Page 127 of A Flash of Golden Fire

“So am I,” the captain said, his voice at my ear.

I turned and gaped at him. “Get back to bed! You’re wounded!”

“I’m fine, Rooster. Good as gold after a night’s rest and…well, you know.”

“I’m sure I know,” Domingo said.

I frowned. “I don’t think you should be up,” I said to the captain.

Squid laughed. “Well, you’ll both miss the celebrations if you don’t join us. You must come and welcome them back aboard. You must!”

“Of course, we will. Save us some rum, will you?” Captain Martin said.

“Yes, Captain,” Squid said, turning to follow the rest of the men to the deck. Lahiri went as well, but Domingo remained.

“That’s the happiest I’ve ever seen that fellow,” Captain Martin commented.

“I don’t actually think Squid’s a ‘fellow’,” I said, giving voice to an idea that had been niggling at my brain since we’d brought him aboard.

Domingo said nothing, just gave me a soft smile that felt like agreement.

I glanced at Captain Martin. He looked flummoxed.

“What on earth do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t know. Doesn’t matter…”

“You think Squid is a maid?” Captain Martin asked, doubtful, because Squid was quite unladylike.

“Ain’t my business, really, and I don’t give a flying fuck, to be honest.”

Domingo laughed.

“Well, then, neither do I. Let’s have a look at our two returned crew members. I couldn’t be happier about this unexpected development.”

“You’d better put some clothes on,” Domingo muttered, scanning us in our undressed state. “There’s quite a crowd up there. Oh, and here.”

He brought his hand from behind him and held out a polished walking stick to Captain Martin. “One of the crew told me to give this to you. He found it in the hold.”

“Oh, thank you, but I don’t think I’m quite that—”

I took the stick from Domingo and thanked him.

We hastened to dress. I had to help Dinesh as his leg was stiff and sore.

When we were ready, I passed him the walking stick. He took the aid from me with an expression of peeved indulgence, and we made our way up to the deck.

He managed well with the wood staff, and I was reassured about the mild nature of his injury. When we reached the others, there were more cheers, and the men brought Mr Silk and Duncan to greet us.

They had rather awful sunburns, and their lips were cracked and parched, but they hadn’t fared too badly other than that.

When they saw Captain Martin, they stumbled forward. But then Duncan stopped Mr Silk and whispered a curse as they noticed me.

“My God, we’re glad to have you back!” Captain Martin said.

I looked down at myself to see if I had a big glob of dirt on my coat. But I looked fine. When I lifted my gaze, they were taking turns shaking the captain’s hand and keeping a wary eye on me. Perhaps they were still spooked from the summoning at Cayonne. Well, they’d get over the shock. The rest of the crew had.

“Thank you, Captain. We’re immensely relieved, of course,” Mr Silk said. “We were lucky to get away.” He glanced at me. “The port was—”

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