Page 5 of The Secret of Drulea Cottage
“Is everything fine out here, Mistress Fairborn? I heard a lot o’ noise.”
“We had some late visitors come in, but ’tis nothing to worry about. You can rest easy.” She smiled at the brown-haired boy, thinking how sad it was that he was more courteous than most of the men in town.
“Have a good evening, then, Mistress Fairborn!”
“And you too, William.”
Briony remained in the hallway for a few moments after William had gone back inside. She had half a mind not to go see this Captain Costa. She was tired, and in that brief moment when she’d seen the captain, his dour expression had unnerved her quite a bit.
But then she thought of Mistress Mendes and how much she cared about her brother.If Captain Costa cares about Mr. Mendes half as much as that, ’twould be unkind o’ me to just turn in fer the night without talking to him.
With a sigh, Briony made her way back to the sitting room at the front of the inn. She peered out a window and was glad to see that the rain had abated, though the overcast sky told her it could start up again at any moment. Only then did Briony think to check the time.
She looked back at the clock on the mantel to see it was already a quarter past ten. With Midsummer’s Eve fast approaching, it was almost Simmer Dim, a time in summer when the sun only went down enough to create a sort of twilight until it rose again at about four in the morning.
Briony tugged open the front door of the inn and made her way down the hill. She tried to avoid the wet areas on the path, but mud still spattered her dress and shoes as she walked. And though the rain had ceased, a fierce wind continued to blow, almost stealing her yellow headscarf several times. A few of her ebony locks escaped their binds and blew about like angry snakes, which lent a haunting look to her overall visage.
She was careful to keep her features as blank as possible when she arrived at the ship, a task she did so well that no one would have been able to tell she was anxious.
No one except me, that is.
“Hello? Captain Costa?”
Briony didn’t hear an answer, so she took a step onto the ship. She noticed the wordsSão Nicolauon the side and assumed that must be its name. It seemed sturdy under her feet, but Briony felt uncomfortable nonetheless. The vessel looked like it had taken quite a beating—one of the masts had completely collapsed and now lay in pieces, the sides of the hull had several holes in them, some of the deck’s floorboards were missing, and many of the other floorboards were damaged. Briony knew little about ship repair, but she could tell this would take many days to fix.
“Hello?” There was still no answer, so she made her way over to the doors leading below deck.
Suddenly, a startled shout in a foreign tongue came from right behind her. Briony jumped, staunching a scream of surprise. She spun around and found a young sailor staring at her. He had brown hair and hazel eyes with a curious glint in them.
“Oh! I did na see you there. I’m looking fer Captain Costa. Have you seen him?”
“Want Costa?”
“Aye, Costa.”
He replied in that same foreign language again, and her eyes widened in confusion. He waited for her to respond, but when she didn’t, he marched to the door below the ship’s wheel and opened it.
Briony nodded her thanks, hoping the captain would be able to speak Scots English. She wandered over and peeked inside, instantly spotting the burly man from earlier leaning over a table covered in maps.
“Captain Costa?” Briony asked.
“Aye, senhorita?[7]What do you need?” he said gruffly, turning to her as though greatly reluctant to stop his current task.
“I came to tell you that Mr. Mendes is going to be all right. He’s sleeping right now and will need some time to recover before you leave—”
“How much time?” he cut in. He took a step around the table toward her, making Briony even more intimidated.
“Six weeks.”
Captain Costa grumbled something Briony didn’t understand but that she suspected was a curse. He returned to his previous position and looked away from her.
“Where do you hail from?” she asked.
“Portugal,” he said, keeping his eyes on his maps.
“Were you intending to sail here?”
“Senhorita, I’m very busy, and you’re hindering my work. Unless you have something elseworthmentioning, please leave.”
