Pirates and Peonies

9. Duties

© 2013, Chenille Whitehead. Except as provided by the Copyright Act 1956 no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher

~*~RECAP!~*~

I am terribly sorry that I have not uploaded for 2 months, but I was at university and thus my time has been taken up by essays, lap reports and lectures (and also pool). I hope that you can forgive me and continue reading!

Here is a recap of what has happened so far (for those who have forgotten):

Cecily went to a final ball, before she and her family were to board a ship for the Caribbean. At the ball, Jeramiah, an old friend, asked for her hand in marriage, but alas, she declined. Upset to have caused someone pain (and because she was still in a mood about the whole Caribbean trip), she ran off to the Art Gallery, where she met a comforting stranger in the dark.

After receiving a bunch of peonies from the stranger, she returned to the ball, where she got into an argument with her father about Jeramiah's proposal. She ran off to the harbour on her own to cool off, but ended up boarding the wrong ship and falling asleep.

Cecily was woken up abruptly by Hardwell, who accused her of being a stowaway. He took her to Captain Montgomery, who turned out to be the stranger she had met only hours before. She was then ordered to the brig, while they discussed what was to become of her.

In the brig, Cecily met Buttons, a round man who was being punished for stealing food. They made friends, before she was taken back up on deck by Smitt, a scary looking fellow.

On deck, Cecily found out that she was on a pirate ship and was told that she must either join the crew or walk the plank. She fainted.

Cecily was taken to the infirmary, where she was coaxed by McCorkindale to join the crew. She vowed that she would do all she could to help the prisoners that they captured, and sabotage their mission.

Due to Cecily being hungry, McCorkindale took her to the kitchen, where they found the cook, who was looking for his grater (and made a mess in the process). Cecily helped find the grater and cleaned up, before she and the cook brought the captain his lunch.

Cecily still hadn't been fed, so her stomach rumbled in front of Captain Montgomery, who then ordered her to eat with him. At first she was annoyed with him, but then he showed her a medal that he had been given for his services, before he became a pirate. Thus, she deemed the man a mystery and wondered how he had become the man he is now. The captain left to resume his duties, leaving Cecily alone to ponder her thoughts.

9. Duties

After finishing the bowl of broth in front of her, Cecily looked about herself at the oddities surrounding her. She knew that she should probably leave the room, and go and find Cook, but this was the first time, since she had come aboard this ship, that she was able to sit down and relax.

The sun sent beams of light across the room, and the curtain's fluttered gently in the breeze, causing the beams to dance like flames against the wall. Cecily could feel her eyes begin to droop, so she quickly sat up in her chair. If she wasn't careful, she was going to end up falling asleep, again, where she had no mind to.

She got up and walked over to one of the cabinets against the wall. She knew that snooping was more than certainly against the rules, but she couldn't stop thinking about what Captain Montgomery had shown her that afternoon. Besides, who knew when she would next get the chance to come back to this room again? Alone, and free to look at whatever she wanted? She had to take this opportunity. It would be foolish of her not to.