Stowaway (A Pirate Novel) (Completed)

Chapter 8 Rum, Rum, and More Rum

Chapter 8

Captain Talbot had sent a few of the crew to pick up an order from her father. That night Captain Talbot sat at her table at the Silver Pin.

He asked her to extend her contract for another year. "The information you bring makes us all wealthier, El. I won't ask how you come by it but we are intrigued by it." She watched as he smiled at a barmaid that walked by their table.

Elle knew many of the people in the town and had a few contacts on other ports as well. She made sure that all of the people that she spoke with knew to keep her dead. She knew places that private conversations could be over heard. As she had told him, her size was her advantage.

Elle had thousands in a French bank. The small amount she kept with her was just a drop in a pond. Still she wasn't ready to leave the sea so she agreed to stay another year. She didn't have a older to go even if she had wanted to leave. 

Talbot ordered a round of drinks. As she drank, she watched as people came and went.

She sang loudly. She stomped her feet to the beat of the tune. She drank the rum with a free spirit.

She danced. At one point she had to push a woman away that wanted to take her upstairs for a little fun for just a few crowns.

She sat back at the table and drank more rum. She sang some songs that made her blush.

The rum no longer burned her throat when she turned up her cup.

When she stood her head swam like the sea struck by Neptune's trident. For a moment her stomach rolled. She reached out to study herself but found a hand instead of the table she had been reaching for.

Zara had suddenly appeared and now held her hand.

"Leaving so soon? Come now- I can give ye a reason to stay." She asked in a loud voice. Her hands traveled over Elle and she leaned close and whispered. "Come to my room before you make a fool of yourself."

Elle put one foot in front of the other but without Zara's guiding hands she wouldn't have made it to the stairs, much less up them. Elle collapsed in a heavy heap on the bed. She groaned and closed her eyes to make the spinning stop.

"What were you thinking drinking that much rum?" Zara scolded.

Elle groaned. "Harve?"

Zara shook her head. "He's downstairs with your captain. You need to sleep. If you vomit you'll owe me an extra silver." she handed Elle a glass of water. "Drink it if you want to walk in the morning."

She took the cup and struggled to drink every drop. She fell asleep with the empty vessel still in her hand.

That stay on docks lasted five days but after that night, Elle drank even less usual. Even then, it was usually ale or watered rum. The last day in port, in a dress she bought from Zara, Elle went to visit her father. She stayed most of the day.

As she started to leave, he warned her to be careful on her trip, that pirates had been very active lately. She assured him that she would. She pressed a bag of coin in his hand and kissed his cheek.