"…So we follow the map and we go to the island and guess what we found?" Tom said with that impossibly large grin on his face. He was standing next to her with his hands and chin on top of the mop slowly rocking his heels as he talked.
Sybil smiled when Branson smiled like that she couldn't help but smile back. "What?"
It had been two weeks since The Soap had come and gone and since that day there hadn't been a day where she hadn't talk to Captain Tom Branson. She'd talk to him sometimes for only a few minutes and others for what felt like minutes but had actually been hours. Tom shook his head, "You have to guess."
Sybil bit her lip, "Alright then, let's see you found…. Mermaids!"
Tom bite the inside of his cheek to stop from laughing, and with the most serious voice he could muster, "Mermaids?"
Sybil shrugs her shoulders but he could see the amusement in her eyes as she speaks, "I'm probably not going to guess it so why not guess something extraordinary? I find I like extraordinary things in life."
And Tom wants to tell her that he thinks she's extraordinary but he holds his tongue. For what feels like the millionth time today he reminds himself who she is, or to be precise whose daughter she is. She's the Admiral's daughter, she's the Admiral's daughter and not for the likes of a pirate like you.
He sighs dramatically pretending to be put out. "Fine I shall tell you, but this is against my better judgment." He then gives her a mockingly cross look before talking. "We get there and we find… nothing."
"Nothing?" Sybil says confused.
He laughs, "Absolutely nothing and would you like to know why?" She nods, "Because there was no island."
Her eyebrows scrunch together. "No island? How is that possible?"
"Turns out the map was a fake. A fake so good that the entire British navy and all us pirates were fighting over it."
"So you won the battle only to lose the treasure?" Sybil hops onto the barrel and swings her legs wondering where the story was going next.
"Aye and we were angry as hell- sorry. We were angry and after three months we finally found the forger."
"And?" She's amazed by his ability to tell a story. He has this way with words that she can't explain; she thinks it has something to do with his voice. His voice that seems to hug each syllable as his stories spiral out of his lips.
"And," he says looking straight into her eyes, and she thinks maybe it's his eyes. The way his eyes never leave hers, the intensity of his eyes and how they seem to twinkle when he tells a story. "I walk into the small cottage house, stare the forger in the eyes, drop the map on the desk, and offer her a position on my crew."
"Her?"
He grins "Aye her name is Gwen and she's the best forger in the business. Gotten us through quite a few pinches with her talent." And while she'd excite to hear her, about a real female pirate that just so happens to be a member of his crew she can't help but feel an odd pang in her stomach and a bitter taste in her mouth.
"You should've of seen her face Miss Sybil, when I dropped that map on her desk. I swear I could see her life flashing before her eyes!"
She chuckles but the bitter taste in her mouth is still very much there. She decides it's because of the question she has been hesitating to bring up about his ship and crew.
"Branson…" She looks down at her hands. Afraid of his reaction, "What… How did you get strayed out in the ocean?"
"I've been wondering when you'd ask about that." His voice holds no bitterish or anger. She takes a deep breath and looks up to see him smiling softly at her, and her heart feels like it's about to burst.
Thomas walks into his office, his temporary office he reminds himself bitterly, And not for much longer.
He throws a file on the floor, knowing he'll have to collect the papers later but right now not caring. He was a grand purser, was he? Then why was he only temporary and why was he getting transferred to a different barrack once they reached land?
Thomas kicked his chair sending it across the room wanting to shout, to scream, but instead taking deep heavy breaths.
He looks down at the papers on the ground and sees the numbers. Numbers of who gets how much and when. And suddenly an idea pops in his head. If I'm only going to be the purser for a few more weeks might make the most of it. So Thomas collects the papers on the ground and starts following the money, to see where it won't be missed.
Tom walks over and sits on the barrel next to her. She's suddenly aware this is the first time they've sat next to each other. He always stands when they talk, she realizes, always standing and always at least half a meter away from her. Her hands are sweating.
Tom chuckled, "It not really all that interesting to be honest." He says while looking at the sea. She tries to see what's captured his attention but she doesn't see anything but water.
"It was a storm, a great big terrible storm that had the ship moving this way and that. Great giant waves crashing against the ship's sides and water rolling down one side of the deck to the other. I was on helm. Couldn't sleep. One giant wave came from behind and next thing I knew I'm in the ocean kicking and grabbing hold of a piece of wood that fell off my ship."
Sybil stares at him. He makes it sound as if it was not important, as if him almost dying wasn't important. She grabs his arm and he finally looks at her. "How long were you floating about?"
He shrugs, "Don't know. A couple of hours I imagine."
She hesitance before asking her next question, "Why didn't you tell my father? Surely it wouldn't have put your ship or crew in danger?"
Looking outwards once again he answers in a low voice, "Because it is the principle of the matter. If I told him without any resist, any refusal, it would mean I'm a coward. A man so afraid of dying he's willing to do anything to live, turning against my men with my tail between my legs. I want to live, but I'll not betray my men."
She doesn't know what to say. "It's a miracle you stayed above the water as long as you did."
Tom doesn't say anything. She wonders what he's thinking about, if he's thinking about that night. She finds herself reaching out and stroking his arm, stoking him from his elbow to his knuckles before going back up. By the third time she reaches his knuckles he stops her, placing his hand over hers.
"Where did you get this?" The man spat throwing the rosary onto the table.
"I didn't steal it." Sarah O'Brien replied, "I found it on my ship after I went head to head with a navy ship."
"A navy ship?" The man said, eyebrows furrowed.
"Yes it was on the floor of the deck, someone must of throw it on board." She said walking around the cabin.
"So your saying-"
"Oh for the love of God, yes Kieran, I'm saying your Captain is alive on a navy ship!" Shaking her head, this was why she never talked to crewmen.
Kieran stare at her, eyes narrow as he spoke his next words, "What are you proposing?"
Maybe he isn't dumb after all. "I'm proposing my help, on getting your Captain back."
"And what do you want in exchange?" He glared.
"Oh I think he can come to some kind of agreement." O'Brien said smiling widely.
A/N: LOL so sorry it the secret behind how Tom got lost at sea was a bit anti-climactic but I hope the ending makes up for that!
