“I’d say that’s up to her. She just needs a little coaxing.”
“You bother her, and you’ll answer not only to her father but to every man on this ship.”
“Including that first mate? She seems rather familiar with him.”
“I don’t even want to hear you talk about her,” Sam said.“Not to mention you’re drunk. That isn’t tolerated here. You had time off and could have drunk your fill early on so that you’d be sobered up by now. It’s going to be reported, and you’ll have to answer to the captain.”
Duran surprised them all by grabbing hold of the old man. “You’ll be keepin’ your mouth shut if you know what’s good for you. That’s all I’ve got to say about it.”
The last of the crew came to ready themselves for bed. The only exception was Ollie Johnson. He was putting a bag of horehound drops away in his locker in preparation for leaving. “I’ve got the watch, so sleep well, children.”
“’Night, Ollie,” a couple of men muttered.
The other men fell back in their beds, but Duran had yet to doff his boots and outer clothes. He ought to teach them all a lesson, but he was much too tired, and his watch would come in four hours.
He sat on his bunk and pulled off his boots while the men settled in for the night. He despised each and every one of them and would happily have killed them in their sleep, but with the law already on his heels, it was best to leave well enough alone.
Booker eased back in his bunk without undressing. He was too tired. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d slept in his clothes. Most of the men kept some or all of their clothes on when out on the lakes, but in port, the men usually got a bath and clean clothes and slept as unencumbered as possible. Not Duran. He never knew when he’d have to be on the run again. He wasn’t going to drop his guard and get caught. He’d done all he could to see to that—changing his name and getting away from his hometown, where he’d killed a man in front of a dozen witnesses. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t killed before, but this timehe let his emotions get the best of him, and instead of planning it out for a dark alley or a midnight visit to his victim’s house, Duran had pulled a knife at a gaming table and ripped away at the cheating player to his left. He could still see the look of surprise on the man’s face when the knife sank deep into his heart.
It made Duran smile as he faded off to sleep.
Chapter 7
After breakfast, the tug deposited theMary Elisein Lake Ontario, and they put Oswego behind them. Elise was grateful to get back to her routine. There was a certain comfort in keeping to the same schedule she’d followed for twenty-five years. Of course, there had been changes from when she was a child and worked part of the day at schoolwork. She now filled those hours with laundry, sewing, and occasionally a little reading.
“Elise, I want you to take the wheel while I speak to all the men at lunch,” her father declared. He grabbed a cup of coffee and tossed it back, not even bothering to see how hot it might be.
“All right. I’ll be glad to.” Her father often had her take the wheel when he wanted to speak to the entire crew. It was pretty much standard procedure while in open water.
“By the way, did you see Mr. Duran drunk and disorderly last night?” he asked.
She hadn’t intended to say anything. She figured if it needed to be told, Nick would report it, as any first mate should. Still, she wasn’t going to lie. “I did.”
Her father nodded. “And was he out of line with you?”
“Well, not exactly. He called me a beauty and said he’d like me to give him some attention. Nick put him in his place before he could say or do much more.”
Papa poured himself another cup of coffee. This time he only took a sip. His expression said he was pondering a problem. Elise had seen him like this many times.
She put her hand on his arm. She would never tell him what he should or shouldn’t do about one of his men. She didn’t like Duran, but she didn’t wish to be the cause of him being given the boot. “It’s probably hard for a new man to find his place. I don’t much care for Mr. Duran, but I wasn’t harmed by him.”
Her father looked down at her. “Thank you for your honesty. There’s something about him that makes me want to give him a chance. I was like him before I met your mother and Jesus. Hard and unyielding. Foul and unfit. I was unwilling to surrender myself to any authority. I thought my own authority was all I needed. Your mama changed all that in me.” His eyes grew damp. “I sometimes fear I’ll go back to being what I was without her.”
“No, because you still have Jesus. He’s the one who made the real change.”
“I know that’s true,” he admitted, “but sometimes it seems that it was her who brought it about. She had a way of calming me and helping me take another look at a situation. She taught me patience and kindness ... concern for others.”
“She may have taught it, Papa, but Jesus was its originator, and Mama herself would have told you that.”
He rubbed his graying beard. “Yes, she did exactly that. You’re so much like her.” He drew a long drink from the mug and set it on the table. “All right. I will reprimand without condemning.Take the wheel from Nick once you get lunch on the table and Tom rings the bell.”
Elise smiled. “Will do.”
The huge pork roast was tender when Elise sliced into it. She’d long ago learned to slice up meat before putting it on the ship’s table. Men left to their own hand would take huge chunks and leave their fellow seamen to fill up on vegetables and bread. Sometimes even now they were tempted to take more than one portion, but Papa would usually remind them of allowing everyone to have a share and then worry about having more after that.
Once the meat was ready, Elise checked the stovetop with its railed ridge to keep pots from sliding off. The potatoes and green beans were ready, as were the cabbage and ham hocks. Elise salted everything one last time. She didn’t bother to put the food in pretty bowls as they had done in Uncle James’s house. Her mother usually served everything in the big pots due to the way some of the men handled things. It saved much wear and tear on her dishes. She placed the pots in the center of the table. What they didn’t eat for lunch they’d get for supper, with the exception of the meat. She knew there wouldn’t be a bit of that left and had already started roasting four chickens for the supper meal.
With everything prepared for lunch, Elise pulled off her apron and headed to the wheel just as eight bells rang to announce it was noon. Outside, the wind was strong and pulled at her carefully pinned hair. She stepped back just inside the door, reached into the pocket of her skirt, and pulled out a scarf. She deftly secured it on her head before trying again to reach the wheel.
