The Pirate and the Soldier Boy

Chapter 16

Carmen lay in her bunk, staring at the wood planks just a foot or so from her face. The boat rocked pleasantly on the waves, and she could here the murmur of voices shouting from up on deck, but where she was down in the berths, they were barely audible.

She raised her hand and ran it along the marks scratched on the underside of the bunk above her. These berths hadn't been used for a long time before she came, being so far in the hold, and the marks were faded. The deepest was a compass rose, obviously painstakingly carved. It was placed over all the other marks, and made them even harder to see, but her eyes were drawn to one hidden beneath the arrow pointing east. It was a small heart, with the letters I and J inscribed within. She dropped her hands and placed them behind her head, smiling.

Carmen pulled her knife from where it hung at her belt and etched a heart above the west arrow. It seemed every person who had used this bunk in the past had scratched their two cents into the wood, and she was not to be left out. Holding the knife like a pen she inscribed a C, and then stopped. She shrugged her shoulders and replaced her knife, shaking wood shavings out of the sleeve of her jacket as she did. Maybe she could come back and finish her piece of the puzzle when her future had decided its self. What it would be, she couldn't tell. Levi's face came to the forefront of her mind, and she didn't push it away until her hand brushed the buttons on her jacket. Sam's jacket. She turned onto her side facing the wall in her berth.

The door rattled as Carmen thought, and she felt grateful she had stoppered the door. Must be dinner time. She stayed a second longer. She hadn't been able to convince Levi to leave his pirating and help her rescue Jenna. She would have to try again today, but by now Jenna may already be dead.

* * *

She walked into the galley late, and all the sailors were already eating, the noise climbing as they tried to talk over each other's conversations. She helped herself to a bowl of stew and sat down at an empty table. It was several minutes before Levi came and sat down beside her. He was predictable. "Hey Carmen. Why so lonesome?"

She waved her hand vaguely. "You were busy."

She took another bite of soup. He gave her a very sarcastic look. "Of course."

She swallowed. "Okay. I wanted to talk to you. Alone."

He smiled and raised an eyebrow. As he opened his mouth to speak, and undoubtedly say something unsavory, Carmen cut him off with a disappointed look. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Vaughn. I need you to steer the ship in a different direction."

He looked at her, serious now, and waved a hand for her to continue on. "My last captain was taken by slavers. I fear it may already be too late, but she put her life in my hands. She should be off the coast of France. And I don't expect you to-"

He placed a hand on top of hers and she stiffened slightly. "Of course. Why did you want to speak alone, though? I think you knew I would say yes this time round. Why not just ask when I was talking to the others?"

"It can't look as though you are taking orders from the lowest ranks."

He rubbed his thumb across the top of her knuckles and kissed her cheek before standing up and leaving the room. The spoon still held in her other hand dropped and clattered in her nearly empty bowl. The room stayed loud but Carmen heard none of it.