The one good thing about the Little James was that it was a good place to place All Hid; with all its nooks and crannies a small child could find a bully hiding spot. Also, there were few chores to do when trapped on a ship, Grace and the other children enjoyed every minute of their playtime, fully knowing that once they reached land again there would be little time for play as the day would be filled with chores.
***
Grace skipped over to a row of barrels while William Hilton counted. She peered into each barrel until she found and empty one to climb into. Along the way she found another child, six year-old Sarah Morton, hiding in a barrel. Sarah brought a finger up to her lips and hushed "ssshhhhh" at Grace.
Sighing in frustration over the loss of a grand hiding spot, Grace ran off to the bunks to find a nice crawl space. Eventually she found a dusty corner and pulled a crate over to hide her whereabouts—just in time! She heard William yell 'Found!' and his catch mutter he would rather play gliffes instead. Grace and the Cooke girls had become rather good at gliffes in their time onboard. Grace's brother, Edmond, also taught them a word game he made up where he would give them a word and they must name all the words that mean the same thing; Mother found it vulgar when they listed all the words for spew and told Edmond that he should censor what he said in front of 'little mistresses.'
But life on a ship was not all fun and games. For weeks the Little James, rolled across the Atlantic with fifty men, women, and children sharing the cramped space. Many were sick, and the air grew foul, Grace despised the smell. She could not wait to breath fresh air again, to be able to go outside and breathe in the summer air without getting salt water mist all over her face. But now all she could do was wait; wait and search for the first signs of land.
***
"What do you think the new world will be like?" little Sarah Morton asked quietly as she played with her poppet on the floor.
"Maybe we will see Indians!" Samuel Jenney exclaimed taking his sister's doll and placing a wood splinter atop its head to look like a feathered headdress and made the doll circle Sarah's.
Snatching her doll back from her brother, Sarah Jenney assured the others that the savages must be tame, for their parents would not take them into harm's way.
"Our parents do not know what to expect," John Morton said quietly, overhearing the conversation as he passed. He picked up his sister and sat down with her in his lap, joining the group. "Letters are slow, our parents are traveling on a hope, a hope that our new lives will be better and this new world will be filled with more opportunities and possibilities than the old."
"I liked the old one just find," Sarah snuggled into her brother's chest and he wrapped his arms around her, "I know poppet, but just think of all the adventures we will have!"
"We can meet the savages!" Samuel said with excitement.
"And run in open fields of flowers!" Grace said with a smile.
"And go on grand expeditions!" Sarah Jenney said with a glow as she raised her arms in emphasis.
"Oh do not be silly," Nathaniel Morton stopped her, "Girls do not have adventures."
"They can too!" She exclaimed.
"No, they stay home where it is safe. Men have adventures."
"This is the new world; maybe girls have adventures here too." Grace said softly, placing her hand lightly on Nathaniel's shoulders. "Just being on this ship is an adventure."
"Life in America is going to be a big adventure," John concluded.