“Sit down,” he commanded with more bite than intended. Too bad. His cock was hard and he was uncomfortable, and the only thing to ease his pain was now on the other side of the room, pouring ale into another man’s mug.
The boy jumped and stumbled into the empty wooden chair across from him. “Yes, sir.”
“What’s yer name?”
“Sho—Sean, sir.”
Colin narrowed his eyes. “I had a friend named Sean.” The lad’s quick intake of breath had him questioning what the boy’s true intent was. “Yer age?”
“Twe—Ten and six, sir.”
Colin gazed at the lad. “Dinna lie to me, and stop calling me sir.”
“Ten and five, si—, sorry,” Sean answered as a blush tinged his pale cheeks pink.
The lad was daft. No doubt he was being untruthful. He’d wager his next booty on that fact. No chance he was ten and five. Ten and two, now that he saw him face to face? Mayhap.
“Yer parents?”
“Dead.”
Colin grunted. An orphan. With nowhere to go and no parents to support him, it meant the boy didn’t have a true future. He could understand the need to find a replacement for the family he missed.
“Daybreak on the morrow,” Colin heard himself saying. “Meet me on the beach. Don’t be late.”
“Yes, sir!” Sean jumped up. “Sorry,” he cringed, then scurried around the table and out the door.
Colin sighed. He was certain he would regret his decision later, but he had a soft spot for children. Ones seemingly as lost as Sean were his biggest weakness. Only time would tell how well he would fare on the ship and with the crew.
The crew. He sighed again.They’ll not be happy taking the boy on. Nor about having to teach him his way around the ship.
He had no idea what job he could task Sean with. The lad was way too small for anything labor intensive. Mayhap having him help out in the galley wouldn’t be a bad idea. Duncan might argue otherwise. If he could truly cook, it would be a nice improvement from the barely edible fare Duncan made.
The limited meals weren’t entirely Duncan’s fault. They were vastly underwhelming due to the small amount of rations they were able to take on their voyages. Variety wasn’t something they had the luxury of when out on the open water.
At least in the galley, the boy wouldn’t hurt himself or worse yet—get himself flung overboard, which gauging from his size, was a good possibility.
Colin drained his mug and looked around. The wenches were all busy with other men. Mac, one of his crew, caught his attention and raised his glass in salute before taking a sip and nuzzling the slender neck of the redhead currently straddling his lap.
He smiled back and stood, stretching his legs, and headed out into the dank night air. He had a room, but wasn’t ready to retire. Sitting on a bench placed near the door, he wondered where Sean went for the night. The lad more than likely bedded down in the nearby woods. A danger in itself as Colin was confident the boy wouldn’t be able to defend himself if bandits happened to come upon him.
Not that he’d lose much. He didn’t look to have much worth stealing, but sometimes it wasn’t about what the thieves could take, but about what harm they could cause.
Colin wanted to curse again when he caught himself worrying overmuch about the lad and his situation. “Damn it,” he cursed under his breath. “Pull yerself together.”
Mayhap he should go back inside and help the wenches serve the townsfolk. Suddenly, he seemed to be lacking all his masculinity.
He stood and walked the narrow pathways. The town of Lunan was quite small and the townsfolk were under the protection of Laird Lochlan MacLean. The name sounded funny to his ears. He never expected Chaos to settle down with a wife and lands of his own, which included a castle.
Colin had hoped to see Chaos while he and his crew were docked here, but he only had this night to restock their provisions before setting sail in the morning. Since he hadn’t seen his old friend yet, he suspected his message hadn’t arrived in enough time to arrange for a meeting.
“Ye look like someone just stole yer puppy,” a strong voice boomed from behind him.
He recognized it right away and turned with a smile. “I was thinking ye were too busy to pay me a visit.”
They approached each other and shook hands, clapping each other on the back. “And miss seeing my favorite pain in the arse? Nay. I got caught up working on some repairs and couldna get away until now.” Lochlan laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Let’s have a drink.”
Colin nodded. But instead of heading back to the inn, his good friend turned in the direction of Redstone Castle, set high on the bluffs, overlooking the North Sea. The path that would take them to the castle was well traveled, the rocks embedded in the dirt were worn smooth and flat. It wound through tall sea grass and took them around the back of Redstone. In the great hall, Lochlan swiped a pitcher full of ale from a nearby table and two mugs before dropping into one of the massive chairs near the fireplace. He pointed for Colin to join him.
