Forever Young The Beginning (4 page)

“
Yes, Ian, it…custom in my
country. I am…old…now…for betrothed…promise…be wife.” Ian laughed
at that

“
Ian, what…..funny….you
laugh?

“
Och, Lassie! You are but
seventeen and you think you are old?

“
Ian, fifteen is
age….betrothed…..to marry in Spain. What is
‘lass…lassie’?”

“
Lass is the same as saying
‘senorita’. It is common to speak so in Scotland. And about my
laughing, please don’t be offended. I did not know that you were
betrothed so young in Spain. It does happen in Scotland some yet.
Do you like this man, or is he a boy?”

“
He is nineteen years old. I
have known him since I was ten. He is very nice….kind…and trusting.
He is….what….impulsive….hot….temper. I resist my
father….he….wait….but now make me…to be promised. I…still….not
really ready. Do ladies…Scotland…betrothed to another… by
family?”

“
Many are and but many are
not. It seems to be a thing that is becoming less common than in
the past.”

“
Ian….you
betrothed?”

“
Nah, lassie, I’ve never
found a woman that I wanted for a wife. I’ve sailed since I was
four, and worked aboard ship since I was seven. My mother and
father both insisted that I learn my letters, to read, write,
mathematics, history and science.”

“
To learn….that…common
for…you…in Scotland?”

“
No. They pressed me on that
and allowed me to sail on trading voyages in summertime. In those
days, my father would sail with us as first mate.

“
How old….you,
Ian?

“
Twenty three.” He didn’t
add that his only acquaintance with women of his age were tavern
wenches, whether in Amsterdam, Liverpool, Edinburg, or London. In
fact since this trip that would also include Calcutta, Cape Town,
Singapore and Hong Kong.

Passing the hours they talked about a
number of things, and Ian grew to be greatly impressed by her
intellect as well as her beauty. They continued until the midnight
watch changed aboard Elsie. That was the signal to change the watch
aboard the prize ship too, so Ian reluctantly escorted Alandra back
to her cabin and softly bid her good night. He then woke the two
crewmen in the adjacent cabin to start their watch. Thinking of
Alandra, he took a few minutes to fall asleep, which was out of
character for him, but then he drifted off to a dreamless
sleep.

The next day saw them becalmed still.
Up at dawn, Ian went to see to the extra provisions, then to speak
with MacGregor and MacCarr. He asked them to try to include Mustafa
in some of their work. Then he went to the galley to seek Li Hong.
Li was half Chinese and half English, and he had joined them while
in Hong Kong. He was lean like Ian, but maybe four inches shorter.
Nice looking, he had regular features and straight black hair. He
was square-jawed with a European cast to his face, save for his
oriental looking eyes. A hunted man by the Triads, he had killed
four of them for murdering his mother, father, and two sisters.
There had been nothing to hold him in China and he knew that the
Triads would keep looking for him as long as he stayed there. He
had learned English and to a lesser extent, Portuguese being that
he lived in Hong Kong, a vibrant and busy trade center.

Ian had seen him the night he had
killed two of the four Triads, and was singularly impressed that he
had done it with no weapon whatsoever, whereas they had wielded
knives. He had waded in and helped Li, simply because of the odds
and had sliced one badly with his knife. By the time he had joined
Li at his side again, two were dead and another had a broken
arm.

One thing led to another and
he persuaded Angus to take on the twenty-seven year old Li as a
crewman, observing that they could use help in the galley; and that
it would serve the interests of the whole crew to learn as much
about the art of hand-to-hand combat that Li had demonstrated. Li
was a fine cook, and they had never eaten so well before. So it was
that he came to be a crewman on board
Elsie’s Cloud
.

Ian sought him in the galley
and asked if he could instruct him in hand to hand combat that
morning seeing as how breakfast had already been served. Li was
enthusiastic, and was still complaining that he had not gotten to
board the
Tico
with Ian for the final part of that battle.

Laughing merrily at his complaints Ian
replied “Li, if I’d taken you and you’d been killed, they would
have hung me for losing the best cook we ever had!”

They went to the low foredeck where
they stretched their muscles for a good ten minutes in the still,
humid air, perspiring freely. Facing each other they each placed
their right fist in against their flattened left palm and bowed.
Ian asked Li to go over how to quickly sweep the lead foot from
under an opponent. Li showed him in slow motion several times and
then had him try it. Speed and accuracy was stressed over power. Li
was instructing Ian using Mandarin Chinese as was their custom. Ian
had gotten to where he could speak it fairly well.

Alandra and Celita had appeared on the
main deck. They were dressed more casually than they had been for
dinner last night. Both were wearing outfits more appropriate for
riding; pantaloons and boots, with only light cotton blouses and
the hair of both of them tied back into a simple pony tail with
black ribbons. They would never have gotten away with that if a
proper chaperone had been with them.

Noticing a group of around nine men
gathered on the main deck, near the foredeck they saw Ian and Li
there, just as they bowed to each other. Alandra noticed that both
men were stripped to their waist, with sweat bands tied around
their heads. Ian was taller, darker skinned, and had curly black
hair on his muscular chest, stomach, legs, and forearms, while Li
was nearly hairless. Both men had highly defined musculature, being
lean and fit looking. Rivulets of sweat ran freely down the
contours of their glistening bodies in the still, humid
air.

After climbing onto the top of the
forward cargo hatch to see over the heads of the crewmen, they
watched with great interest. Alandra couldn’t take her gaze from
Ian. They noticed that Li spoke in an unknown tongue as did Ian. At
times, without turning around, Ian explained to the crew there what
Li was saying. Li again went over how to quickly step inside an
opponent’s reach while sweeping a foot behind him for a take down.
He did it several times at a very slow speed.

Finally Li did it at fighting speed
and Ian went down on his back with a thump. Alandra and Celita both
gasped, never having seen such a sight before. The sudden speed of
the thing amazed them both. Ian laughed good-naturedly as Li helped
him up and then gestured him to do likewise. Ian moved in like
lightning and it was Li Hong who crashed to the deck, bringing
another gasp from the two women, followed by giggling. At the sound
of their giggling, Ian, Li, and the assembled crewmen all
turned.

Seeing both ladies, Ian blushed, as
the crew laughed uproariously. Alandra thought this was just
marvelous and clapped her hands together while laughing. Ian
fastened his gaze on Alandra and she gradually stopped laughing.
Then a slow smile spread over the face of both of them, not
unnoticed by Celita who giggled all the more. Two of the crew
whistled and all applauded, causing Ian and Alandra both to blush
even more and to break into laughter.

About then that magical
moment evaporated as the ship’s sails ruffled in a breeze that had
sprung from nowhere. Ian shouted “Wind’s up. Stu, fetch Cap’n
McCloud!” Shortly they had a volunteer crew of eight men and were
separated from Elsie. The ladies had elected to stay aboard
Tico
.

***

They had four good days of
sailing. At dusk they would furl all sails on
Tico
and rig to be towed overnight by
Elsie. They would all have supper aboard Elsie and then were able
to sail all night long with no lights showing. Ian had persuaded
Angus to allow Li to sail with him aboard
Tico
. They kept the same routine each
morning with either Ian giving fencing lessons or Li giving Kung Fu
lessons. The steady breeze was a welcome respite from the warm
humid air they all experienced while becalmed. Ian also taught Li
all manner of seaman’s knots. Alandra seemed interested in this and
participated regularly. She talked with Ian every time there was an
opportunity. They were getting to know each other very well. Celita
seemed to smile a lot at Tom McBride.

The blue sky and sparking sea about
them promised a fifth fair day of sailing. It was windier than any
day since entering the Mediterranean, and Ian settled in for a four
hour watch at the helm. As he stood at the helm, he reflected on
the events that had transpired since Elsie had entered the
Mediterranean. He thought of how they could have easily been sunk
or overrun by the pirates. Another pirate craft or a pair of them
could have joined in. Seeing smoke of a cannon fight at sea would
attract them like a dead body would attract buzzards. Things could
have gone badly for them.

Pondering the history of Elsie and her
construction, he was still surprised that his emergency bow rudders
had been used to save the day; and recalled the time they had first
tested them on Elsie’s first day at sea near Amsterdam.

He had doubted that they
would ever use one of them as time went on. How wrong that turned
out to be! Ian let his mind wander and in due course his gaze met
that of Alandra, who smiled sweetly at him.
By Heaven she takes my breath away!

Two hours later, he called for a
crewman to take the helm. He then climbed aloft on first one mast
and then the other one rigged by MacCarr while carrying a skin of
water to the lookout. He wanted to check a spar anchor on the rear
mast.

Tico’s cargo was rich
indeed. Ian had seen expensively made leather saddles furnished
with silver buckles, cases of finely crafted sabers of Toledo steel
and ornate sheaths. There were cases of pistols and muskets of
superb quality as well of numerous items of fine silver and golden
goblets, candelabras, fine crockery and china. They would give all
of Alandra’s family belongings back but would keep the ship owner’s
cargo to sell later, when they repaired and sold
Tico
.

Alandra came and joined him at the
helm, bringing food and water. He asked her to take the helm while
he ate. She was hesitant at first, and then took it as he stepped
aside. They had a pleasant conversation, she asking for details
about different places he had seen in his travels. Her English had
improved markedly in just these few days.

She asked many questions in her
halting English, which he was admittedly growing to love. He
noticed that her hair which had looked black in the cabin the first
time he had seen her, had reddish highlights. It blew carelessly
across her neck and Ian was quite distracted by her
presence.

They had drifted over one
hundred feet to port, widening the gap between them and Elsie. Ian
said “Alandra, we’re too far from
Elsie.
Steer a wee bit to starboard.”
She turned to him impishly, and feigning a deep voice said “Och
lad, give…lassie…this one… a chance!” punctuating that with a
giggle. Ian’s mouth dropped open and he must have had a priceless
look on his face because Alandra then burst forth with raucous
laughter, as she threw her head back and shook her hair. Ian
finally joined in. They laughed until they could hardly breathe,
attracting some attention from others on board. Ian finally said
“Ah lass, we must find you a better English teacher.”

Taking a final long pull at the water
skin, Ian stepped close behind Alandra and reaching around her with
both arms, corrected their course a bit. Alandra’s heart beat a bit
faster as she felt his nearness and the warmth of his encircling
arms. Once his right hand rested on hers for a moment, and Alandra
felt something like electricity pass through her body.

“
You have a touch for this,
Alandra. I think in time, you could sail a craft on your own with
no help.” She laughed at that, saying “Ian…you make…joke?”
Laughing, Ian said “Nah, lassie, I meant it. You have a natural
balance but Celita is a landlubber.

“
Celita…the….landbubber…bandlubber….landlubber”. Another giggle
followed and Ian couldn’t help himself but to laugh with
her.

“
You climb …like…cat, Ian.
You…same up ….in sails as on…. deck.”

“
I have played in ships at
home since I was a wee lad Alandra.”

“
What is ‘wee’, Ian?” With a
low chuckle, he explained ‘wee’ to her. She then said “You fight
with Chinese man…..he teach you?”

“
Aye, lass.” He related the
circumstances of their chance meeting and Li’s coming to be a
seaman on
Elsie. They stood like that for
over a half hour and finally Ian stepped away, to Alandra’s regret.
He called to a crewman to take the helm. After speaking briefly to
him, Ian said “Come with me Alandra, and I’ll show you something
special.”

Stooping, he picked up his jacket from
the deck and they walked toward the bow of the ship side by side.
Ian stopped to pull hard on several ropes holding the repaired mast
and looked briefly at it to see if anything was loosening.
Satisfied, he picked up a short coil of rope left over from the
repairs and looped it over his shoulder. He gestured towards the
bow and they climbed the steps to the low foredeck. Walking beside
her he said “Would you like to feel like you are the ship?” She
said yes to that, so he hopped catlike up to the bowsprit and
walking out onto it, he sat down, facing out to sea.