Page 24 of Hired by Pirates

He shook his head, then extended his hand to help her aboard. “Begging your pardon, Miss,” he said gently, and I appreciated his immediate change in tone. “We’re all worried, and you can understand my surprise.”

“Of course,” Astor said, then she seemed to take a deep breath and square her shoulders. “Take me to Captain Searcy. I’ll need every available lantern, clean cloth, and show Jocko here where he can boil up some water for me.”

Harry nodded, as some of the other men scurried off to do her bidding.

As we followed him to the Captain’s quarters, I saw Astor sneaking glances at the much larger ship. It was a frigate, which must have needed a crew of at least twenty men.

We went into the Captain’s cabin, where three of the crew were gathered around the bed.

“Tell me what happened as quickly as possible,” Astor said, with a bit more authority in her voice than I was accustomed to hearing.

“What’s this?” Captain Searcy muttered gruffly, his eyes only half open as he lay propped up on pillows.

“This is Dr. Astor Green, of the Five Winds ,” I said, hearing the pride color my voice.

She was already examining the bloody mess of his shin.

“Quickly, men, tell her what happened. Every detail,” I ordered.

Their shock wore off in an instant, as they told Astor about the Captain fighting a playful duel with their bosun Garrett, who had accidentally slashed him with a sword.

However, since his worn britches had been wet at the time, some of the fabric was embedded in the wound, and they didn’t know how to stop the bleeding without trapping it inside.

I could tell that the wound was serious, since as soon as they removed the pressure, the resulting spurts of blood were in time with his slowing heartbeat. There must be a cut or nick to a vein, which meant it was only a matter of time before he bled right out.

“Right,” Astor said, as Jocko came in with a pot of steaming water, and Harry brought a handful of linens. “Captain Searcy, I apologize that I do not have any pain medicine with me.” Astor rolled up her sleeves and began to scrub her hands.

“We’ve given him a few belts of rum, so that should help,” one of the men said.

She shook her head. “That might take the edge off the pain, but it also might make him bleed worse. Now, everyone out, except Captain Evans and Jocko.”

“Why do they get to stay?” Harry asked.

“Jocko is my assistant, and he’ll come ask you if we need anything else.”

“And him?” Harry jerked a thumb at me.

“He’s my…” Astor bit her lip, looking at me for help.

“I’m hers,” I said with another wave of pride. “Let’s just get on with it.”

“You – give me your belt,” she said to Harry, who handed it over without further questions before departing with the others.

She tightened the strap just above the wound, making Searcy groan, but the bleeding indeed slowed down.

Jocko and I mostly stayed out of the way, but when she asked for supplies, he was so quick it was as if she had an extra pair of hands.

It was hard to make sense of what she was doing without looking so intently that I was in the way, but I managed to help her tighten the leather belt again. It seemed that this gave her time to meticulously pick every single bit of fabric out of the wound with tiny metal pinchers.

Captain Searcy grumbled and moaned, but mostly grit his teeth and tried to be silent. After about half an hour, he gave me a rather pitiful look. “I’d really appreciate some more of that rum.”

Astor looked up at me and nodded. “Just a little bit couldn’t hurt.”

I had barely opened the door when Harry handed me a flask, confirming my suspicion that they were all huddled around the door listening in.

“Stay still,” I said, pouring a healthy swig into his open mouth.

Pulling a chair over to the head of the bed, I asked, “Other than today, of course, how have you been keeping?”

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