The Stowaway

XIV

"I do not insist," answered Don Quixote, "that this is a full adventure, but it is the beginning of one, for this is the way adventures begin." Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

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XIV.

Fear was a strange and uncomfortable phenomenon. Eliza had never felt more terrified in her life than when she had been cowering under that bed, and watching as a man, a threat tore the cabin apart. Had he found her, he might have killed her.

Or he might have done something even worse.

But he did not, and she was safe. It might have seemed silly to feel safe after such an ordeal, but she did. Captain Buckley had kept her safe, and he would not let anything happen to her. He had promised her, and she believed him.

Eliza trusted him.

Eliza was not so foolish now to believe that she could look after herself on such an adventure. Perhaps she had at first thought that it would be a sensational journey without problems, but that was only her naivety.

Eliza had never done anything by herself, and she had never travelled farther than the south-western counties in England. She had clearly overestimated her own safety in such an environment.

She now knew that to be safe, and to return home in the same state, she needed to listen. She needed to follow orders and take instructions and advice from people who knew better than her.

In doing so she could learn, and improve, and take back with her to England a sense of worldly maturity that she had most definitely been lacking.

The sailors seemed to recover almost instantaneously as they carried on with their work. Eliza did so as well. She had a responsibility aboard the ship, and she did not want to be looked down upon. What was startling was the fact that the sailors seemed to know exactly what to do when the pirates came.

In the back of her mind was a worry, now. What could happen on her return journey when she did not have Captain Buckley protecting her?

Eliza distracted herself by singing a sea shanty and carrying on with scrubbing. As she sang and she scrubbed, she watched. Looking up at the helm, Eliza watched as Captain Buckley seemed to free Jonesy and Echo from head duty, while simultaneously sentencing Zacky to it. She could only guess that was what had happened as Jonesy and Echo left the conversation seeing quite relieved.

Captain Buckley kept Zacky after the other two crewmen had left. Eliza could feel his rage from where she was crouching on the lower deck. He was speaking quietly, but sternly. Hissing, almost, it looked like. Zacky looked as though he wanted to run away in fright.

Eliza was not entirely sure as to why the captain was angry with Zacky, as all he had done was taken her up to the crow's nest, but she was going to take heed of his warning. He did not think that Eliza should trust Zacky, and of the two men, she knew exactly who she would believe now.

The captain had broken Zacky's nose. That was a fact that seemed clear to everyone. What was unclear was the reason. Zacky's story was perhaps a little muddled now, if not completely untrue.

Eliza almost felt ashamed at how quickly she had believed the captain to be senselessly violent.

Whatever the reason, Eliza knew that it was not her place to ask, no matter her curiosity.

After a few more minutes, Zacky walked away from Captain Buckley, their conversation ending. He descended onto to the lower deck, and walked with purpose right by Eliza, deliberately not meeting her eye.