A Weather Eye on the Horizon

A Weather Eye on the Horizon (18)

hey! soooo.... okay, i won't babble TOO much today. so. um. yeah. it's way too hot over here.... 90 degrees outside and baking in the school! so much for great ac... anyway. yeah. okay, the book. just updating you on my life as i update on the book! anyway. anyone here ever pushed open an automatic sliding door??? my bff did that... it was hysterical. it got stuck! ahhhh good times. so yeah back to the book. here you go... gracias!

leer

voto

ventilador!!!!!!!!!!

in other words.......... the usual read vote fan

por favor???? y gracias??? estoy desperada!!!!

anyway here:

Few Days Later

No. I do not want to write. But I have to, I tell myself. I must.

Something terrible has happened.

Yes, I have said this before, but this is very much worse than anything that has happened – except perhaps when I was captured.

I do not know how to tell it.

Well, yes, I do. But I do not want to. Well… here:

It was this evening, rather late. I was going on deck to do my watch. I was rather tired after practically no sleep the night before, which is probably why I somehow did not notice the captain and mate standing on the deck. Jack was standing with his back to me and as I walked by him, somehow, I do not know how, I tripped over something, maybe, but something happened. It made me sprawl across the deck and drop the bucket of bilge water I was carrying.

It splashed all over the captain, and I sprawled at his feet.

Well, you can imagine his reaction – even on a good day. And I could notice that he had been drinking. The way he stumbled back and lurched slightly.

I sprang up and tried to apologize quickly. But he grabbed my arm, and I could smell the liquor on his breath. A sense of panic seeped over me and I tried to pull away, but he pulled me close, snarling, “What have we here?”

I tried desperately to free myself, wondering if the mate or someone would help me, but the captain twisted me around to look at me. “Oh, it’s ye, girlie,” he breathed. “You spilled all this – over me.”

He spun me away from him and I stumbled. He yelled, “Five lashes to her!”

There was immediate silence. I got to my feet, terrified, and the mate – Wilkes, I think – grabbed me. I tried to escape him, but he held tight.

“Captain,” he said hesitantly. “She’s just a girl…”

Some of the rest of the crew were muttering the same. They could tell the captain was drunk, too. My breath was in my throat as I looked around in terror. Anne was watching with a passive face, and I looked at her for help. She turned her head away, and I was reminded of the time she didn’t help me in the bilge.

The captain repeated his order, and the mate shook me gently. I tried to call out, but found I could not. I began to give up hope when there was a thump on the deck and David landed in the center of the cluster.

He stared around. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Why are they holding you, Annie?”

I thought I’d never been so glad to see anyone in my entire life. I shook my head wordlessly, but the captain repeated himself. David went a little pale, but it was, I could tell, with rage. “What?” he demanded. “She’s just a girl!”

Normally I would have been angered, but regarding the situation, I thought it was safest not to be. The captain looked at him angrily. “Then you take her place, you little–” He then said a word I cannot print in here.

David’s chin went up. “I will.”

“No!” I screamed, but Wilkes was already pushing me away. I stumbled, tripped, and fell, straight down into the hold. I got to my feet painfully, but slid into the shadows. I crouched down, covering my ears, but I could still hear the crack of the whip. All I could think of was that other sailor’s awful whipping, and replacing David with the sailor only made it worse.

I do not know how long I crouched there, unable to move, but then there was silence. And all of a sudden he was being shoved down into the hold, where I was, and landed at the bottom. There was the sound of a fluent string of mixed curses and swear words. I was still unable to move, and I watched as he struggled to his feet, pulling his shirt on over his head. I turned away slowly, but he stopped, turned towards me and called out, “Annie.”

I turned back toward him, and then I couldn’t help it, I started crying silently, the tears flooding down my face. David stepped forward, and I braced myself to accept his anger, but he held his arms out and embraced me, hugging my face to his chest. “I’m sorry,” I choked out, but he rubbed my back, running his fingers through my ragged hair.

“It’s all right,” he said, over and over, but I knew it wasn’t. How could it be? It was my entire fault, all of it; he didn’t have to interfere with anything…

I don’t know how long we stood there, together, but then I was swaying on my feet and he pushed me upright. “You’re exhausted,” he said, looking at me, his green eyes concerned.

“No–” I tried to say, but he put a hand over my mouth.

“Really, Annie,” he said softly, because he knew what I meant. “I’m all right with it, really. Aye?”

I nodded, unable to say anything. He removed his hand from my mouth gently and smiled, a little painfully. “All right,” he said, “I’ll take you back to your cabin, aye?”

The decks were surprisingly quiet, barely a person in sight. David, with one arm still around me, steered me towards my cabin. Once inside, I collapsed on my bed, and then looked up at him.

“Aren’t you tired?” I asked him.

A shadow seemed to fall over his face and his eyes darkened. “No,” he said abruptly. “I’m not tired.” He turned away.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, one last time.

He smiled briefly, squeezed my hand, and walked out.

I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. I had to let my feelings out somewhere. So I picked up you, little book, and began to write.

Next Day

Dear little book,

I do not know how David can act so natural, as if nothing has happened. It leads me to think something such as this has happened before. I have mostly stayed in my cabin today. Then Anne came in around noon.

“Annie,” she said, a little awkwardly. “I’m sorry.”

She waited, and I nodded curtly. “You need to go out there, love,” she told me. “For him.”

I looked at my feet. After making such a fool of myself, and of David, I hardly wanted to go on deck and see everyone there. But Anne tugged me to my feet and led me out, forcing me on deck. “Remember,” she hissed in my ear, “do it for the boy.”

I decided not to think about what David would think about being called a boy. Instead, I reluctantly turned to the rigging and began to climb. I couldn’t see David anywhere and decided that he was off-shift. And sure enough, a moment later I saw him walking across the deck, black hair flying in his face as usual. I marveled at the way he can still walk in that same swagger as before. I couldn’t do it. He was greeting everyone with a grin that only I could tell was a little forced and was making the other sailors laugh. How he did it I’ll never know. As for me, I stood there in the rigging, unable to move and unsure of whether I wanted to.

Then he glanced up at me, and a flash of a genuine smile flitted across his face. With his hair blowing wildly in the wind, anyone could miss it. I offered a tiny smile back, and then faced the horizon, trying to push down the unwonted feeling of satisfaction that arose inside of me.

ahhhhhhh....... that was my favorite part to write. okay, one of them. i am madly in love with David... and i made him up! is that like being in love with yourself??? what do they call that? hmmmmmmm...... well anyway sorry for babbling! i hope you're warming up to this story and please please please vote/fan/read/promote and PLEASE give me some comments and advise!!!!!!!! GRACIAS