Stormy Seas: Part 16

    “You are having a nice day Miss Vivian?” Ameya asked.
    Eldon had gone to help with the sails and left me alone in my cabin with socks and shirts to mend. I had neglected to lock the door.
    “Yes, thank you,” I replied politely. I went back to sewing, hoping that he would go away.
    “You and Mr. Elderton are good friends now, yes?” he asked. He was standing just inside the doorway or I would have gotten up and closed it on him.
    “Yes, I like to think we are,” I said truthfully. I couldn't help smiling as I thought about him.
    “Ah, you are lovers then?”
    What! I nearly screamed.
    “Ameya!” Someone else called.
    “Yes?”
    Michael stuck his head in the doorway. “Miss Winters?” he asked.
    “Yes?” I asked.
    “Another ship has been spotted, I wondered if you wanted to see it.”
    “That sounds lovely!” I left the mending on my bunk and gladly followed after him.
    “We don't often pass other ships out here,” Michael explained. “I thought you would like to see.”
    It was clear that Michael was fond of me. However, since I was the only female on board I was not certain if I should be flattered. Besides, I was rather fond of Eldon. He might not be the daring ship's captain I had envisioned before running away, but I realized that I liked him because he was real.
    We came up on deck and I started searching the rigging for him. I was surprised at how low the sun was on the horizon. The day had practically flown past.
    “It's on the port side,” Michael said.
    I turned around and tried to remember which way was which. He pointed out the right way and we both leaned against the railing.
    “Where is it?” I asked.
    “Over there somewhere,” he pointed toward the lowering sun. “They spotted it earlier heading toward us.”
    I was squinting and shading my eyes but I couldn't be sure that I was seeing anything.
    “We'll probably come closest to it sometime tomorrow morning.”
    “Do you ever wonder where the other ships are going?” I asked.
    “On their routes, same as our ship,” Michael replied.
    “But they might be going anywhere in the world, even far off places like China.” I felt like a scene from a moving picture with the wind tugging my hair and skirts as I stared off into the sunset. I hoped Eldon would see me.
    “Not many ships in the Atlantic go all the way to China.”
    He wasn't getting my point. I wasn't sure what my point was, but that was beside the point.
    “See anything?” Eldon's voice called from high above me.
    I turned and looked up. He was dangling from a rope with his bare feet on the rigging. He looked quite dashing without his jacket and hat, a bit more wild than usual.
    “Nothing,” I called up.
    He jumped away from the rigging and practically flew down to the deck.
    “Try this,” he said. He handed me a spyglass. “Try to keep it just to the left of the sun.
    I opened the spyglass and turned to look. If I could keep the sun just outside the edge of my view I could make out a column of smoke and a sail.
    “It's so far away,” I commented.
    “We're moving very quickly toward each other,” Eldon reminded me.
    “Like I said, we should pass closest to them sometime tomorrow morning,” Michael pointed out. I had completely forgotten that he was there.
    “Did you finish all the mending?” Eldon asked with a sarcastic grin.
    “I left it all for you,” I said flatly. I looked back through the spyglass at the horizon. He took it out of my hands. “Go back and finish it then,” he said. He gave me a little wave back toward my cabin. “Michael and I have more chores before supper.”
    “Right, back to work.” Michael said. “See you at supper Miss.”
    Eldon caught my arm as I was turning away and leaned toward me until our cheeks were almost touching. My heart involuntarily skipped a beat and he whispered into my ear “Lock your door.” Then he turned and clambered back up the rigging.