Chapter Eight: An Aye For An Aye
Almost a week later, the Lament had docked at a small island; there was a large house in deep disrepair and markings of where fields used to be. The only part of the farm that seemed to be mostly intact was a few rows of grape vines, though they could have been in better shape, they were bearing fruit. The men still slept in the ship, but the Captain had moved herself and Emily into a room in the house, explaining they would be staying for a while until the messenger had time to return to port. For the first few days, it had been fun for the redhead to run along the fences and just enjoy the dry land, but now she was feeling restless as they waited. Emily had explored the entire two story house; it needed quite a bit of repair, but she saw a lot of potential in the lonely building. She could tell it had once been well kept; ornate wall paper hung off the walls in spots and some of the windows were done in stained glass. Her favorite spot was the top turret room where the vines that climbed the side of the house had made their way through the missing patches of glass, but the floor was unstable so she couldn't stay in the room for too long. Instead, she found herself on the steps of the porch examining the boot knife the captain had given her. The blonde came around the side of the house just in time to see Emily drop the knife while pretending to stab at an imaginary enemy. The redhead stuck her thumb in her mouth with a little yelp of pain.
"How did you manage to cut yourself?" Naomi asked as she picked up the small blade.
"It's a knife, it's sharp…" Emily defended as she pulled her thumb out to examine the small wound.
"I'll give you a tip," the blonde said. "The pointy end goes out..."
Naomi took the girl's hand to see the small cut and sighed, tearing off a small strip from her shirt sleeve and tying it around the injured thumb.
"I guess ladies don't learn swordsmanship…" the captain continued.
"My sister has had fencing lessons," Emily said casually.
"So you just weren't interested?" Naomi asked. "Good thing too; if you had a proper sword who knows what damage you could do," she teased.
"I wasn't allowed," the redhead stated.
"I can see why not; prospective husbands like there women to have all their appendages," the blonde said jokingly. "But seriously, why?"
"Mother said it wasn't lady like," the girl said.
"…is your sister not a lady?" the captain asked with a puzzled look on her face.
"Katherine is a perfect lady." Emily sighed. "It's me that needs work so I couldn't do anything that might be considered unseemly. So she took fencing and mother set me to cross-stitching."
"You mean she gave you a sharp needle?" Naomi exclaimed. "She sounds like a b… a difficult woman. Did you at least fail at learning to sew to spite her?"
Emily laughed. "I should have…but it didn't occur to me at the time so unfortunately I got quite good at it. Your mom seemed nice; I really liked her."
"Yeah, she's a difficult woman too…just in a different way." The blonde laughed.
"She didn't seem difficult to me," the redhead defended.
"Well she assumes everyone is perfect, which is better than trying to make them perfect," the captain explained. "I worry about her. I know that she knows people might take advantage, but somehow she just keeps throwing herself out there like everything will be fine."
Captain Campbell handed the boot knife back to the girl with a look that said be careful this time and leaned against the railing of the porch. Emily tucked the blade back into its holster in her boot and sat on the steps. They looked out towards the shoreline where the men were roughhousing.
"How did you find this place?" the redhead asked.
"I bought it," the blonde replied. "After my first successful job; mom had told me about Emiline Isle ever since I was a little baby. She said it used to be part of our family's estate, like a summer home or something. So first chance I got, I bought it back and tried to move mom out here, but she refused to leave port. She said too many people needed her and this was her old life and that life is about moving forward and not looking back. So now it's just a nice safe place for me to stay from time to time."
For a moment the captain was lost in her thoughts.
"Your family used to have estates?" Emily asked.
"Apparently," Naomi said with a sweeping gesture to the land around them.
"So what happened?" the girl asked.
"My mother…didn't marry well…or at all…" The blonde shrugged. "Apparently that sort of thing ruins a family's business when you're the only heir."
"I see…" The redhead nodded. "So where is your father?"
"Never met him. Mom says he died on the ship, which could be true; a lot of people died of illnesses like that…but I have heard her talking with some of the other ladies at the tavern and I think he actually just left…" Naomi answered.
"That must have hurt your mother a lot," Emily said. "So that's why there is no one new? I would think after that she wouldn't trust another man like that…"
"Oh she does; Kieran owns the tavern. He's always been kind to us." Naomi laughed.
"Oh…" the girl said.
"Mom's always said: The people who make us happy are never the people you expect. So when you find someone, you've got to cherish it. I'm not sure I get it, but she's happy." The captain sighed.
Naomi stood up quickly and turned to Emily. "Come on then—I'll teach you how to use a knife and sword if you'd like."
The girl's brown eyes glistened with excitement and she smiled broadly as she hopped up from the step and followed the blonde around to the back of the house.
Katie wore the necklace and Captain Stonem sailed the ship without singing or stomping unless she had to. The redhead found herself terribly bored on the ship and there were few ways for her to amuse herself in the seemingly ever smaller quarters. She had tried on most of Effy's clothes, tried to make herself interested in the sea charts, and had even caught herself tidying up out of sheer boredom. She dropped all the clothes she had gathered up onto the bed with a sigh; she hated going out on deck. The men were uncouth and the captain seemed to have no better fun than winding her up. Katherine eyed the clothes rack with irritation; all that remained on it were the captains more mannish garments and she rolled her eyes as she began to sort the garments on the bed to be hung up. She heard the captain making her way from the wheel to the steps and quickly tossed all the clothes from the bed to the lounge and tried to look like she had been doing nothing.
"Weather's better I see," Katie said offhandedly as she gazed out the window.
Effy looked at the pile of clothes on the chair and then at the redhead sprawled on her stomach on the bed.
"The view is certainly…improved…" the brunette said in an enticing tone.
"Stop that right now," The redhead snapped. "I'm in no mood for your lewd joking right now."
Captain Stonem tilted her head to the side cockily. "Oh I just love it when you play all proper and hard to get."
Katie rolled over and sat up quickly, shooting the captain a hard look and crossing her arms. She reminded herself that this all had to be a joke—just another way for the wild girl to get under her skin. She'd seen the way Captain Effy flirted with the men on board and she understood the tactic well; you had to flirt with men most of the time to get them to do what you wanted. A little false hope made them work all the harder and believe it was their idea to do so.
"Don't think for one minute that I am fooled by any of this," the redhead said as she toyed with the necklace. "I know full well that it's a game."
Effy leaned down, resting her hands on either side of her employer on the bed, and stared into her brown eyes.
"Then call my bluff…" she said with a twinkle in her blue eyes.
Katie's breath caught in her throat as she fixed eyes with Effy; she could feel herself beginning to blush. She pushed the other girl's arm free and sighed as she stood up.
"Why don't you hang up any of your clothes?" Katie changed the subject.
The captain knew she had won this round; she saw the girl's cheeks turn almost as red as her hair, and stretched out on the bed lazily.
"Why would I?" Effy asked, eying the redhead seductively from the bed. "You'll do it eventually."
Naomi and Emily lay under an apple tree—the lone survivor of a small orchard after some terrible storm years ago—and enjoyed the shade. They were both breathing heavily after another sword lesson. The air was hot but under the shade of the tree it smelled sweet and cool and relaxed comfortably after their efforts.
"You're a quick learner," Captain Campbell said.
"And you're surprised because, until now, the sharpest blade I ever wielded was a sewing needle?" the girl teased.
"It always surprises me when the upper class can do anything useful," Naomi said without thinking. "Sorry…" The blonde turned her head towards the shore. "I guess I'm a bit of a bitter old bitch now days."
Emily sat up. "You mean there was a time when you weren't? Your first words weren't some sarcastic commentary on your mom's ability to change your diaper?" she teased back to let Naomi know she wasn't hurt.
"No…that came later…" the captain joked back, looking at the redhead again.
Naomi wanted to ice back over; she wanted to want this job to be over and done with, but she didn't. It was too late; she knew she had feelings for this girl and what was worse—she knew she would see this ransom through. Emily would go back with her father and never give a second thought to her again except to tell the story to whatever wealthy man she married so that he would know her honor was preserved. It occurred to the blonde that this was worse than any of the other loves she thought she'd had because this one was completely her fault; the girl hadn't tricked her, or feigned interest, or promised her anything–this girl probably didn't even know it was possible for the captain to have feelings for her. That kind of thing didn't fit into the merchant's daughter's world; to be honest, it barely fit into Naomi's world.
"Hey." The girl's brown eyes held a hint of worry. "What are you thinking about?"
Emily saw a familiar look in those blue eyes; the look of pain that was both desperate to be seen and desperate to be hidden. She'd felt that look in her own eyes often. She didn't know why Naomi was suddenly sad; she only knew she didn't like seeing the blonde girl, who felt like a friend, to be unhappy.
"Don't be sad Naomikins…" Emily tried to say lightly.
"I'm not," the blonde said as she sat up quickly, nearly bumping heads with the redhead. "I guess I'm just not in a hurry to get back on the Lament," she lied.
"Why?" The girl asked.
"I don't know; I guess I'm always like this after being on the island…" The statement was true and Naomi hoped that would help hide the fact that there was more to it.
"It is very homey here…even if the house needs some work…" The redhead sighed. "But I actually like the Lament."
"Really?" the captain said in disbelief.
"Really." Emily smiled.
It was the truth and Emily wondered if that helped hide the fact that there was more to it.
Another chapter. Hope you all enjoy it. Let me know what you think.
