I came to learn much about the ways of seafaring men. Evenings were often spent playing dice or cards, and grog flowed like water amongst the sailors. Madsen and Vanders taught me to play cards, and Duncan taught me to cheat at them. The crew often told Duncan that the pockmarks that marred his face had come from the devil, one for each time he cheated at an honest game. He must have cheated much in his youth if that were true. Any time the devil was mentioned, Morgan would make the sign of the cross and then spit upon the ground. If there was a man said to believe in any sort of damnation, it was Morgan, and he always kept a well-thumbed Bible in his back pocket that he would pull out and read a random passage from any time it seemed convenient for him but not for those in his vicinity.
The youngest besides myself were Goode and Jacks, two men of early twenties, and they numbered amongst the lot Ambrose had brought aboard just before we set sail. They were not overly intelligent, but they were quick to lend a helping hand, and some of the more experienced crew members, like Miller and Reed, were eager to help them learn the tricks of the trade.
Then there was Franklin. He had been well brought up, had Franklin, before he came to sea. He was a man of quiet authority, much like Ambrose, and I laid that he would become the next first mate if Humbolt ever unexpectedly left this world. Franklin had wrapped around his finger a young man named Clark; I suspected them to be lovers, though I had never seen more than lingering moments of eye contact pass between them.
Thatch and Grant were the sort of grizzled men one might expect from a life of seafaring, boisterous and loud, among the first to start up a rousing shanty or swapping stories of ladies of generous reputation that they had found favor with at various ports.
The remaining member of the crew, the one who scared me the most, was Roderick, who near rivaled Silas for height and bulk, though was perhaps closer to Bosun in intelligence. His very presence was enough to fill any silence. In the first weeks of the voyage, it was he who made the crudest remarks to me. I found reasons to avoid being around him as much as I could, for the cold look in his eyes and his leering smile made me feel as though a fish were flopping inside of my guts.
One late afternoon when Silas had stepped out onto the deck to talk to some of the crew, Roderick found me in the galley and pressed me against the wall, offering me a silver coin if I got down on my knees and sucked his cock right there. I refused, to which Roderick grabbed me by the hair. I might have had rather a bad time of it if Silas had not returned right then and ordered Roderick out of his galley in a voice so thunderous and sharp that it might have broken my assailant like a smashed clay pot. Silas did not leave me alone in the galley anymore after that.
The squire was as kindly as ever, and he joked with the crew and made nice with all of them, but it was quite obvious that he was discomforted in their presence and often kept to himself in his quarters. The sea air and rocking of the ship was never something he got used to, and I am certain he was ready to finish our business and return home more so than anyone.
I learned that Mister Kearns was another old friend of the squire’s, whose business was the import and export of goods, hence why he was familiar with the docks and those who sailed to and from them. He had known Ambrose for a handful of years, and their relationship was amicable. But Mister Kearns was of the suspicious and nosy sort, and he made it his business to boss everyone around as if he owned the ship. “A trifle more o’ that man, and I shall explode,” Silas told me one evening after Mister Kearns had criticized his organization of the galley, which he kept as clean as a new pin. Of that man, I have not much else to say, for he and I were not of such a mind that we spent much time talking.
Silas was unweariedly kind and always glad to see me. He had a way of talking to each and doing everybody some particular service. He kept things amiable amongst the crew, laughing at their jokes, joining in with some of his own. He did not speak of his time in the Navy with them, and I could not blame him, knowing how he was plagued with nightmares from his experiences.
I spent my days in the galley with Silas and my nights in the captain’s quarters. After that first time with Ambrose, he invited me to join him for dinner every evening, and then we would spend the night together in his bed. I wondered if perhaps he would tire of me, or find another of the crew to amuse himself with, but his dedication to me and my pleasure did not waver. I, for my part, could not have been more delighted at my good fortune, for while I had not expected that our passions would cool immediately, I had not expected them to burn as brightly as they did.
For the most part, Ambrose kept his hands off me when the crew was around, though it was no secret that we shared one another’s company and bed. The one time Roderick had made a comment about whether the captain was going to “share the wealth,” Ambrose had shot him a look so venomous I was surprised the man did not drop dead where he stood, and no other mention was made of our relationship.
Some of the crew engaged with one another in a similar manner, though it seemed more out of sheer boredom than any sort of affection for the other party. Some were more discreet than others; more than once I turned a corner to find one of the sailors on their knees in front of another, or found them both pressed up against a wall. It was the way of the sea, and there was no fear of the laws of the land here.
While some of the sailors delighted in flaunting their prowess about, Ambrose reserved most displays of affection for his private quarters, where none could observe us other than Bosun. He wanted me all for himself, and I was happy to oblige him. He took particular delight in sitting at his desk and working on writing or reading a book while I knelt under it and took his cock in my mouth, making it my sole mission to distract him as much as I could until he would toss his work aside to grab me by the hair and spill his passion over my lips. It took much practice before I could get his length all the way to the back of my throat, though neither of us minded the time that education took. After the sun sank into the blue waves on the horizon, I would curl in his arms in the darkness of his cabin, our legs entwined, the brush of his stubble against my cheek as soft as velvet.
I wondered to myself if this would last once we had completed our adventure. Ambrose did not speak of the future, and I did not ask, for it seemed rather foolhardy to make plans before our fortunes were made. But when I drifted off to sleep in his arms, the smell of his oils on my skin, his breath warm against my shoulder, I knew happiness as I had never known it before.
I am not going to relate the voyage in further detail, for our journey was quite uneventful in all other aspects. In this, I think all of us were quite content.
Chapter Nine
“Landho!”cameashout from Duncan, above us in the crow’s nest. I had been going over the last of our dried vegetables when I heard the call mid-morning, and I went sprinting up the galley stairs before Silas had even looked up from his work. I dashed to the railing’s edge, squinting in the sunlight toward our destination. It took several long moments before I was able to see it, a dark smudge on the horizon, and my heart beat frantically in my chest like a trapped bird. It had been weeks since we had seen land, and I was more than ready to place my feet upon solid ground again.
Ambrose was suddenly behind me, his warmth enveloping me, and I leaned back into his embrace. “We made it,” I said softly.
“Aye, we did,” Ambrose said, giving me a gentle hug around the shoulders.
There was a great rush around us as the crew prepared to make berth. Mister Kearns and the squire were positively buzzing with excitement, the squire adjusting his hat over his wig, as he tended to do when he was unsure what he could do to help.
According to both the treasure map and the chart that Ambrose had on his desk, there was a southern bay area that was perfect to bring the ship into. I saw why as we approached the island from the easternly side, for that side of the island was a mass of rocks and towering cliffs, the waves crashing against the stones as if to smash them apart. There would be no landing there; even if we could, there was no way to climb the sheer faces with ease. I pictured the island in my mind and wondered if those great roaring waves and stony cliffs protected the treasure. Perhaps we were looking right at where it was buried without even knowing it.
Ambrose commanded the crew with the finest ease, having them prepare the jollyboats to take most of us to the island. Four crew members, including Silas, would stay aboard the MORAY to keep her safe and ready for our departure whenever our business on the island was completed. I stopped in my cabin, which I had barely been in for the last few weeks, to grab my compass, which I tucked into the pocket of my waistcoat, and then I headed down to the galley to say my goodbyes to Silas.
Silas had given me instructions on what sorts of food to look for on the island to replenish our stores, and there were casks set aside to collect fresh water for the return as well. If we found the treasure, we could also stop in one of the ports nearby and pick up additional supplies if the island ended up being less habitable than expected. I asked him if he wanted to come along to the island with us, but he said Ambrose had given him specific instructions to stay on board the ship. I wondered about that, as Silas seemed to know a lot about plants and wilderness survival, but I thought perhaps Ambrose was concerned that Silas with his single leg might slow us down, though he was quite proficient at getting around just fine.
He pulled me into a hug against his burly chest, and I returned it. “Jamie,” he said softly, “Yeh be careful, yeh hear? Watch yerh back, an’ look ou’ fer yehrself.”
He said this with such solemnity that for a moment I forgot to breathe. I nodded slowly. “I will. And I’ll be back soon.”
He gave me another hug and ruffled my hair, and then I was heading up the stairs into the bright sunlight again.
The ship weighed anchor in the bay, and then the jollyboats were dropped, four in all, with most of the crew, including the squire, Mister Kearns, and myself. Mister Kearns rode in one, Ambrose in another like a mighty general, with Bosun perched upon his shoulder, and the squire and myself in one of the remaining ones. The water buffeted our crafts about, but the crew pulled the oars doggedly along, maintaining control over the waves, until the boats scraped the sandy beach and came to a jarring halt.
I got out of the boat with hesitant steps, for it had been a long while since I had been on land, and the ground being solid beneath me suddenly felt foreign. I helped the squire out of the boat, and I could tell that he was feeling the solidness worse than I was as he dipped a little, sweating under his wig and hat and jacket.
Ambrose stepped onto the land like he owned it, waving his hand toward a raised area from the beach, just ahead of the tree line. “We will build the encampment there,” he said, his voice carrying to the lot of sailors. “Unload the boats.”
The jollyboats were hauled up onto shore, and their contents were emptied upon the sand and carried to the clearing Ambrose had indicated. We had brought food and water, casks of rum, tools for digging, spare sails for tents, blankets, and other assorted pieces from the ship. The squire puffed along beside me, doing his best in his advanced years to help out.
