Seacrets (4 page)

"Well I'll see to it
ya get ya fair share o’ hard labor aboard my vessel. First thing each morn, upon risin’, you'll empty the chamber pots, put up a pot of water to heat, to be ready for the days shave and bath. Short ones in the morn, I like ta save my soaks in the tub for at night, before bed. Helps ta relax ya after a hard day of laborin'.”Daniel continued without taking a breath.“Second, you'll fetch my breakfast, as well as ya own.

You'll be expected ta keep my quarters clean, in addition to ya other duties."

Maura's eyes widened.
Other duties? Wasn't that enough?
She thought.

Daniel
took notice of her reaction, this time, and with a half grin continued with his list of duties."Other duties include making sure my weapons are kept clean and accessible and ready to do battle should we be attacked by enemy ships lookin’ ta steal my cargo. You will be expected to be at my side, to have my pistols loaded and at the ready. Each night you'll go to the galley and fetch my supp, as well as ya own, of course. After we supp, you'll bring in the great copper tub, from the next cabin, and have my bath drawn. You will heat the kettles on the woodstove and fill the tub. My clothes, ya will lay out daily. Ya can take that bunk, over by the woodstove. Do I make my self clear, boy?"

Although she thought his voice stern,
she could see a telling glint in his eyes that told her he was a kind and fair man. Unwavering, not daring to look into his eyes, Maura gave a silent shake of her head in the affirmative.

"Blast it boy! Have ya no tongue in ya
head? How did it come ta be ya wanted ta sail aboard a trade ship, after all?"

After a few thoughtful moments
, Maura spoke. She was shaking at the onset but then calmed as she became more comfortable with her lie. "Well ya see, C-cap'n, my Fa...ther's sister, Jeannie, could no longer care for me and thought it would be good for me ta have some male influence in my young life, and that it would help me ta grow up." She caught herself, as she almost gave away her secret.

Daniel looked upon her
with suspicion. Something was amiss with this lad, he did not know what, but it would surely rear its head before too long, of that he was certain. All he knew was Jeannie had always been good to him and his men, when in port, and if he could do something to ease her burden then he would.

"The only reason I allowed ya aboard my ship ta serve me is because ya are Jeannie's kin. Jeannie had always shown me a rippin' time and treated my men well. I feel
I owe her a debt o' thanks. Otherwise, I would not have accepted ya aboard. The last cabin boy I had allowed aboard was more trouble than he was worth. Never got a blasted thing straight and then he committed the gravest of sins against me...he stole from me. I will not abide any of that, ya hear me boy? Stealin' is the worst of all sins, to my mind. So just a warnin' to ya, lest ya want ta end up on the bottom o’ the sea."

Maura
was overcome with feelings of angst, at the thought of displeasing him.

"Godsey will come for ya, soon, and show ya the lay of the ship. But for now ya can start by cleanin' up this pig sty. Eh?" Daniel turned quick on his heels and went out the cabin door.

When the door slammed, she immediately began to rethink her escape plan of running home to her father. Maura thought to herself,
Oh what a dreadful mistake this be
. Fooling him for a day or even a week, perhaps I could get away with, but for three months?

Maura looked about the cabin. She placed her hands to her hips and spoke aloud, “well I had better get started.”

Maura began by stripping the Captain's bunk. When she pulled the sheets to her body in a bunch, she could smell the scent of sandalwood and spices.
His smell
, she thought. She took in the heady fragrance and felt a little ashamed at what she was thinking. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and wrapped the sheets about her shoulders and breathed in his scent and wondered for just a slight moment what it would be like to be in his arms. Some how she knew there would be safety in those strong arms. The spell was broken immediately, when Godsey entered the room.

"Maura...Maura. Ya must be under some kind o’ spell, eh?"  Godsey interrupted her lovely daydream.

When she scrambled to unravel herself from the bed sheets, her cap had fallen off her head.

Godsey smiled and then laughed, obviously catching her dreaming about the Captain, as most women did. "You listen ta me, gel, ya keep that cap atop ya pretty little head or we'll both be losin' ours, if ya get my meanin'." Godsey touseled the top of Maura’s head with his hand.

Maura dropped the sheets and picked up her scaly and stuffed her thick black tresses
beneath the cap. A few thin strands hung down around the sides to frame her face. With her smudged nose and cheeks and those teasing strands hanging down, Godsey began to realize it would take an act of God himself to pull this off, because Maura looked as beautiful as if she were in regal garb. She was a natural beauty...soot and all.

He walked over to her, helped her stuff the rest of her hair under her cap. He felt protective of her, like a father.
"C'mon then. I've got a lot ta show ya about the ship. I'll show ya where the galley be, and where the powder stores are kept, and where to draw water. Never drink the sea water or you're sure ta be sick to ya stomach, lass.  We start every journey with enough water for most of the trip, but sometimes there's not enough so we leave barrels out on deck ta catch the rain water and we use those ta replenish our stores for the rest o’ the journey. Always make sure ya boil the water afore ya drink it." He went on and on for the longest time, as they made their whirlwind tour of the ship.

Maura tried to
listen and to remember all he had to tell her but she knew that would be impossible. Besides it was very difficult to hear Godsey over the deck hands hollering orders at each other and the crash of the waves hitting the sides of the ship. One other thing she hadn't counted on was the fierceness of the waves and how they tossed the ship about as if it were a toy. The ship was wavering to and fro and it made her start to feel sick.

Godsey caught on right quick
. "Lass, lass, Ya are goin' ta hafta get ya sea legs about ya. That's one thing for sure. You'll get used to it after a bit." He could see she was turning pale. He escorted Maura back below deck. "Try and rest if ya can, gel. You'll be up early with the gulls." He warned.

Maura shook her head and up it came. "Oh my goodness Godsey, I'm terribly ashamed. I'd better clean up." Her face was gray and ashen.

Godsey stood at the door, cap in hand, scratching his half balding pate. "Aye...I don't know what I've gotten myself inta this time." With a deep sigh he turned to go back up topside.

Unbeknownst to Maura and Godsey, two doors down where the water stores were kept, just inside the door was the Captain's mid-shipman, James Kilern. He had been hiding back away from the entry of the adjoining cabin. As soon as he heard the words "Lass, Lass" his ears perked
up and he crouched back so Godsey could not see him. He had been listening to them and decided he would keep an eye on this
so called
cabin boy. After a while he heard the Captain's cabin door slam. When he was certain Godsey was well past him, he made his way from his hiding place and went back up topside.

ξ

Chapter four

The days turned into weeks and Maur
a was amazed at just how swift she gained the ways of the maritime. Each night she fell exhausted into her bunk. Every so often she'd stop and wonder how her father was faring the harsh winter without her and if his health were worsening. She couldn't dwell on those thoughts for too long for she'd never make it through. She promised herself after she were settled, she'd write and send for him.

She marked the calendar each
day to reinforce to herself time was passing and before too long she'd be on dry land once more. The first couple of weeks were spent getting her
sea legs
, as Godsey had remarked to her.

The Captain took notice and was most kind in letting
him
get used to seafaring ways, knowing
he’d
never sailed before.

This particular Saturday afternoon had been a rainy day at sea. The men took turns topside, as did their Captain. He never asked anythi
ng of his men he would not do himself. Maura respected that about Daniel. She therefore made sure his quarters were warm and clean and his meal was hot and waiting for him when he returned to his cabin in the evenings.

While she was cleaning Daniel’s desk, as was part of her usual daily duties, his quill pen floated off of the escritoire and rested upon a dark cloth bag beneath his bunk. She
crouched down on her hands and knees and crawled halfway beneath the bunk. She could feel a large heavy wooden object. She struggled to pull its awkward shape towards her and discovered it was an intricately hand carved oak chessboard and on top lay a lush emerald green velvet satchel. Maura laced her slender fingers within the vined rope string and pulled gently until the satchel fell open.

She gave a persistent jiggle of the bag, pouring its contents into her hand. Her hazel eyes beamed with delight at the sight of the most beautiful pewter and black iron bejeweled chess pieces. She was in absolute awe of their beauty. With great effort she brought the game board and pieces to the table, next to the woodstove. She set it up as if to play.

Maura’s attention turned toward the cabin door as she was immediately put on alert by the creaking of swollen planks and heavy footfalls. Her thick lashes swept toward the portal entry as Daniel entered.

He shot her a glare look as he noticed straight away, the chessboard set up on the table. "I see you've been cleaning under my bunk." He raised a disapproving eyebrow in her direction.

He turned his back to her and began to untie the laces of his shirt. The linen garment was no longer a dense white but was opaque and transparent from the driving rains.

Maura’s breathing accelerated at the sight of him as she was experiencing envy for a mere piece of cloth as it clung to his chiseled form. She ca
ught herself and just as quick looked away as he peeled away the garment that served as his second skin. He quickly donned a dry shirt and came to stand by her at the stove.

A loud clap and the rough abrade of calloused skin briskly rubbing together caused
Maura to flinch and shrink from Daniel. This response to his nearness did not escape him.

Maura thought to speak to distract him. She nervously tried to defend what she thought was an intrusion of his private property.
"Well ya see sir, I was tidyin' the desk area and a rather strong gust of wind from the open pane blew your quill pen under the bunk and, well, I just went to retrieve it and came upon the chess set." Maura spoke so swiftly that all of her words became one muddled sentence. "Was it alright to take it from its hiding place, cap'n?" sounding a bit as though she may have done something wrong.

"Don't be stupid, boy. Of course it's alright." He shouted in frustration, throwing his hand in the air. "I couldna care less about the confounded chess set."

Maura had no clue why Daniel would have been so short with her… but Daniel did.

For the past week he had not been sleeping very well. He kept awakening to th
e same frustrating dream he’d experienced on the night before the Arabella left port. Waking, with tears in his eyes and shaking. He was also quite confused about his attentions to this
cabin boy
. A boy is a boy. Never had he been so over protective or overly generous with any male with regards to
getting used to
the ways of the sea. It would have been,
C'mon lad, pull ya self up by ya bootstraps and be done with it!
No, it was more than just being Jeannie's nephew. Of that he was certain, but could not place his finger on what was different. Another disturbing fact was he kept thinking he could smell a female about. Was he going mad? He silently questioned his sanity.
I am out to sea but a few weeks and already the omnipresence of women is thus insistent?
That usually did not occur until more than half way through a trip.
Am I becoming a buggerer of boys?
This could not be. He was certain that he still lusted after the fairer sexes, which is why he keeps any and all sensual reading materials away from himself and his men during any long journey. Daniel placed his head in his hands, rubbing his face in frustration.

Maura instinctively placed a hand upon his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, though not understanding her own motives.

Daniel straightened his back against her touch and then let fly an earpiercing shout in her direction. "What the hell do ya do that for, boy! Is it ya way ta be puttin' ya hands on every male that be within two feet o’ ya!"

Maura jumped back,
snatching her hand from his shoulder as if she had just been burned by fire. "N-no, Cap'n", she stammered.