In Search of Spice, page 15
Howls of fury rent the air as the Spakka prised an explanation out of a shell shocked Hal.
Pat looked over the rail bleakly. Kane still twitched. One of the Spakka, Esbech, supported by his mates, hung down the side and carefully broke every bone he could reach with the back of his axe. Pat felt empty, no satisfaction in this death and he mourned for Sara, not sure what had happened and not knowing what to do. He wondered at his own feeling and started when somebody took his arm.
“Pat, she needs you now.” It was Suzanne. “She’s in my cabin. I won’t use it tonight. You stay with her till morning. Don’t talk a word about what happened. Just comfort her.” She looked into his eyes as she walked him towards the companionway.
“Oh, damn, you’re a bloody kid in some ways and a man in others. You don’t have a clue what to do, do you?”
Pat looked at her.
“You go in there and put your arms around her and hold her. When she stops crying, take your clothes off and get into bed with her. Hold her gently, kiss her and do whatever she wants. Clear?”
For the first time Pat looked scared, really scared, his eyes wide, his anger gone as if never present. A little boy was looking back at Suzanne.
“Dammit, Pat, she needs you, a man, to give her love right now, she doesn’t need another girl. She needs a man who cares for her to hold her and love her. You care for her don’t you?
He nodded, mutely. They arrived at the door, she opened it and pushed him in with a smile, calling Katie out and sending her off. Russell long gone to assist the hanging.
Pat stood flat footed inside the door, looking at Sara who sat up at the end of the bunk, her back against the wall. Her eyes were huge, luminous and uncertain.
“Is it over?”
He nodded, and shuffled over to the bunk. She started to shrink away from him and he looked stricken and went to his knees.
“Oh Sara! Are you OK? Sweetie, you look so...” he stopped, thinking on his feet, “so pretty. How do you feel?” Feeling he was doing something very wrong he leant forward and put his arms around her. Sara burst into tears and hugged him. As her tears subsided, he wondered at Suzanne’s prescience, forgetting everything as she kissed him with fierce passion. Gently he took her clothes off while she removed his and he slid into the bed.
Sara felt his hands on her and shivered deliciously. She had been feeling defiled, dirty, and was terrified nobody would want her now. Her friend Pat wanted her and she felt her heart swell and almost burst with love for him. She took her tongue out of his mouth, pushed his head up and guided it down towards her left breast, needing to feel his lips taking away the earlier stain. She gasped as he went down and started to suck, contentment rushing through her as the feeling of his weight crushing her and the rising warmth of his manhood. She spread her thighs for him, feeling a rush of pleasure coming up into the very core of her being. She felt his head part her flesh, and a flashback overwhelmed her, the smell of Kane in her nose, and the tearing agony came searing back. She screamed and pushed Pat away; he floundered and fell off the bed while she curled into a ball and sobbed.
Pat didn’t know anything about girls, but he knew how to handle a hurt wild animal. He slipped back into the bed and curled himself around her, holding her and making small soothing sounds.
Suzanne, outside the door, heard the soft sounds and smiled in total misunderstanding. Her Princess was fine and getting the best cure. Now she felt like some exercise herself. She recalled Lieutenant Mactravis had a cabin to himself, and swayed off, humming a happy tune.
Storms
Nils was a wonder in the yards. He took ten days to recover fully from the battle with the Spakka, having dislocated both his shoulders and broken his nose when he reached the deck. Then he began to show off his skills. He could run along the top of the spars, disdaining the cord below each one which most sailors used to walk along while holding the spar. Within days Pat was copying him, and of course the first thing he did was slip and fall. He landed on the mainsail, fortunately with a big belly, and slid down to the edge just above the deck. He turned as he slid, and caught the rope along the bottom, nearly jerking his arms from their sockets as he swung for a moment then dropped lightly to the deck. Moments later Nils landed beside him, having copied him and learnt from his previous experience.
“That was fun! Let’s do it again.”
That was the last time they used the rope ladder to come down, though Captain Larroche nearly had a heart attack when he saw them, and tried to ban it without success. It took them a while to work out how to use the technique in different winds so they were able to brake properly and not replicate Nils’ crash into the deck.
The rest of the crew spent time in the rigging too. Changing sails was too big a job for four, it required a whole watch of twenty hands when the wind changed but it was still just the four of them who set the topsails, though the two blond Uightlanders were getting there. Most of the work was done by ropes and pulleys at which the Spakka excelled.
Pat was taking a section of four on a starboard yard, a good sixty feet above the sea, while Nils had the larboard. Linda was on the end, over confident in her abilities and determined to try spar walking. They were all leaning over the yard, standing on the cord beneath, pulling up the canvas, packing it down and tying it up with the cords that ran down the sails for that purpose. Linda over-reached for another length and her foot slipped off the cord as she pulled back. Her hands were trying to grab the canvas and they scrabbled desperately for a grip as she went backwards. One hand caught the foot cord as she fell. There was an agonising pain in her shoulder as it dislocated under her weight and slipped through her fingers. Her head bounced off a ratline and her body rotated as she fell down to land in the sea, flat on her back, about ten yards from the ship.
“Man over board!” Taufik shouted and Jim immediately hurled the safety barrel over the side towards her; it landed mere feet from her, its ropes trailing near her. She didn’t move.
“Keep bloody working.” Nils shouted. “We can’t help her till the sails are furled.”
The topsailsmen had all stopped and watched Linda fall; some like Pat had already started to react. Pat was up onto the yard about to jump, as was Sara.
“Pat! Sara! If you bloody jump I’ll skin you alive. Get back to work, fast. It does more good to furl the bloody sails.” Nils was really angry now, the first time they had seen it. Reluctantly, they went back to work, the sails furling faster than ever before. As they worked, they saw the little jolly boat being dropped astern, half a dozen sailors spilling into it, and rowing after her.
By the time they had all the topsails furled, the jolly boat was far behind. Taufik had swung the ship round and was painfully tacking back towards it. The crew could feel the different motion of the ship, and those that had just got used to the steady downwind motion found the different, choppier motion hard to bear.
By the time the topsailsmen could drop to the deck, the jolly boat was on its way back. They lined the rail and watched as the boat was hauled up. Dan’s face was bleak as he stepped out of it, holding Linda’s body in his arms. He wouldn’t let anybody take it from him and the tears were streaming down his face.
The body was light because there wasn’t much of it.
Pat felt Sara gripping his arm and heard sobs from amongst the crew.
The Bosun silently laid a length of canvas on the deck and gestured to Dan who gently laid the remains on it. Huge gashes were in the trunk of the body, only one arm and the stump of one leg were left. The Bosun rapidly wrapped it up and started to stitch the canvas into a closed tube. The dwarven blacksmith silently put a chunk of metal near where the feet should have been.
Captain Larroche held a funeral service immediately, and then Pat went off to talk to Bart the fisherman about sharks. After that Pat and Grey Fox, the half Elf, practiced archery at the back of the ship along with the crossbowmen.
They killed a lot of sharks.
Shark hunting caused them to develop a new fishing technique, with a cleverly barbed arrow, made by the smiths after long debate and copious draughts of dwarven ale. A length of fine chain attached to the head. They spent three days working out how to coil the chain so that the arrow was not deflected too much, and how to compensate for it. Bart was fascinated by this and created a teaser for them, a length of twine with a knot at the end to which he whipped several feathers from the chickens and some bits of silk and wire.
He would let this out some way behind the ship, until fish, usually tuna, started to strike at it. He would then retrieve it rapidly, with the fish chasing it, till it was in range and the archers would harvest the bounty. To attract sharks, they simply used one of the tuna.
Taufik was pleased with this addition to their diet, as he kept warning of a sickness that could afflict deep sea sailors, and insisted that everyone should drink his Yellow Remedy at least once a week. This was a disgusting mixture of citrus juices, grasses and herbs which he said was invented by a people far to the East. Apparently these people were the source of much of his sailing lore including the compass. He sniffed disdainfully at the Harrheinian compasses, bemoaning the loss of his own fine instrument.
All the officers were required to record the course and speed, thus calculating the distance travelled, at all times. Sara worked under Brian as well as being on the topsails watch. She tried to share what she learnt with Pat in the evening, but he wasn’t much interested. Brought up in the wilds, he had an instinctive feeling of place that allowed him to navigate in his own way. Not that it was much use at sea. Walters would draw a chart based on the data, though Captain Larroche continued to keep his rutter, a sea diary that was a Captain’s lifeline and enabled him to copy routes. Walters and Taufik would argue for hours as to exactly where they were, as Walters was worried about sea currents which would distort the dead reckoning they were using and Taufik was frankly disbelieving at the idea of a current in the middle of nowhere.
The Spakka learnt to speak Harrhein, some better than others, but remained stand-offish. They took part in sailing the ship, and were adept at anything they turned their hands to, but continued to prefer their axes to the Harhein variety of weapons. They revered Sara, and she would spend an hour a day with them talking in their own language and settling disputes. For some reason, they welcomed Little and Husk into their community, though this always seemed to spark some sort of argument. The ex-galley slaves also spent a lot of time with them, somewhat to the wonderment of the crew.
Perryn spent much time with Little and the soldiers, who were delighted to teach him the little they knew of battle magics, and his own skills grew rapidly as he experimented with the different techniques they told him about.
Other skills were learnt as well.
Captain Larroche was standing on the poop in the sunshine enjoying a morning brew when Brian came up to him.
“Going well Brian. Can’t remember a voyage with such fine weather and such a constant wind.”
“Indeed sir. Only problem is the new hands think they are real sailors.”
“Ha! Indeed. They’ve settled in well. Don’t know when the crew smiled so much.”
“Yes, well you can thank Suzanne for that.”
“WHAT! Don’t tell me she is screwing them all? Surely the women would get upset.”
Brian cursed himself under his breath. He had forgotten that the Captain was a bit touchy about sex.
“Ah, no sir. I am not aware of her having sex with anyone.”
“Then what the devil do you mean?”
“Well sir, you are aware that the crew make relationships with each other? And that this usually causes lots of problems, arguments and resentment?”
“Of course. Reason that fool Black only has men in his crew. And makes half the profits we do.”
“Well, it seems that she caught one couple arguing, the girl in tears and the boy shouting. She dragged them off to her cabin and discussed it with them, then, ah, had them make love to each other while she, ah, instructed them on it. It seems the instructions were quite detailed.”
“Good God.” The Captain was speechless.
“Word got around,” Brian continued. “More couples went for lessons. Seems like everyone on the ship attended her class.”
“Good God. What about the Bosun?”
“Ah, she was one of the first. She told me about it, sir.”
“Good God.” The Captain stared unseeing into the horizon. He jerked as a thought struck home. “Brian! You have had a lesson too?”
“Oh no, sir. Regretfully I don’t have a partner. Wouldn’t do for the First Mate to be thought of as having a favourite.”
“Partner? What do you mean?”
“Oh, she doesn’t actually do anything herself, sir, she insists everyone brings a partner and she teaches them together.”
“So you and I the only ones not to ...”
“I believe so, sir. Apparently it saved a couple of marriages amongst the older hands. Suzanne is one of the most popular officers I’ve sailed with.”
“Next thing the ship will be full of squalling brats. It’s all your fault, Brian. I never wanted women on board.”
Brian ignored this. “Actually, sir, I think you will find we will have less than ever before.”
“Eh?”
“It seems that the actual making love is just one of her talents. She is also accomplished at the consequences.”
“Do you mean to say she is carrying out abortions on board? Put a stop to it at once. She will kill those poor girls.”
“No sir. She has a store of herbs, well, actually she found them in the galley stores and took some from the magicians. She makes teas for the girls which stop them becoming pregnant. She also apparently can cure that Spakka disease some men get from whores.”
This was too much for the Captain, who changed the subject but it was noticeable he started treating his Fourth Mate with more respect.
Nineteen days out from port, the wind failed.
It was hot and sweaty without it, and tempers grew short. Walters was constantly testing the air and looking worried. The sails flapped loosely to the odd gust. The Bosun had the crew cleaning and repairing and kept watching the horizon. Pat asked Else why, and she told him shortly that a flat calm was often followed by a storm. But nobody knew what it would be like out here in the middle of nowhere.
Sure enough, Walters came running to the Captain who started barking orders, and Pat and Sara found themselves working hard in the heat, releasing the spars from the masts which were lowered to the deck with their sails tied round them and stored away. After four hours of brutal work, the masts were bare poles with most of the rigging removed, just the essential ropes that kept the fixed masts in place.
The pigs and chickens complained at being locked away, while Sam and Meghan checked each fastening. Dan and Billy got into a fight which Little dealt with quickly and efficiently by the simple method of knocking them both out. The Bosun threw a pail of water over them and told them to get back to work.
The sea started to rise, waves getting bigger by the hour, and they watched apprehensively a rough patch of sea getting closer as fast as an eagle in full stoop. It hit in a similar manner, with a rush, the masts bent and moaned, singing a strange song over the rush of wind. The crew were huddled in the fo’c’sle, some sitting but Pat and Sara had copied the experienced seamen and were in their hammocks. Only experienced seamen were on watch and above deck. Both Captain Larroche and Brian were on the poop deck, with Taufik himself at the wheel, two brawny boatswain’s mates to help him.
The Queen Rose seemed to buck beneath them and the hammocks swayed, while those not in them were thrown across the cabin. Nobody laughed as they climbed into their hammocks.
“What will we do?” Pat asked to the room in general.
Bart answered from the far end. “Run before it lad. All we can do. You don’t fight the sea, you live with it.”
“Get some sleep if you can,” added Jim. “This could last a few days, and you’ll take your turn on watch and helping the officers.”
“Watch? What can you see in that?”
“Rocks, lad. Listen for ‘em, you can hear them roaring far away, then we need to get ready as the ship will go down if we strike them. We pray that the Captain knows what he is doing.”
The room fell into silence. Pat noticed Sara looking at him, and she pushed down one side of her hammock and opened her arms in invitation. After a moment’s hesitation, he got out of his hammock with difficulty, and made his way to hers by clinging to the ropes as the ships swayed. He slipped in with her and she grunted as he kneed her thigh, but they managed to twist around till they were comfortable. Pat noticed most of the other hammocks were either empty or double as others followed their example.
The lights dimmed, and Pat jumped as he felt Sara’s hand slide down his trousers.
“I’m not sleepy,” she whispered in his ear. “This could be fun!” It had taken a couple of weeks, but Sara had recovered from her experience. She had not yet allowed Pat to make love to her, but she enjoyed experimenting and playing with his body. She was beginning to allow his ministrations in return, but still clammed up on occasion.
They weren’t the only ones to seek such recreation, and shortly shouts of complaints came from the singles at the noise the various couples were making, but this stopped when Gerry leant out his hammock and was copiously sick.
The older hands were furious with him, and had no patience, driving him up to the deck to get a bucket of water and forcing him to clean up. They made damn sure that all the others knew where to go to vomit in future. The room stank, and Pat was pleased when Suzanne stuck her head in and called to Pat and Sara.
“I’ve got the watch - you two are in it. On deck, come to the poop in five.” She grinned at the sight of them in one hammock.
Getting up on deck was a challenge, but one they relished. Neither were bothered by the motion, though several of the new crew were being sick in the scuppers while a boatswain ensured each had a rope tied round them in case they were swept over the side. Some of the waves into which the ship plunged came up and into the scuppers, over the moaning bodies wishing they were dead.
