The Stowaway

XXII

Mr Kerry cursed under his breath. "The hangman cannot catch up with that man fast enough, if you ask me." Shaking his head, "No matter, I trust your judgement, Tom, and I will ensure that you have an excess to surrender should it happen on your journey back. We will factor this cost in so that there is no loss."

For the next few hours, Tom and Mr Kerry sat discussing, planning, calculating, and tallying the supplies and cargo to be shipped back to England. It would take a day or two for Tom's men to cart the load back to the ship. He would not have Mr Kerry's workers transport it. His conscience would not allow those poor people to do any work for him.

The housemaid who had opened the front door for Tom entered the study sometime after noon with a tea tray and refreshments for luncheon.

Tom thanked her in Creole, and she offered him another smile, before leaving them alone.

Mr Kerry peered at him with his small, grey eyes. "What's this?" he asked. "You speak Slave, do you?" he asked curiously.

"Creole," corrected Tom sharply, "and barely. I am trying to learn."

"Why?"

Tom did not think Mr Kerry was trying to be rude. He sincerely sounded bemused, as the idea of communicating with the people that he ownedbaffled him.

Tom would have uttered something sharp in reply, but he needed to keep the man in a good mood. He had a few requests to make of him before their meeting concluded.

"Just being polite," Tom murmured. He stacked his notes neatly before shutting them away as Mr Kerry helped himself to some tea, not bothering to pour Tom a cup.

"You always were a soft, little boy underneath your hard exterior, Tom. I never forgot the little one I discovered all those years ago." He chuckled to himself.

If common decency was softness, then he would wear it gladly.

"I have a few requests to make of you before I leave, Mr Kerry." Tom cleared his throat.

This peaked Mr Kerry's interest. "Oh?"

"I want to dismiss Zacky Ellis," he stated firstly. This did not cause him any grief or spark the nerves that he was feeling. He did not like the man anyway, but his behaviour towards Eliza was inexcusable and he would not have him on the Atlantis for their return trip. "His behaviour is not acceptable."

Mr Kerry acquiesced remarkably easily. "Of course. As I said, I trust your judgement. Mr Ellis will be dismissed forthwith."

Zacky would be able to find work aboard another ship, but he would no longer sail under Tom.

His next request was what turned his stomach.

Tom had been under Richard Kerry's thumb for nearly twenty years. He was in a vicious cycle of being a great captain without a ship. Without his own ship, he could never make any income, not real, proper income that could provide ... that could even satisfy ...

The thoughts, the feelings were there, whether he was ready to deal with them or not. And when he would be forced to deal with them, Tom needed to have something to offer. At that moment in time, he had nothing.

He could get work as a captain with any merchant ship, but his situation would be unchanged. He could not even approach a bank for a loan as he had nothing for collateral. Without Richard Kerry, Tom had no future. He could only pray that twenty years of service earned him a chance.

"Do you agree that I am a good captain, a hard worker?" Tom asked Mr Kerry.

Mr Kerry appeared utterly perplexed. "But of course, Tom," he agreed, nodding.