Chapter 16

I wake up with a smile, staring at the roof which is only starting to lighten from the rising of the sun. I am happy. For the first time in a long time, I am content and even happy.

Of course my mind suddenly drifts to my sister and her predicament and I try to squash the notion that I am happy. How could I be happy? I shouldn't be.

I force my face into a frown but the smile pops back up. I take a deep breath and try again. This time, the frown lasts for less than a second.

"What are you doing?" Thomas turns over and looks at me through the slits of his eyes, the corners of his lips turning up ever so slightly.

"Nothing." I grin. "You go back to bed."

Thomas turns back over and after a few moments, his deep even breathing convinces me that he's drifted off.

I shake my head and stop sleep from coming to me.

Getting up slowly, I grab my shawl and tiptoe out of the room. I walk up to the deck and find that the crew is already up and about, cleaning, fixing, and a couple are wandering around aimlessly, hands jammed in their pockets and mouths whistling, hoping not to get shouted at for not doing anything.

I freeze mentally slapping myself for coming up. I had assumed that it would be empty before sunrise. Actually, I didn't really think at all.

The crew stops and stares at me and I suddenly feel self-conscious in the nightgown which Jack had procured somewhere, bare feet, and loose hair. I slowly retract my feet and try to hide them from view. I wrap the shawl tighter around me and grab my hair, a hard feat considering the wind is blowing it in all direction.

Once my hair is under control, I climb the stairs to the top deck where the wheel is located. No one is there except for the Anamaria, a female sailor who had gruffly shown me around the day before. She wasn't very talkative and brusque but she seemed to care and she is a girl.

"Where are we?" I ask her.

"In the middle of the ocean." She says.

"Very amusing." I say barely containing a smile. She is the first person I've come across who verbally battles with me voluntarily. Plus she is quite handy with sarcasm, a necessity if someone wants to instantly be my friend.

"I'm happy to see that you are so easily entertained."

"Me? You should see Will's face when he sees a sword or when Jack finds a coin. What is it with men and metal?"

"I guess they find it extraordinary that something could be stronger than they are."

"No, I think it's because they are entranced that they found something that is harder than their skulls."

This earns a smile and a nod of acceptance.

"You're pretty smart for a governess' daughter. I mean, you're not completely useless."

"Um... thanks?"

"It was a compliment. Here," She hands me a black hat, "You might want to protect yourself from the sun."

I take it gratefully but am shocked to see how dirty it is.

"Sorry about the dirt." Anamaria says. "It hasn't been used for a long time."

"Well at least we can be certain that the dirt isn't originally from the head of a sailor. What a relief."

I dust most of the dirt off and, cringing, shove the hat onto my head.

"I've never really asked you, but why is Jack letting you on the ship?" I ask, "He seems to be pretty superstitious and isn't it considered bad luck to have a female on board?"

"Actually he really isn't that superstitious. If anyone was, I'd have to say it is Joshamee Gibbs."

"Who is he?" I ask.

"I guess he'd be the first mate. He's the one mainly in charge of the daily happenings aboard the ship and Jack's right hand man."

"Oh, you mean the man that shook his head when he saw me and has been avoiding me ever since?"

"That is probably him. Don't take how he acts and what he says to heart. He just doesn't really like females. Give him time and he'll grow to like you."

"I don't need him to like me. I need him to stop making me feel as if I committed a crime every time he looks at me."

"He puts up with me because Jack has the final say. And because I could pass for a man if it were to ever call for that." Anamaria looks down at my outfit. "You on the other hand couldn't fool a blind man into thinking you're a man."

"This is my nightgown." I defend myself, "I am exactly planning on gallivanting in public with it."

"And what do you think you are doing at this very moment?"

I pause, "Gallivanting, but this doesn't count. We are on a ship, not in port."

"Well, we'll be docking tomorrow sometime so I think it would be wise to be prepared. Cotton!" She shouts to a bearded man with a colorful parrot lighted on his shoulder.

"Take the wheel."

The older man nods and quickly takes the wheel.

I follow Anamaria down the stairs to the main deck and to the cargo hold's entrance, a hole in the floor with a hinged gate covering it.

"Follow me." She says, opening the gate and disappearing into the darkness.

I pick up the hem of my dress and step down on the ladder, carefully closing the gate after me.

I look up to find myself in complete darkness other than the little bits of light coming from the outskirts of the gate.

"Anamaria?" I call.

A light appears and slowly approaches. I quickly descend the final few steps and Anamaria becomes visible, a lantern in hand.

"Come with me." She turns and starts down a corridor.

I follow stumbling over invisible boxes and benches.

"Sorry." Says Anamaria, "I would have brought an extra light but this lantern was the only one I could find in the dark."

"I honestly don't think its the darkness that is the main contribution to my feet failing me." I reply, "What is wrong with me? I was walking perfectly fin yesterday."

"Sometimes, after sleep, you lose your sense of balance. The seas today are also more rough than yesterdays."

"But I was fine on the main deck."

"You could see the ocean and thus subconsciously know when a rough wave was coming. Here you can't see anything so you don't get a warning. It is like standing on one foot. Most people can easily do it with their eyes open. As soon as the eyes shut, however, it becomes infinitely harder to keep your balance."

"That... actually makes sense." I say before tripping over a particularly large box and falling to the floor with a loud crash.

"You alright?" Anamaria turns and looks at me.

"I'm fine." I say, getting to my feet, "I don't think my head is though." I rub the top of my skull, cringing, "Oh, this bump is going to be enormous."

"Don't worry. You won't die."

"That is such a relief."

"Just don't tell Thomas."

"What? Why? What are you talking about? How do you know his name?"

"I just asked around.

She smiles slyly, "I am not oblivious to how much he likes you."

"What are you talking about?" I duck my head, feeling heat rush to my cheeks.

"Yesterday, when he rushed onboard completely soaked from the ocean? Why would anyone do something like that if they weren't completely passionate about something... or someone?"

"You're deluded."

"I'm observant."

"No, you are delusional."

"You're just stubborn."

"He's onboard."

"What?" Anamaria turns swiftly into my path, stopping me in my tracts.

"You mean he's on the ship?"

I nod and we continue slowly walking.

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

I roll my eyes, "Sorry, the subject hasn't really come up before now."

"How did he get back on board? Who else knows he's onboard?"

"Um... well, Jack saw him last night but he had obviously been drinking rum so I doubt he remembers much if anything at all."

"Don't count on it. Jack is permanently half-drunk."

"Oh, well. There is nothing he can do about Thomas being onboard now."

"He could have him thrown over again."

I chuckle, "Have you seen the size of Thomas? The only reason he was thrown overboard was because he was caught off guard and tired from having had to hold on to swim to the ship from the dock. Now that he's rested, I am sure that he could take on the entire crew barehanded."

"Rested?" Anamaria sports a coy smile, and I start dreading the next inevitable question, "Where, might I ask, did he rest?"

"Oh, just around."

"Around?"

"Yes."

"You are a horrible liar."

"Fine, he, uh, slept in my chamber." Trying to act nonchalant.

"You're chamber?" She replies calmly he eyes betraying her amusement. "And where exactly in your chamber? From what I know, the cot is probably too small to hold two people, especially when one is his size."

My face grows red and my ears start burning. "On the floor."

"He slept on the floor? Poor him."

I laugh.

Anamaria grins "I am actually surprised that you let him sleep that close to you. Didn't you tell me yesterday that the only time you were allowed to touch a man was when he kissed your hand?"

"I guess being surrounded by criminals has down played my sense of propriety." I tease and Anamaria rolls her eyes

"Here we are." She states suddenly, stopping in front of a door. "This is where we keep all of our supplies other than food such as ropes, hinges, fixing supplies and, of course, clothing."

She pushes on the large door and it slowly creaks open.

"Most ships don't use this storage room since they normally have everything they need on the main deck or laying around." She explains. "However, since this is a brand new government ship, they must have stocked it with some luxuries.

Holding up the lantern she walks around the room moving things around searching for something.

"Here." She says picking something up. It is a fairly small crate that has been sealed. "These are some extra uniforms."

She takes out a knife from her belt and proceeds to open the box. After taking off a few layers of packing material, the uniforms appear: Pristine white trousers, with equally brilliant blue coats and white undershirts.

Anamaria doesn't move or say anything. Her eyes locked on the treasure.

"These are ridiculous." She states picking up a thick coat. "Why would anyone wear one of these? They look hot and heavy and shout 'I am wealthy. Come and steal all I own.' Plus these clothing wouldn't last an hour." She reaches into the crate and pulls out a pair of white trousers. "Do you have any idea how fast something white gets dirty on a ship. For crying out loud, black gets stained after only a few minutes."

I giggle. "They are pretty impractical. But what else do we have?"

"I don't know but you are definitely not going to wear these. What about what you were wearing yesterday?"

"It isn't too impractical? I mean, the skirt hit my feet and I had to lift it every time I needed to walk up a flight of stairs."

"We could shorten it." She replies, holding up the dagger.

"Absolutely not. It was my mother's."

"Then we will have to improvise. Let's go to your room." She shuts the crate and slides it back towards a wall.

We exit the room and walk down the hallway again towards the exit, this time faster and in silence. Crossing the main deck, I lead Anamaria to my chamber door where I signal for her to stay put so that I can quickly and quietly grab my clothing without awakening Thomas.

Slowly opening the door a crack, I am surprised to find the chamber empty. Swining the door wide open, I motion Anamaria to enter.

I hand her my satchel where I had stuffed my clothing when I had changed into my nightgown the night before.

She opens it and takes out my skirt, top, and boots.

"You actually wear these?" She asks, holding up the boots. They are quite nice, the leather being the finest and the design impeccable. "They don't look that comfortable."

"Compared to the shoes I am usually obligated to wear, they are heaven."

"Stay here." She commands leaving the room.

A few minutes later, she returns with a burlap sack. Emptying it on the bed, she reveals a black piece of material, thread, and a needle.

"Where did you get these?" I ask.

She grins, "Jack's cabin. He won't miss them." Handing me the black cloth, she picks up the needle and thread. "You know how to sew, right?"

I nod.

"Just sew these two sides together." She says, "I'll be right back."

She disappears through the door. Carefully measuring the thread, I start the chore. It takes around twenty minutes to finish and by that time, Anamaria returns holding out a red scarf, a pair of boots, an old belt, and a pair of dark brown trousers.

"Crew donation." She explains.

She closes the door behind her and, inspecting my work, she looks impressed, "This is actually pretty good."

I smile, proud of my sewing. It was definitely the best I've ever done.

Anamaria then makes me stand in the middle of the room. She starts moving around me, like a tailor, taking measurements with her hands.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"I have no idea. When I was younger, I saw a lady do this and I am assuming that it is proper manners."

I laugh.

Finish her "measuring", Anamaria hands me the skirt and top before turning around.

I let my nightgown fall to the floor, pooling and my ankles before quickly donning the skirt and top.

"I'm done." I announce.

Turning back to face me, Anamaria holds out the brown trousers which I slip on underneath the skirt, and the black boots, which I shove my feet into, reveling in the softness of the leather.

"These are so comfortable and spacious!" I say.

"Much better than your old boots, right?"

"Absolutely."

"These pieces are the most important." Anamaria states, tying the red scarf around my waist and buckling the belt on top. "The belt will serve as a tourniquet should the need arise and the red scarf will act as a bandage if you ever get hurt. I picked red as to mask the blood."

She steps back, "There all finished. You had better put your cape back on; it is still a bit chilly."

I turn to pick up my cape, which is lying on the cot, when Will rushes into the room, out of breathe, urgency written all over his eyes. "I've been looking all over for you!" He gasps

"What wrong?" I ask

He takes a few deep breathes, trying to calm himself. "It's Greaves." He manages to sputter out.

"Yes? What about him?" I say, fearfully.

"He's almost gone."