A Shade Darker ✔️

{Chapter Fifty Six}

Battleship

March 17th, 2018

Ashley

"What do you think this is?! Vacation?! Off your ass boy and help with the ropes!" I nearly hit the ceiling of the small cabin when a voice screams in my ear, waking me.

I hang onto my hat with a heavy hand and stare up at the greasy looking guy I had encountered yesterday in the assembly line.

He smiles at me, hands on his belt and the smell of his sweat and salt water mixing in the air.

With a nod I hurl myself to my feet and feel every inch of my body ache with pain.

You should've stayed home, with Snow. She needs you and you abandoned her for what? This? This life on a boat to your destination that you still didn't know?

After lugging myself towards the door I feel a hard boot connect with my bottom and push me forward.

I grunt deeply, touch the spot tenderly and make my way over to where the other men were tying cannons to the side of the boat.

"Grab a loose end boy, and make yourself useful" The fat greasy pig throws me an end of the rope and I grab it with as must strength as I could muster.

After the end is tied, my hands are raw, and I'm collapsed against the side of the ship, I stare down at the water below and feel the spray cool me down.

I wanted nothing more than to be at home, holding Snow close to my chest and snuggling under a warm blanket by the fire with her.

But I had chosen this, and now I was stuck with it.

"This isn't the time to be homesick, lad..." A voice over my shoulder makes me pull the bridge of the hat down over my eyes.

Another things I wanted nothing more than to do was to take off this whole disguise and reveal the real me to him. It was hard to keep your mouth shut and play someone else all the time. And that being said, it's barely been two days.

Turning, I keep my face towards the ground and begin walking back towards the group of men rolling barrels across the deck.

Mike

I watched the young boy slump away as if I had just robbed him of his last dollar. From his body language and height, he looked no more than eighteen. And yesterday when I had seen the boy's face only contributed more to my realization that he couldn't have been very old. No traces of facial hair were shown and he lacked upper body strength.

I felt bad for having made him do a man's work. Surely he would have to wake up and smell the real world when the time for battle came, but I didn't want him to kill himself on the journey there.

"What's your name, son?" Calling out to him, the boy stops in his tracks and turns slowly towards me.

Still with his head down I can only see half of his face. Chin, lips and nose that the sunlight hit.

I watch as the young man lightly touches raw red burns on his palms. They were fresh, new.

I waited to hear his name, but when my own was called and pointed towards a problem with the weapon cargo I had dismissed the question.

I walk towards where my name was called and turn back to the boy once.

"A clipboard and papers are down in the cargo holds. Do a checklist of all of the supplies and if we're missing anything, come find me and notify me right away" I give quick orders that I thought he could handle before running off in the direction I was needed.

"Captain, it's the sails. The canvas doesn't seem strong enough if we were to perhaps run in to a violent storm. What should we do?" Glancing around with a head full of rambled thoughts, I spot a bucket of glue and look up at the flimsy sails.

"Alright. The bonding shouldn't be too hard. Mix the glue with some rubber cement and a little sea water. Wet some newspaper in the solution to resemble paper machete and let it dry on the sails. It will make them more sturdy, but still flexible"

With a quick thanks another man runs up to me with questions about the food and drinks.

"The lower deck of the ship will be cool enough to hang the meats. And the water and spray that comes through the windows will naturally salt them. Same with the water. Make sure the plugs on the barrels are secure. Too much salt in the water and it will poison us"

Ashley

I stumble in the large boots to the next barrel of...

"Buffalo Biscuits? What the..." Looking down skeptically at the barrel before me, I match it with the the label on the side and mark it off the check list.

Four hours of walking unsteady in the too large boots, and on a rocky boat for that matter, haven't done me well. My aches and pains were growing larger by the second and I was ready for bed.

The moon shown through the small potholes and in on me, the stars in the sky reflecting off of the calm waters. I sighed staring out at it, wishing life were as simple as the stars, or the moon, or the water.

Thinking about life and the things that went it made me think of home. Of the colony, of Billie and Snow. My eyes turned misty and burned and I quickly rubbed them something fierce.

With a small growl to myself I went back to finishing the check off list and climbed the stairs back to the main deck.

At first I had thought that my day was now over, that I could go and collapse on the hard uncomfortable bed.

But as I made my way up and peeked through the moonlight, it seemed as though the night had only begun.

Pirates. The lot of them.