A Duchess in the Pacific

Two

Ruby lips above the water

blowing bubbles, soft and fine

but, alas, I was no swimmer

so I lost my clementine

- Traditional

When H company was given orders of patrolling the other side of the island, they had expected to run into more Japs. They never expected to see a blue sailboat washed on the shore, torn up by the bed of rocks beneath it.

Leckie was the first to spot it. At first he thought it might be a mirage and getting closer the thought occurred to him that it could be a decoy, a diversion tactic from the Japanese. But the beach was otherwise deserted. Still, the men approached with caution. Bits of the wooden boat were drifting out into the sea, causing half of the boat to be submerged. The shore lapped around the intruding object and splashed up its sides, creating the only other noise on the beach besides the sound of the footsteps of the approaching men.

"The Duchess?" Runner read out loud, running his hand along the hand-painted name.

"This is a civilian boat." Sid added, though that was quite obvious at this point.

"How the fuck did it get all the way out here?" Chuckler remarked keeping the butt of his gun jammed up against his shoulder.

"Poor son of a bitch, must've been really lost." Hoosier answered. He knocked on the boat as the rest of the men raised their guns, in case a rogue Jap was hiding out in it. But nothing happened.

"So where is the sorry sailor, then?" Leckie tilted his head at the wreckage. "couldn't have been here long, the boat looks brand new."

"dead inside, maybe." Chuckler offered.

Leckie stopped to think. He gazed out at the horizon of vast ocean that surrounded the island. There hadn't been a boat on Guadalcanal since the Navy took off with all their provisions. He chewed on a chapped piece of his lip, and looked back into the jungle. They would half to report this, no matter if the boat was abandoned or not. And someone else would have to go on board to see. And maybe there were valuable things on board. That was it. Leckie decided. Whatever was on the boat was his and H's for the taking. He slung his gun over his back, to get a better grip on the railing of the boat before pulling himself up.

The sail was flapping gently and quietly in the breeze in way that would've spooked him, if he wasn't a Marine. It was hard to get down the hatch, since the boat had tipped over. Everything that was probably tucked away neatly in its proper place had spilled from the cupboards and decorated the flooded floor of the cabin. But as he stepped, his foot nearly stepped on something firm but soft.

Confused, he lifted the life vests that were in the way to reveal a foot connected to a leg. Leckie jumped back slightly. It was a woman's leg, it was slender and hairless and a pink house slipper dangled from the foot. Quickly, he uncovered the entire body and then the head. Leckie yelled for the others still shocked at what he was looking at.

And what he was looking at was a beautiful young girl. Dark curls tumbled around her head as the flooding waters threatened to sumerge her cherub face. Leckie quickly lifted her head above the water,  getting himself soaked from the knees down in the process. Leckie held her head, gently in his lap and began to ponder how on earth she got here. He couldn't help himself from looking at her body. She was wearing a pink silk nightie that was now practically see through as it clung to her body. She was large chested with bigger hips that gave her a perfect hourglass figure.

Chuckler and Hoosier looked down into the cabin with shocked faces.

"Don't just stand there, help me with her." Leckie said as he gestured to her feet. He would have been able to pick her up himself had the boat not been capsized and half submerged. Chuckler grabbed her wrists, pulled her to his chest and slumped her over his shoulders.