AN: Please read before continuing!
This story is not completed and warnings may be added as it progresses. Be aware of this. Additional warnings will be announced in Author's Notes.
The age of Jim Hawkins is never stated in the book. Many say book-Jim is around 14 - many movies show him a lot younger. For the purposes of this story his age is set as 12 as a sort of compromise.
This storry may contain references of - or non-graphic depictions of: Death, violence, corporal punishment, alcohol use, angst and non-specified mental issues. If you do not approve of this, do not continue reading.
Treasure Island is neither written nor set in the modern era. I try to reflect this but I am not a native English-speaker so bear with me and I'll do the best I can. ^_^ Thanks for reading this!
"I have said what I have to say and let that be the end of it."
The doctor stuffed his pipe patiently while he gave all the appearance of carefully considering the captain's words. Captain Smollett huffed either in agreement with himself or annoyance with the doctor but Livesey had no idea which. It was a small room which had been converted to the ship's surgery and though they were on either side of the table Dr Livesey could smell the combination of tobacco and salt - as well as the faint scent oriental perfume stealthily emanating from Smollett's handkerchief which at first had seemed so striking about the captain but which Livesey had become accustomed to after setting sail with the Hispaniola.
"Captain Smollett," the doctor began, carefully weighing his words. But the meaning he was about to communicate was clear enough and the captain exhaled and looked away from the doctor. Smollett stepped over to the small window which was the only source of light in the room but the oil lamps. There he stood, silently smoking and blowing the smoke out through the window, and Livesey was not so blind as to not realize that this was meant to give him room to reconsider. The doctor could not help but consider it all foolish.
"I truly do not believe there is any cause for alarm," he finally said.
"I will not tolerate laziness on any ship under my command, doctor," the captain replied, turning once again to face Livesey and casting his face partly into the shadows. "Hawkins is acting ship's boy - then he is under my command."
"Yes, well," Livesey began, pausing between attempts at lighting his pipe.
"I demand discipline," the captain interrupted. "I have already made my reservations about the crew clear..."
Now it was Livesey's turn to interrupt, though he was loathed to do so. It was not appropriate between gentlemen after all.
"You cannot mean to suggest... Captain, Hawkins is as honest a boy as ever there was!" In fact, Hawkins had proved more trustworthy already than the squire though Livesey of course did not mention that. He was however as disappointed as Smollett in Trelawney and the man's inability to keep a secret - even more so because Livesey had seen it coming before they even made for Bristol.
"I mean to suggest no such thing. You say the boy is trustworthy - I shall believe it, but I will not have a ship's boy hanging around the kitchen all day. The men I can put to work whether they like it or not. Hawkins... With discipline I could make a proper man of him yet - and fitting for one day sailing under King George's colors. It is a captain's authority."
Smollett's hard eyes shone with determination. The doctor understood his full meaning but neglected to answer for some time as he lit his pipe. The squire and himself had taken to calling upon Hawkins from time to time - and if Livesey had to admit it, he had done so often enough when Smollett's patience was spent and he began scolding the boy for chatting. Evidently it had not gone unnoticed. They owed it to Hawkins to bring him along. Trelawney and himself had both felt that. It was after all Jim Hawkins who had brought the map. It was the bravery of him and his mother which made all this possible. He felt for the boy - knowing his loss so well.
"He is but a boy," said Livesey, after a thoughtful puff. "He is recently fatherless. I attended to Mr Hawkins personally." The title of ship's boy had really been at once both a reason to bring the boy along and an opportunity for Hawkins to learn something as they travelled. To Livesey and Trelawney this was an adventure though the doctor was seemingly more aware of the dangers than his friend. To the boy it was meant to be the same. However, he could hardly expect Smollett to be sympathetic. Jim Hawkins worked hard as it was.
"It's that Silver," continued the captain as he had no comment to make upon Hawkins' personal affairs. "He hangs around him constantly."
"Silver is a good man," replied Dr Livesey. He approved of that sailor alone for he seemed to have some manners about him. He was well aware of his position and why this was being discussed with him and not Smollett's employer. His own shirts had by now taken on the scent of the sea though he was still very much an oddity in these surrounding unlike Smollett whose face seemed to have drunk up years of sea and battle for even though Livesey could not point out many more indicators than the slightly weathered face and the complexion being that of a man who spent more time outdoors than the average gentleman there was still a certain way about him. Indeed there was for every member of the crew though in a different way from the captain. They all carried a certain air of the oceans about them - one which Livesey knew he lacked himself.
"So it would seem," replied Smollett though he made no appearance of meaning what he said and Livesey, who knew perfectly well that the captain trusted not a single man in the crew but Silver, said nothing.
"I will talk to the boy," the doctor offered as the captain tapped his pipe on the windowsill.
"This is not an acceptable way of running a ship doctor. In my day it was a flogging - still is, where it matters," muttered the captain bitterly.
Livesey's lips were pressed together in the thin line as the doctor's face suddenly took on a hardness which was reserved for particular occasions and his work as a magistrate. He neglected the pipe in his hand entirely and starred at the other man.
"You wish me to be plain sir - I shall," said he and Smollett in turn returned his full attention to him. "Young Hawkins may well be inexperienced with both the ways of a ship and the captain's daughter and an inconvenience it may be, but while he is here and away from his mother - Mr Trelawney and myself are responsible for him. And as I am most acquainted with the family I consider myself the one who should have to answer to Mrs Hawkins should I not return her son to her just as he was."
He spoke sharply but not without restraint. He was as aware as any of the party which made up those not in the general crew that Smollett was displeased with having to keep the crew appeased as best he could while still running the ship effectively and it was hard for him to maintain a good standing when the squire saw fit to spoil the crew with apples and rum at any occasion for celebration. Livesey would not in spite of this condone that Smollett let Jim Hawkins suffer under his rule is place of the crew and more importantly the squire.
"I take it you mean to suggest I cannot command my own ship's boy?" replied the captain stoically.
"I mean to suggest, captain, that I do not approve of your methods and I would have expected greater patience from you for a boy in his position," doctor Livesey corrected him. "Command as you please."
"You speak of responsibility. What is a man without honor and discipline," said Smollett in a tone with had had many a sailor cowering before but it made no dent in Livesey who had faced as many horrors by land as Smollett had at sea. In the army there was a little room for laziness as Smollett described in the navy but this was neither. This was the ship Hispaniola - sailing for the promise of treasure by the will of Trelawney and under the command of captain Smollett.
"As I said, captain, I will keep an eye on Hawkins," Livesey stated. As far as he was concerned the boy was entitled to a rest one in a while whether it was talking to Silver or himself.
"Then be it on your head, doctor," Smollett replied with some agitation and civil unveiled respect for the determination of the doctor even if they were not in agreement. Livesey's features softened. He respected the captain but he would not stand for him taking out his agitation upon poor Jim Hawkins - even if Livesey sincerely doubted the captain would ever have laid a hand on the child. The doctor was keen that this journey should be a pleasant one for their cabin boy and that would surely not come from having Smollett scolding him at every turn. Never the less, it might not be entirely out of the way should Livesey pay a little closer attention to Hawkins.
The doctor nodded to the other man and watched as the captain marched out of the small surgery in what anyone would consider his usual intimidating fashion. Livesey relit his pipe which had by now ceased to burn. As he took a few puffs he ran his fingers over the small storage of jars which had been neatly stocked there in the cabinet and which might easily rival the collection in the kitchen though the purpose differed. He was unsure what to make of it. As far as he was concerned the captain was overly anxious and the squire too easy. As for Hawkins, he had little idea of his thoughts.
-O-O-O-
It was a strange sort of smell, this reddish powder. Jim inhaled again and came to regret it when he managed to inhale some of it. His eyes watered and he would have sneezed into the jar had to his companion snatched the small jar from his hand first.
"Watch it there, lad," said Silver with some amusement.
"What's that?" Asked the boy, coughing slightly.
Silver did not answer and instead grumbled a little to himself as he put some of it in the stew. Jim didn't mind either way for he had already forgotten how question and was not watching the one-legged man stirring the pot.
"There he goes again," said Jim suddenly when they heard the slightly muffled but sharp sound of Captain Smollett's voice which travelled to them from the deck both through the ceiling and the window at the same time. The boy grimaced slightly for so far the only draw back to the voyage being the captain who Jim was not fond of even if he trusted him. Never had he worked as much at the inn.
"Ah, ye'll see the capt'n's only doing what's best and all," said Silver though Jim thought he perceived a sparkle in his eyes.
Jim shuddered. Every time Long John was telling him a particularly interesting tale the captain would be there commanding them both to get to work. The captain reminded Jim more of his old schoolmaster than of seafaring adventurers as he imagined them. He didn't understand how Long John could agree with the likes of him. Indeed, Jim was certain Long John Silver could sail any ship the captain could. Of course it wasn't long until a familiar call rang out:
"Hawkins? Hawkins!"
Jim sighed. Couldn't he just stay and help Long John? Well, a rotten lot it was!
"Jim, matey," said Long John as he turned around to look at him. "How's about I tell ye the rest about Portugal later? Ye'd better hurry along - and if ye see Hands tell him from me to pay up."
He nodded enthusiastically although Jim had no intention of approaching any of the lot - and not simply because he barely knew one from the other yet but also because he was uneasy around the crew when Silver was not with him. The memories of his first encounters with seafaring men were still too fresh in his mind for Jim to completely relax in their company and they lacked the good nature of Long John all. He expressed his enthusiasm and left the the kitchen, hearing an encouraging 'good lad' from Long John.
"I suspected as much," said Smollett evenly as Jim emerged onto the deck. But the captain made no inquiries as to where Jim had been and Jim was glad of it. He did not want to get Mr Silver into trouble with the captain after all. The captain pointed to the coils of rope Jim had been tasked with moving not half an hour earlier. He had not moved more than two before a discussion between Long John and a crewman had so distracted him that before long he had abandoned the task completely. Jim scraped his soles on the deck. He knew what manner of look there was bound to be in the captain's eyes and was determined not to reveal his own position. For if he had looked up captain Smollett would have seen no remorse but only the mounting agitation Jim felt.
"Right away, sir," Jim said in as clear a voice as he could for that was the way the crew replied - whenever they were feeling the urge to be almost polite. But he could not manage as cheerful a response as Silver gave frequently.
He lifted up a coil of rope and, upon placing it over his shoulder, began carrying it to its destination. The grown men aboard the Hispaniola could easily carry two or more but Jim had to settle for one at the time. The sun was shining and the men were singing a song while they worked that sounded familiar to Jim in melody although he could barely understand anything but the chorus seeing as the the men were not all keeping the rhythm and he suspected not all of it could be the king's English.
When he had dragged away a second coil and needed only another three trips to complete the task, he paused. It was awfully warm considering their location as there was little to no wind that day and the ship floated lazily.
"I reckon it'll blow by sundown," said one of the men to the other somewhere behind him as Jim rested his arms upon the railing and looked out to sea in the hopes of spotting any marine life.
"You wouldn't know if it blew your bones away," called another who had been with the singing party.
It blew often at the inn, Jim thought. For the first time in days his mind wandered to the home he had left behind. There had been too much excitement and labor on board to allow it previously. He thought of the boy who stayed there now with his mother and the hurt he had felt upon seeing him resurfaced. The replacement was a high price to pay for becoming a real seafaring adventurer, that Jim knew. Perhaps that was what irked him about it all. His resentment of his mother's apprentice had been tempered by the knowledge that before long he would be more than an inn owner's son. He would be a real man who had seen the world and he might be rich to boot. Perhaps he could be like Mr Silver. But there had been little of that as of yet. The squire, the doctor and the captain simply discussed their concerns and Jim was left to work quite like at home but harder. It made him impatient.
"Hawkins!"
The boy spun around and sure enough captain Smollett stood across the deck with a very displeased look about him. He set his course for Jim with determined steps but did not make it halfway across the deck before another voice called out - this time from the door which lead in and below.
"Friend Jim!" Called the doctor quite cheerfully from the doorway. "Might I have a word? I am afraid I need your assistance."
Well, Jim didn't need telling twice and he was quite grateful to the doctor for sparing him the wrath of the captain so without a moment's hesitation and a small glance at captain Smollett he cried: "Yes, doctor! Right away!" And so hurried in the doctor's direction.
TBC