No matter. Once they finished repairs and the ship was afloat again, they’d be on their way to Porto and she and Sheffield would return to their usual sleeping arrangements. She would do everything she could to help out the crew and speed up the process. They had to beat Ruford and his companion to the treasure.
Sheffield emerged from the hatch carrying a plank tucked under his arm and headed for the quarterdeck. Jonesy noticed him and joined him at the railing. “We going incognito, Cap’n?”
Her curiosity piqued, Harriet climbed to the quarterdeck as well. The plank Sheffield carried had the name Dawn Cinder painted in fancy script in yellow letters outlined in black, on a blue board that had a metal loop at each end. With a start, she realized it would blend in with the blue hull of the ship, at least from a distance, and look like it was painted on.
“There’s a good chance we’re going to pass Ruford on our way to Porto,” Sheffield said. “I’d like to make it more difficult for him to recognize us.”
Harriet leaned over the stern railing far enough to see two hooks already in place, one at each end of the ship’s name. She’d never noticed them before when throwing out or bringing back in the ship’s log line to check their speed. “It looks like you’ve done this before.”
Sheffield grabbed the waistband of her dungarees and hauled her back up. “A time or two.”
“Why Dawn Cinder?” My, he was getting familiar with her person. But Harriet had indeed been in danger of overbalancing, and even though the bay was shallow and the weather mild, she had no desire to go swimming.
“Has to be the same number of letters and spaces, miss,” Jonesy said.
Sheffield retrieved two gaff hooks from their spot under the railing. “Old salts are superstitious. You never give a ship a name that challenges the power of the sea, and you keep the same number of letters if you rename her. However temporarily.” He held out one of the gaff hooks. “Want to help?”
Jonesy took the other hook, and Sheffield showed her how to hook the rings on the plank. In unison she and Jonesy lowered the board into position and slipped the plank onto the hooks below. She tried to concentrate on lining up the metal ring on her side to the waiting hook at just the right angle, and not on the heat of Sheffield’s hand hovering at the small of her back. Just in case.
“What happens if it falls off while you’re at sea?” Harriet straightened too quickly and saw stars for a moment. “If there’s a storm or something?”
Jonesy took her gaff hook and stowed them both.
“We have others,” Sheffield said.
“Should we do any painting, Cap’n?”
Sheffield gestured at the stained sails. “I think that’s enough of a color change,” he said over his shoulder, already stepping down to the main deck, off to the next task.
By the next watch change the tide was turning. Sheffield declared they could finish the rest of the repairs while they were underway. The crew hustled to get the goats and everything from the beach back on board, the fire doused and the ashes spread, all traces of their presence brushed away by a leafy tree branch.
Big Jim, Flynn, Jack, and Dieter waded into the surf, pushing the ship in time with the waves, until they had her turned and floating enough to maneuver. When the water became too deep for the men, Harriet joined in hauling on the line to bring them aboard. Within the hour they were out of the bay and on the open sea, following the cliffs of Spain south to Porto.
The next morning, Harriet sat on deck with Oscar on her lap, taking a break from splicing rope because the cat wanted to play with the strands. The goats rested on the hatch cover chewing their cud, and the rose bushes were soaking up sun near the foremast. Winston sat near the windlass, also repairing rope, as was Tucker. Sheffield had declared it more important to repair the lines before patching the sails.
“Ship ahoy, starboard bow,” Flynn called from his perch on bow watch.
Harriet set Oscar on the hatch and hurried to lean over the starboard railing, shading her eyes from the sun. She could barely see the top of a mast in the distance, so she went up to the quarterdeck.
“She’s limping along,” Sheffield said, handing the spyglass to Jonesy. “He must not have a replacement for the mast Chang shot in half. Looks like they kept going last night.”
“We going to pass her on our port side?” Jonesy handed the spyglass to Harriet.
Now she could see the Polly Ann. Ruford’s ship had all the canvas they could get on what remained of the cutter’s single mast. Wind Dancer had a full complement of sails unfurled on her mainmast and foremast, and was traveling faster.
If they passed her on the port side, Wind Dancer would have a cannon to bear. Though Dieter and Bos’n had repaired the gunwale where the starboard cannon crashed through, the only ordnance they had on that side was the swivel gun. To pass Polly Ann on their port side, they’d have to change their tack.
Sheffield shook his head. “That will raise suspicions. He should already be able to see us.” He leaned over the quarterdeck railing and spoke quietly to Dieter. “Tell Winston and Chang to get below.”
“Jawohl, Kapitän.”
Moments later, Winston, Chang, and the roses disappeared down the forward hatch.
Sheffield took back the spyglass and stared at the Polly Ann again, then cast a considering glance at the pink sails, then Harriet. “How would you like to be captain for an hour?”
Harriet’s mouth fell open in shock.
Jonesy called Smitty over. “Take Miss Chase and get her kitted out fit for a female captain.”
