Stormy Seas: Part 10

  We were up on the rigging again as the sun was setting. The wind was picking up and the sails needed to be let down.

“I told him the wind would take us,” Ray grumbled loudly from above my head. “We'll be up and down all night at this rate.”

I was merely glad to be away from the endless mounds of coal that continuously needed to be shoveled into the firebox. Climbing up the rigging was much more to my liking. Up here I could admire the peach and rose colored sunset. Out on the sea where you could see from horizon to horizon sunsets were particularly beautiful. I pulled myself up on top of the yard and crawled down with my back to the sun. Facing this way I could see dark skies and stars, though the ship was still lit by the last rays of the sun.

“Ready?” Rhoden called from far below.

I tugged at the knot holding my bit of sail in place. It was stiff and didn't budge. I tugged again and realized that it had not been tied correctly. I tried to loosen it with my fingers but the rope would not move.

“Wait!” I tried to call. The wind swept my voice out to sea and I knew Rhoden would not hear.

“Cut it!” Ray shouted from beside me. “It'll rip the sail!”

I took my knife from my belt and hooked it under a loop in the knot. I tried to slit through the thick rope but only frayed some of it.

“Let her down!”

I sliced again and this time the knife went through. I watched my rope unfurl with the sail and fly away on the wind.

“Eldon!” Captain Peck shouted in his very loud angry voice.

I bit back a comment and put my knife away. I crawled back toward the rigging and could feel Captain Peck's eyes on my the entire way down.

“The rope Mr. Palmer?” he asked when I jumped back down to the deck.

“The knot was wrong,” I said defensively.

“Practice when you put a new rope up there,” he ordered. “Before supper.”

“He was on the other side of the sail when we tied it up,” Ray said. “It wasn't his knot.”

“He's still going to put it back,” Captain Peck said. He turned and strutted back to his cabin.

“We'll only have to keep cutting them down if bad knots are tied!” Ray shouted after him.

“Supper's ready!” Jack shouted. The rest of the crew began to hurry off to eat.

I scowled and headed for the hold.

“I'll save something for you,” Ray promised.

“Thanks,” I called back to him. I climbed down the ladder and began to search for extra rope. In the hold I found quite a lot of coal and barrels of oil for lamps. When I didn't see any rope I decided to try the cargo hold where I knew we had been tying back barrels earlier in the day. There might be a spare length there that I could use.

I opened the door and saw a rat scurry away into the dark recesses. We needed a cat very badly. I stamped my foot to scare any others off and then began to search. Someone had lit a lamp in the little open walkway leading through the hold. I took it with me and climbed over a crate to where I could see a good sized coil of rope.

I hefted it up onto my shoulder and turned to leave when something caught my eye. Between two crates I thought I saw something blue when the light shined on it. I looked again and still saw a bit of blue there. I set down the rope and the lantern and moved a barrel out of the way. I reached, grabbed a hold of it, and tugged.

There was a yelp and the fabric was yanked out of my hand. I stood and moved the barrels further out of the way, then picked up the lantern so that I could see into the narrow space.

The light fell on quite a lot of blue. A blue coat and wide, terrified, blue eyes.

“Please don't tell anyone I'm here!” she pleaded.

“Come out of there,” I said, surprised. “How did you get on board?”

“I snuck in last night,” she said. “Please don't take me back!”

I took her by the arm and pulled her out. She was well dressed and had her blonde hair up in a neat bun with a silver comb. “Why did you sneak on this ship?” I asked.

She looked ashamed. “It was the only ship I knew.”

“You heard of the Lethargy?”

“I saw the name on the back of your coat,” she admitted. “When that policeman was so rude to you. Please understand, I had to get away and I wasn't thinking. I know I should have taken a ferry,” she went on in one breath.

I could only picture what could have happened if someone like Victor had found her down here. I didn't even trust that she would be safe if Ray found her.

“Will you hide me?” she asked desperately. Her blue eyes pleaded with me.

“No.” I began to drag her out into the open.

“Let go!” she whispered. She tried to shake her arm free. I set down the lamp and prepared to grab her as she slipped out of her coat. When I looked again I saw that it was fastened on quite tightly by her corset. I took her other arm and pulled her out into the walkway. She continued to struggle and dropped the bag she had been holding.

“Is there any way I can convince you to help me?”

I had to twist one arm behind her back and sort of shove her along in front of me. I opened the door near the back of the cargo hold that opened to the nicer part of the ship by the captain's quarters. We had to pass very close to the galley where I could hear the rest of the crew eating.

“Please! I'll be sent back!” she whispered.

“Finished Eldon?” Ray called when he heard our footsteps.

“Where's Captain Peck?” I called.

“It'll do no good to tell him you didn't tie it,” Ray said. He came out of the galley as he spoke and his jaw dropped. “What's this?” he asked.

“A stowaway,” I said.

“Prettiest stowaway I've ever seen,” Ray commented.

The doorway was crowded in seconds. The girl hung her head and silently let me lead her up to the deck. I could hear the rest of the crew following us and at least one of them whistled.

“Captain,” I called. He was standing near the mast, looking up at the rope I had cut.

“We've got a stowaway!” someone behind me shouted. Some of them began to crawl up the rigging to get a better look.

Captain Peck got a very serious look on his face. His mustache turned to the side as we came closer. “A stowaway?”

I could feel the girl shaking with fear.

“Your name miss?” Captain Peck asked.

“Vivian Winters,” she said.

“Why are you on my ship?”

She paused for a moment and looked down at the deck. “I'm trying to run away.”

“Can we keep her Cap'n?” a voice shouted from the crowd of crew members. The rest laughed but a look from Captain Peck silenced them all.

“We have our policies about stowaways on this ship,” Captain Peck said. “Toss her over Mr. Palmer.”

I could not believe it. “Over sir?” I asked.

I could hear murmuring and other chatter from the crew.

“Over,” he repeated. “Into the briny deep, overboard. Shall I have someone fetch a plank for you?”

“She'll drown,” I said.

“We can't have her on board, it's bad luck,” he said. “Supper will only be available for the next hour men,” he called back at the crew. They began to disperse.

“Worse luck if you're all hanged for murder!” the girl slung back at Captain Peck. She was still shaking. Captain Peck took a step toward her and she took one back until her shoulder was against my chest.

“Captain, it's barbaric,” I said.

“Neither of you has ever heard a joke before, have you?” he asked us. “Take Miss Winters below and lock her in one of the empty cabins.” He tossed me his ring of keys.

“Aye sir,” I said. I turned and led the girl away. The crew watched curiously as we passed the galley. I shut the door to the hold behind us as I led her through. When we were there I noticed that she was still shaking.

“The Captain has a very strange sense of humor,” I said. “He wouldn't really do something like that.” I hoped.

She sobbed and I realized that she had been crying. I loosened my grip on her arm in case I had been hurting her and reached into my pocket for my handkerchief. Before I could get it out she had wrenched her arm out of my hand and bolted for the other door.

“Hey!” I ran after her. I reached and looped my fingers in the lacing on the back of her corset. Using that as a grip I pulled her back and caught her around the waist. She was still crying and struggling.

“Let me go!” she sobbed.
I thought about it for a moment and then let her go. She ran a few steps and then dropped to her knees before she reached the door. I knelt beside her and held out my handkerchief.

“I should have stayed with Aunt,” she wept. I brushed the cloth against her fingers. She noticed it then and turned her face away as she wiped her eyes.

I took her hand and helped her to her feet. “You'll have to tell me about it,” I said. It seemed like the best thing to say to her.

She nodded and I led her gently the rest of the way to the crew cabins. She looked inside when I opened the door.

“There's bedding in one of those.” I pointed to the cupboards and shelves in the wall.

She went in and sat down on the bare mattress of the bunk. “Thank you,” she said politely.

“I'm Eldon,” I introduced. “Eldon Palmer.”

“Vivian Winters,” she said. She sounded like she might cry again.

I turned away to leave her to her tears. As I locked the door I wondered how she had managed to hide as long as she did with all of us running over every inch of the ship. I hurried back toward the galley to fetch supper for us both. As I opened the door to the cargo hold I saw the coil of rope and remembered my task. I sighed, annoyed that I couldn't have supper first, and hurried back to the deck.