Jeff slowly got to his feet and started putting on the clothes Robinson had provided. She smiled at him and said, “I must apologize for being so forward, but I’ve been keeping my secret from the crew for months now and a woman has needs! Although the Captain knows about me, he rejects all of my advances. I trust that you will not disappoint me as he has!”
“I’ll try not to,” Jeff said as he finished getting dressed.
“Good! Now, as luck would have it, this bunk next to mine is unclaimed, so you can sleep here.”
“Great,” Jeff nodded, not really sure what to think of the situation.
Although Robinson’s outward appearance was anything but feminine, Jeff found himself strangely attracted to her. The Captain had warned him about getting too friendly with Robinson, but it was quickly becoming apparent that she had every intention of getting very friendly with him. “I should be getting back to the Captain,” Jeff said as an excuse to retreat from her company and to give himself time to sort things out.
“Of course,” she said, “But you might want to do something about that mast in your pants first. I’ll leave you alone so you can settle down.” With that, Robinson turned and was gone. Jeff turned his tried to turn his thoughts to things that would squelch his arousal. Remembering the “restroom bucket” quickly eliminated his erection and he made his way back up on deck.
Jeff made his way back to the Captain’s cabin and knocked on the door. “Enter,” the Captain called out. Jeff entered and Coxen looked at him with an expression of surprise. “Back so soon?!” I was expecting you and Mr. Robinson to be occupied for some time. I thought you’d be giving her a good rodgering in the cargo hold by now!”
“Wait, you mean you knew she was going to come on to me?”
“Of course, Mr. Greene, I’m a leader of men – and, as in this case, the occasional wench. It is necessary to my survival and success to be able to predict their behavior. Mr. Robinson is as randy as a stoat and she desperately needs a release. She cannot lie with any of the crew as she knows it would be too dangerous and disruptive for them to learn her secret. As I said before, I consistently reject her advances, so she gets no satisfaction with me. She is a valuable member of my crew and I do not wish her to suffer. By smacking her bottom in your presence, I was intending to let you know her secret and at the same time was letting her know that you know, thus making you an available option for her to soothe her hysteria. What happened? Is her appearance not pleasing to you? As I said, she’s actually quite lovely when not disguised.”
Jeff smiled, “Well, she does kind of look like a man, but after our encounter, I do find myself attracted to her. She does have very nice breasts…”
“Aye!” Coxen agreed, “Small enough that they can be hidden, but very pleasing to the eye when they are not.”
Jeff continued, “But you warned me not to get too friendly with her, so I figured you’d be angry if…”
“No, Mr. Greene. My warning was nothing more than a ruse. There’s nothing so desirable to a man as something he has been told he cannot have!”
Jeff laughed, nodding in agreement. “You are full of surprises, Captain!”
“I do request that you keep any activities with Mr. Robinson hidden from the crew. It could cause considerable trouble if you were discovered.”
“Of course, Captain,” Jeff agreed and added, “There is one thing I would ask of you as well.”
“Yes?” the Captain asked. “Could you stop calling her ‘Mr. Robinson’ when speaking with me about her? It kind of freaks me out.”
“Would simply referring to her as ‘Robinson’ be acceptable, Mr. Greene?”
“Yes, that would be fine. Thank you!”
“So it shall be,” the Captain affirmed.
“Now, Mr. Greene, although it has been a most enjoyable evening, I ask that you take your leave of me now. But please come to my cabin in the morning and we shall break bread together once again.”
“Gladly, Captain,” Jeff replied, “Good night.” Jeff left the cabin and stood on the deck, looking up at the stars. It had been a mind-blowing two days. He didn’t know if or when he’d find a way to get back to his own time, but no matter what happened, he was living the adventure of a lifetime.
At the other end of the deck, the gambling party seemed to be breaking up. A few men stood up and headed down the steps to their quarters. Gradually more followed, until only a handful remained. Jeff suddenly felt very tired. Tomorrow promised to be another taxing day, so he made his way to his bunk. Most of the crew had already passed out in their berths and several men were snoring loudly. The room reeked of the worst body odor he had ever encountered, mixed with the scents of stale smoke and rum, but Jeff was so tired that he barely noticed as he slipped into his bunk. Robinson was in her bunk and turned over to smile at him as he pulled the blanket over himself. Only now did he realize that what he thought was a stubbly beard on her face was actually some kind of grime no doubt purposefully placed there as part of her disguise. “Sleep well, Mr. Greene,” Robinson said softly. “Sleep well, Robinson,” Jeff replied sleepily. Although the crew quarters were noisy with the snoring of the men and creaking of the ship’s timbers, Jeff soon drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 5: A New Day
Jeff was awakened by the sound of the crew around him as they stumbled from their bunks and stomped up the steps to the deck. Robinson’s bunk was empty as she was already in the galley preparing food for the others. Jeff sat up slowly. His head was pounding from the excess of the previous night’s rum. Perhaps Robinson would boil some water from the rain barrel for him so he could at least partially rehydrate and relieve the hangover.
Jeff made his way up the steps and onto the deck. The sun was just coming up and even though it was still low in the sky, it was still painfully bright in his eyes. The crewmen on deck were already engaged in a variety of ship maintenance activities. One man nearby started working on securing deck boards by hammering in nails that had worked their way up. The noise shot through Jeff’s head like a bolt of lightning, so he quickly moved toward the far end of the deck.
He noticed a thin cloud of smoke emanating from below deck and guessed that it was coming from the galley, so he followed the cloud down some steps and through a short passageway that opened up into a room with pots and kitchen implements. Robinson was slicing up and pulling large seeds out of some sort of tropical fruit or vegetable Jeff did not recognize. “Good morning, Mr. Greene,” Robinson said with a smile, “I trust you slept well.”
“Yes, thank you, Robinson. I don’t want to interrupt your work, but I was wondering if you might boil me some water to help my hangover.”
“The only water we have is the rain barrel, and I don’t think you want to drink that, even with it boiled,” Robinson replied.
“If you’re willing to boil it or at least allow me access to the stove, I will take my chances.”
“Very well, you may collect some water in that empty rum bottle if you like,” Robinson said nodding toward a shelf next to him. “The rain barrel is on the aft port side of the deck.”
Jeff made his way topside and walked over to the rain barrel. He now saw why Robinson and the Captain had recommended against drinking from it. Thick algae covered the walls of the barrel and a thin layer of what looked like pond scum floated on the surface of the water. The thought of drinking the water combined with his pounding head made him more than a little nauseous, but he decided that disgusting water was better than none in his current state. He placed the tail of his shirt over the opening of the bottle to serve as a makeshift filter before dunking it below the surface. The bottle filled quickly and Jeff returned to the galley. “Just put it directly in the coals,” Robinson instructed, nodding towards the brick-lined fire pit. Jeff complied and the coals hissed as the water on the outside of the bottle made contact.
“What’s that you’re preparing?” Jeff inquired.
“They call it breadnut. The Captain likes the seeds for his
morning meal. I also make flatbread from them. It tastes much better than the hardtack.” Robinson turned and pulled another breadnut from a pot hanging in the fire pit and water dripped over the coals with a sizzling sound.
“Wait a minute!” Jeff exclaimed, “If you don’t have drinking water, what are you cooking the breadnuts in? For that matter, how did you make the stew last night?”
“Well, I’m cooking the breadnuts in seawater and as to the stew, that was cooked in a combination of seawater, grog, and coconut water.”
“So you do have coconuts on board?” Jeff asked.
“Of course, we have boxes of them in the cargo hold,” Robinson replied, “You’d be far better drinking the coconut water than that boiled water from the rain barrel.”
“Nobody told me there were coconuts!” Jeff exclaimed.
“Did you ask?” Robinson said with an arched eyebrow.
“No.”
“Well, that’s why!” the cook said with a laugh.
Robinson bent down below the galley table and stood up with a coconut that had been in a bin underneath. She tossed it to Jeff as she bent down again to pull a large machete-like knife from below the table . “Help yourself,” she said sliding the machete across the table towards him as she turned her attention back to the breadnuts.
Jeff picked up the blade and held it and the coconut in front of him. “What’s the best way to cut this thing open?” he asked. Robinson stopped what she was doing and sighed as she walked around the table. Taking the coconut and machete from him, she sliced at the coconut, rapidly removing the outer husk and exposing the inner nut, finishing with a slice across the top of the nut to expose its contents, narrowly missing Jeff’s throat with the blade as it passed across the coconut. The annoyed cook handed the coconut back to him and returned to the other side of the table to resume her work. “Thanks,” Jeff said, as much in gratitude for her not cutting his throat as for opening the coconut.
“You’re welcome,” Robinson replied. “But you’re on your own next time,” she said pointing her knife at him to emphasize the point.
Jeff noticed that his water was boiling, so he grabbed a cloth and pulled the bottle from the coals. “Take that with you and get out of my galley. I’ll never be done with my work with you in here!” Robinson growled at him, but then smiled and gave him a wink.
“Yes, sir!” Jeff said with a salute as he turned and walked out. Jeff found a spot on deck that was out of the way of the crew and set his bottle of water to cool by the rail as he slowly drank his coconut. He could see a group of crewmen eyeing him from the far end of the deck and speaking in hushed tones.
After some discussion, one of the men approached him. “Graves is me name. Greene is it?”
“Yes,” Jeff said, extending his hand.
There was an awkward moment at Graves just looked at him quizzically. “Good to make your acquaintance,” Graves said, bowing his head.
Jeff bowed in return, quickly making the assumption that this was the customary greeting for the time. “You’re the ship’s surgeon, aren’t you?”
“Aye,” Graves replied. “And ye be from another time?” the crewman asked in disbelief.
“Yes.”
“Be ye sent here by a witch or some dark magic?”
“I don’t really know, but I think somehow the storm brought me here.” “It be an odd storm,” Graves nodded, “Have not seen one like it in all my days at sea.”
Jeff finished the last of the coconut water and set the nut down to save the meat for later. “How long is that?” Jeff asked.
“Near 10 years now.”
Jeff ‘s heart sank with this confirmation of the Captain’s news that such storms were rare and that his chances of getting back to his own time were slim. Graves noticed the look of despair on Jeff’s face and changed the subject. “Ye like coconuts?” Graves asked.
“Yes, they’re OK, but mainly I just wanted to something to drink besides rum.”
“Why?” the pirate asked with a look of confusion.
“I have a hangover and I need to rehydrate…” Jeff began, but stopped himself. “It’s a thing we do in my time,” he explained.”
“Ye come from a strange time, Mr. Greene.”
“That I do, Mr. Graves.”
Graves cocked his head toward the men at the other end of the deck. “Come, I’ll acquaint you with the rest o’ the crew.” The two men walked across the deck. Graves made a loud whistle to draw attention and the crewmen stopped their various activities and turned toward them. “Mates, as ye know this be Mr. Greene and it be time we all became acquainted in a more friendly manner than that of yesterday.”
“What be friendlier than a hangin’?” one of the men in back yelled out. The others laughed and Jeff found himself laughing with them.
Graves continued, “Be that as it may, he is to be with us for a while and introductions are in order.”
Crabtree stepped forward and said, “Ye be overstepping yer position, Mr. Graves, but yer thought be sound. Men, gather ‘round!” The men formed a circle and Crabtree stepped forward and grasped Jeff by the shoulder. “I be Crabtree, the first officer and I command the ship when the Captain is indisposed. Graves ye already know. Harrison be the one with the bruises ye near killed yesterday…”
“I was about to turn the tide on ‘im when ye all interfered!” Harrison yelled, to which everyone, including Harrison, laughed heartily.
“As I was sayin’,” Crabtree continued, “That be Gerard, but we mostly call ‘im ‘Frenchy’. That there is Stevens, Pike, the other Stevens…”
Jeff interrupted, “Do you call the two Stevens something different to distinguish them?”
Crabtree rolled his eyes. “Aye! I jus’ told ye. That be Stevens and that be the other Stevens.”
“You mean you actually call him ‘the other Stevens’?” Jeff asked with some amusement.
“Aye! What else would we call ‘im?”
“Of course. Silly of me. Please continue.” Jeff replied.
Crabtree quickly ran through the names of the remaining 20 or so men. “Other than Robinson in the galley and the Captain, that be the crew. Now that the introductions be complete, everyone back to work!” Crabtree boomed. The men separated and quickly resumed their chores.
From the other end of the deck, Captain Coxen emerged from his cabin and called out, “Mr. Greene, please join me. Robinson will be delivering food in short order.” Jeff walked toward the cabin and remembered his bottle of water cooling by the rail. He reached down and carefully tapped the bottle with his finger tips to check the temperature. It was still quite warm, but cool enough to handle. He picked it up and carried it with him into the cabin, where the Captain was already seated at the table. “Rum at this hour! Good, you’re already developing a tolerance!” the Captain said, gesturing at the bottle.
“Oh, no, this is rainwater I boiled in the galley,” Jeff explained.
The Captain had a look of disgust on his face. “Still insisting on water, eh? Very well, suit yourself. I will be having some grog with lime. You should have some as well so that you don’t succumb to the scurvy.”
Jeff took a small taste of his water. It was still quite warm and tasted like a mixture of mud and spoiled lettuce, but it was drinkable – sort of. “Perhaps I could add some lime juice to my water?”
“As you wish,” the Captain nodded.
There was a knock on the cabin door. “Enter,” the Captain beckoned. Robinson entered carrying a platter of breadnuts, fruit and flatbread and a large pewter pitcher and set them on the table. “Very good, Mr. Robinson. Please bring some limes for Mr.Greene’s water.”
“Aye, Captain. Will you be needing anything else?”
“No, that should suffice.”
“Very good, Captain. I shall return with some limes.”
Robinson departed and the Captain grabbed a couple of breadnuts and popped one in his mouth. “Do try the breadnuts, Mr. Greene, they are delicious.” Jeff gra
bbed a breadnut and popped it in his mouth. It was somewhat like a large, soft peanut.
“That is good,” Jeff agreed.
Robinson returned with a small bowl with some lime quarters. Jeff and the Captain thanked her and she quickly departed. Jeff squeezed some lime into his water bottle and swirled it around. The lime juice did definitely help the taste of the water. He sampled some of the flatbread that had been made with bread nut meal and was pleasantly surprised at how tasty it was. “This is really good!”
“Aye,” the Captain agreed, “Robinson does remarkable things with the limited ingredients at hand.”
All of the food on the platter was actually quite good and after squeezing the last of the lime wedges into his water, even it tasted relatively good.
“I trust you slept well last night, Mr. Greene.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Good. Today will be a busy day. When the crew finishes the morning chores, I will take you to Port Royal. We will be making a few trips in the longboats to gather supplies and once that is done, we shall visit the local tavern for some refreshments and entertainment. You will see much of the town, not that there is much to see, and that should give you a means to help you decide whether to stay ashore or travel with us.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Jeff said.
“Now, Mr. Greene, I should warn you about Port Royal. It may not seem dangerous, but I can assure you that it is. I know that you are quite capable of defending yourself, just do not let your guard down.”
Pirates of the Storm (Stranded In Time Book 1) Page 4
