“You are an excellent teacher, Tommy.”
At Elizabeth’s praise, he stood taller.
“What else should I know?”
For the next quarter of an hour, Tommy and Prudence regaled her with tales of distraction techniques such as false beggars and taught her the art of appearing purposeful instead of merely lost. Elizabeth absorbed every word, filing each piece of advice away for easy recall.
When he finished, she curtseyed. “Your training hasbeen invaluable. Now, what can I do for you in return? Surely there is some way I can repay such excellent instruction?”
His confident demeanor evaporated like morning mist. He stared at his bare feet. “Oh, miss, ye don’t owe me nuthin’. Just doin’ me duty, like.”
“I insist.” Elizabeth’s voice was firm. “What would you like that I might be able to provide?”
The boy fidgeted uncomfortably, wrestling with some internal debate. Finally, he looked up with a mixture of hope and embarrassment that quite touched her heart. “Well, miss…if it wouldn’t be too much trouble…” He swallowed hard. “I’d like to learn to read proper and learn my numbers, so I’m not cheated in port.”
She grinned broadly. “What a wonderful request.”
“I know it ain’t my place,” he rushed on, mortification clear in his voice. “A ship’s boy don’t need letters, and I know that. But I see others with their books an’ the cap’n with his charts that have writin’ on ’em, an’ I think…Well, I think it might be useful, like.”
“Not your place?” Elizabeth was stunned. “Tommy, the desire to learn is the most natural thing in the world. There is no shame in it whatsoever.”
He ducked his head. “I…well, miss, I already got somethin’.” He disappeared briefly and returned with a small slate and a piece of chalk, handling them as if they were precious treasures. “I bought this in Liverpool last voyage. Jes’ in case, ye see. In case someone might…”
“Tommy,” she said. “It would be my very great pleasure to teach you. However, the very man who taughtmeto read is traveling on theMary Catherine. When you have time, please present yourself at our quarters. We shallstart with the alphabet, and by the time we reach Egypt, I warrant you will be reading well enough to enjoy a proper book, along with being able to do some mathematical equations.”
“Like plus and add?” The joy that spread across his face could have powered the ship’s lanterns.
“Yes, like plus and add.”
Not two hours later, there was a knock on their cabin door, and Tommy appeared. Color returned to her father’s pale cheeks. His enthusiasm for teaching enlivened him. His voice grew stronger as he began explaining the mysteries of letters and sounds.
Leaving the two of them absorbed in their lesson, Elizabeth took her journal to the galley, where she documented the day’s events.
11
Three days later, Elizabeth pressed against the bow of theMary Catherineas the Portuguese coast emerged from the morning fog. Beside her, her father adjusted his spectacles repeatedly, his excitement palpable.
The crew worked with urgent efficiency behind them. Measurements were called out. The boatswain shouted orders. Bare feet thundered across the deck as sailors adjusted the sails and rigging. “All hands! Prepare to make port! Signal the harbormaster! Mind the channel markers!”
As the ship drew closer to shore, the first assault on her senses was the smell. It had changed from the clean salt air to which they had grown accustomed to a richer, more complex scent. Wood smoke drifted across the water, mingled with unfamiliar spices and the earthy scent of a working harbor.
“By Jove,” her father murmured, adjusting his spectacles. “It is morerobust than I had imagined.”
Elizabeth laughed, her excitement overriding any concerns about the aromatic assault. “Oh, Papa, but look at it. It is so wonderfully alive.”
The harbor bustled with activity. Fishing boats darted between larger merchant vessels like water beetles, their triangular sails bright against the blue-green water. Portuguese fishermen called to each other in brisk, musical voices, incomprehensible but urgent. Church bells clanged from multiple directions in a cascade of bronze notes that tumbled down from the terraced city above. Seagulls wheeled and cried overhead, diving for scraps thrown from fishing boats. Underneath it all was the constant sound of dockworkers shouting instructions, merchants haggling, and children playing along the waterfront.
“Ready to port!” came a sailor’s call, and Elizabeth felt the ship’s motion change as they slowed. “Strike the colors! Raise the courtesy flag! Drop the lead line!”
As they drew closer to the quay, Elizabeth could make out individual figures on the dock. Stevedores in rough clothing stood ready to handle cargo, their skin weathered by sun and sea air. Women in colorful shawls moved among the workers, some carrying baskets and others conducting their own business.
“Look there, Lizzy.” Her father pointed toward the large buildings at one end of the harbor. “Those must be the famous port wine warehouses Gardiner mentioned.”
She followed his gaze to the long, low structures that lined the waterfront, their roofs gleaming in the morning sun. Wrought-iron balconies punctuated white walls. Everything was topped with distinctive red tiles that gave the city its warm, welcoming appearance.
TheMary Catherinewas approached by small boats carrying harbor officials, whose animated conversations with Captain Morrison carried across the water?rapid Portuguese punctuated by occasional English phrases and much gesticulating.
“All stop! Dock ahead!”
