The Stolen Heart (8 page)

 

 

She despised the Mate too, now that she saw him for the bully he
was. There was of course no way she could give up her disguise at
this point, and certainly not in such a manner.

 

 

The only way to fight a bully was to stand up to him. She squared
her shoulders, stepped forward, and looked the Mate straight in the
eye.

 

 

“No, sir, I won’t take them off. I’m only supposed to be the cabin
boy. I have other duties to see to. Captain told me to see to the
cooled oil. If you want someone to go down into the whale’s head,
pick one of the other lads.”

 

 

She began to walk away.

 

 

He grabbed at her arm violently and tugged on her shirt. The sleeve
shredded in his hands, baring her arm up to the shoulder, but the
buttons and holes held. One more good yank like that, though, and
she would be down to only her sleeveless shirt and strapping. She
was too curvaceous for there to be any doubt she was a woman if he
saw that. He raised his hand again.

 

 

Almira began to tug against his restraining hand in near
desperation.

 

 

“Mate! What one earth is going on here?” Jared bellowed, coming up
behind him.

 

 

“This boy refuses to get into the case to help extract the oil. I
was just reminding him who give the orders around here.”

 

 

Jared’s eyes narrowed. “It seems I need to remind
you
. You
know the rules. No physical chastisement of any of the boys without
consulting with me. Is that understood?”

 

 

“Aye, sir,” Mate grumbled.

 

 

Jared turned to Almira. “Why did you refuse the first mate’s orders,
Mr. Hussey?”

 

 

“He told me to strip naked and get in the whale head. I know it's an
important job. I was afraid I might do something wrong. And also, I
told him you ordered me to help Cooper, and that I had other duties
as cabin boy.”

 

 

“You lying little-”

 

 

Jared raised himself up to his full height and glared. “I've never
known him to lie, Mate, so I'll thank you to keep a civil tongue in
your head. If he doesn’t want to do it, or he's afraid, would that
be a reason to physically chastise him? Or tear his clothes from his
back? No."

 

 

He turned to Al once more. "Look, lad, there's no disgrace in
admitting fear.”

 

 

“I didn't refuse out of fear of the whale, sir, or the task. I
refused because I was going about the chores you set me, dealing
with getting the oil into the barrels, and then getting cleaned up
and helping with the laundry.”

 

 

“But the case oil is more important,” Jared pointed out mildly.

 

 

“Aye, but I was following your orders, and you're the captain.”

 

 

Jared nodded, satisfied, though she could hear Mate grinding his
teeth with barely suppressed fury.

 

 

“Very well. In future, you simply tell Mate when you're following my
orders. Any confusion, Mate, you come ask me before you start
beating the boys.

 

 

"And you can repair that shirt for Mr. Hussey when you have a spare
moment, though I fear it's rather hopeless. In which case, you can
owe him one of yours. Come, Mr. Hussey, back to your duties with me,
please.”

 

 

All the men who had been watching the scene dispersed, leaving a
fuming Mate to look for another luckless boy and a bucket brigade to
remove the special case oil from inside the sperm whale's head.

 

 

Al was right--it was an important job, for the case oil burned more
brightly than any other, or even the best candles, and as for
greasing machine cogs, it had no equal.

 

 

But Mate was livid at how the little scrubber had made him look like
an ass. Well, he would not forget it in a hurry. The first chance he
got, he would make that little bastard Al pay.

 

 

 

CHAPTER EIGHT

 

 

After another three days of trying out the whale oil, the last casks
were stowed safely and the great try works furnace extinguished.

 

 

The decks were scrubbed, and they resumed their course for Cape Horn
with all possible speed.

 

 

Jared was in an ebullient mood, for they had laid down almost five
hundred barrels of oil, and over two hundred of sperm oil. It would
stand them in good stead as they headed into the Pacific, and he did
not have to worry about running out of lamp oil any longer.

 

 

They passed the easternmost point of Brazil and the town of
Pernambuco, and headed for the River Plata, letting out all his sail
in his effort to catch the
Dolphin.
The weather looked
very fine, and Mate and Second talked about being at the Horn in no
time.

 

 

“Don’t count your chickens,” Jared warned.

 

 

Later that evening in the cabin, when Almira asked him why he had
been so cautious as to when they would reach the Horn, he explained,
“When we get further south, near the mouth of the River Plata, there
are some wild winds called
Pamperos
to contend with. They're
usually preceded by lighting, sometimes far off in the distance.

 

 

"If you see that, I don’t care what you're doing. You call all hands
and come get me. I’ve passed the word along to the others, but it's
easy to miss if you're not looking out for it. But you saw the first
whales when no one else did, so I’m counting on you to keep your
eyes sharp, and do as I tell you.”

 

 

“Aye, sir, I shall.”

 

 

“Good lad.”

 

 

She should have got off the transom sofa to tidy the cabin, but her
run-in with the Mate had weighed heavily on her mind for days. She
hesitated for a moment and then said, “Captain?”

 

 

"Yes, Al?"

 

 

“Can I ask you something?”

 

 

“Aye.”

 

 

“Are you angry with me over the incident with the Mate the other
day?” she asked quietly.

 

 

He looked surprised at the question, and quickly shook his head.
“No, not at all. I’m angry with him for threatening you in that
manner, manhandling you in direct contravention of my orders on this
ship.”

 

 

“But if I was in the wrong, then you should tell me, punish me. You
mustn’t play favorites.”

 

 

“I’m not. You’re the cabin boy. You’re not a greenhand. I’m sorry if
I’ve allowed him to treat you thus by asking him to give you more
duties aboard the ship. If the order is unfair, you let me or Second
know, do you hear?”

 

 

“Aye, Captain. I think I can manage to do my duty and not run afoul
of him again.”

 

 

“Try not to.”

 

 

She sighed. “It’s just that, well, he hates me, sir.”

 

 

“I think you are exaggerating a little, lad.”

 

 

She shook her head. “No, I’m not.” She looked over the taffrail for
a moment, and then asked in a quiet voice, “What's a bum boy?”

 

 

Jared looked at her sharply. “Why do you ask?”

 

 

“Because the Mate said I was one.”

 

 

“I see. Well, I shall speak to him about--”

 

 

She raised one hand to stay him before he stormed out of the cabin.
“No! Never mind. It’s only words, after all. If it isn’t true, then
what difference does it make what that nasty man thinks?”

 

 

His jaw set tightly. “It makes a difference to me. I know you're
innocent. And so am I, come to that."

 

 

Her brows knit. "You, sir? I don't understand."

 

 

"And I'd like to keep I that way," he growled, "but the accusation
tars me with the same brush."

 

 

She sat on the edge of the leather sofa. "Anyone can see what an
excellent captain you are. Only the envious Mate could ever find
fault."

 

 

"Aye, but his polluted mind can corrupt the impressionable or
uninformed minds of others. He said you were
my
bum boy,
didn’t he?”

 

 

“Yes, but like you say, it isn’t true, is it? I mean, I don’t know
what it means, but we have no reason to be ashamed of being friends,
do we? He was trying to make me feel as if I had done something
wrong. I can guess that much.”

 

 

Jared sighed. “You know your Bible, lad?””

 

 

“Of course, sir.”

 

 

“Then you know about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah?”

 

 

She blushed. “Yes, sir.”

 

 

“The first mate was referring to the sin for which Sodom was
destroyed.”

 

 

She felt herself reddening even further. “I see. Well, in that case,
it's nothing to worry about. We have not done anything immoral or
unnatural. The next time he accuses us of anything so low, I shall
tell him evil is as evil thinks.”

 

 

Jared said raggedly, “I still say I should rip his head off.
Polluting our friendship….”

 

 

She shook her head and grasped his shoulder. “No, don’t. It would be
letting him win. He's a spiteful man, that's all. Not a
compassionate Christian. Don’t resort to physical punishment for a
mere word from such a pathetic bully. Don’t let him get you angry.
That's a deadly sin too.”

 

 

Jared lapsed back into his seat with a sigh, and looked at his
companion carefully. “You do surprise me. I would have thought you
would be furious.”

 

 

Almira shrugged. “It’s a lie. Give it the dignity it deserves, and
forget it.”

 

 

“I shall. All the same, though, it's given me pause. I should not
leave you open to such accusations, let alone myself.”

 

 

She waved his words away as if the matter were not of the least
importance. “Don’t be silly. We can’t let that oaf ruin our
friendship, now can we. Nothing goes on between us behind closed
doors that can’t occur right out on deck in the open. Is there?”

 

 

“No, not at all,” he admitted. "At least I don't think so."

 

 

“Good. Neither do I. So that's the last I’m going to say upon the
subject.”

 

 

He grinned. “Very wise and mature for your age, aren't you?"

 

 

She shrugged one shoulder and said truthfully, "I know we're all
sinners, sir, but the one thing I'm sure of is that I'm no one's
lover, least of all a male lover."

 

 

"Nor am I. Very well, then. I shall restrain myself from beating
Mate to a pulp, and turn in. You coming?”

 

 

“No, I think I’ll study the constellations a little while longer.”

 

 

He smiled. “Good night then, lad.”

 

 

“Good night, Captain.”

 

 

Her watching the stars proved uneventful that night, but the
following evening as Jared had gone down to the main cabin to get
another card and game tournament organized for the greenhands,
Almira was certain beyond the shadow of a doubt that she saw
lightning off to the west.

 

 

She ran to the officer on watch, who happened to be the Mate, to
report what she saw.

 

 

“Go away, you little bugger. There ain’t no lightning.”

 

 

“I saw the whales, and you didn’t believe me. Captain said to tell
everyone if there was lightning. Now, are you going to call all
hands or not?”

 

 

Mate grabbed him in a stranglehold. “
Not
,” he sneered. “The
weather is just fine. It couldn’t be more fair. So shut your face
and go on about your duties.”

 

 

Almira squirmed and wriggled to free herself from his crushing grip,
but when she failed after three attempts, and began seeing stars,
she had to resort to more desperate measures. Balling up her hand
into a fist, she bashed Mate in the groin.

 

 

As she fell to the deck she screamed through her bruised throat,
“All hands! All hands! Man the lines, there’s a storm coming! Storm
coming!”

 

 

Mate tried to grab her by the ankle to bring her crashing down onto
the deck, but she stomped his forearm hard with her other foot and
ran for the bell, which she began to ring frantically.

 

 

Cooper, coming along the deck to see what the commotion was all
about, saw the lightning himself, and echoed her words, sending the
watch running, and men scrambling up from steerage and the fo’c’sle.

 

 

Mate crawled along the deck til he was back up on his feet. The only
thing he could focus on was revenge, and took a swing at her.

 

 

She stepped out of the way of the meaty fist just in time, and
grabbed a belaying pin. "Are you deaf? There's lightning. The ship's
in danger."

 

 

"You little bastard—"

 

 

She backed away from the pure venom spewing from his lips and eyes,
but he just kept moving menacingly forward.

 

 

Almira had never been so relieved to see Jared in her life than when
he came running toward her from the aft companionway.

 

 

“I saw lightning, over there!” she rasped, pointing.

 

 

Jared could barely make out her words, her voice was so faint.

 

 

But as he stared at her wild-eyed expression and followed her
finger, a telltale flash of lightning lit up the horizon.

 

 

“Oh, God. Take in all the sail, now!
Now
!
Now
!”