Stowaway (A Pirate Novel) (Completed)

Ch. 45 Topics of Interest

Talbot excused Zed and sat at the desk thinking for a few minutes. Zed didn't want the younger crew members attending the hanging. He mentioned Nathan, Elle, and Jr by name. The problem with that; someone would have to tell them, tell her.

Talbot knew she would take the news better from Harv but the order was his to give. He already put too much on harves shoulders as far as I was concerned. Only a fourth of the crew had been aboard when Elle started. Most of the crew knew she was female but only the original crew members knew who she was and why she was really here.

Harv had been put in charge of her safety and the crew knew to keep their hands to themselves.
Talbot stood and made his way to the infirmary. He suspected Elle would most likely be there visiting with Jr or in the galley.

He pushed open the infirmary door and froze before crossing the threshold.

Jr and Elle were locked in an embrace on one of the patient cots. Elle's back was too him, an arm wrapped around Jr. Jr's arm snaked around Elle's waist, his fingers clutched the hem of her jacket in a white knuckled fist.

Talbot felt a wave of jealousy so deep that it burned. He closes eyes and tried to push the emotion away.

He only came for one reason, he reminded himself. He would say what he had to say and then he would leave.

He opened his eyes and stepped into the room. His boots thumped against the rough deck boards.

Elle and Jr jumped, then pulled apart. Talbot closed the space between them and looked down at their faces.

What the? He thought. Both of them had tear streaked faces and were hurriedly trying to wipe the evidence of tears away.

"C-captain." Jr said pulling himself together.

"Captain Talbot." He watched as she swallowed. He noticed a few streaks of years she had failed to wipe away. She stood, seeming uncomfortable, and looked over at Jr. Then her eyes came back to him. He waited for an explanation.

"Captain?" Elle asked. Despite her teary face she presented a calm facade.

Okay, they wanted to pretend that nothing was going on. That was fine by him he would let them. For now.

"Zed thinks, and I agree," he added letting them know it was not up for debate, "that its best if crew under 19 not attend Bartard's hanging." He lifted an eyebrow waiting for protest.

Elle turned to Jr, smiling. She reached out and squeezed his shoulder. Something was going on on his ship and Talbot didn't understand it. He didn't like it.

"See. We don't have to go." She told Jr. Jr didn't smile but he didn't look upset about the decision.

Elle turned to face him. Her face now sober. "Can Nathan play cards with us while..." she let the sentence trail off.

"Yes." Talbot nodded. "I want to sail through the night so he would be on shift just after dark." Truth was that Talbot wished they could set sail immediately because the wind was already blowing in the direction that they needed. This journey was taking far too long already. "I'll need you in the nest." He told Elle. She nodded.

"What about me, Captain?"

"No." He shook his head. "Zed hasn't released you yet." Jr didn't look pleased. Not that it mattered. Sailing was dangerous, there was no sense in taking unnecessary chances.

Talbot told Elle to be on deck on at dusk then turned and left.

-*-*-*

For the next few weeks most of the crew discussed the hanging of Bartard. There wasn't much that happened on a ship at sea so the hanging was the main topic of conversation. Hearing some of the details made her glad that she hadn't attended.

Bartard had remained a sanctimonious jerk even as they slid the noose over his head. From the talk of the crew Bartard still thought his uncle would be angry over his death.

Within a month two of crew the fought over an insult. This affectively ended most discussion of the hanging. Others were pulled in as they had witnessed the supposed insult.

Eventually, Talbot had stepped in and had both men flogged with two lashes. They had been warned that if the dispute didn't end and continued to effect the crew they would both receive additional lashes.

The argument ended with bad feelings on both sides. But neither man wanted to risk more lashes.

The next incident that occurred to cause conversation had been the disappearance of two crew members, both on the same night.

The men had worked the night watch. They had been in different areas of the ship but vanished within what could only be determined as approximately an hour of each other. There were no clues to their where abouts or the cause of disappearance of either man. Neither had any known enemies. All of their belongings were accounted for. The last people to see each man had claimed nothing had been off about the man's behavior.

Although a few months passed nothing happened to cause more problems, the talk eventually died down.

They made port to resupply. The crew was restless but Talbot said they had tarried to long already so they sailed again with the tied.

The months passed restlessly for Elle. Each passing day brought her closer to the convent. Her nerves grew thin and she threw herself in to her work. She volunteered for extra shifts, extra chores, to the point of exhaustion.

By the time they made port in India she had lost more weight then was probably healthy. She had never been too full of figure now that lack showed. Her cheeks looked hallow, bruised and sunken. Her clothes hung awkwardly on her slight frame. Her muscles looked out of place on a body that threatened collapse at any moment.

Harv frequently gave her looks of concern. Talbot sent her glares that she pointedly chose to ignore. Zed pulled her aside and warned her she was pushing herself to hard. Cook frowned when she skipped meals but he didn't treat her like a child. No one else on board seemed to notice.

Jr tried to get her to slow down. Eventually she confided in him. It felt good to have someone to talk to about her fears. It wasn't until she told him all of it that she realized how much it had affected her.

She missed Zara, too. Jr was a wonderful friend but not having Zara to talk to hurt.

The first night in port Elle stayed on the ship. She slept for 11 hours in her cabin. At one point someone knocked on her cabin door, she yelled abuse and threats til they left her to sleep.

*-*-*-*-*

I need to do some research on India, Indian food, ports, culture before continuing.

If you can help with historically accurate information please message it to me.

I will continue as soon as I can.