Out to Eternity : Coming in to Port
The night was cool. The sky was a dark navy and the stars twinkled and winked like a barmaid. Riley stared up at the stars, found the North Star, and discovered they were sailing east. Frowning, Riley pulled out a key from a chain around her neck. She sighed, dropping it back down near her bindings.
Riley had been a part of the sea ever since she could remember. Her parents had traded her to a man at a fish market for food and never came back for her. She didn't hold a grudge. She always thought of it as a blessing. Riley couldn't imagine any other life for her than one on the sea.
When she was around three or four, Riley was put to work on the wharf. She helped dock boats, learned every knot and curse word known to man, and became one of the best people to have on any sailing vessel. The only problem Riley ever faced was her gender.
Many a man believed that having a woman aboard was bad luck. When she was young, it was no problem. She could just wear boys clothes and keep her hair short. But soon she didn't even have to wear her hair short when long hair became popular for men. However, as her hair grew longer, she was also developing as a woman.
Unfortunately for Riley, she was an early bloomer. When she was twelve she had to begin binding her chest. Although she had to hide her identity, Riley wouldn't want it any other way. She was always on a dock or a ship of some sort.
Riley was brought back to the present by a loud burst of drunken laughter. She glanced over her shoulder at the door which led to the mess hall. The rest of the crew was having what seemed to be a nightly party. There were songs being sung from off-key crewmen.
Riley smiled gently. She grabbed at the front of her shirt and fluttered it. The air was refreshing and crisp against her clammy skin. She wished she could unwrap her bindings. But, if the people of the Flying Dutchmen were to discover Riley was actually a girl, she had a feeling that she would be heading to Jones' locker before she was really supposed to.
The sudden burst of noise which signaled the opening of the mess hall door alerted Riley to a new presence up on the deck. An intake of breath made Riley's eyes dart sideways. She mimed tipping a hat to Will.
"How are you handling the seas?" Will asked. There was no smell of alcohol on the man. But actually a somewhat sweet scent wafting from him. Riley shrugged.
"I've been on these waters all my life, sir." She said. Will smirked slightly.
"That's a treat," he murmured, "Where are you from, Riley Sterling?" Riley was silent for a moment.
"I'm not exactly sure, sir. My parents traded me when I was young." Will looked at her and laughed.
"Then we're in the same boat, no pun intended." He whispered, looking hard at Riley. "I was rescued form a shipwreck when I was just a lad. I was raised as a blacksmith's apprentice for most of my life." His face had turned up and was looking at the stars.
"So, how did you come into this profession?" Her voice drawled out the word "profession" as if she wasn't sure what to title Will. She turned her face and glanced at Will. He looked so lost. In the nighttime, his eyes seemed clouded. Riley was just now noticing the dark bags under his brown eyes.
"Captain? Sir?" Riley closed the small space between the two, "Will?" She whispered gently. Will turned his head towards her and Riley couldn't even begin to interpret the emotions that swirled in the depths of his eyes.