Alice Bush observed, out of the small window of her cabin, the white, foamy waves of the choppy sea, and felt it's similarly choppy lurch beneath the ship. With every lurch, a loud came from the nearby cot. Alice looked to where Lady Margaret was occupying the cot and recovering badly from her affair with wine the previous night. Though it was nearly noon, she had not yet risen from her bed, and claimed the choppiness of the sea was only making things worse. Alice turned her attention back to the window, agreeing that the bumpiness of the waves was worse today than it had been previously.
She sighed, feeling, there was no other word for it, bored. In this cabin, she thought, she might as well be alone. Lady Margaret moaning and groaning in the cot, and Edith writing a letter to goodness-knows-who. She always seemed to be writing letters, and was constantly vague whenever Alice inquired as to the receiver of the letters.
When the scratching of Edith's quill and Lady Margaret's groans got just too much for Alice, she rose from her chair, insisting that she needed some air. She knew that her brother would rather she remained here, but there seemed to be no danger at present, and besides, there was someone that Alice was hoping to see up-deck.
Alice Bush had been pondering over former-captain Horatio Hornblower since her conversation with Archie the previous evening. So, the great Mr Hornblower had met with Katherine Cobham. Alice had seen her in a production of Romeo and Juliet in London. Of course, she thought her acting skills were remarkable, though she had stirred no particular emotion within Alice. Now, however, there was a feeling, almost of annoyance, in her when she thought of the wonderful Katherine Cobham.
"Afternoon, Miss," a seaman tipped his hat to Alice as she made her way up from the cabin to the top deck. She smiled back at him.
Up on deck, the jolting sea was even more noticeable, and Alice noted a less-stoic man heaving over the side, relieving his feeling of nausea. It took Alice two, maybe three, moments to realise the identity of the man.
She strolled over to him.
"Good afternoon, Mr Hornblower," she said, in his ear.
Hornblower, startled, jumped up from his leaned-over position, hastily regaining composure.
"Ah," he said "Miss Bush. Good morning-I mean, yes. Good afternoon."
"The sea," Alice indicated the waves "It is a little choppy today, is it not?"
The boat gave another jolt, and Hornblower grasped the side. "A little," he said.
"Hmm," Hornblower cleared his throat "I trust you have recovered from last night?"
"Of course, Sir," said Alice "I trust you haven't?" she indicated briefly the place in which Hornblower's breakfast had just been deposited.
"I-yes, yes. That's right. A little too much wine, perhaps."
Hornblower had drunk barely two glasses of wine the night before, and both he and Alice knew this, however maybe sickness from drink was seen as less of a weakness than seasickness.
There was a pause, where Bush's yells from the wheel could be heard.
"Keep her steady as she goes, Mr Prowse!"
"She's riding a little heavily, Sir!"
"Steady, Mr Prowse, steady!"
Alice smiled, more to herself than to Hornblower. "It's strange," she said "To think of William in command of a ship as fine as this one. I remember when he used to curl up inside a pig trough and pretend that he had been ship wrecked!" She smiled, fondly.
Hornblower couldn't help but grin at the thought of his former first lieutenant in his younger years. It was so strange to think of Bush as being anyone other than the harsh yet loyal man he currently was. Difficult to believe that a young Bush had once run about, dreaming of a life as a captain at sea.
Well, thought Hornblower, Bush was finally living his dream.
"You know," continued Alice "William always insisted that I played the part of a damsel in distress. We would go down to a small stream near our family home, whereupon I would pretend to be drowning, and William would save me. Of course," she added "William could never swim a stroke at all, and-
She was cut off at this point, as the infamous non-swimmer himself appeared next to Hornblower, looking stern.
"Alice," he said "Would you please remain in your cabin?"
"Why? Is something happening?"
"No, however I-
At that moment, Styles appeared, bowing slightly to Bush, Hornblower and to Alice.
"Captain Bush, Sir. Mr Prowse's compliments, but 'e'd like permission to shorten sail."
Bush looked up at the sky. "Alright," he said "Tell Mr Prowse that is fine."
Bush turned away. Styles, however continued to remain stood there, staring, quite transfixed, at Alice.
"Styles!" said Bush "On with your work!"
"Oh yes," said Styles, coming to himself. "Aye aye, Sir."
"Styles," muttered Hornblower "Pull yourself together. It is not as if you have never seen a woman before."
"Not in six months I 'aven't, Sir."
"Well, it would do good of you to remember that this particular young lady happens to also be your Captain's sister."
"Aye aye, Sir."
Styles, slightly reluctantly, headed back up deck to where Mr Prowse was bearing down on the master's mate.
Alice Bush, acting as though nothing at all had happened, smiled sweetly at her brother and Hornblower.
"Very well," she said "I will retire to my cabin. And when you find me this evening, having died of boredom, then, William, you will be happy."
With that, she vanished below decks in a swirl of curly hair and cotton.
It was after a few seconds that Hornblower realised that his eyebrows had been in an upright position for a considerably long time. He hastily re-arranged his features.
"Ha-h'm," he said, awkwardly "Your sister. She's quite the, um, caution, isn't she?"
Bush sighed. "One of these days," he said "She'll get herself in serious trouble."
"Oh," said Hornblower "I'm sure she can look after herself,"
"Are you suggesting that you know more about my sister than I do?" snapped Bush, suddenly.
"N-No, I-
Hornblower stammered, shocked by his friends suddenness. Bush, realising it too, held up a hand.
"My apologies," he said "I meant nothing of it. It's just...this Captain business. It's harder than I thought it would be. And having Alice here just makes me on edge. I don't want anything to happen to her, you know? Family life and work; two worlds that should never collide."
Hornblower said nothing, feeling his Captain was talking more to himself than to anybody else.
"You make commanding a ship look easy, Horatio," said Bush, suddenly, looking into his former Captain's eyes.
Hornblower pondered briefly over being called anything other than "Sir," by Bush, and realised, strangely, how he quite liked being referred to as "Horatio" by his loyal friend.
"Come, William," said Hornblower, jovially "Sir," he added, quickly. "You are too hard on yourself. You are doing a wonderful job of looking after Hotspur. Surely you can see that. And, as for Alice," he paused "Well, I'm sure we can look after her."
And, with that, Hornblower strode off in the direction of the gun decks, before he thought Bush would have time to think properly over what he had just said.
