I shuffled over to the bow-facing side of the crow’s nest and stood. An unending canvas of blue water stretched before the Rose. No land was visible ahead of us. Just that marvelous horizon line that stretched across the distant sky. I looked over my shoulder and white sail filled my view. Leaning to the starboard side, I caught a faint glimpse of Southampton’s outline, retreating with each gust of wind. This was the farthest I had ever been from my home, and we had not traveled a full day yet. Still many more miles to go.
Thrusting my arms out to either side of me, I closed my eyes and flew on the wind.
****
I stayed in the crow’s nest for at least an hour’s time before I spotted Daniel below walking toward the bow. With another quick glimpse in all directions from my exceptional vantage point, I shimmied down the main mast and ran after him. Ghost slinked up to my side and matched my pace easily, his claws scratching on the deck boards.
As I was about to call his name, Daniel stopped and turned around.
“I knew you were behind me,” he said. “I felt it somehow. Isn’t that strange?”
I willed my eyes not to linger on his lips as he spoke.
“Where have you been hiding? I’ve been looking for you,” he said.
I pointed to the crow’s nest on the main mast.
“I see.” Daniel squinted in the afternoon sun. “Quite the view.”
“Incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it. I shall enjoy my duties as lookout.”
“You’d better be good at it.” Daniel elbowed me, and the feel of his skin against mine caused something hot to stir in my padded belly.
“Name one thing I haven’t been good at yet.” I leaned against the port rail and looked toward the helm where the quartermaster hoisted Timmy up into the air. The sound of the boy’s giggling traveled to us on the wind.
“Your record is good so far,” Daniel admitted. “But it’s a long trip.” His words were directed at me, but he had turned his gaze toward Timmy and his father.
“So what is on the menu for tonight anyway?” I asked.
When he focused on me, a sadness reflected in his eyes.
“Tonight’s menu,” he began in a strained voice, “is chicken, sweet potatoes, and biscuits.” He glanced back to the helm then shook his head. “We’d better get a start on supper now that you mention it.”
“All right.” I took a step past him then tugged on his arm to get him to follow me. I didn’t like to see the sorrow taking root in his blue eyes. Reminded me of my own sadness. Missing family was a horrible feeling. Missing dead family was even worse.
“Come on.” I prodded Daniel with a slight tug on his shirt.
Nodding, Daniel pushed off the railing and followed me down the ladder. I stopped to scoop up Ghost who meowed for me as Daniel continued on to the galley. He didn’t say much as we prepared supper aside from the few instructions he gave me.
I didn’t need guidance in the area of cooking as Daniel soon found out. I had cooked for Lady Elizabeth and that sometimes included large dinner parties. I had cooked for my father and brothers too when they were home.
Without thinking, I got creative with the potatoes, cutting them into thin strips that curled prettily if you sliced them right. Daniel finished up with the chicken and biscuits and came to check in with me.
“Can’t say the men have seen their potatoes look so fancy before.” He picked up a sliced curl and nudged it around his palm with his thumb.
I reached around Daniel and grabbed the next potato, chopping at it haphazardly so it fell in ugly, ragged chunks on the wooden table where I worked.
“That better?”
“I didn’t say the men wouldn’t like it, Charlie.” He put his hand on mine before I could butcher another potato. His touch on my hand fluttered my stomach again. “You cut the potatoes any way you like, all right?”
I slipped my hand from underneath his. Maybe being assigned to work with Daniel was not a good thing. Maybe all this alone time with him would be my undoing. It was getting too hard to be a boy around him.
Shaking my head, I went back to my fancy cutting. The men would comment, no doubt, but I’d be ready with a joke or something. I’d laugh it off, and they would laugh with me. Charlie Hamden would be safe.
He had to be.
****
After supper, some of the crew turned in for the night while another group took to the top deck. Daniel explained that in deep water Captain Finley liked to work in shifts so the Rose could sail all day and night, making good time to our destination. I was told to report directly to the crow’s nest at first light tomorrow morning where I would keep a sharp eye out for any hazards in our path.
With the galley tidied, Daniel and I retired to our corner of the lower deck. I would have loved a bath. No one else was bothered by the grime of a day’s work, however, so I slumped down to the floor and pulled off my boots.
Stuffy, warm air hovered below deck. A quick glance around revealed that many of the crewmembers had removed their shirts to cool off during their slumber. As would be expected, I caught a glimpse of Daniel pulling his tunic off and balling it up to use as a pillow. He stretched out onto his blanket, and I failed to catch the giggle in my throat.
Angling his head up, he looked at me. “What’s so funny?”
“Your feet.” I choked back my laughter.
Daniel propped himself up on his arm and stared down the length of his body to his feet. The blanket beneath him reached to just below the backs of his knees. The remainder of his legs and rather large feet rested on the bare wood of the floor.
He laughed. “Being tall is not all fun and games, Charlie. Let’s see what you got. You aren’t much shorter than me.”
True. I only had to angle my head up slightly to look Daniel in the eye. I grabbed my sack and placed it under my head as a pillow. Making a production of settling in, I managed to squeeze another laugh out of Daniel while he waited for me. Finally, I lay out in one long line.
“Ha! Just as I thought,” Daniel whispered, trying not to rouse the crewmen around us. “Your blanket only makes it to your ankles. You’re a giant too. Admit it.” He pointed a finger at me and smiled wide. The gesture made his entire face beam, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him.
I held up my hands in surrender. “All right. I’m a giant too.”
I’m also a girl. A scene where I told Daniel my secret played in my mind. I chewed on my bottom lip. What would his response be?
“What are you thinking about, Charlie?” His voice interrupted.
“Huh?”
“Your face looks funny.”
“Thanks.”
“No, no, that’s not what I mean.” Daniel eased back down onto his blanket. “You look as if something’s bothering you.”
The fact that I’ve been looking at you too much is bothering me.
The fact that I’m a she, not a he, is bothering me.
The fact that apparently my father doesn’t care where I am is bothering me.
The fact that I’ve left my best friend behind is bothering me.
Take your pick, Daniel.
“No, I’m all right,” I lied instead.
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Well, good night then.”
“Good night.”
“Giant,” he said softly.
I caught the half-smile on Daniel’s profile as he stared at the deck above us.
“You’re still the bigger giant,” I whispered.
He snickered and rolled over so his bare back was to me. I turned away to face the other side, but only lasted a few moments in that position. I rolled back and watched Daniel’s ribs rise and fall as he drifted to sleep.
When sleep came to me, I dreamed of what it would feel like to run my fingers along Daniel’s bare shoulders.
Chapter Twelve
October
My first month at sea passed in a blur. I spent my days in the crow’s nest, sc
anning the ocean, or in the galley, cooking for the crew. I also did small jobs Captain Finley assigned to me when I wasn’t needed as lookout or cook. I went to bed each night exhausted, but managed to rise each morning with renewed anticipation and energy.
Sea life agreed with me as I had known it would. My life as a maid for Lady Elizabeth belonged to someone else entirely. A miserable girl whose dreams were always out of reach. Charlie Hamden had a much better life.
My hair had grown in some, but if I wet it and shoved Benjamin’s cap on, it was manageable and still boyish enough. Many of the crewmen had long hair, which they tied back out of the way. Daniel’s light brown hair fell to his chin now, giving him a scruffy look that went well with his slightly whiskered face. The men poked fun at me every now and again over the fact that I didn’t have a whisker on my chin anywhere. Fortunately they only teased and never speculated.
I spent a good part of every day with Daniel. My affection for him had no choice but to grow. We had become friends and I enjoyed his company. When I wasn’t with him, I imagined that I was. In my mind, we had conversations that never actually happened. As I sat alone in the crow’s nest day after day, I pretended he was up there with me.
I fantasized that he knew the real me.
When I was in Daniel’s presence, it took all my concentration to behave as a boy would toward another boy. He didn’t make it easy either. He was constantly shoving or elbowing me the way boys tease and taunt each other when they’re friends. Though I loved having his friendship, his touch made me unravel a little each time.
Sleeping so close to him each night taxed me. I had to fight the urge to creep up behind him and slip my arm around his waist to snuggle close. Every moment I spent with him was marked by laughter. Daniel saw me. Unfortunately, he saw me as a brother. I had two brothers. I didn’t need another. I knew what I needed. What I wanted.
I couldn’t have it. Not now. Not here. Not with Daniel.
I had to keep my eye on the Americas. My lifelong goal. Getting there was all I had ever really desired. I couldn’t let some silly female feelings get in the way.
****
On a crisp morning in the middle of October, I was up in the crow’s nest, happy to have a day where extra layers of clothing were necessary. I had two of Eric’s tunics on with his worn sweater over that. A third shirt was rolled underneath at my stomach as usual.
My disguise worried me more lately. An entire month at sea had caused me to lose some weight, food being rationed as it was. While I hadn’t been a tiny, shapely girl when we left Southampton, I was headed in that direction now. On the few occasions I had snuck out at night to bathe—close quarters and Daniel’s lack of a normal sleep schedule prohibited regular trips out—I noticed that my waist was more pronounced. With the physical labor I participated in aboard the Rose, I had also developed muscles in my upper arms and shoulders. The shape and size of them, however, were clearly feminine. I had some slender curves as well that definitely belonged to a girl of sixteen.
I hoped I was the only one who noticed.
At present, Benjamin’s cap was pulled low so it covered the tops of my ears. I rolled the sleeves of the sweater down so they hung over my hands to keep my fingers warm. My breath appeared as a small fog in front of my face with each exhale, such was the temperature at this early hour.
I rotated clockwise around the perimeter of the lookout post, skimming my eyes over the sea. Everywhere I looked, the Atlantic Ocean stretched out endlessly. It had been this way for several weeks now. No black silhouettes of land outlined the horizon. Blue ocean met blue sky in all directions. I loved that my job was to examine it all.
I had made a handful of useful calls from my post that had saved the Rose from possible damage. It was easy to spot rocks and shallow water from my vantage point high above the deck of the ship. I even helped Captain Finley avoid some wreckage of a past voyage.
“You’re doing a fine job, Charlie,” the captain said after I alerted him to the broken spear of mast sticking up close to the surface of the water.
“You sure are,” Walter, the quartermaster, agreed. “You keep those keen eyes focused, son, and we’ll get to the Americas in one piece for sure.”
Since then I’ve taken my duties more seriously, getting up extra early to man my post and taking only small breaks.
This morning the sea was unusually calm. Waves rolled harmlessly toward the Rose and splashed gently against her hull. The ship itself rocked from side to side like a giant cradle lulling the crew into the tranquility of a peaceful day at sea. On the top deck, men scrubbed the floorboards until the wood gleamed in the bright sunshine.
As I turned my eyes back to the ocean, the serenity was shattered with an incredible boom that rattled the entire ship. I had to wrap my arms around the mast to keep from falling over. Splitting wood crackled as another impact jerked the ship.
“Charlie!” the captain yelled out from below. “What do you see?”
I turned in all directions and leaned as far out as I could from the crow’s nest. I searched the water for any signs of the usual threats but found nothing.
“I don’t see any—” I started, but another smack against the Rose’s hull interrupted me.
“Well, something is down there!” Captain Finley roared. “It’s ripping into my ship!”
On both sides of the boat, crewmen lined the rails looking below for the source of the disturbance. I squinted and focused with all my concentration, but still nothing became visible. Aside from the slight foam churning up on the water’s surface and the repeated thunking below the ship, no signs of a threat were evident in the water.
As I shifted around the crow’s nest to sweep the area again, a powerful burst of water shot up from the surface. Some of the spray flew so high it rained down on the deck. Through the waves, I caught a glimpse of our assailant.
To the port side of the Rose, a mighty black fin slapped down on the water, sending a gush of ocean out to all sides. My eyes widened as the beast resurfaced again and crashed back down with a loud smack.
A humpback whale, monstrous in size, had come knocking on our door, so to speak. Its dark color blended with the water so perfectly that I could hardly make out its faint outline as it swam away. I was about to report to the captain what I saw when the whale sprang out of the water again. It paused in the air for a moment, water cascading down the expanse of its magnificent body, then dove back under. I followed the behemoth, both massive and graceful, as it swam back toward the Rose.
“Brace yourselves!” I hollered to the crew below me.
Another crash into the hull sent men sprawling across the deck. Barrels and crates of supplies slid around as the Rose teetered to the starboard side. Much of the wind had been lost in the sails, and we got turned about like a child’s toy.
“Ready the harpoons, men.” Captain Finley’s voice boomed over the sound of whipping sails.
“No!” I shouted, waving my hands. “Wait!”
“We’ll be torn to bits if that beast keeps hitting us,” the quartermaster yelled. “We’ve got to take her down.”
“No!” I threw my legs over the side of the crow’s nest and, while the whale was swimming away from us again, I scurried down from my post. I skipped most of the pegs, and my feet were on the deck in the blink of an eye. “We can’t shoot it.”
“Charlie,” Captain Finley began, “we can’t let it overtake us.” He signaled to the dozen or so crewmen that stood ready at the port rail, harpoons loaded and aimed.
“Please, Captain,” I begged, running to the port rail myself.
The whale darted back toward our position. Splashes in the close distance revealed several more whales traveling with this one. A low, mournful wail vibrated out from the creature closest to us, and the others wailed in return.
A family.
The sound resonated deep within my chest. Something about it called to me. The creatures would do us no real harm. They were confused by our presence
in the ocean.
Their ocean.
“Ready!” Captain Finley called. “Aim!”
“Don’t do this!” Without thinking it through, I jumped up on the port rail and got between one of the harpoons and the whale.
“Charlie!” Daniel yelled as he stood next to his uncle.
“Hold your fire!” The captain stormed over to me. “Boy, get down this instant. I’ll not argue with—”
“But, sir,” I interrupted, “we mustn’t harm these creatures. We’re the trespassers. This has been their water for ages. We should get back on course and continue on our way. They will not follow us.” I was certain of it.
“Uncle,” Daniel placed his hand on the captain’s forearm, “Charlie is right. These whales have done us no real damage. I was in the hold and though some of the boards have been weakened, they are not above repair. We have no need to kill any of these creatures. Let’s sail on.”
Daniel’s voice somehow calmed the captain and his words, though not much different from mine, were marked by such clarity.
Giving one final wary glance to the water, Captain Finley ordered, “Put the harpoons away. Get these sails trimmed. Resume course straightaway. And Charlie, if you ever do something like this again, it will be the last thing you do.”
The crew moved to carry out the captain’s orders as he stalked back to the helm. I heaved in a deep breath and turned to look out over the sea. Below the port rail, the whale’s head surfaced. Its great eye stared at me for one long heartbeat before disappearing below the waves. The immense tailfin crested again and collapsed on the water with what looked like a small wave. A wave just to me.
“Come down,” Daniel said once we were alone. “You’re crazy. You know that, right?”
“I am not.” I maneuvered off the port rail, but my left foot got tangled in a line. As I struggled, I lost my balance and suddenly the deck rushed up to my face. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the painful impact.
Sail With Me (A Discovery Series Book) Page 9
