be ready to set sail within fort
y minutes, would you like me to send someone down to get you?”

“I can find my way, but thank you.” He nodded at her and left, closing the door behind him
.
Amber listened to his footsteps ascending the stairs, and then pulled her lightest trunk over to the high windows
.

Picking up her skirts she stepped onto it, standing on the balls of her feet to see the bustle of activity on the dock
.
There she stayed for a long time, until a rugged sailor, perched on rickety scaffolding, dropped down to wash the windows
.
With a shriek she stepped back and almost
fell
, regaining her balance just in time
.
The sailor looked just as surprised
.
With flushed cheeks he cleaned the glass with record speed, and then was gone
.

Amber
decided to take a look around outside, and after rummaging in a trunk for a straw hat and a shawl, she opened the door and climbed the steps, emerging on a busy deck
.

Hearing her approach, the Captain turned in her direction
.
“Ah, just in time, Miss Towns—Amber
.
Did you get settled in?”

Amber glanced at the sailor who had seen her through the window, who now blushed furiously and looked away. “Yes, thank you
.
Are we departing soon?”

“Aye, right now
.
If you will just excuse me…” With a nod, he moved away from her and
shouted
to his men to raise anchor and set sail
.
Careful not to get in anyone’s way, she strolled towards the railing to watch the harbor slip away into the distance, taking with it the life she had grown accustomed to and bringing her closer to a new one
.

Soon, the flurry of activity quieted down, as the men settled into their appointed tasks
.
Most of them ignored her as they climbed up and down the rigging or scrubbed the decks, and she did her part to ignore them too
.

It wasn’t hard, considering the circumstances
.
At long last she was back on a ship, plowing through the blue waters of the Atlantic, the salty spray cool on her face, the rhythmic lapping of the waves against the hull soothing her stressed body
.
She untied the ribbon around her throat and pulled the hat from her head, then yanked the pins from her hair one by one until it fell about her shoulders and curled around her neck, whipping about in the wind
.
For the first time since her mother’s death she felt at ease.

She had no desire to go back inside
;
instead she retrieved a book from her cabin and settled on the main deck to read, leaning against a pile of rope with her skirts spread around her
.
The shoreline had long disappeared from sight when a loud cough caused her to look up, shielding her eyes
.
Standing above her was a tall, burly seaman, obviously uncomfortable.

“I’ma be needing that rope there, missus,” he told her, careful not to look her in the eye as he spoke
.
With an apology she leapt to her feet, surrendering her backrest
.
The sun was well overhead by now, and she leaned over the railing with her arms crossed, clutching her book against her chest
.
She took a deep breath, letting the salty air wash over her, when she felt again as if she were being watched.

She dropped her book, and as she bent down to pick it up she covertly looked around
.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lyle, the wind
flapping
at his greasy hair as he scowled at her
.
She turned back to the ocean and ignored him, hoping
he would go away
.
The minutes dragged on before she felt him turn his attention to something else.

“Matthew you incompetent fool! C
an’t you do anything right?” She winced
.
Lyle’s voice was oily and cruel, and she wrapped her shawl more tightly about herself to ward off the sudden chill
.
She felt bad for Matthew, whoever he was
.
She was debating going inside to escape the discomfort she felt around the first mate when she noticed something floating in the water
.

At first she thought it was just a piece of drift
wood bobbing on the waves, but as it drew closer she realized it was a few planks of wood, probably from the side of a ship, crudely fastened together
.
And sprawled on top of it was the unmoving body of a boy
.

“Captain, come quickly!”
s
he cried, straini
ng to see if the person was alive.

“Miss Amber? What seems to be the—” She cut him off by pointing to the raft
.
“Good Lord, man overboard
!
Quickly men, haul him up!”

The sailors jumped to obey and in minutes had the small boy on the deck, sputtering and coughing water as they pushed on his stomach
.
Captain Watson took the wool blanket a sailor offered him and dropped it about the boy’s shoulders as he struggled to sit up
.

“Can you tell me your name, lad?”

“Johnny, sir,” he replied, looking about him
.
His eyes lit upon Amber and widened, his jaw dropping in surprise
.
“S’cuse me, Cap’n, but don’t you know its awful bad luck to have a woman on board a ship?”

He
ignore
d
the comment
.
“Johnny, is it? Can you tell me how you got to be floating on a raft in the Atlantic
Ocean
?”

“Well sir, I was serving as the cabin boy on the merchant ship
Seabreeze
, when we was attacked by pirates!” This brought a gasp from the crew
.
The boy continued, encouraged by their responses
.
“Aye, pirates. They took my Cap’n aside and demanded to know where he had stored all the goods, and when he refused to tell them, they split him open, spilling his guts all over the deck!” He waved his hands about, excited to have captured the attention of such a large audience
.
“Then they slaughtered the crew, took everything of value, and burned the ship. I escaped only because they didn’t notice me, and managed to stay afloat on a piece of the wreckage.”