“My fingers are smaller. I can work at it more easily than you. Now hand it to me.”
Harry heard the order in her tone and he responded. He smiled when he saw her struggle with it, but the smile faded when she undid the knot.
“I don’t know who is responsible for this mess,” she said, “but he needs a few lessons. Change places with me—what is your name?”
“Harry Young, ma’am.” He smiled lopsidedly at her.
“And I’m Alex. Now change places, Harry, and I’ll fix this.” Carefully they maneuvered their positions until she was closest to the mainmast. Alexis retied the rope and placed it where it belonged. Then she proceeded to work on the others. “Harry,” she said, tugging at the caught sail, “you do not have to stay here. I can finish this myself.”
He hesitated. “Are you certain? I don’t want to leave you stuck up here. You won’t be afraid to come down?”
“Nonsense. I am in more danger with you hanging over my shoulder than I would be if I were alone. Go on. I’ll be down shortly.”
Harry scratched an imaginary itch at the back of his neck. Shrugging, he began his descent. When he got to the deck he sighed, looking at his mates. “The lady knows what she’s doing.” He said it as if he couldn’t quite believe it himself.
The general murmur of approval ended suddenly when they became aware that Cloud had joined them on deck. They shifted their gaze from overhead to stare at one another. They felt like accomplices in some foolish scheme, yet none of them knew why he should feel that way. They were only following orders. Alex Danty was one of them now.
Cloud approached the group. “What’s going on? Do I have to be on deck every minute to see that you men are working?”
The men shook their heads sheepishly, but with a hint of a pleased smile on their faces, and went back to their stations. Harry and Landis remained with Cloud. He turned to Harry. “I thought you were going to fix the topgallant. I don’t see it down yet.” Before Harry could form a response Cloud addressed his first officer. “Have you seen Alex? She is finished in my cabin and I have other things for her to do.”
Harry swallowed hard but Landis answered calmly. “I think she’s found more appropriate work.” He pointed upward.
Cloud followed the path of his arm. He would not speak for a moment and when he did, he bellowed. “Dammit, Mr. Landis! Why did you allow her to go up there?”
“She said she could do it.”
“In a dress?”
Landis laughed softly. “Offered her something different to wear but she said you refused to give her trousers. She told us if we did not like what we saw we weren’t supposed to look. Not a man turned away.”
Cloud shot him a venomous green glance. “Harry, why did you leave her alone?”
“She said she could do it; then she proved it. You told us to treat her like one of us, Captain.”
“Dammit! You know what I meant. If anything happens to her, I will hold you both responsible.” He took a few steps backward so he could see her clearly. She was working diligently, oblivious to his presence below. He cupped his hands and called to her. “Alex Danty! On deck at once!”
Because she was almost finished, Alexis pretended she had not heard. He called again and she ignored him, working faster.
Cloud lost patience. He knew she heard him and had chosen to deliberately disregard his command. His cabin boy was about to learn something about following orders. He grabbed the rigging and began his ascent. Each foot he climbed made him more determined to see she did not try any more tricks like this one.
Alexis finished untangling the last rope at the same time that she noticed the captain coming after her, his face tight with anger. She looked around her for some means of escape. There was not any place to go but down. She thought if she could do it quickly she might be able to get by him. She wanted to thrash out this difference in private, not in front of the entire crew.
Alexis started down, catching a rope, and slid past the captain. She regained her footing on the rigging below him and continued downward. The crew stopped their work again to see what their captain’s next move would be. The game of tag had interesting implications for many of them. They thought their commander may have met his match.
Cloud was furious with her action until he found a way to stop her. He wrapped his foot around a free rope and let his hands loose from their hold overhead. He fell backward. His crew had seen his action so they only grinned at his ploy. Alexis, however, had seen nothing and she screamed when she saw his body suspended in midair. His back rested against the rigging and the rope around his foot was the only thing keeping him from falling to the deck.
“Cloud!” she cried out as she scrambled up to help him. “Oh, my God! Are you all right?”
He stilled his smug laughter and enjoyed the view of Alexis’s long, slim legs above him. “Take my arm,” he said when he thought he had terrified her long enough.
Alexis reached down and pulled him up. When he was able to grasp the rigging once more she set about freeing his boot. As soon as she untangled it, she felt a strong arm go about her waist. “What the—” She could not say more as he lifted her in one arm and threw her over his shoulders. “Put me down! You are going to kill us both. Cloud!”
She heard his laughter and it served to make her angrier. She pummeled his back and tried to kick at his legs, not caring anymore if they both plunged to the deck. She could see the smiling faces of the crew below her; they were enjoying the spectacle. He paused long enough when he reached firm footing to tell the men to go back to their stations; then, without missing a beat, he carried her to her cabin. He kicked the door open, crossed the room in a few strides, and tossed her on the bunk.
“What do you think you are doing?” She glared at him when her body hit the mattress. She did not let him see that he had hurt her back with his carelessness. She knew it had not been his intention. She sat up on her knees and tried to move off the bunk but he caught her by the shoulders and pushed her back.
“I could ask you the same thing!” He released his grip when she stopped struggling. After he shut the door he returned to the bunk, sitting on the edge, and stared into her furious amber eyes. Her features were as hard and as tight-set as his own and he thought in some ways she was an accurate reflection of his own determination.
