“Does the captain know?” he asked, handing her Cloud’s tray.
“No, and don’t you tell him. He still doesn’t believe I’m serious about working for my passage, but that’s how I got from London to Tortola six years ago.”
Forrest’s bushy black eyebrows raised in surprise and his low whistle was admiring. “But how? You couldn’t have been more than fourteen.”
“I was thirteen and it was a lot easier then, hiding the fact that I was a girl.”
The cook motioned her to be quiet. He heard someone coming. Landis walked into the galley.
“It’s all right,” he said. “I heard what she said.” He looked at Alexis. “Your secret’s safe if that’s the way you want it, but I don’t understand why you won’t tell the captain.”
“I will later. But he doesn’t think I can do it now. He will not believe I did it when I was thirteen.”
“I take it you are not satisfied with my opinion of the captain as a good man.”
“Oh, he is a good man, Mr. Landis, and from what I have seen he is an excellent commander. But he presumes to know what I want better than I do. We do not see eye to eye.”
Landis laughed. “Well, things are not going to get any better for you if you don’t hurry with his lunch. He thinks you’ve given up already.”
Alexis gripped the tray tightly and cast the two men a purposeful glance. “We’ll see about that.”
When she left the galley Forrest shook his head slowly. “I don’t know about you, John, but I almost feel sorry for the captain. She is going to make his life miserable until he takes her back to Tortola.”
“She told you about going after Travers?”
“She did. Can’t say that I blame her. I can understand the captain not wanting to return her though. She’d end up killing herself going after him.”
“Maybe,” said Landis, tugging at his beard thoughtfully. “And maybe not.”
Forrest regarded his friend curiously for a moment, then he remembered his reputation. “John, get the hell out of my galley, will you? I got work to do.”
Alexis knocked on Cloud’s door. When he answered she walked in briskly and placed his tray in front of him on a small table. “Do you want anything else, sir?”
“Yes,” he said, annoyed. “Stop the sir. Captain or Tanner or Cloud is all that is necessary.”
“Will there be anything else, Captain?” she asked blandly.
“Some wine, Danty. You’ll find it in a cupboard in your cabin. Bring me the bottle and a glass.”
Alexis nodded and obediently went to get the wine. Returning, she poured him a glass. “If there is nothing else, I would like to move your things. I will get your tray later.”
“There is something else,” he said, peering at her with sharp green eyes over the rim of his glass. “Sit down.”
Alexis pulled out a chair and did as she was told. She held her body rigid, hands folded in her lap. She returned his stare, willing herself not to be controlled by it.
Cloud put down his glass. “Another, Danty. Pour yourself one if you want.”
She refilled his glass but refused to take any for herself. “You said there was something else, Captain.”
He nodded. “You never asked me what my men and I were doing on Tortola. Weren’t you curious?”
“I was. I would have asked you this morning but our conversation took a decided turn for the worse. I didn’t want to know then, but I’ll ask you now. What were you doing on the island?”
“I was sent there to arrange for your father to build us some ships.”
“Oh.” She stared at him blankly.
“Dammit!” Anger gripped him and he released it by throwing his glass across the room. “Doesn’t that help you understand why I cannot take you back? I have to get to Washington and tell my commander what happened. They will want to know as soon as possible there will be no ships coming from Quinton.”
