The North's Galleon

Chapter 18: All Hands on Deck

Denise set herself on a barrel to watch the men as they worked. It piqued her curiosity a bit as she watched Paul direct the men, rather than Gunther.

She looked at the sky, which was hardly even cloudy. "Oh yeah, definitely a storm rolling in there, Gunther." She huffed.

"What was that?" Millard walked by at that moment.

"Gunther said there's a storm coming in, but the sky is clear as day."

Millard laughed and looked up. "S'pose it is. But if Gunther says there's a storm coming, I'd be a bit more inclined to believe him than the sky."

"Really?" Denise made a face.

"He's not been wrong about storms in the ten years he's been on this ship. Well, I don't always trust him when he says there isn't one, but storms can sneak up on even North."

She folded her arms and stared at the sky. "I still don't like him."

"Don't blame you. He's awful pretentious."

Then a wet slap broke through the peaceful, quiet noise of the crew working.

"I said I'm swabbing the deck!"

"I was up here first!"

"I told you I was swabbing the deck and then you stopped what you were doing and ran up here!"

Gunther and Lawrence were going at each other with mops, the wet slap being Gunther whacking Lawrence on the head with the wet end of his mop.

"Would you two shut up and get to work!" Paul bellowed. "Gods' sake there's a whole deck, you can both do it!"

"But then it won't take as long!"

"Never thought I'd hear you complain about not having to spend as much time cleaning."

"I'm gonna be cleaning all day no matter how fast I finish the deck, asshole! Go finish dusting! Or clean your damned cabin before I gotta rummage through it later!"

"It was clean until you slept in it!"

"It was not!"

"Boys!" Paul grabbed them both by their shirt collars and lifted them into the air. "Good grief, you're like cats. You both did the crime, you both get the punishment, you could take it easy on everyone's eardrums and stop screaming. Now I'm gonna put you down. Lawrence, you start on the port side, Gunther, you start on the starboard side. Work toward the middle. Whoever's side is cleanest doesn't have to clean the cabin."

"Oh, his pretentiousness over here ain't ever gonna get his side clean."

"We both know I do a better job cleaning than you!"

"Stop!" Paul slowly lowered them back to the deck. "Good grief. Do I work with children?"

"You work with Gunther, which is close enough."

Gunther smacked Lawrence with the mop again.

Paul sighed. "Just...clean. Don't look at each other. Don't talk to each other. Just clean the damn boat. And stay on deck. Wind's picking up."

Gunther paused and sniffed the air. "Ah...I'm gonna go put the mop away. I'm not gonna get far."

"It's clear as day." Denise scoffed.

Gunther glanced at her. Then he pointed at the sky. Within the last few minutes, the sky had already begun to turn. Dark clouds were brewing on the horizon. An arrogant grin crossed his face.

A scream rattled the ship, Possum howling from his place in the crow's nest.

"All hands!" North bellowed.

Gunther swung the mop over his shoulder and began to whistle as he strutted across the deck to put the mop away.

"Alright, boys! Place your bets now!" Paul bellowed.

"20 on a Typhoontail!" Tommy screamed before anyone else.

"10 on a you-know-what!" Millard screamed.

Lawrence pulled a change bag off his belt and started counting the contents. "Eh...47 on a leviathan."

"Gotta be specific!" Paul barked as he collected the pool from everyone else.

Lawrence paused, glancing at Gunther, and then at the storm brewing. "Ah, Darren's Hill...Boiling Seas Leviathan."

"You can't guess by reading Gunther's mind, that's cheating!" Jackal retorted as he counted out 20 diir.

"I can't read his mind! It's as educated a guess as yours!"

"How about you, miss?" Paul chuckled as he walked over to Denise. "You in?"

"I don't know any sea monsters, and I don't have any money."

Paul winked at her. "I'll split the earnings if I win. I tossed 30 diir on a hydra."

"What's a hydra?"

"Many-headed bastard. You cut one off, it grows three more." Sebastian fiddled through his change bag. "Apparently, burning the head off works fine though. Funny that."

"Got your bets in?" North spoke from the wheel as thunder began to rumble.

"All set, Cap'n!" Paul saluted.

"Well, Gunther?" North smiled as the first mate got back from putting his mop away.

Gunther paused for a moment, thinking about it. "Mm...boiling seas leviathan."

"You bastard!" Jackal screeched as Lawrence laughed.

"You heard 'im, boys!" The sky churned, turning dark against flashes of lightning. "Lower the sails, and brace for a fight!"

Gunther unhooked the whip from his hip and let the length of it drop to the deck. Denise watched him inhale deeply, his chest and shoulders rising. He flicked his wrist, and sparks flashed off the whip.

Denise pursed her lips. Her brother's flames, his soul, encased in some pirate's raggedy whip.

Gunther grabbed the ring he wore as a pendant and shoved it inside his shirt, securing a button to keep it there. "North."

"Hm?"

"It's a nest."

"It's a--"

--"It is angry."

"How can you tell?" Denise snapped.

Gunther glanced at her, not acknowledging her at first. "Ready the cannon! She's not going down without a fight!"

"Gunther, you gotta quit leading us to nests." Sebastian shuddered, but quickly grabbed the ship's singular cannon, which he and Big Man manned together.

Gunther wiped sweat from his forehead. "Did you feel the air get hot, Denise?"

"Did it?" She hadn't noticed, at least until Gunther had pointed it out.

"Stay out of the damn water!" Gunther barked. "It's already boiling, and I'm sure her babies would love some man soup." He flicked the whip again. Come on, Firebrand. His lips mouthed.

Denise glanced toward the sea. Gunther wasn't wrong. It was actually boiling.

At that moment, she gravely understood why most sailors were scared of the ocean.