Stolen Seas

Chapter 13: Whispered Tales

A handful of the crew already positioned themselves outside the Captain's door as Seasel and I quietly approached to join them. Whispers were exchanged as they bickered and shoved to get a better spot next to the closed door.

Josh notices our arrival and clears a spot for us to the right of the door knob against the splintered wall. We crouch down as others gather above us with their ears pressed solidly against the wood. My ear rests cautiously against the hard surface as well but only silence comes from behind the barricade. I cast a glance over to Josh but his finger goes to his lips then he gives me a signal to wait a moment.

The aroma of sweat and body odor fills my nostrils as the crew forms an enclosure. Everyone one huddled so close that several heartbeats were pounding around my ears and their moist breaths exhaled against the back of my neck. All this cluster and yet not one bit of uneasiness came to me. I breathed in their scents, though some are quite fowl, and for the first time I felt at home. Truly.

A rustle broke through the silence as the silent room begins to come to life. A chair of some sort could be heard as its legs were dragged across the floor. "Do not fret about our privacy. The crew was ordered, with much authority, that they were to retire for the night." A deep whisper comes from behind the door. "And my men are not the sort to refuse a free night off." Captain relieves a small laugh following his later comment. A laugh. An actual laugh.

This stirs the crew a bit but everyone quickly settles back into position as his voice arises once more. "For heaven's sake. Malcolm is outside these walls. It is only us." His voice rose with frustration as his company remained silent.

I take notice as a scan the crowd that Malcolm's face is not present. I catch Seasel following my actions and his face shows he reaches the same results. Sid sees our confusion and shuffles over to our spot to cup a hand to my ear. "Andy has him occupied for the time being. Made up some story and had the old bag cussing his way down to the armory. Crafty fellow that one can be." I nod with a smile and pass the word down to Seasel.

A deep sigh fabricates as footsteps approach the door. "I will scan the hall one last time to prove to ye my words are true." Everyone intakes a breath as we simultaneously take a step back.

"No. That will not be necessary, but thank you." A soft voice answers back and a lump rises in my throat. The words were calm and collected but stuck a chord deep inside me.

My hand rose up to my mouth as I gasped with a start. While taking a step back from the wall, I caught Seasel's attention as he laid a hand gently on my shoulder with a puzzlement in his eyes. Brushing him off, I tried my best to gather any composure I had left and pressed my ear to the wall once again in attempts to gather any possible answers to my million questions buzzing inside.

"Like I said, tis only us here. There will be no need for the fancy talk." Captain spoke with a hint of amusement laced in his words.

"I shall talk as I please." My mother's voice rung with a sharpness. Several of the audience members stepped back at this and exchanged silent acts of amusing gestures at one another. They most likely never had the courage themselves to back lash at their Captain but my mother feared no one and was talked down by no one.

All ears returned again as Captain's laugh vibrated through the walls. "After all those years, I'm pleased to see that mouth is still intact, Abby."

My mind buzzed again and caused a sharp pain this time as confusion struck. His words kept freshly in my ears like an echo. He used the word "years" as if they shared some past a times ago. And the way he said her name, it slid off his tongue as if it had many a times before. Abby was only used by those closest to her back home and those that were that close were rare to come by.