The Truth About Never - Book One

Chapter Three

Peter woke to a swaying feeling in his stomach. The world tasted of bitterness and betrayal, things Peter loathed. He forced himself to lift his head from the hard floor, which only made him feel woozy and miserable. He slowly opened one eye, then another, and considered his surroundings. Curly was curled up in a blanket next to Tootles, who didn't even have a blanket. Slightly was slouched against the wall, snoring, and Nibs was lying near Peter. Peter's brain seemed scrawled and the memory of what had happened in the past couple days returned to him. He and his orphan friends had been sold as servants on this ship under Captain Wes's command. Just thinking of his situation made bile rise in his throat. Peter felt the ship rocking back and forth, and prayed that it would stop. He wanted to vomit. Nibs stirred beside him.

"Peter?" He asked drearily. "Is it really morning?"

"I feel sick," Curly moaned and sat up from where he was lying before. Slightly and Tootles were up as well, both looking too wretched to say anything.

"Me too," Nibs whimpered bleakly.

There was a slow but hard knock at the door, and in came the short, fat, bald man who'd gotten them before.

"The Captain requests you in the upper deck. He says you have jobs to do."

They all made their way up the short flight of stairs to where the Captain was waiting, standing in his usual black cloak with a mad, vehement look on his sharp face. His eyes were dark with a lack of sleep and his hair, blacker than the stormy sea they were sailing on, was greasy and stringy.

"It's about time you boys got up," he spoke, turning to face them. "You need to get back to work."

The five boys looked at one another with dread and anguish. Peter was so fatigued he felt he could barely move and his stomach seemed to be in a knot. His head pounded as the ship swayed on.

"Go to the kitchen and Al will tell you what to do," Captain Wes pointed to the kitchen. A tall, muscular black man was standing at the entrance, waving them inside.

The boys crept towards him with hesitation. Inside the kitchen, dishes were stacked up several feet tall, a nasty reminded of Peter's former orphanage.

"You'll be washing plates," Al pointed to Nibs and Peter, "You'll be rinsing the cups," he pointed to Tootles and Curly, "And you'll be washing the silverware," he finished, looking at Slightly. "Now get to work."

The orphans instantly started scrubbing the dishes and rinsing and washing until their hands ached. Peter wanted to throw the dishes until they were all broken and shattered across the room. He wanted the Captain and those stupid nuns to suffer because of what they did to him, but he forced himself to shake these feeling away.

"Hey, look at that ship. It's huge," Tootles stopped what he was doing and looked out of the small round window on the kitchen door.

"What are you blabbering about, Tootles?" Nibs asked with annoyance.

"No, really, look at it!" He pointed towards the vast sea. All the boys stopped and stared at the approaching ship through the small window on the kitchen door. What they saw was magnificent.

The hull was a deep brown while the main mast stood many yards above the upper deck, towering above everything like a giant. The bowsprit stretched far past the hull. The words The Jolly Roger were written with fancy gold calligraphy along the side. For Peter, it was like staring at a beautiful painting, one that you just couldn't look away from, the most stunning view you could ever see. The ship raced across the water with impeccable speed. It seemed to glide and sashay along the subtle waves of the ocean. Peter didn't want to look away from it, but then Tootles tapped him on the shoulder.