"Cap'n?"
The cabin boy tugged nervously on his master's elbow.
"Yes, lad?" he answered, only granting half an ear to his most junior crewman's concern.
"Sir…" a nervous swallow of what sounded like a particularly large lump stuck in the boy's throat. "Sir, there's a you lady over there…"
The strained, conspiratorial tone might have better conveyed a warning of a thousand starving cannibals lurking within the shop across the wharf. Because of this, Captain David Jones looked up from the crated provisions he was inspecting and turned to look in the direction indicated. There was indeed a gaggle of young women- they always seemed to travel in flocks- gaily decked in lace and petals, fluttering and cooing over the wares in a nearby shop window.
"Yes, lad. Several." Jeshua had been young when he signed on, near the end of his fifteenth year of life, god bless him. Although it had been a good six years since that day, the cabin boy hadn't grown an inch and seemed to retain much of the youthful innocence of an only son much loved and carefully guarded. Although familiar with the facts of life- as far as cats and dogs and livestock were concerned- the curious corner which abruptly caused young men to take a second look at the opposite sex when they passed by, had yet to be turned. To Jeshua, females were yet mothers and sisters and creatures for which you lifted your hat and held open the door; nothing more than that. The boy had no idea he was rather handsome in his own home spun way, and that there might be reason to giggle and flutter at a stocky ship's boy with russet red hair and freckles on his nose.
"Yes, Sir," Jeshua agreed, the tension in his voice making his words lumpy. Swallowing a second time to prevent the embarrassing leap from baritone to soprano, he continued to press his concern. "But the one there…"
"Yes, what of her?"
"I think…" another Herculean swallow, "I think she's lookin' at me, Sir!"
This caught the captain's attention in full. Looking, was she? Curious enough to see what had his cabin boy so unnerved, Captain Jones lifted his eyes and squinted a second time at the flock of parasols and petticoats to see what all the fuss was about. There wasn't anything terribly remarkable about any of the young women; perhaps a half dozen of them, all appeared to be of marriageable age; between fourteen and eighteen. One in particular, near the rear of the group with inky curls and wearing a bright blue gown, was not gazing through the window at the dainty gloves and bonnets there displayed. Instead she was looking back over one shoulder, casting coy glances from beneath her flower-laden bonnet and paper parasol. Evidently she was a brassy little thing, for when she noticed the red-bearded captain with but one arm and one leg to his name, she gave a courteous nod and bent her knees briefly before fluttering long black lashes at the freckled young man with an armload of wares standing next to him. The captain bit his lip in attempts to repress a smile.
"What should I do, Sir!" Jeshua asked breathlessly, having gone quite pale at the flying of colors from across the square.
"Look back!" Captain Jones answered, clapping his young assistant heartily on the back, causing the boy to stumble a pace or so forward.
"Er, yessir…" Jeshua coughed uncertainly, once he'd gotten his breath back. The little beauty in blue batted her lashes a second time and waved a lace frilled handkerchief at him. Shifting his bundle of goods to one arm, Jeshua hesitantly nodded and touched his hat brim at his Captain's ungentle nudge of encouragement. Her cherry lips spread into a smile as she turned to her compatriots and relayed the message. They all erupted into squeals and giggles that could have been heard blocks away. Sweat had begun slipping down the side of Jeshua's reddened face, and not because of the heat.
"What shall I do, Sir?" he quavered.
Captain Jones did his very best not to roll his eyes. "Good Lord, lad! She's a woman, not a barracuda!" Although with some specimens, there was an admitted resemblance. "Are you telling me you're too lily-livered to say 'how d'ye do' to a female?"
"Er…" was Jeshua's uncomfortable reply.
"Ye've got sisters, haven't ye?"
"Yessir…"
"And a mother, of course?"
"Well, yes…"
"Then why the devil are ye so confounded flustered?"
Jeshua paused to consider this.
"Take this lot," Captain Jones gestured to the present mound of parcels in Jeshua's arms, "down to the hold and then spruce yourself up a bit. Once you've finished, you are going to go over to that young lady and introduce yourself properly."
"I am, Sir?" Jeshua stammered, having gone quite pale beneath his freckles.
"Yes, by George, you are!"
"Is…is that an order, Sir?"
"Yes, that's an order!" Captain Jones bellowed. "Now get going or you'll be hearing about it later! If you're young enough to be scared of a wee little thing like her, you're young enough to have your ears boxed! Now get!"
Jeshua got.