Tucker shrugged. “Captain said he saw naught amiss with her work. Kept her as the captain of the foretop.”
Harriet had only been in the foretop once, when the ship was floating down a calm river. She wasn’t sure she could go up there if the ship was rolling in heavy seas, and certainly not in a storm. The starboard watch had furled some of the canvas on their watch when the wind picked up, so since then she’d only needed to help adjust the sails.
Chang jumped another of Tucker’s checkers and used it to point at her. “Ching Shih.”
“She who?”
“Pi’ate queen. Ching Shih.”
“Oh, I heard o’ her,” Jack said. “You could be like ’er. Had more than two thousand ships and seventy thousand men under ‘er command a’fore she retired. Most feared pirate in the south China Sea.”
Harriet shuddered. “Didn’t she nail to the deck the feet of anyone who displeased her so she could beat them?”
Chang dismissively shrugged one shoulder.
“Ann Bonney,” Tucker said.
“Mary Read,” Jack added.
Harriet shook her head. “I don’t want to become a pirate, queen or otherwise, and I’m not interested in any Calico Jack. Or associating with any pirates, for that matter.”
All three men froze, staring at her.
She grinned. “I have grown fond of privateers, though. And honest merchantmen.”
They laughed, and Tucker clapped her on the back.
“My father was a Navy man,” she continued. “A gunner’s mate on the HMS Peregrine.”
Chang spoke, all of it in Mandarin.
“‘E says you come by it naturally then,” Jack said. “Being a powder monkey or gunner’s mate, that is.”
“Monkey?” She wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or insult. “I was just helping out after Winston got hurt.” She thought back to her early childhood, searching her memories. “My mother and I used to carry powder from the hold to the guns. We went ashore for good soon after my little brother learned to crawl.”
Tucker furrowed his brow. “Peregrine is the ship the Old Man’s da served on, innit?”
She nodded. “That’s how we became joint owners of Tesoro. He belonged to our fathers.”
* * *
Nick swung out of his hammock and held tight to the rope while the cabin spun. Countless times he’d got by on a half hour nap every few hours for days at a time, during a storm or sneaking around a blockade. But sleeping during the day just because his head pounded and he was tired made him feel feeble. Norton said it was to be expected, and given the impressive bruising on his brow around the healing gash, was surprised Nick didn’t need to sleep even more. Judging by the dreary light coming through the window, he’d been out for a lot longer than a half hour.
Finally the cabin stopped spinning though the deck was still pitching. Cautiously he took the few steps to the bunk and looked out the window. The light had changed not just because of the passage of time. A storm was brewing. He grabbed his greatcoat from the hook on his way out the door. He’d check on the horses, make sure they were set up in the slings correctly, and then go up and check the weather.
He rounded the corner into the center cargo hold in time to see Harriet flip Zach over her hip. He fell flat on his back in the straw with an “Oof!” Behind them, the horses watched, placidly munching on hay.
Nick’s jaw went slack.
“Good one!” Zach said. He held a hand for Harriet to help him up. Instead of rising with her aid, though, he yanked and twisted until she was on her back, and pinned her with his body.
“What the hell is going on here?” Nick roared, blood pounding in his ears at seeing Zach and Harriet in such an intimate position. Both had their coats off, down to shirtsleeves and waistcoat.
They turned startled gazes on Nick, then glanced back at each other. Zach quickly rose and reached a hand, and with his help Harriet jumped to her feet. She dusted off her clothing, setting it to rights.
“Probably not what you’re thinking,” Zach said as he plucked a piece of straw from her braid, grinning.
“We, uh…” she began.
