“This wind doesn’t make it easy, but they always find their sea legs in the end.” He glances at her and says, “You do look quite recovered. Remarkable. Well. You had best get down below. It’s going to getrougher, still.” He indicates the boiling sky. A low, rolling thunder sounds in the distance. “It’s all hands on deck for the rest of us tonight.”
She says, “You’re three men short on a crew of twelve.”
“I hope for not much longer. What of it?”
“I can help.”
He takes a long look at her, then glances up at the sky again. The ship pitches forward and Isabel grips the line harder. After a moment he says, “I can’t deny I could use the extra pair of hands, but you’d be safer down below.”
She remembers his bemused look when he mentioned the bookkeeping earlier. His comments, too, about how he’d expect her to work the same as the other men—he was jesting, wasn’t he? And she, in her excitement, had taken him at his word. But she can work the same as the men, and this is her chance to prove it to him. “What can I do?” she says.
He looks so torn she almost wants to take back the words, to tell him of course she’ll go belowdecks, where she’ll be safe. But this is her chance. “Jack,” she says. “I can help.”
“Keep her steady, Oppy,” Jack says. “South by south-west.”
“Aye, Captain.”
Turning to Isabel, Jack says, “I’ll take you to Harry. He’ll put you to work.”
Chapter Ten
Six hours later her hands are raw from hauling on ropes. A fire burns inside every muscle in her arms and back, her mouth is dry with thirst, and her mind numb with exhaustion. The wind has lain itself down to rest at last, just in time for the sky to acquire the first pink-gray hint of dawn. The sea still moves like a living, breathing creature, but it’s a slower roll now and the ship slides through the waves like a needle through a length of silk.
Jack comes down the two steps that separate the aft of the ship from the bow. His face is so pale it’s nearly gray, and she remembers with the same shock as before that he was shot in his side only three weeks ago. The worry writhes inside her.What if this voyage is too much for him?She has already lost George aboard a ship; she cannot bear to think of losing…
She shakes her head. She cannot allow herself to think this way. Jack can in no way be equated to George. It’s simply impossible.Keep your distance,she tells herself again. It’s easier said than done on the ship, but she must try.
When he’s nearly at her side, Jack says something, but the last of the wind blows his words apart and she calls back, “What did you say?”
Closer still, he says, “It’s calm now. I’m sending most of the crewbelow so they can get some sleep. You should go and rest for a few hours.”
The thought of a bed is like stumbling upon an oasis after forty days in the desert. She says, “I should like that. Thank you. Are you well?”
“Fine. Weary to the bone, but we all are. Do you mean on account of my wound?” When she nods, he says, “I’m pleased to report it has not bothered me in the least, but then I’ve avoided hauling on any ropes. Unlike yourself. I admit I had my doubts about you coming on the voyage, but you’ve proved me wrong tonight. Are you hungry? Tom is making some toasted cheese.”
“I’m too tired to eat.”
“I’ve had Will put your bag in the cabin. Go and rest.”
“Which cabin?”
“It’s toward the stern on the lower deck. The door is next to the ladder. You can’t miss it—there’s only the one.”
Onlythe one…His words filter through the numbness. “What did you say?” she says to make sure she heard correctly.
“I said there’s only one cabin.” He gives her a quick smile. “I’m afraid you and I will have to share, unless you prefer the company of the rest of the men. They’ve got a nice row of hammocks strung along the length of the hold.”
She’s staring at him. “What do you mean, only one cabin? You can’t be serious.” When he merely keeps smiling at her, she says, “Jack, tell me you’re not serious.”
“The cabin is on the small side, compared to what your husband will have seen aboard a man-of-war, but I’ve got a large hammock. One of the perks of being the captain. There’s enough space for two, easily, and you’ll have it all to yourself for the first couple of hours today. I’m staying on deck with Harry until the first watch is up.”
“But…surely we can’t…”
Seeing her consternation, his smile fades. “I beg your pardon. I thought you were aware of the layout of a ship this size. Where else did you expect to sleep?”
“I didn’t…I hadn’t…” She’s stuttering. The worst is, it’s not because she’s horrified at the thought of sharing a bed—a hammock—with Jack. It’s because she’snot. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Sounding exasperated, he says, “You married a naval officer. Your father was an admiral. I thought you knew about ships—about the lack of space in them. Did you think we’d have a spare cabin set aside just for you?” When she shakes her head, Jack says mildly, “It’s not as if we haven’t shared a bed before. The crew won’t talk—you have nothing to fear on that account.”
