Changing Kitty

Chapter 4

Kitty could finally see why he had behaved the way he had around her. He was being genuine. He wasn’t deliberately trying to cause friction between her and her parents; he was trying to prevent the inevitable if she had gone on behaving how she was. “Why do you keep looking at the sky?” Kitty finally asked.

Captain Aubrey smiled widely. “It comforts me, I suppose. I look up to it, wherever I am in the world, and it looks the same. It eases the homesickness.”

“Where are you going when you depart?” she wondered aloud.

“We’re heading west, towards the Caribbean,” he replied. “His Majesty’s ships are needed to make sure the trade route is safe. We’ve had a few altercations with pirates, I’m afraid.”

Kitty gasped. “Pirates! Won’t that be dangerous?” she asked desperately. She’d read about pirates ... or Little J had read about them and then conveyed her findings to her elder sister. Nevertheless they were ruthless and cunning individuals who ploughed and plumaged whatever they came across.

Captain Aubrey laughed lightly. “Is that concern I hear in your voice?”

Kitty’s eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t want such a fine ship to be sent to the bottom of the ocean,” she snapped quickly.

He rolled his eyes. “Any journey involves danger, Lady Kitty, and yes, this one will be particularly dangerous, but it’s nothing that we can’t handle.”

“Well,” she sighed. “I wish you luck. May you be back home before you know it, looking up into English skies.” Kitty resisted telling him that she hoped he saw Cassiopeia in the sky because she wanted that person to be forgotten.

Captain Aubrey nodded in thanks. “I appreciate that, Lady Kitty,” he said gratefully. “I hope that in my absence you will be wary. I find myself worrying about you. I know I’ve only just met you but since I’ve experienced your behaviour I worry when you are out of my sight. I don’t want to see what happened to my mother happen to you.”

Kitty wore a puzzled expression on her face. “Can I ask why I am any concern of yours?”

Captain Aubrey looked down at her with his piercing blue eyes that stood out so prominently in the cool night. “Why should you not be? You are a good young woman and you don’t have to behave like you do to be noticed. You do that quite effortlessly anyway.”

Kitty furrowed her eyebrows. Had he just insulted her or had he just complimented her? “Thank you?” she answered as if it were a question.

“All I ask is that you’re careful, Lady Kitty,” he said sincerely.

Kitty rubbed her arms to warm herself. There was a cool breeze blowing throughout the streets of London that was quite nippy. “Now is that concern I hear, Captain Aubrey?” Kitty chirped, using his own words against him.

“Yes,” he replied simply. “It is concern. You should probably go back upstairs and go to bed, instead of sneaking off to wherever you were planning. I can imagine that your parents will want words with you in the morning. I do apologise for what I said, it was harsh and reflecting back on it I do wish I hadn’t been so blunt.”