Chapter Ten: The Morning After the Night Before



Rachel awoke with the sun streaming through the window. She opened her eyes, then closed them quickly as daggers of pain stabbed through them. She turned over to escape the light and groaned as waves of nausea overcame her. "Ohh," she moaned. "Rum bad . . . very bad." She pried her eyes back open. Lying on the pillow next to her was a single red rose. She smiled, despite her discomfort. "Mmm, but Jack very, very, good." She took the rose and brought it to her nose. It had a heavy, sweet aroma, like no rose she'd ever smelled before.


The door opened and Annamaria walked in. "Bout time you woke up," she said. "Thought ye were gonna sleep all day."


Rachel tried to sit up but found it to be too difficult a task and collapsed back onto the pillow. "Oh, how did my head get so big?" she asked.


"So the Captain took ye to the Sailor, then, did he? I'll get ye something that'll help. It tastes like something from hell itself, but it'll get ye up and about." She left the room and returned several minutes later carrying a large mug and a basin. She handed both to Rachel. "Drink up," she said. "But keep this handy, ye may need it."


Rachel looked into the mug. The stuff looked horrible and smelled even worse. "What is this?" she asked.


"Yer best t'just drink it down without thinkin' about it," Annamaria told her. "Bottoms up, now."


Rachel lifted the mug to her lips and drank quickly. She felt her gorge rise as her stomach threatened to rebel, but she managed to choke it all down and hold it there. "God, that's awful," she complained.


"Now, get yerself up," Annamaria told her. "Once yer up and about you'll start to feel a bit better. And we've got work t'do this mornin', remember?"


Rachel threw the blankets off and swung her legs over the side of the bed, forgetting for the moment that all she was wearing was the scarf on her head.


"Well," Annamaria raised her eyebrows, "looks like you and the cap'n did a little more than get drunk last night. And yer gonna have to tell me sometime how the water got all over the floor."


Rachel blushed lightly and looked around the room. It was truly a mess. Her beautiful dress lay on the floor where she had dropped it, mercifully well away from the puddles all over the floor. Her wet petticoat lay in a heap not far from Jack's abandoned knickers and shirt. The half empty rum bottle lay open on its side near the tub. Her silk nightgown was draped over the back of a chair. "Looks like I've got some picking up to do," she said. "Give me a few minutes to wash up and get dressed and I'll meet you on deck."


"I'll wait just outside," Annamaria told her. "If ye need any help, just call out." She stepped through the door leaving Rachel alone with the mess.


Rachel moved about the room, picking up her things. She knew that Jack's cabin boy would take care of it if she left it, but that would be a bit embarrassing. She used the cool water left in the tub to wash up a bit then walked to the new trunk that had been left next to her others. She opened it and removed the clothes she would need for the day. She dressed hurriedly, pulling on pants, a shirt, and a vest. Her boots wouldn't be ready till later in the day so she was forced to wear a pair of the shoes from her trunk. She found a pair of simple black slippers and put them on.


"Ready," she said as she opened the door.


"Feelin' better, then?" Annamaria asked her.


"Somewhat," she replied. "Enough to function, at least. Let's get to work."


Anna maria led her to a spot on the deck near the mainmast. A pile of rope lay on the deck, waiting for her.


"Mornin' ladies," Gibbs said as he approached. "I see ye got yerself better outfitted, Rachel. No man ever wore a pair of breeches like that, though, I'll wager."


"Good morning, Gibbs," Rachel said brightly. "Have you seen our captain this morning?"


"Aye, I have. He's gone into Tortuga to take care of some business. The Tradewinds was carryin' a fine load of spices we've got t'unload. Should fetch a good price."


"The Tradewinds?" she asked.


"The ship ye were on when we found yeh. You weren't the only thing we took, y'know." He grinned. "Tortuga's usually a good place t'unload swag. No one tends t'ask questions, if y'know what I mean."


"I never knew the name of the ship," she said. "Or even what I was doing on it." She straightened her shoulders. "But that was a lifetime ago, wasn't it? Best not to even think about it anymore."


"Rachel's takin lessons," Annamaria broke in. "We're startin off with some basic knots."


"Oh!" Rachel exclaimed. "I'd like you two to be the first to know. The Captain and I discussed it yesterday and I'll be joining the crew permanently. I don't know much about ships yet, but I hope you'll both help to teach me."


"With pleasure, lass," Gibbs replied. "Part of me job as first mate is makin' sure the new recruits get properly trained. And judgin' by the looks ye've been gettin' from the rest o' the crew, ye won't be havin' a shortage of teachers, either."


Rachel looked around. There were crew members sitting around on deck, some gambling, some carving, others doing nothing in particular. It was a bit early in the day for the carousing to start so they were just killing time until the taverns were open and there was company to be had. Many of the sailors were glancing in her direction. As she looked at them, some of them gave her a nod or a smile. She knew she would meet them all in time, she just hoped the meetings were friendly ones.


By the time Jack returned, Rachel had mastered several of the simple knots Annamaria was showing her. Several of the crew members had come over to introduce themselves and welcome her aboard. One of them, a man by the name of Jason Briggs, was helping to teach her a slightly more complex knot when Jack walked over to them.


"Good morning," he said. "I see you found yourself some mates."


"Good morning to you, too," she replied. "Anna and Jason are teaching me knot tying. They said it's something I'll need to know."


"How are ye feelin' this morning?" he asked. "Ye had quite a bit last night y'know."


"So did you, as I recall. I'm not too bad, now. Good thing you didn't ask me two hours ago, though."


"When yer finished here, I'd like t'see you in my cabin," he told her. "There's still a few things we need t'discuss."


"Why don't you just go with the Captain, now?" Annamaria told her. "Ye look like yer startin' t'have trouble with the tyin' anyway."


"Yes, I am," Rachel replied. "My fingers are starting to cramp. I'm not used to using them this way."


"Go on then, we can work on it some more later."


Rachel followed Jack to his cabin. He looked so serious. She hoped he hadn't changed his mind about her joining the crew. Last night was kind of intense. Some guys got really nervous about things like that. She decided that she had to find a way to let him off the hook. She thought she wanted to be with him. But, if it was just a one night stand, she would understand. He didn't really seem like the type to settle down to one woman. She wasn't even sure she wanted to settle down to one man. She'd tried that once and gotten burned pretty badly.


Jack opened the door. "After you," he told her.


The cabin had been straightened up in her absence. The tub had been emptied and moved off to the side where it would be out of the way. The water had been cleaned up. There were no signs left of last nights revels.


She felt Jack come up behind her. He placed his hands on her shoulders. She started to turn to face him but he had a firm grip on her and would not allow her to turn.


"Don't turn around, luv," he said. "If I see those eyes right now, I'll be lost fer sure and I may not be able to say what I have to say."


"What is it, Jack?" she asked. "If it's about last night . . . "


"Last night was wonderful, luv," he interrupted. "But I wanted t'tell you that I understand if you don't want a repeat performance. After all you've been through lately, you needed a release. If that's what last night was, I can get by with that. But if it was, we'll be needin' t'find other sleepin' arrangements a little sooner than I expected."


Her shoulders began to shake gently under his hands. "Oh, Rachel, darlin', I didn't mean to . . ."

He turned her to face him. The movement and the look on his face were all she needed. She burst into peals of laughter. Jack was so completely surprised by her reaction that for once in his life, he was speechless.


"You silly, silly, man," Rachel gasped out when she finally got herself under control. "And here I was trying to find a way to let you off the hook."


Jack found his voice. "Off the hook?" he asked.


"Yeah, you just don't seem like the type to make a commitment. I wanted to let you know that I'm ok with that."


"People change, luv," he told her. "Maybe old Jack is ready to settle down to one lass. At least for a while."


"We'll see about that," she replied. "We hardly know each other, yet. Why don't we just take things one day at a time, huh? Ride the winds of change and see where they take us."


"I'd like that. A lot." He wrapped her in his arms. "Last night was a piece of heaven, I think I'd like another taste." He kissed her long and deeply. She felt herself go tight in some very interesting places in response. She broke the kiss, gasping for breath. She placed her hands on his chest and gently pushed him back.


"If you keep that up, we're going to wind up back in that bed and neither of us will get anything done today," she told him.


"And what's wrong with that?" he replied with a grin.


"I'm a crewman, now, Captain. If I'm going to get along with the rest of the crew, they need to know that I'm going to be working right beside them. No special favors from the Captain."


"Today's a day off, luv" he said.


"Not for me," she replied. "I've got too much to learn before we set sail again. I want to be a functioning member of this crew, not just the Captain's cabin dressing, got that?"


"All right, then, Miss Finch. Shall we talk business?"


They sat down and Jack explained to her how the pay system on board a pirate ship worked. First off, no one got paid unless there was plunder. When there was, the captain got two shares. The first mate, quartermaster, and ships carpenter each got one and a half. The rest was split equally among the rest of the crew.


"Captain gets first choice and it goes down from there. Fer instance, I spent the morning unloading the swag from the Tradewinds, minus anything anyone wanted t'keep as part of their share. Now that you're a crew member, I thought you might like to keep yer things, so none of that was sold. Ye've already got all of your fine dresses and your brush set. I'll have the rest brought up today. That will be your share from that little venture."


"But won't the rest of the crew protest?" she asked. "I wasn't a member of the crew when that took place."


"Ye got yerself shot in the chest during it. I think that makes it only fair that you should get yer share. I've got a good crew and we do pretty well, they won't complain."


"Ok, then," she replied. "If there's nothing else, I was hoping to get a tour of the ship today. I've barely seen any of it."


"One other thing, luv," he said with a grin. "Do I still need to talk to the ship's carpenter?"