“Take me back.”
“No.”
“Then I am your prisoner.”
“If you wish to term your stay aboard this ship as being in prison then you may do so,” he answered in a barely audible whisper. He tried to maintain his composure. He wanted to slap her for comparing his ship to a prison.
“You will accept it also? That I am your prisoner?” She walked over to the heavy oak table and sat in the chair he had occupied. She picked at what remained of the orange on his plate, peeling back the skin slowly.
He also sat down. Sighing he said, “I will accept it. Anything to see this conversation at an end. You are my prisoner.”
Alexis heard the humoring tone in his voice and she refused to be humored. She put down the orange and held out her arms, crossing her wrists so they appeared to be bound by an invisible rope. “Lock me up.”
Cloud sharply pushed back his chair. “What?”
Alexis regarded him with the patience only a mother has for a child. “I assume you have a place on this ship where you keep men who have done something wrong. I want you to take me there.”
“I won’t do it.”
“But I am your prisoner.”
“You know that isn’t true.”
“Then take me back,” she repeated.
“No.”
“Then I am your prisoner.”
“Damn! Are we back to that again? You are free to go anywhere you want,” he said.
“Anywhere but where I have to go. This entire ship is a prison for me, Cloud. You don’t even have the decency to call it what it is. You balk when I ask you to lock me up. That would make it very real, wouldn’t it? You want me to pretend just as you do that I have my liberty. Well, I don’t, and since I do not I will do what any prisoner is obliged to do. I will escape.” She put her hands at her sides and waited to see if he would laugh at her decision. He said nothing, stretching his long legs and propping his boots on top of the table. He appeared to be thinking this over and for a moment she suspected he was actually considering her proposal.
“I’m curious about something, Cloud. If I am not your prisoner, what exactly am I while on board?”
“You are my guest,” he answered.
“Hardly. I would prefer a different arrangement.”
Cloud laughed. “I guessed as much. What arrangement would you like?”
“I want to pay for my passage.”
“Icannot accept money. This is not a passenger ship. We do not take on civilians.”
“Then you do have a problem.” She smiled. “I am certainly a civilian. It is worse than that actually. I am not even American. Really I’m a British spy.” She said it seriously, then laughed at the thought.
“Stop it. What do you want?”
“I want to work off my passage. I know something about ships. I can be of help to you.”
“And why should you want to do that?”
“Because it would be helping me. Last night I thought every minute I stayed away from Tortola was a waste, but I see I can use this time. Since I am going to go after Captain Travers I will need to sharpen my skills. My crew will have to be able to trust and respect me. I think there are things I can learn from you and your men.”
She just did not give up. Everything she said or did had Travers as the motive. And what did she know about a ship anyway? “I suppose your father taught you all about navigation from the inside of an office,” he said sarcastically. “Do you think your knowledge of running a line will help you command a ship?”
“Not at all. George taught me a lot, but something else prepared me for what I want to do now.” She decided not to tell him about her voyage as a cabin boy until he was ready to hear it. “Do you have something I can do here?”
