I sighed and grabbed the pitcher of ale. Since fresh water was scarce and unsafe to drink, rum, ale, and wine were necessary evils. The rum and wine were diluted by clean water at the start of a voyage, and the alcohol kept them free from spoiling. Eachman was rationed a gallon a day, which meant that some of them were drunk from sunup to sundown. That was one of the many reasons that milk was such a treat at sea.
I raced to keep up with Ned. “You don’t have to prove anything to me.”
He lifted his chin. “I’m proving to the captain that you were unnecessary. I can manage on my own.”
I wanted to roll my eyes at his stubbornness.
Hawk opened the door for us, as usual, and followed us in.
When Captain Zale looked up and saw Ned trying to balance three platters, while I only held the pitcher of ale, he squinted at me. “Why aren’t you helping Ned?”
“He was late,” Ned said as he set the bread down. “I couldn’t wait for him any longer.”
“I wasn’t—”
“Avoiding your chores, are you?” the captain asked me with a scowl.
“I wasn’t late—” I tried again, but Marcus shook his head to indicate that I should stop protesting.
“See that you’re not late again,” Captain Zale said. “Or you’ll have me to answer to.”
I dutifully filled each man’s cup, starting with the captain and moving around the table past Hawk, Dr. Hartville, Jack, and then Marcus, trying not to serve like a woman. When I neared Marcus, I was conscious of my smell, but even more so of his presence and what he knew about me.
My hand shook as I poured his drink, and he glanced up at me, a hint of a smile in the depths of his eyes.
“Have we decided on our course?” Marcus asked as he looked away from me and back to his father.
I finished pouring his drink and then stood back, waiting to assist.
Ned stood next to me, his shoulders stiff and his chin high. He couldn’t be more than seventeen or eighteen and was a pleasant-looking young man with strawberry-blond hair and bright blue eyes. But when he scowled, his entire demeanor changed.
“I think we should head back to eastern Florida,” Jack interjected before Captain Zale could respond.
“I think it’s too soon,” Captain Zale said. “After we get the fresh water, we can stay out to sea for several more weeks, if needs be.”
“What about going to Barataria?” Dr. Hartville asked, almost too eager.
“The storm pushed us so far east, it doesn’t pay to head back in that direction,” Captain Zale said as he took a bite of his thick oatmeal. “There are other places to sell our goods.”
“What about Nassau?” Marcus asked casually.
I startled, and my attention shifted to the captain.
“Nassau?” Captain Zale asked, giving his son a strange look. “We haven’t been to Nassau in years. The Royal Navy has it too heavily guarded.”
“There are still ways to get in,” Marcus said, eating his oatmeal as if it didn’t matter either way to him—though I knew he was doing this for me, and it did matter. “The people there are hungry for the goods we have in our hold, and they’ll pay a high price for them. We can lay anchor in one of the outer islands and send two or three men into town to let our old contacts know we’re there to do business.”
Captain Zale frowned as he thought about the prospect, then he finally shook his head. “I don’t like the idea. The Royal Navy patrols those waters closely. ’Tis not worth the risk when we can sell our goods in other places.” He kept shaking his head. “I’d rather try Havana.”
I didn’t want to show my disappointment. There had to be a way to get to Nassau, and if Marcus was really on my side, I would find a way sooner than later.
After breakfast, Marcus rose from the table and approached Ned and me. “I’d like warm water brought up to my cabin for a bath.”
“Right away, sir,” Ned said, though he would complain later and tell me he wasn’t Marcus’s cabin boy to be ordered about.
“No need to rush,” Marcus said. “After your breakfast is fine.”
He left the captain’s cabin, following the other men. The captain and Marcus took regular baths, a luxury that had surprised me when I first boarded the ship. It meant more work for Ned and me, but I didn’t begrudge their luxury, and it passed the time.
