Dragon Clan #6: Anna's Story

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Anna woke with a headache. Shouting and the sounds of heavy feet walking above her made her head pound. She pulled a thin pillow over her face, but not before she saw a low, wood ceiling above. Not the Inn.

Dank smells assaulted her, and while she believed she was dizzy, she decided the room was moving in reality. She was on a ship. The Rose, for sure.

Then she remembered how good the white wine tasted last night. Sweet, with a pleasant after-taste. Like liquid candy.

The thought of candy brought bile to her mouth. She fought to control herself. Throwing up was worse than fighting her body for control. Anna steeled herself and drew in a long, slow breath. She was not up to facing bright light yet, and as the Six Gods knew, she couldn’t eat, let alone think about it.

More pounding sounded. She pulled the pillow tighter, so it helped keep out the offending noise. The door to her cabin opened and Devlin entered. She gave him only enough of a peek to recognize who she’d take out her wrath on if he continued pounding on her door.

“Anna, they sent me to wake you.”

“You succeeded.”

“Uh, I think they want you to get up and go above decks.”

“Tell them I’m sick.”

“Raymer said it’s the after-effects of the wine. He said to tell you that when you drink too much wine at night, you still have to get up in the morning.”

“I’ll drink no more wine.”

Devlin laughed, “He said you’d say that, too.”

She heard him run from the cabin, the door slamming behind him, but not before she heard him laugh. In slow motion she swung her feet over the edge of the bed and managed to stand, if a little wobbly. The floor rolled slightly, and she grabbed for support on the edge of the bed and missed. A half-step brought her upright, but did nothing to do for her pounding head.

She opened the door and looked in both directions. Nothing indicated which way to go, so she chose left. At the end of the narrow hallway, a flight of steep stairs took her to another door. She opened it, and sunlight flooded in. Anna groaned in response, but stepped onto the deck.

The Captain and Raymer were standing beside each other watching a boom and pulley system lift kegs from the pier and carry them onto the deck, where sailors tossed them onto their shoulders and disappeared below decks. Raymer spotted her and motioned for her to join them.

Captain Jameson grinned and said, “We’re taking on the water and supplies you suggested.”

“Already?”

He gave her a confused expression before saying, “I ordered what you wanted this morning with hopes of setting out later today.”

“Setting out?”

“Do you need a few moments to gather your thoughts and recall our discussion?”

The Captain didn’t sound unfriendly, but sympathetic. She looked at Raymer and avoided his smirk. “I think I need something to eat.”

Raymer said, “See the ship’s cook. He can fix you up with food . . . And drink.”

Anna ignored the barb as she turned away. She had no idea of where the cook could be found, but a curl of smoke came from a small pipe, and he should be at the other end of it. Asking directions was too much trouble, especially with Raymer nearby. When starting down another set of stairs, she found Carrion.

He was no more comfort than Raymer. “Strips of greasy pork for breakfast.”

Her stomach turned, but she tried to smile. “Do you think he might have some white wine to wash it down?”

“You’re no fun. Anybody ever tell you that?”

Carrion climbed the stairs heavily, leaving her to follow her nose to the galley. She found a small room crammed with two tables and benches fastened to the floor. A crewman was finishing a bowl of boiled grain, soft and bland in appearance. She sat on the nearest bench and eventually a cook looked out a pass-through and said, “Gruel or midday?”

She interpreted that to mean breakfast or lunch, so it must be between. “Gruel. And do you have any hard biscuits?”

“I thought only seamen ate them,” he called as his head disappeared to attend to spooning out the food. A bowl and hard bread were placed in front of her. It was about all she could eat without spewing it back, but found her appetite was better than expected. Her head was not pounding as much.

Thief took a seat across from her. As usual, he said nothing, which pleased her. As she finished eating, she asked, “The ship is leaving soon?”

“Yes.”

Instead of asking what the crew had been told, she asked, “Did the Captain speak to the crew?”

“A long time.”

“Did any sailors leave the ship because of it?”

“Two. New people came.”

Asking questions and getting definitive, short answers without embellishment made her happy that Thief had been the one to sit with her. “Did someone send you to watch over me?”

“Yes.”

It didn’t matter who. She said, “Is my backpack in my cabin?”

“Yes.”

“Who carried me to the ship?”

“Raymer. He laughed the whole way.” A smile spread across his face as if he only now saw the humor in his words.

Now Thief talks too much. She carried her empty bowl to the pass through and gnawed on the hard biscuit as she went in search of the Captain. He stood out of the way of the men working, but where he could watch it all. Now and then he shouted directions or orders, but most of the time he allowed them to perform their duties without interference.

“Feeling better?”

“If I offended you last night, I apologize,” she said, the words spilling from her without previous thought.

“No offense taken. I do have to say that you were right on all counts, and if you had tried to pacify me with softer words, I might not have listened.”

Another wagon rolled up to the side of the ship. Captain Jameson looked to the man taking notes in a log, another officer. “How much more?”

“Maybe ten wagons. We have not seen any from The Shipmaster Chandlery, yet.”

“Send Devlin on the run. If they can’t get it all here by midday, I’m canceling the order. In fact, have Develin tell them that I’m so angry that I said he’s to stop at the Dutch Brothers and see if they can fill the order by lunch.”

“Yes, sir.”

The officer walked briskly to find Devlin. Anna asked, “Those casks are full of supplies?”

Captain Jameson nodded stiffly. “Raymer said that I should ask you about payment. I have severely extended my ability to pay. If I leave port without doing so, it will leave a bad taste in the mouths of all.”

“How much do you owe?”

He swallowed, and Anna waited for the bad news. Leaning closer, he said, “I stocked far more than we discussed last night and I’ll share that burden.”

“How much for all?”

Again he swallowed, and his eyes shifted to one side as if he couldn’t look at her. “A full gold round, and two silvers.”

She understood that she didn’t fully understand the values of gold, silver, and copper, always depending on others to be fair with her, but his answer almost brought laughter. She tried to turn it into something else to protest. In each of the straps of her backpack, her Grandma, Emma had stitched four gold rounds. Silver coins were sewn into the seams of the pack, and copper elsewhere.

She said, “There will be other expenses for you to shoulder. Perhaps even damage to your ship. I will pay the one gold and two silvers. Please excuse me while I fetch it.”

Relief flooded his face, but as a true gentleman, he protested, but not vigorously. She went to her cabin again, taking the time to memorize the way. Inside were two beds, one above the other. As on the other ship she had sailed, everything was tidy and stored in ways that wouldn’t allow it to fall as the ship leaned or tilted. There was almost room to turn around without touching a wall.

Her backpack was on the other bed, and she pulled her new knife, admired it again, and carefully slit enough of the seam to work a gold coin free. The seam that held the flap also held two silver coins. She looked at the door to the cabin. No lock. Later she would take the time to free the most valuable coins and hide them. Taking chances is for fools.

Back on deck she slipped the coins into the Captain’s palm. He turned to the officer tallying what came aboard and said, “I’ll finish that. You take this and go pay the Chandlers. You know the costs better than I, but tell them we intend to sail around noon, and we insist they be paid first. It’ll leave a good impression for the next time we’re a bit short on coin.”

The officer saluted and left them. Anna asked, “You ordered extra?”

“Flour, sugar, bacon, ham, pickles, preserves, and more.”

“Preserves?”

“I like it on my bread. So do the men. It’s a treat not often found on ships. I also ordered weak beer and thin ale. Thirty kegs of it.”

“Also for the men, I hope?”

“A mug or two a day does no harm, but actually, I brought it in case the water goes bad. Beer and ale survive warm weather better. We do not want to find all our water is bad when in the middle of the Endless Sea.”

She said, “Why is it called that when there is an end?”

“It used to be called The Ocean on old charts. But then all newer charts changed the name. I think Breslau did it to keep people from crossing it. Another example of their long-range planning.”

“First, they don’t want anyone going there, and now they’re coming here?”

“All part of the same story, I think.”

“So, we’re departing today for the Mystery River?”