Duran shook his head and focused on his food. Nick felt strangely unburdened by the encounter. The captain continued to his next topic of order, and before long and without the interjections of Duran, the meeting concluded and so did lunch.
Nick made his way out to see that the men got back to work. The captain wanted the inside bow of the ship scrapedand painted. There was plenty of work to keep the men busy, and the sailing was fair.
Tom was busy cleaning the deck when Nick passed by. “How goes it, Tom?”
The boy paused in his work. “It goes well enough. Can I ask you something, Mr. Clark?”
Nick smiled. “Of course.”
“Well, I heard Mr. Duran talkin’ about thePolaris. He said you deliberately ran her on the rocks. I just wondered what really happened.”
“I suppose I’m guilty as charged. The ship was breaking up, and I tried to get us to safety so as to save the lives of my men.”
Tom nodded. “I figured it must have been that way.” He turned away and resumed scrubbing the deck.
Nick started to go, then called back to the boy, “You’re doing a mighty fine job, Tom.”
The captain had a good crew in the men who worked for him. Nick had been impressed with their loyalty and the gentle way they acted around Elise. For all intents and purposes, the men treated her like a little sister. They were protective, seeing to it that neither Nick nor Duran got out of line where she was concerned. As the newest men on board, Nick supposed it would be that way for some time. At least until Nick could earn their trust. Only time and working together would see that come about. Trust wasn’t easily given by seamen.
When Nick signed on to his first ocean schooner ten years ago, the second mate had been put in charge of him. The man had been in his late forties and had nearly as many years’ experience working on board ships. He had shown Nick the way of things, teaching with great patience and swift reprimand forrepeated mistakes. He quickly became like a father to Nick, which had eased the loss of his family and the anger he held toward his own father.
That ship ran regular trips from Boston to Barbados with other stops along the way. But when it was announced that they were soon striking out for California, Nick resigned his position, not wishing to put that much distance between him and his family. Even if his father had disowned him, he didn’t want to be that far from home. The second mate suggested he get a job on a Great Lakes ship, and Nick had put it to prayer and done just that. It had been a wise decision.
He went to check in with Captain Wright and found him thoughtful at the helm. The older man didn’t seem to notice Nick for some time, and then he began to speak as if they’d been talking all along.
“Some days pass so slow, and others speed by.”
“That’s true enough,” Nick replied. “I just thought I’d let you know that it’s clear ahead as far as the eye can see.”
“Those wisps of clouds are suggesting a weather change. Won’t be long before autumn is here. In six weeks or so, it’ll be September.”
Nick glanced at the skies. “Aye. And a few months after that, the winter freeze.”
Captain Wright’s voice became distant. “When I was a boy, I hated autumn. I knew that meant school, and soon the water would freeze over. My father was a fisherman, so the water has always been my life.” He pulled himself out of his daydreaming. “What about you? Where’d you grow up?”
“Boston. My father was in the textile mill industry.” Nick shook his head. “I could never get interested in it. I supposeone of the biggest reasons was that it was confining. I wanted to be outdoors and free. If you’ve never been inside a textile mill, you should know it is as far from the outdoors and freedom as anything can be.”
“I’ve never been in a mill,” Wright admitted.
“Hot, humid, and dangerous. They have to keep the place humid for the sake of the threads, so they nail the windows shut so the workers can’t raise them for air. It’s unbearably hot. I worked there one summer when I was sixteen. My father was certain I would develop a love for the industry, but it wasn’t to be.”
After a moment of silence, the captain nodded. “I couldn’t live like that either. I suppose that didn’t sit well with your father.”
“No. He disowned me. He wasn’t even willing to send me to college for an education. Just told me to leave—that if I wasn’t going to follow with family tradition, then I was no longer part of the family.”
“That seems harsh.”
Nick remembered the sound of his father’s voice and the look on his face as if it were yesterday. “It was. I think he honestly thought I would change my mind. I might have, too, if he’d been less cruel in his attitude.”
“So you ran away and joined a ship?”
“It wasn’t exactly like that. He put me from the house with nothing but the clothes on my back and the money in my pockets. I was eighteen and sure I knew everything.” Nick smiled and shook his head. “I learned very quickly just how ignorant I was.”
“I can imagine. My bad attitude brought me to that place. Godinterceded, however, just as I’m sure He did with you. He has a way of doing that.” The captain smiled. “Thank God He does.”
Elise and her father sat at the galley table with their Bibles in hand. Each evening, if possible, they took time after supper to share a moment of Bible reading and prayer. They had done this as a family when Mother and Caroline were still with them, and Elise insisted they continue.
“Where are we reading from tonight?” Elise opened her Bible and looked at her father.
