Georgana's Secret (Proper Romance) by Arlem Hawks

Author:Arlem Hawks [Hawks, Arlem]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Published: 2021-01-11T18:30:00+00:00

Georgana stood at the edge of the sick bay, a steaming cup of ginger tea in her hands. Lanterns illuminated three occupied hammocks. Most of the men now sat at dinner on the messdeck below, leaving this level quiet and undisturbed.

A figure moved between the two hammocks on the starboard side of the deck. Étienne didn’t look up when she entered. The occupant of the third hammock was sitting upright, head in his hands. She moved to his side and cleared her throat.

“Captain sent this for you.” Or at least the captain wouldn’t be angry if he found out she’d brought it. She held the tin cup out to him. “Careful, it’s hot.”

Fitz moved his hands just enough to stare at the cup, but he didn’t take it.

“It will help your head.”

“Why are you doing this, pretty boy?”

She didn’t know herself. Perhaps because she remembered the shattered boy sitting alone in the messdeck after his friend had been killed. Or because the scene of him struggling under Jarvis’s abuse still haunted her thoughts.

She held the cup closer to him. Fitz was just a boy trying to find his place on this ship, as she was. And like her incessant memories of Grandmother, memories of Fitz’s bullying did not serve her.

“I want to let go of the past,” she whispered.

Fitz watched her, his eyes half covered by his hands, then hesitantly took the cup. “Did you poison it?”

“Only ginger and honey.”

He took a slow drink, eyes narrowing in reaction to the spiciness of the ginger. One hand moved to his forehead as he sipped.

“Captain’s sending food over shortly. He has fresh mango on the table tonight. Have you tried mango?”

The boy gave her a quiet yes.

“I think you’ll enjoy the food. Rest well, Fitz.”

He gave her a nearly inaudible “thank you” as she turned to leave. Perhaps she and Fitz would never be friends, but she hoped they were on the way to not being enemies. Having Jarvis as an enemy on board was difficult enough.

“Mr. Taylor, come here, if you please.” The gravelly voice of the French surgeon stopped her before she left the sick bay. She moved to the other end of the ship, where Étienne’s shadowy face held a grim scowl. He looked from one sick boy to the other. Even in the dim light, their faces shone with sweat.

“I believe they have the same fever young Mr. Byam contracted.”

Georgana’s hand flew to her mouth. It hadn’t been an isolated incident, after all.

“I wish to quarantine them. Walter should be moved as soon as possible. Will you tell this to the captain?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Thank you. And find the boy’s father to help him back to the messdeck.”

Georgana ran for the captain’s quarters but crashed into a pair of blue-clad arms and a cream-colored waistcoat halfway across the deck.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” Lieutenant Peyton asked.

Georgana touched the brim of her cap in a salute. She didn’t meet his eyes, for fear he’d somehow see the flush of her cheeks, even in the darkness of the deck.

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