Miss Whittier Makes a List (15 page)

As she watched Lieutenant
Futtrell
’
s
antics, he picked up the speaking trumpet.
“
Come down right now, before you
hurt
yourself,
”
he shouted to her.

It sounded like excellent advice. Hannah gulped and tried to move her feet. They would not budge, no matter how hard her mind willed it. She clung tighter to the rigging and prayed for rescue. As she clutched the rope, someone darted for the gangway and tumbled below.

In a few minutes
, Captain Spark hurried on deck,
st
uffing his shirt into his pants,
and then running his hands through his curly hair, anxious eyes on the mast. Hannah closed her eyes.
“
Oh
,
heavens
,
not him!
”
she whispered. He had been up for the early watch and had retired for a nap. She tried to move her feet again, but they were anchored like glue to the ropes. She dared herself to look down again, to see Captain Spark climbing steadily toward her.
“
Hannah Whittier, thee is an idiot,
”
she said out loud.

Quicker
than
she would have credited, Spark climbed the rigging. He kept
coming, as though to travel right over the top of her, and
st
opped only when he was standing on the same ropes, his body shielding hers from a f
al
l
.
He as breathing heavily, and his breath ruffled the hair on her neck. She waited for the ax to fall.

He said nothing at first, only wrapped
one
ar
m through the rigging, gathered her
hair
back into a manageable handful and retied the string at her neck.
“
It helps to see what you
’
re doing, Miss Whittier, if you have fancies of climbing the rigging.
”

“
I am so sorry,
”
she managed to gasp out through tightly clenched teeth.
“
I had no idea I would be so scared.
”

He didn
’
t move, but rested his chest against her back until she relaxed a little.
“
You can
’
t fall with me here,
”
he said finally.
“
Just loop your
ar
m through the rigging and listen to me. Do it now.
”

She forced herself to do as he said, afraid to look at him. She shivered and clenched her jaw tight to keep her teeth from chattering.

When he spoke, his tone was conversational, and she was grateful right down to her toes.
“
As I
see
it, we have three choices
,
Miss Whittier. I can have my men rig a block and
tackle
and we can lower you down, but that would b
e quite humiliating,
don
’
t you agree?
”

She nodded, still shivering. He took her by the shoulder and gave her a little shake, then rested his hand besi
de her neck. His fingers were war
m.

“
I could also
turn
you around righ
t now, and you could put your arm
s about my neck and your legs around my waist, and I could carry you
down
. But you will doubtless agree that such a maneuver lacks in dignity for both of us. You
’
re a bit of a scamp,
but I do have a position to maintain on the
Dissuade,
my dear Miss Whittier.
”

He was silent a moment more. Hannah cleared her throat, wondering if she could make her voice work any better than her legs.
“
The
third
way, sir?
”

“
I go b
ack down to the deck by myself, and you follow
m
e.
”

“
But ... suppose I fall?
”
she
whispered, looking at him at last.

His face was so close to hers that she could see interesting black specks in his pale eyes.
“
You won
’
t fall, Miss Whittier. I believe you are
made of much sterner stuff than that. Anyone who survives two days on a grating is not going to succumb
so easily. By
God
,
I did not realize it before, but your eyes are more yellow than brown. I had a
cat like that once. Named her
Lady Amber.
”

She giggled in spi
t
e of herself, and relaxed her death
’
s h
old on the rigging.

He took his hand off her
neck
.
“
Much better, Miss Whittier. Bear this in mind, my dear
. When you get to the bottom on your own, I
’
m going to send you right back up and then down again, and I
’
ll
probably have my watch ou
t
timing you. Which is it to be?
”

She raised her chin and looked him squarely in the eyes.
“
I ... I will come down by myself, sir.
”

“
An excellent choice, Lady Amber.
”
He smiled at her then,
the wrinkles deepening around his eyes. He sniffed the air around her ear.
“
What is that wonderful odor, Miss
Whittier
? I can
’
t help noticing it at such close quarters.
”

She blushed.
“
My lavender water sank with the
Molly Claridge,
sir, but Coo
kie
had some extract of vanilla that I am sure he is not missing.
”

He threw back his head and laughed.
“
Not only are you a rascal, but you are a sneaky one, at that. I like it, Miss Whi
tt
ier. I can probably locate another bottle in my personal stores, if Cookie cuts up sti
f
f. Se
e
you on deck, lively now.
”

Without another word,
he was gone, scrambling down the riggings, a veteran of twenty years at sea. Her hands tightened as the ropes shook during his descent but she did not clutch them with the
prospect
of never letting go. She
to
o
k a deep breath and looked across the yard to the foremast where thre
e sailors s
to
od,
carelessly b
al
anced on the foot ropes, ready to trim
sail
. There was no ridicule on their faces as they watched her, and she realized that at one time they had all been where she was now. As she watched, one of the men blew her a kiss then clasped both hands over his head in a triumphal gesture.

She nodded to him and started down the rigging, slowly at first, groping for each new foothold, then more confidently, as each rope was right where it should have been. By the time she reached the deck, she was breathing regularly again.

The men in the sails cheered, and Hannah grinned. Captain Spark pulled out his watch and snapped it open.
“
Let
’
s see how fas
t you can do it again, Miss Whitt
ier.
”

Hannah took another deep breath and climbed back into the rigging. Her eyes on the pennant snapping out straight from the to
pgallant
,
she clambered up the
rope, touched the lookout, and hurried down, reaching the deck again to cheers from all hands.

Captain Spark shut his watch.
“
Pretty good. It can be better, Miss Whi
tt
ier, but we will let you rest on your laurels for now.
”
He turned for the gangway.
“
And nowif you will excuse me, I will return to my cot. Miss Whi
tt
ier, do s
ta
y out of trouble for at least another hour, if you can.
”

Only minutes ago, she would have taken offense at his tone. Now, she merely smiled.
“
Aye, sir. I promise.
”

“
Sir, perhaps we could include her in the rum ration today?
”
Mr. Futtrell asked, his eyes lively with good humor.

The captain turned around, his eyes frosty again.
“
That is the last thing I would recommend for Miss Whittier! Mr. Futtrell, you know rum is for heroes. We will wait on that for this misguided bit of shark chum.
”

Futtrell chuckled and returned to his duty on the
quarterdeck
, and Hannah went back to the
aft
hatch and the pile of old rope that awaited her. Shark chum, indeed, she thought as she picked out the strands. You would not say that if
I
were tall and willowy, with a beautiful face. She sighed and flopped back on the hatch, surrendering to the sun. And why, Hannah
Whittier
, shouldst anything like that matter to thee?

It was foolish, she decided, as she sat up and applied herself more diligently to the oakum. Besides all this, he is so old.

“
Beg pardon, miss?
”

She looked up to see Trist standing before her, and hoped she had not been talking out loud.
“
I am almost done with this batch,
”
she said, indicating the oakum.