Thanks Meryn for reviewing! I'm glad you like my choice of actors for the fic and that you think I write Norrington well. He's really fun to write as is the character of Hannah and I'm having a great time with this story. I know this chapter is a little on the short side as well but I promise the next one will be longer!
CHAPTER 4
AVOIDING DISCOVERY
Hannah made her way to the side of the ship and found a convenient rope dangling over the side. She grabbed hold of it, made a leap from the dock, and clung to the rope like a monkey clinging to a vine. Good thing she wasn't wearing anything nice she thought as she clung to the side of the sea-sprayed vessel. Seaweed was attaching itself to her dress as she inched upwards. Not that she really owned anything nice or expensive. Her father never spoiled her with any such gift. He was much more interested in blowing their earnings at the local tavern, boozing it up. She finally reached the ledge of the ship and peered over. Empty. Excellent. Everyone must still be gathering goods in town.
Suddenly a noise sparked her attention and she heard a man's voice saying, "Let me go onboard to check…" Hannah heard heavy footsteps clanking against the walkway plank.
She yelped and scuffled across the ship to the first door she came to and quickly ducked inside. She'd just stay put for a few minutes until they were gone. A few minutes passed and she could still hear someone rummaging on the ship for something. She sighed and blew a silky brown lock of hair away from her face. She turned around and realized she had ducked into the galley. Hmm…wise choice. She was feeling quite hungry since she hadn't eaten anything since early this morning. And all she had had was a cold biscuit and some gravy. Something brightly-colored and orange caught her eye on a shelf above her head. She stood on her tiptoes wishing she wasn't wearing her stupid flats but these were the best shoes to work in on the docks. She grasped wildly at the netted bag containing the bright-colored food and finally grasped it. It was a bag of fresh oranges. Her mouth watered at the sight of the juicy fruit. She hadn't had an orange in quite some time; they were a bit more expensive than they could afford. And her father thought the only fruit around worth eating were apples.
She was about to start tearing into one when she heard several voices from the other end of the ship. It sounded like they were heading her way. She grabbed the bag of fruit without thinking and quickly moved forward towards another exit that was at the end of the tight galley.
Hannah burst through the door, narrowly missing the crew coming in through the front of the galley. Looking around she found herself in the cabin area where the majority of the crew must sleep, she figured, judging from the numerous hammocks hanging down. At the end of this room she saw another door and quickly made her way to it.
Turning the knob she stepped inside and found herself in someone's quarters. Commodore Norrington's most likely. The room was simple yet elegant with white-washed walls and carved mahogany furniture. The furniture included a dresser and bed on one side and a bookshelf containing thick volumes of leather-bound works and several scaled ship models on the other. She dropped the bag of oranges on the bed momentarily forgetting her hunger as her curiosity got the best of her. Skimming the books lining the shelf she realized this Norrington fellow was quite the scholar. Books ranged from the philosophical thinking of Socrates and Voltaire, to the plays of Shakespeare and Moliere, to the fictional tales of the sea, and lastly to the Bible. Picking up the last book she dove into it eagerly hoping to read the juicy tales of husband and wife described in Song of Songs. Her church would always skip over this book of the Bible as if it didn't exist. It was just a bit too racy she supposed but she'd always been dying to check it out for herself. A long while passed, the sun dipped down, darkness fell, and Hannah absentmindedly lit the oil lamp that sat on the dresser so that she could continue her reading. She was so enthralled that she failed to realize the ship had begun its course back to sea quite unbeknownst to her.