The Stolen Heart (3 page)

 

 

“I know navigation and sums," she said proudly. "I was born aboard
ship, you know, and lived with my mother and father for many years.”

 

 

“I know. My cousin Dare sails with his wife Samantha. A remarkable
woman, that. A remarkable story. She shipped out with him disguised
as a greenhand. Hah! He never even guessed she was a woman. Just
imagine that!”

 

 

“Er, yes, just imagine,” Almira said weakly.

 

 

She tried to swallow her roast beef, but it had suddenly been
rendered as tasteless as sawdust as she thought of her own
masquerade, and her deceiving this fine man.

 

 

“I suppose there are a lot of advantages to having her on board, but
I wouldn't want any wife of mine in such danger," he said
emphatically.

 

 

“Does she enjoy it, sir?” she asked curiously in a more normal tone.

 

 

“She does. She loves it. But then, she loves him. And he loves her.
So it suits them. I can’t imagine it myself, but then, I'd never be
fooled in that way. Or want my wife to see me at sea in such
appalling conditions. Your mother was a very brave woman.”

 

 

At those words, Al had smiled wanly and thought to give up the whole
scheme at once. She would try to find another way to get the money.
But she'd got that far, far enough to trick him despite his
confident assertions. It had taken on the dimensions almost of a
dare. And there was something about the handsome and kind Captain
which reassured her, told her that she could trust her life to him.

 

 

Jared Starbuck had been the soul of kindness. Almira had soon
decided she had nothing to lose and everything to gain by going
ahead with her scheme to ship out with him on the
Trident
.
He was certainly a wonderful man, and she grew more fascinated with
him with every passing moment.

 

 

They had finished the meal just as he had said they would, and then
he had escorted her home. Jared had taken one look at her empty
cupboards and come back with a crate full of essentials. He had also
sent out to the local pie shop for dinner and to a bakery for fresh
bread and even more cake. He was wonderful with her sisters and Mrs.
Jenkins, and had his crew come from the ship to help move all their
household effects.

 

 

He had kitted out Almira with clothes for the journey, though she
had all to do to prevent him from insisting that he go with her to
buy the things.

 

 

She managed to figure out the men’s sizes for herself, and got some
study shoes and boots for the trip, and a nice warm coat and a rain
slicker she had been advised to purchase by an old salt, who told
her that she would never regret having it.

 

 

She'd said a tearful farewell to her sisters, and shipped out on the
Trident
with the dashing Jared Starbuck within three days.

 

 

She had been more than eager to head off on the adventure. She just
prayed it wouldn't be the biggest mistake of her life.

 

 

 

CHAPTER THREE

 

 

Now, six weeks later, Al was still managing to keep her identity a
secret from Jared. She was always conscious of her deception, and
rather ashamed of it. For despite their disparity in rank and
position, they had become friends. There was no other word for it so
far as she could tell, though she was beginning to suspect it might
be growing into love on her part.

 

 

He was certainly the most marvellous man she had ever met, even more
remarkable than her own father. Jared had gone out of his way to
take her under his wing and teach her everything he thought she
needed to know about the world of whaling.

 

 

They had become closer with every passing day, but despite their
increasing intimacy, no time had ever seemed the right one to tell
him the truth. Now weeks later, despite all of her arduous duties,
no one was yet aware of her true gender.

 

 

If she was being completely honest, she didn't want to tell Jared,
because she didn't wish her role aboard the ship to change.

 

 

She had earned acceptance and friendship from almost everyone. To
tell the captain that he had been sharing his cabin, eating,
sleeping, bathing, dressing and undressing in front of a woman all
this time was probably more than he could ever accept or forgive.

 

 

And the last thing she wanted was to be put off at the next port,
when she was so desperate to catch up to her brother and find her
father.

 

 

It had certainly opened her eyes living in such close quarters with
him, but she was sure there could never be a finer man in the world
than Jared Starbuck. Handsome, magnetic, patient, intelligent, she
was sure he was an even more admirable man than her own father.

 

 

She wept into her pillow at night to think what her brother was
suffering at the hands of Captain "Killer" Smith on
The Dolphin
due to her beloved father's disappearance.

 

 

She was sure he was alive. She just had to find him. And she would
endure whatever it took, travel to the ends of the earth a hundred
times over, to find him, or at least know of his ultimate fate. Then
she could go back home to her sisters, and face her future one way
or the other.

 

 

As Almira staggered onto the deck now, utterly worn out by the
whaleboat practice, Jared came closer, and gave her a sympathetic
look.

 

 

“Come on, lad, get yourself changed out of your wet things, and
let’s have an evening in my cabin. Invite all the boys, and we'll
get out the game boards and have a tournament.”

 

 

“Aye, Captain.” She grimaced as she pulled the stiff white duck
fabric encrusted with sea water away from her neck where it was
chafing.

 

 

She clung onto the rail and propelled herself forward with sheer
willpower alone. She was exhausted, and the last thing she wanted
was the crowd of greenhands around.

 

 

But she loved being with Jared. Even if he had to share his company,
it was better than being on her own without him.

 

 

In fact she was rather looking forward to beating him at cards. Her
father had taught her everything she needed to know, and she seemed
to have an uncanny knack for keeping track of the game.

 

 

She ran down to the large cabin and began to lay out the cards,
scrimshawed cribbage boards, checkers, chess, and books. She also
took out her slate and chalk. He could give her a few more
navigational problems while she played chess with him or one of the
other boys.

 

 

Then she headed into the captain’s stateroom, which was also her
own. It was fitted with a bunk and a hanging bed for herself, and a
bathtub and two chests for his clothes and linens, and one cupboard
for her own things.

 

 

The large main cabin, with a huge leather sofa which stretched from
one side of the ship to the other, was well used as an area for the
men to congregate. The officers came in one night, the boatsteerers
another, and the greenhands on another, each twice a week, with
Sundays a special day when the crew all got together for a spot of
socializing, such as a square dance or sing-song.

 

 

The fact the he had told her to call the greenhands, commonly
referred to as greenies, even though it was Sunday, seemed to her to
be a special consideration intended for her in particular.

 

 

Almira hastily stripped off her soaking clothes and unwrapped her
bosom, allowing herself the luxury of leaving off the strapping for
just a little while as she donned clean trousers and a shirt.

 

 

She buttoned the top two buttons, and tied the tails around her
waist as she wrung out the clothes in the tub and then hung them on
a line to dry. She pulled the rope which opened up the sluice to the
rain barrel situated above on deck, and washed her face and hands in
the fresh rainwater, before drying herself with a towel and hanging
it back up. She was more than grateful for the primitive plumbing.
Sun and salt water wreaked havoc on the skin. At least the rainwater
and Jared's fine milled soap he insisted on sharing did something to
mitigate the harsh conditions at sea. Her mother had always been
most particular about her complexion. Poor mother, what would she
think of her eldest daughter's plight now…

 

 

She looked around the confined space of the cabin, and once again
thought her fate could have been a lot worse. But it was hard to
believe how close the quarters were in the ship. Sometimes she
thought the idea of living there for three years would drive her
mad.

 

 

Then she remembered Amy and Alice back home, and knew that she had
made the right decision. At some point, when she found her father
and brother, she told herself, she could go home and have a room all
of her own for her books and things, and would only have to share
with people she loved. For now, she simply had to endure.

 

 

She was just completing her ablutions when she heard the outer door
scrape inwards. She gasped as the Captain entered the room.

 

 

Realizing she had not strapped her ample bosom back down, she
slouched her shoulders forward so he would not notice them
protruding.

 

 

“Your back must hurt like mad. You’re standing there like a
hunchback. If you take your shirt off, I can rub some ointment on
it.”

 

 

“No! No, thank you, Captain. I’m fine.”

 

 

“Listen, I’m sorry if you had a hard time today-”

 

 

“I’m part of the crew. I have to pull my weight,” she said with a
proud lift of her dainty chin.

 

 

He shook his head. “You’re the cabin boy. I should never have told
the first mate to treat you like one of the greenhands.”

 

 

“It’s all right. Most of it I enjoy. The rigging, for example,” she
said truthfully.

 

 

“Still, Mate can be a harsh taskmaster at times, I do admit it.” He
came over and rubbed her back, sending a shudder of warmth coursing
through her.

 

 

“Cold?” he asked, when he noticed her shivering.

 

 

“Still a bit damp after the soaking in the boat.”

 

 

He took his coat off and draped it around her. It was still warm
from the heat of his body, and she felt a glow within at the
intimacy.

 

 

“No, really, sir, not your coat, I'll ruin it,” she said, trying to
give it back. He had already been more than kind to her.

 

 

“Nonsense, just a bit of damp, is all, and besides, its only cotton,
not wool. Hold on to it for me. I’m roasting. But then I haven’t
been soaked to the skin for hours.”

 

 

He opened the door to the main cabin, and strode over to the desk
that he kept in one corner by the sofa.

 

 

“Shall I do the log, or would you like to do it?”

 

 

“I’ll be happy to take your dictation,” she said.

 

 

"Wonderful. Your hand is so much better than mine." He sat beside
her, their knees just touching, sending a strange tingling up and
down her spine.

 

 

She noted down his words carefully in her best penmanship, important
details like the latitude and longitude, and the weather.

 

 

“Wind calm, whaleboat practice again today for two hours,” he said,
and then nodded. “And let's hope the rest of the day remains
relatively uneventful. Though if a whale is sighted, I think I might
just send us out. I don't normally whale on a Sabbath, but our oil
is getting low, and I don’t fancy running out before we get around
the Horn.”

 

 

“I’m sure we'll find some. We just have to pray, as my father always
said.”

 

 

Jared nodded, and sighed. “He's a good man, that’s for certain.”

 

 

She sighed heavily, and suddenly the cabin seemed far too small and
confined with the both of them there. “If you'll excuse me, sir,
I’ll just rouse the greenies for the evening, and get you some
food?”

 

 

“I just had something, actually. Bread and cheese. You get something
hot for yourself though. I’ll set up the chess board and see you in
a little while.”

 

 

“Can you give me more navigational problems too? My slate is there.
Oh, and I'd love to have another star chart test of the
constellations when you have time.”

 

 

Jared smiled at Al fondly. “You do have the most remarkably agile
mind. Mate calls you a monkey, you know.”

 

 

“I love the rigging. I just hate the whaleboat.”

 

 

“At least you don't suffer from
malde mer.”

 

 

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “The Mate even held that
against me. Said I needed to purge myself.”

 

 

His brows shot up. “And did you?”

 

 

“What, vomit just to make him happy? I don’t think so, sir. Some
things should be above and beyond the call of duty.”

 

 

He laughed. “I hate to tell you this, but Captain Smith on the
Dolphin
is so adamant that seasickness is a necessary part of a whaler’s
life, that if they're not ill, he gives them ipecac syrup to provoke
purging. And then tries to cure the illness with a piece of roast
pork tied to a string, coated in molasses, which he makes the boys
swallow, and then yanks back up several times.”

 

 

Jared noticed Al’s suddenly while face. He moved over to rub the
lad's slender back soothingly.