The Historically Unhistorical Work of Historical Fiction

Chapter 3-August 12th, 1495

August 12th, 1495

Today, the captain seemed a little distracted. Whenever you looked over at him, he looked deep in thought or troubled by something. A rumor started up that we were off course when one of my classmates saw the captain and the navigator talking together alone. There was supposedly going to be some kind of delay, at least, that’s what I’d heard from my friend Joel, who had found time to talk to me during our free-time. We all expected the captain to tell us something, but he kept any important news there might have been to himself and everyone started to reevaluate if he was trustworthy or not.

As a steward, I kept track of the supplies on the ship. The food and water supply was especially important, there was a possibility of mutiny without fresh water to drink or fresh food to eat. The rations that we had to eat were exceptionally small; probably not what most of the sailors were used to. We would all have to adapt to it though.

When everything seemed to be in order, I walked out of the supply room. Just as I was about to see what I could do to help around the ship, the captain had come up to me. He was tall with lightly tanned skin, hazel eyes and black hair that seemed to be growing out of what used to be a buzz-cut. The captain looked to be around his forties and wrinkles were starting to make their way onto his face.

“You must be the steward, Alex McGuillicuddy.” He held out his hand for me and I took it firmly like I thought a boy should.

“Yes sir,” I replied, making sure my voice was low and throaty like a male going through puberty or something like that. The captain eyed me carefully, the handshake was convincing but I guess my voice needed some work.

“I'm Captain Nyle, I’ve heard so little about you, I hope we’ll become better acquainted with this trip. Come, you must not have met all of the head crew yet.” I shook my head and Captain Nyle put one large hand on my shoulder and steered me towards the front of the ship.

It looked like we were headed towards where the helmsman was-the guy who steered the ship. Sure enough, the captain stopped us next to a burly, short figure with a shaved head and dark, brown skin with both hands on the steering wheel of the ship.

“This is my helmsman, Striker,” The captain said with pride while clapping Striker on the back, “one of the best men out there.”

“Nice to meet you sir, I’m Alex McGuillicuddy.” I said and the helmsman nodded without looking away from the endless miles of blue, choppy sea.

“Moving along,” the captain steered me away from the helmsman while shouting over his shoulder, “Thanks for your time!” The captain seemed like a nice and energetic person as he led me to the quarters underneath the ship.

Captain Nyle led me into a room that was filled with medical beds and a small lantern on a hook giving off light in the dim room. There was a tall woman taking care of a sick crew member who was coughing violently. With the rocking motion of the ship and the lack of light in this small room, it felt kind of ominous. The captain knocked on the door even though we were already inside and the woman looked up at us. She had amber eyes with glasses perched on her nose. Her skin was an olive color, and now that I looked at her, she seemed unnaturally young. I was surprised that they let a woman on the ship; she must be a good surgeon.

The woman got up and walked over to me, her tall figure towering over me like a skyscraper. I almost had to look all the way up just to see her chin.

“I am Eliza Silvercross. You must be the steward, Alex McGuillicuddy.” Her voice was just like a little girl’s, high-pitched and soft. I nodded in response, even though she hadn’t really asked a question. I was starting to wonder how everyone knew my name.

“Nice to meet you.” I held out my hand for her to shake and when she took it, I screamed out in pain and fell to the floor. I pulled away from her quickly and looked at the blood flowing from my palm. When I looked up at her, she had a sharp tool sticking out of the sleeve of her lab coat.

“Oops! I forgot to put this down. I always keep something on me for medical emergencies.” Her face was covered in blush and I was suspicious of her explanation. “My sleeve just happens to be an easily accessible place to put some of my tools.” She took of her lab coat and a lot of sharp things fell from pockets inside. I thought I saw a small machete, but then again, the pain in my hand was probably making me see things.

Eliza knelt down next to me and pulled some gauze from the coat that lay in a heap on the floor. She bandaged my hand with the gentle touch of a skilled surgeon. There was a scar on the back of her hand and I wondered where she got it from.

“I’m so sorry about that Alex.” Eliza stood up after she was finished with my hand and helped me up. She was about to say something else when a crew member came down and whispered in Captain Nyle’s ear. A smile immediately spread across his face and the captain turned to us with enthusiasm.

“It seems as if we’ve reached our first stop on our way to the new world.” The captain pulled me away from Eliza and dragged me back up to the deck. When we were back on the deck, I saw an island not too far away. All of the crew members were excited and most of them had stopped working to catch a glimpse of the land we hadn’t seen for almost a week. The captain stood on a crate in front of all the crew members so that he could be heard.

“All right crew, we’ve reached the Azores Islands! I know you all want shore leave, but I’m afraid we can’t do that. Please understand that it’s for the best.” Murmurs and groans rose up within the crowd and everyone looked disappointed. They must have been looking forward to reuniting with the land, even if only for a few minutes. I could understand where the captain was coming from though, if we let them have shore leave, they might never come back on-board.

Only three of the top crew members went to the island but they reported back empty-handed. We didn’t find any extra food or anything else on the island. All of the crew was uneasy, land was so close yet they hadn’t even been able to set foot on it. The ship set sail again and before we knew it, the second week was already there.