“Perhaps I could escort both of you to steerage.”
Elizabeth smiled but Ann paused. “I am in one of the cabins below the poop deck, with my mother and family. I’ll find my own way there, thank you. But I am sure Sister Cherry will be grateful for the strong arm.”
Brother Wheatley looked a little miffed but offered his arm to Elizabeth, and they hastened to get out of the rain. Feeling her stomach begin to roll again, Ann stole one last glance toward the middle of the ship. She recalled lingering on the first day as she watched that storm, and now she wondered if this storm would be even worse. If seasoned sailors were preparing for such an affront, she had better be on her way.
Ann made it back to her cabin only to find Adelaide distraught, her head drooped over Addy, who was crying inconsolably.
“What happened?” Ann asked, noticing the strong smell and her mother attempting to clean the floor near the mattress Adelaide sat on.
Adelaide bounced Addy gently. “Cyrus lost his breakfast. He missed the bucket.” Her voice shook with fatigue.
Cyrus whimpered from where he lay curled up on the bed beside Adelaide. His face was pale.
The wood floor swayed beneath Ann’s feet, and the little water her mother had to clean with sloshed over, soaking Addy’s blanket.
Adelaide tugged the soaked cloth off the baby and Addy’s cries grew more desperate. “This was the last clean blanket.” Adelaide hugged the baby closer to her chest and closed her eyes.
Their cabin was situated under the poop deck, flush with the main deck. Because the other cabins were spoken for, their family took the last cabin available, the one closest to the exterior walls of the ship, exposing them to the most cold and wind. Ann shuddered, knowing the effects of the February weather were only making little Addy’s frail cough and sickly disposition worse.
Job burst through the doorway, dripping wet and holding another bucket of water. He hurried over to help her mother clean the vomit. In a few seconds, the floor was cleaner, but nothing could dry the baby’s blanket.
“Don’t worry,” Ann whispered to Adelaide. “I’ll fetch another blanket for Addy.”
Adelaide murmured a word of thanks.
They needed a blanket as quickly as possible, and the only place Ann knew she might find a spare one was in steerage. Certainly, someone would take pity on her request there.
Eager to help, and knowing her presence was better served outside the small space, Ann slipped out of the door, catching herself as she lost her footing when the slick floorboards beneath her swayed unexpectedly. To get to steerage, she had to cross the deck, go down the hatchway, and then through the galley toward where the many bunks and long tables were situated below deck.
She thrust out her palm to the doorframe of another cabin to steady herself as the entire boat lurched to the left. Mustering all her strength to master the contents of her stomach, she hurried out of the vestibule and gripped a bit of rope on deck as she pulled herself to the nearest hatch, trying to be fast enough to escape being soaked by the steady rain. When she finally made it down the hatchway ladder and reached the galley, she planted her feet and clung to the bottom rung for a moment to catch her breath.
It took several minutes to make her way to the steerage, passing the dim, swaying oil lanterns as the ship pitched. Once there, Elizabeth saw her right off, and after learning Ann’s plight, was eager to loan Addy a blanket. Ann tucked it between the outer layer of her capacious skirt and the top layer of her petticoat for her return journey up the hatchway in case the rain had worsened on the deck.
Please help me to be swift enough so Addy doesn’t grow worse.
There was something about this squall on the open seas that unnerved Will. He’d never admit it to anyone, for a first mate didn’t fear storms, but he had good reason for the reemerging terror that had seemed to seep into his hair, run down his back, and crawl into his boots, especially now as the great deep started to unleash its fury. Managing the channel had been nerve-rattling enough, but in open water, Will told himself the only way to face the weatherwas chest up and feet firm. The storm would not get the best of him. Every single one of the passengers had scurried away, just as he’d instructed, except one elderly woman.
He turned to Jack and spoke loudly. “Go tell that old lady down on the waist to get below deck. Perhaps she can’t see or hear well enough to notice everyone is gone.”
“I did tell her myself.” Jack shook his head. “She’s not to be moved, she says.”
Will glanced at the heavens, annoyed. He wasn’t about to lose a woman overboard when they’d only been out three days. Not on his watch. “By Jove,” he muttered.
Jack gestured toward her while giving Will a try-for-yourself type of look.
“Take the wheel until Drake comes to steer.” Will stepped back to let Jack take his place. Most boatswains couldn’t handle the task of helmsman, but Jack was an exception when it came to his skills.
“Excuse me, ma’m,” Will bellowed as he walked like a drunkard across the constantly vacillating deck. He grasped the rail as he spoke to the older woman. “My name is Mr. Boyd, and I am the first mate of this ship. All passengers are to be under deck.”
She pressed her lips together, and Will noticed her hair was mostly brown under her sodden bonnet; she was not nearly as old as he first thought.
“I heard what you said, Mr. Boyd, but you’ll just have to give me a little more time. I’ll go down when I’m ready.” She crossed ample arms over her more ample torso and raised a brow.
Will was not to be told off by some stubborn British lady. “Ma’m,” he yelled over the roar of the waves. “We are minutes away from a deluge even worse than this, and I must see to your protection.”
“I can take care of myself.” She huffed. “My late husband sailed these seas for nigh twenty years, and I traveled with him almos’ half the time. I assure you I am in no danger what I haven’t seen before.”
“Then you of all people ought to know that the sea isn’t to be reckoned with.” A huge wave washed over the edge of the deck, spraying him in the face. This woman needed to listen to him. He felt the storm’s intensity in his bones. He glanced down at his scarred right hand. She didn’t feel the storm pressure like he did.
