Son Of The Seas

3. Servitude

It's been a few hours since Peter and Nathan's lives changed forever. They were led down to a compartment two ladders below deck, where they lay in hammocks strung up between two poles.

They were in a large compartment filled with barrels, bags and more noticeably, plenty more hammocks that were filled with just about the entire crew. There was an overwhelming stench in the air.

Peter lay in a hammock right above Nathan. "Brother, are you sleeping?" Asked a soft scared voice from below. Peter felt his brother nudging him in his back. Peter tried turning over to look at Nathan. But it proved more difficult than anticipated.

"Yes, I am," Peter whispered over all the snoring.

"Why would father just give us away?" Asked Nathan, confused and scared. Peter just stayed in his position and stared up at the ceiling.

"I do not know, baby brother," Peter said so softly, that Nathan couldn't even hear him. He wiped tears from his wet cheeks. The two boys finally managed to fall asleep.

Barely after sunrise, one of the crew men turned Peter and Nathan's hammocks inside out, and threw them on the floor. "You heard the captain. The cruise is over. Time to earn your keep," Said the man who woke them. Peter and Nathan quickly stood up next to each other.

There was a scurrying of crew waking up, all jumping out of their hammocks and fiddling and fidgeting all over the compartment before making their way up the ladder. After everybody climbed up to the deck, Peter looked at Nathan and said, "We better go." He took Nathan's hand and they climbed up the ladder.

They reached another compartment. The sides of the compartment were lined with cannons pointing outwards. In the centre, there were barrels of gunpowder and a huge crate filled with cannon balls. Peter and Nathan looked around and made their way up a second ladder reaching the deck.

Peter felt a single moment of joy as he filled his lungs with fresh ocean air and absorbing the warm sunlight on his skin.

"Rats! So gracious of you to join us on such a fine morning," Said John Matheson, standing behind them. Both boys just stared at him.

"Today, your new life at sea begins." John said. He then gestured for another man to join them. "Mister Charlston. I have a new pair of rats for you."

Charlston walked to John. "Good, ever since that other rat killed over, I've been short-handed. No more flack from you, boss?" Charlston said looking at John.

John chuckled and said, "Depends. How fast can you break these two in."

"Fast enough," Charlston said as he grabbed Peter and Nathan by the arms. "A rat never sits and waits for food to come to it, right? A rat always scurries about, looking for its next meal. So, in essence, its working for its next meal," Charlston said while they were walking.

He stopped and looked at Peter and Nathan, then said, "That is exactly what you are. Rats. If you want to eat. You work. If your work is good, you eat." Charlston grabbed two brushes and threw it at the boys feet. He then kicked over a bucket of dirty brown water.

"Scrub," demanded Charlston. "I want to be able to eat off of that deck once you done," Charlston said while walking away.

Peter got down on his hands and knees, while Nathan was just standing there. "Brother, come. Let's not cause trouble," Peter said, nudging Nathan to join him.

They spent just about the entire morning scrubbing various places on deck, but always together.

The sun was at its highest and glaring down on their necks and backs. Peter's arms were weak and knees were sore. His throat felt like a ton of sand from the thirst and his lips were cracking.