The sun was shining brightly but not unbearably so and the wind was pleasant. All in all, it was a lovely day out at sea. So, when Mateo came running to me for what felt like the hundredth time, though it was probably only the fifth in the past few weeks, I groaned with naked annoyance. I had no quartermaster, not since the tragic passing of my last one, but Mateo was one of my most trusted crewmen, someone I could really count on. That said, he had his moments.
“Let me guess, your ghost again?”
“I didn’t say it was a ghost, señora. I just said it was something.”
“You’re really gonna make me come down there?”
He nodded meekly.
I groaned, slapping a firm hand onto his back as I pushed him impatiently towards the lower decks. “Fine, let’s see this mysterious stowaway.”
On the one hand I was simply humoring him. On the other, well if there really was someone or something down there, well what kind of captain would I be if I let it go unnoticed.
Still, it’s unfortunate to be torn away from such lovely weather.
It was dark below deck. I turned my patch over to the other eye so I could see better in the dim light.
We began our search, checking in crates and barrels and behind sacks. Eventually we reached a large crate filled with dry rice and beans. And one terrified looking girl.
She seemed to be around her early twenties, red-gold hair sloppily cropped short and hand clamped over her mouth.
She stared up at me with wide, blue eyes.
Before I could say anything, she began talking.
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“Please don’t tell your captain-“
“I am the captain.” I growled
“I’m so sorry ma’am. Please don’t hurt me, I mean no harm and please, please don’t send me back to port.
I was a bit surprised at that last part. How interesting. I wondered what this girl was running from. “Don’t fret, lass, I won’t do anything like that.”
She seemed to calm down, but not by much.
“But, you should know,” I placed a rough hand on her shoulder, “I don’t give free rides.”
“What are you going to do to me?” she whispered, almost to herself.
I grinned again.
Up on deck she seemed relieved to see the sun again.
I grabbed a mop and bucket from a man working nearby and thrust them towards her. “Start swabbing.”
She looked stunned, but grateful.
She wasn’t used to manual labor, that much was clear from the quality of her clothes, but she tended to the task dutifully. I figured she’d likely get tired soon, but to my surprise, she didn’t complain once, fighting through the burn in her weak, pampered muscles. It was endearing how she seemed at the same time completely out of her element and somehow, in it. A salty sea breeze blew across the deck, ruffling what was left of her hair. It was sweet how she closed her eyes and smiled in satisfaction.
“So what are we planning to ask for for her?” one of my men, a new hire named Pete, asked. “She seems like she’d be worth a good bit.”
I quickly shoved him off the deck, holding him up precariously by the collar, my grip the only thing keeping him from falling. “Would you care to repeat that
“N-no, ma’am”
I pulled him back onboard and released him.
If anyone else was so ignorant of my principles, hopefully this would teach them. Whoever this girl was. I felt she needed to be looked out for. The way someone should have been looking out for me…
I caught the girl staring back at me, startled and treated her to a small wave.
“The deck is all finished ma’am…” she said.
“Good work, miss…”
“Abigail.”