Her hair was dark red-brown and her eyes were a hard ebony. They were, at the moment, glaring at the crew of Jack Aubrey's ship. She had very sharp, precise features and a slight Roman nose. Her lips were very pretty, not big or too small, just right.
She was about five foot eight, tall. She wore a tattered gown of sky blue. Her feet were bare.
"Bind her up! Do something, she's not our friend." A vulgar crewmember called out. Jack Aubrey had no say in this; at the moment he was talking with the Surgeon and could not hear the commotion.
"Where did she come from?" Somebody yelled.
"We found her in the cargo hold! Probably hid when her ship fought us." A lieutenant called out, causing everyone to mutter to each other.
"You saying she fought? She's just but fourteen or fifteen." Will Blakeney asked, his eyes roaming the slender figure of the obviously outraged girl. She was very beautiful.
"Look at that gash on her arm." Peter Calamy, Will's friend said. They all started staring at the huge wound on the girl's slim arm. She blushed and tried to cover it.
"That'll get infected if you don't wrap it up." Said Will, going over to the girl, who shied back. Peter followed.
"No, no, get away." Her accent was unmistakably American. She shoved Peter back and then the whole crew broke loose with hysterics.
In her room, Avariella stomped her feet with frustration. She had never meant to fall into the water off her father's boat and climb onto the enemy's boat instead. Now, she was in trouble and she knew it.
Avariella was a girl of fifteen, the daughter of a wealthy American captain and a talented seamstress. She was neither pretty nor ugly, but her eyes held a certain light and contumacy that was attractive in a young lady. She was not weak and she prided herself on it. She had sailed the seas all her life and it had made her skin thick and her mind sharp. To be on a ship of idiots was an insult and frightening.
She patted the bandage she had constructed out of a scrap of her dress on her arm. She was determined to get out, no matter how much they fought.
"You say she's in this room?" She heard a voice on the other side of the door. Tensing, she slid into the shadows as the door clicked open and it swung forward. She saw a tall man walk in, followed by a smaller man.
"Come out." The tall man ordered. Avariella sighed and stepped out of the shadows.
"Aw, there she is." The short man said, glancing at her.
"I'd like to get off this hell ship, if you wouldn't mind." The girl said, pursing her lips.
"The audacity of this child!" The tall man said, laughing. Avariella colored.
"I'm not a child! I'm fifteen." She quickly defended herself.
"Oh, then we'll see how you can keep up with the men." And the men left, locking the door behind them. Avariella fell to her knees and pounded on the door, crying out obscenities with anger.