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“You can swim to shore,” he said in a menacing voice, “Or spend the next several days in the brig for mutiny. Nobody talks to the crew like this… and both women are part of the crew. Every person in this galley is crew for the next week – maybe you misunderstood my earlier directions, Blue? Is there anything else I should clarify?”
“Dude, what happened to your face?” Blue whispered, stunned.
Marie gasped, covering her mouth in shock as no one moved at all. Calista wasn’t sure what the man was referring to because the captain kept his hair long and, in his face, but it was supremely rude… for anyone.
“I’m scarred because some scallywag thought to test me, so I sent him to Davy Jones’ locker…”
“Oh! I do plastic surgery,” Red interrupted, waving a business card at the captain - who ignored him. Jared shoved the shoulder of the doctor until he sat back down.
The man was like a vulture,Calista thought wildly. Youcertainly didn’t go around telling someone they needed plastic surgery! That was incredibly rude… what was wrong with him?
“You killed a man?” Blue gulped audibly, his eyes widening as several watched in horror and shock.
She was beginning to wonder just what she’d gotten herself into as the question hung unanswered in the air.
“I’ve killed a few of them in my time,” the captain said quietly. “It’s not something I’m proud of, but was necessary to keep order. Any other questions?”
“No sir.”
“Good.”
The captain released him and nodded at Jared, who stepped back.
“Red Marie?”
“Aye captain?”
“I’ll be taking my cutlass back, lass, before you hurt someone… and bring my dinner to my quarters, please.”
“Certainly.”
“Enjoy your dinner, everyone. We’ll try this again tomorrow,” the captain said quietly, walking off, leaving silence in his wake.
There was a definite miasma in the air now, the entire evening ruined by Blue’s attitude and callous disregard for manners towards another person. If someone was scarred, you certainly didn’t point it out or mock them.
That would be like someone poking fun at Jared’s eye, Bo’s leg, or Shepherd’s missing hand… in fact, it suddenly dawned on her that everyone had an injury that could be seen, except Marie.
Taking a seat opposite of the woman, her appetite was gone because of the awkward exchange that revealed thatthe captain had killed a person in his past. Did he do jail time? Were they in danger?
“Eat up,” Marie ordered bluntly. “Tomorrow will be a hard day, and I don’t think anyone has earned any mercy tonight. You can thank Blue if the captain is hard on all of us… and we are going to need our strength.”
Nodding silently, Calista ate.
After eating,she excused herself from the others, wanting to be alone to investigate the ship and learn her way around. She was pretty sure Marie’s warning was given for a reason.
Making her way up the ladder, she was stunned by just how dark it was out here on the ocean underneath the cloud covered moon. It had been a long day, lots of surprises, and while she knew she should be going to bed? When she emerged from the galley and saw the vast expanse of darkness all around the ship – she couldn’t help herself. She was pulled forward, drawn, by the strange peace that came with it.
Standing at the back of the ship, she could hear the waves lapping the sides of the large ship and smelled the brine of the saltwater. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and let it out, just needing to let this strange moment of tranquility seep into her.
“Orange…” a man’s voice said simply in greeting, causing her to jump. She’d thought she was alone and was shocked to see the captain standing about ten feet away, facing the darkness as well.
“I didn’t mean to bother you.”
“You aren’t.”
“I can leave.”
“I’m not telling you to. The ship is yours to explore,” he said simply, not even looking in her direction.
