Viola

Make-Believe

I grasped his hand. "What do you play?"

"As many instruments as they let me." He opened his bag and drew out a peculiar instrument with many buttons on one side and a few on the other, strung together with a large fan. Strapping one hand to the side, he took a careful look at the placement of his fingers, and played a simple chord.

My shock must have been evident, because he grinned and said, "This is called an accordion. I bought a prototype off a young German in debt and have worked on fixing it for the past several years,"

"That's amazing. It's the only one in the world?"

"Oh, probably not. That German has probably made more by now." Lukas remarked, readjusting his fingers and playing another chord. "It is quite beautiful, no?"

He played another chord and I encouraged him. I watched adamantly as he played a sort of tune. As his fingers covered the buttons, a different chord played, all while Lukas was pushing the instrument together, and apart, together, and apart. It was more fascinating than any instrument I'd ever seen played before, much more fascinating than the flute or the piano. My father had insisted I learn them.

Lukas breathed in time to his playing. It was like watching a dolphin swim, or a dove fly. He was made to play music, and at once I understood his place on board. I would not have been surprised in any way if he had an aristocratic background.

He finished his song. "I'm warming up for the party tonight,"

I glanced up at him. "There's a party tonight?"

"Of course," He laughed. "Look up. We are almost at shore in Badalona."

I looked up. We were indeed fast approaching a fairly large port. There were many other boats nearby, and ours was definitely the smallest. The Captain, I saw, had dusted off her typical burgundy coat and had engaged Jack in a fierce conversation. They were nowhere close to arguing, merely determining how best to conspire against the unsuspecting citizens of Badalona.

Their wares were piled up aboard the ship. I remembered that they did their selling onboard, not bothering to unload into a market stall. Or if they did, I had not noticed it. I definitely would not put it past the Lady Captain to fabricate competition against her ship to drive prices up.

She looked directly into my eyes, despite being half a ship's length away. "Madeleine,"

I stood up, brushed myself off, and hurried over. "Yes?"

"I think you would do well to accompany Jack and I to negotiate our terms with the customs officer. I do believe you would find the charade amusing." A wicked grin crept across her face.

And who was I to refuse? This little field trip may turn educational.

"Of course, Captain, but shouldn't I be wearing something more presentable?" I kept my tone innocent, but I could certainly bend any charade to my own purposes. The past week had given me little opportunity to change from my nightgown to a proper dress, and I might as well seize the opportunity when it was given.

The Lady Captain sighed, but it seemed she had expected something like this. "I have a blue dress in my bedroom, if you wish to wear it. It may not be tailored to you, but will keep you decent until you can tailor it into something hopefully less decent,"

I ignored the last comment, but thanked her for the gift.

It was in her disappointingly empty wardrobe. It was accompanied only by a ratty old cap and a pair of pants. There was no corset, which disappointed me although I was not surprised. I had felt rather loose running around the ship this past month.