06 King of Storms by Amanda Scott

Author:Amanda Scott [Scott, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 044661856X
Publisher: Forever
Published: 2007-08-02T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Giff, Captain Maxwell, and Jake enjoyed supper sitting together on two of the oarsmen’s benches in dusky half-light, sharing Giff’s meat rolls with their two watchmen. Giff shared the brogac in his jug, too, but only with the captain.

Young Jake, delighted to see him, had said nonetheless bluntly, “I dinna ha’ your shilling yet. Me da’ wouldna pay me for clearing up below.”

“Nor should he,” Giff said. “How much of a task can it be on a new ship?”

“Aye, well, it gets dirty enough, and there be bundles and barrels and all to shift. Also, there be rat traps to empty when we’ve been at the wharf. I dinna mind the clearing, nor even yet the scrubbin’, but I dinna like rats, dead or no.”

Maxwell told his son sternly that he should be thanking Sir Giffard for his supper instead of complaining. “In this wind, I’d no’ ha’ wanted to make a fire for cooking,” he added. “We’ve a deep enough firepot, but this be gey safer.”

Amiable conversation continued, and Giff entertained his hosts with bard’s tales of the Highlands and Isles until Maxwell sent Jake to bed and said, “We ha’ been sleeping in the aft cabin, sir, and he’ll go right off, so come along and bring that jug o’ yours. When ye want to leave, I’ll hang a lantern to bring the towboat. All my lads but these two sleep ashore yet, and the boat stays wi’ them, but they’ll see our light.”

“Do you know yet when you sail?” Giff asked as he followed him into the aft cabin, where shelf beds, one atop the other, occupied the stern wall and a small table built into a cubby in the steerboard wall boasted narrow benches on either side of it.

“Not long now, I expect,” Maxwell said as the two men took seats facing each other. Jake soon scrambled onto the top bed and pulled a quilt over himself.

“His lordship’s people ha’ been carrying provisions and gear aboard for some days now,” Maxwell said. “Some they stowed in the aft hold, some in the fore, and some o’ his lordship’s effects be in them kists by the door and in a small hold under the wee trap by yon washstand. See you, this be the master’s cabin, but Jake admires them shelf beds more than the pallet he sleeps on in my own wee forecastle cabin, and until his lordship comes aboard, I canna see the harm.”

“Does his lordship sail with you then?”

“Wi’ respect, sir, mayhap I should ken why ye be asking afore I answer ye.”

Giff shrugged. “Plain, rude curiosity, Captain, so you can tell me it is none of my affair. I’ve more tales to tell if you’d prefer them. One of my favorites, which I thought unsuitable for young Jake’s ears earlier, is about a Norse king’s daughter known far and wide for her talent in the black arts.”

“Indeed, your tales amuse me, and your whiskey is very fine,” Maxwell said, glancing at the top bed, where all was silent.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.