The Pirate and the Poem Lover

Chapter 10

*****

"Move, you picaroons!! Move!! I'll not be having any lazy hands on my ship!! Any man seen not pulling their weight with be tossed overboard to live in the locker of Davy Jones!! Now move!!!" Charles yelled over the rain and winds.

He watched as dozens of men scattered about, pulling on ropes and tying them off. They were all working hard to keep the boat steady in the small storm but he could clearly see Eliza struggling. She was using all of her weight to pull on the rope in her bandaged hands but it was no use. Charles felt himself aching and wanting to go help her.

Before he could take a single step away from the helm, one of the new crewmen from Joseph's Home had walked behind Eliza and helped her pull the rope. Charles felt relief fill him but also jealousy as Eliza pressed herself into the man's chest and he helped her pull the rope to tie it down. He was ready to toss the man over board for no good reason other than envy and resentment. He felt his healed shoulder aching and he grabbed at it before belting out several more orders over the small storm's howling.

When he felt the storm easing up, he dismissed half the crew to rest and walked into his quarters. He threw his damp coat to the floor of his cabin and then his shirt, trying to catch a look of the healed scar on his shoulder. Eliza had told him to eat broths that Lafayette made and to rest up which helped a great deal. It seemed she had learned a lot from her books because his infection had healed faster than he ever could have expected.

Charles stopped trying to turn his head and strutted over to the small mirror beside his wardrobe. He turned his side and looked at the reflection of his scar. It had healed so well that there was nothing but a small scab surround by scar tissue. What perplexed Charles was why it still hurt so much. It would ache every now and then and he couldn't figure out why.

He stared at the scab for another minute before sighing in defeat and walking over to his bed. He laid there wide awake as his thoughts drifted to Eliza. Had she told Lafayette her secret? Had she told that other crewman? Who else knew Eliza's true identity?

Surely, she had told at least Lafayette. Right? And it was quite possible that she'd told the other man as well. There was no telling who else might know. But there was also no telling that anyone but Eliza and himself knew the truth either. And she'd seemed so different to him now. She had been trying to fit in with the other men but it wasn't taking very well. The scuttlebutt was that Peter Wellingtonsonsworth was an odd bloke from the West that never spoke much. He kept to himself and pulled his fair share of weight, though he was weak and often needed a hand.

From what Charles had heard in whispers and mutterings, most of the crew found Wellingtonsonsworth to be bothersome and galling. Which meant that they didn't suspect Eliza but it also meant that she was fair game for picking fun at and that happened more often than Charles would have liked but there wasn't much he could do to stop it. To show partiality to any one crew member other than his trusted inner-circle would be like a conjuring his own mutiny.

He sighed at the thought with frustration and turned on his side, trying to empty his mind of the infuriating thoughts of that women. It didn't work and with a huff, Charles shot up and snatched his shirt off the floor. He quickly threw it over his shoulders and walked out of his cabin. As soon as he opened the doors, the crew on deck stopped and watched him with careful gazes.

"At ease, lads," he boomed out before walking to the helm.

He relieved Stread of coxswain and took the wheel in his hands. Taking a deep breath, he glanced up to see the skies were still gray but there was a little bit of blue within sailing distance. Charles began turning the ship away from the gray clouds and as it rocked back and forth, he looked down at the main deck with cautious eyes. He searched all around but his eyes stopped moving when they found what they had been searching for.