Page 14 of Of Magic and Rum
My gaze snaps to hers.
“I’ve seen the way your eyes linger on the sea any chance you get. Know what it looks like?” Her slender fingers bounce, still hanging there, the sun catching the light of a gold ring and bangle bracelet. “Like the longing for a lover you’ve been forced apart from.”
If Mary is this intuitive, how has no one else caught sight of this? Or, if they have, are they simply not saying anything?
“I’d imagine any of these people, given their choice to be a pirate, would look at it the same way, no?” I busy myself with more scrubbing.
“Ah, but you, darling—” Mary taps my nose with a single finger. “—have already made it clear you’ve no interest in piracy.”
Plucking my fingernail against splintering wood on the scrubber, I contemplate my following words carefully. “I do love the sea. But I prefer to beinit. Sharks, jellyfish, and the like are keen to make that difficult, though, aren’t they?” A warm smile graces my lips.
I’ve swam with sharks more times than I can count, and I’ve been stung so many times accidentally by jellyfish that my skin has become immune to the pain.
“I knew it. Anyway, stopped by to give you this.” Mary looks around and holds out a bottle with two swigs left in it.
“What’s this for?” I don’t take the bottle right away.
She wiggles it, making the liquid slosh. “Take it. It’s left over from my ration yesterday, and I see how measured you are with yours. Figured you might need it.”
“I—”
I’m beside myself. She’s only known me for days, and risking this?
“—I don’t know what to say,” I finish.
“Will you bloody take it and pour it into your bottle before someone sees it?” Mary shoves the bottle into my limp hand.
As I remove today’s bottle from my pocket, Mary shields me with her body while I pour the contents from hers into mine and hand her the empty one.
“There you are. Back to work.” Grinning, Mary pats my head and turns away.
“All hands on deck,” a man yells.
The deck becomes a fury of scrambles and shoves as everyone races for spots on deck as commanded. I dust my hands and rise, moving away from everyone else in the background but close enough to be a part of the crew and not draw attention to myself.
“Crew, I’m afraid we have a situation we need to address,” Jack announces, holding the railing at the helm. “Vane has been on our trail since we left port in Nassau.”
Vane. Why did that name sound familiar?
Whispers and carousing flood the crew.
“We’ve been able to keep ahead—until today. The winds have died down considerably, and I’ll be the first to admit Vane’s ship, albeit weak in battle, makes up for it at speed.” Jack drums his fingers on the railing before descending the stairs. “I’m proposing we use the element of surprise and approachhimbefore he can try anything stupid. No need to risk damage to the ship.”
“Approach him? With what?” One man asks.
Jack slips his hands behind his back and walks the length of the deck with the crew flanking him. His steps are slow and methodical, his cutlass jingling at his side with each stride. “We’ll make him an offer to get him off our backs. Even for a spell.”
He’s getting closer and closer.
“And what do we have to offer? We ain’t got anything but rations,” another man says.
My heart thunders against my chest, and whatever I do, I refuse to lift my chin, keeping my gaze focused on the deck.
“We offer him—” Jack’s boots appear on the floor I’ve been staring at, standing in front of me. “—her.”
Her head shoots up like a canon. “What?”
“Yeah, what?” Several of the men echo.
