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“They recognized,” Shepherd began again loudly, “that they were missing fruits from their diet, because you couldn’t go pick them from a tree, a bush, or pluck them from a glade… and scurvy is a result of a severe depletion of vitamin C.”
“Which is why you are getting tangerines with breakfast,” Jared interjected, taking his place again… as a guard dog?
Why was he watching over all of them? Did he suspect something was going to happen? Or did he not trust anyone there?
“Yes, fresh fruit was a luxury and a necessity to pirates or sailors hundreds of years ago,” Shepherd agreed, looking pleased. “And we are trying to serve up authentic meals when we can. Sometimes chickens were kept below in the hold – but these eggs are complements of a grocery store. Bacon, ham, salt pork, beans, and other items were heavily used because it could be salted, dried, or preserved in some fashion to make it last for months on end.”
Eating her food, she listened and wondered what othermeals pirates or sailors ate – realizing that this whole thing was indeed fascinating. It was kinda nice not to have to worry about phone calls, checking her emails, or dealing with deadlines.
It was as if life got put on hold… for her to finally begin to live it.
… And that was a humbling thought.
Had she truly been so focused on the past that she was missing out on a future for herself? She missed Jack terribly… but she missed herself even more – and was mourning that as well. Was Athena so very smart that she picked up on the clues that Calista had been leaving unknowingly?
Chuckling to herself, she suddenly felt every pair of eyes on her.
“Sorry. Something just hit me.”
“Is there MSG in the bacon?” Lori, or Yellow, asked in a singsong voice, looking concerned and awfully flushed. “I’m highly allergic.”
“No, just salt. We bought it from a farmer that we’ve visited a few times over the last three years.”
“Well, I don’t feel so good…”
“Maybe it’s because you were being mean to your newly acquired boy-toy yesterday evening after he was done sniffing around a woman who was much too old for him.”
“What?” Calista gasped, stunned at both being referred to as ‘old,’ and the fact that he was referring to Bo.
Bo had finished talking to her and immediately was putting the moves on Lori? Yeah, not cool at all. No wonder she never looked twice at guys. It wasn’t just the fact that her husband had passed away a few years ago – but because men were…
Lori coughed and made a sound, stopping her thoughts immediately.
“Were you laughing because you did this?” the woman gasped, looking directly at Calista – as several heads turned towards her once more.
“Did what? I didn’t do anything.”
The woman’s face was now exceedingly flushed, and she was sweating, her hand laying over her chest. There was a lot of commotion as Purple, Blue, and Red immediately got up to help Yellow, who was glaring at her, pointing a finger, and making all sorts of whimpers.
“Come with me,” Jared said bluntly, pulling her by the arm.
“But I didn’t do anything,” Calista balked, stunned as she was being dragged bodily up the stairs from the galley. As she exited into the bright sun, she saw the captain was standing at the massive wooden steering wheel that she now knew was called a ‘helm’.
“Brig,” Captain Kidd said simply, looming over them, his face immobile as she was dragged across the quarterdeck towards the other entrance where their rooms were. Calista tried to jerk her arm away from Jared several times, but he held fast.
“I’m innocent! The only thing I did was laugh at a personal joke and…”
“I’m putting you here, so you are safe from the others – now quit fighting me,” Jared snapped angrily… causing her to hesitate.
“What?”
“If you have never seen men and women turn on each other – be grateful for it,” he snapped hotly under his breath, nearly in her face. “We’ve seen it, and it isn’t pretty. When it happens, it’s fast. So yeah, you’ll be in the brig until tempers cool down… for your own protection.”
“What do you think they are going to do?”
He pushed her into a room – and she realized it was one of the three doorways down below near where her bedroom was.
Calista stood there, hearing the commotion above.
