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dwgmShades of Firefly! *g* 550 words today, theme: "Good and Evil". Many thanks to my dear ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hereswith for beta reading, editing, and excellent suggestions.
Previous bits...
And here's today's...
33. Good and Evil
~ An Execrable Business, continued...
Bill excused himself, saying he would take the tray of dirty crockery away to be washed, and that Jack would be down in an hour or so. “Though it might be more, a bit of weather coming up from the south, if I don’t mistake matters. He likes to stay on deck in a blow.”
The girl accepted this and bid him adieu, going back to her work even before he was out the door.
He handed the tray off to young Worley and returned to the quarterdeck. The wind was picking up, and Jack had that half maniacal glow that marked him when they were headed into a storm.
“Nice little squall coming, Bill. Just enough to make it int’resting.”
“Pretty int’resting below, too,” Bill said.
Jack frowned. “She’s all right, ain’t she?”
“Seems to be, for all she’s been stuck a month in Tortuga, though how long she’ll stay that way is the question.”
Jack gave a roll of his eyes. “Don’t be nagging, Bill. I’m takin’ ‘er home is what it is, and my cabin’s the safest place for her while I do it.”
Bill sniffed. “Don’t tell me you ain’t prepared to seize the opportune moment, and she an innocent!”
“She’s more fly to the time of day than you’d think. But no worries. I’ll swing a hammock while she’s with me.” Jack shook his head. “What a scold you are. When I had Letty Granger to stay you was all for me putting her up in my cabin, and it was a far tighter squeeze.”
“Letty was a widow!” Bill protested, remembering the rather colorless lady Jack had won in a duel, when Tobias had still been alive. Or trying to remember. He couldn’t quite recall her face. “This… Smith is—“
“I know what she is, Mr. Turner,” Jack hissed, impatiently. “None better. Didn’t I spend the last two nights with her, and did I so much as try to kiss her?”
Jack might be captain, but Bill had to say it, and did, quiet but firm. “There’s a special place in Hell reserved for blackguards who take advantage of innocents like that girl. A special place.”
But Jack just gave him a sharp, quizzical look. “You’ll be knowing all about that, won’t you, Bill? I know how old Mary is. To the day.”
Bill flushed, thoughts of his wife, his Mary, and of their first time together rushing through his head. And Jack was right, Mary had been only sixteen, and he a man of twenty-two. But that’d been different. Something almost… holy. God, how he’d loved her… and how much he still did, longed for her with his whole being sometimes. Sudden anger welled in him. “Don’t you dare compare—“
“Bill!” Jack’s sharp tone brought Bill back to a sense of where they were. Who they were. Jack went on, rather fierce. “It’s not the same, no, but I’ll not hurt her, Bill. I swear it. A six weeks’ voyage and I’ll deliver her safe and sound – intact! – to her grandmother. Savvy?”
Bill’s spurt of temper cooled, quick as it had warmed. “Aye. But—“
“No buts, not now. There’s a squall comin’ in.” And Jack’s eyes lit again as the first drops of rain came, spattering cold on their faces.
TBC...
hereswith for beta reading, editing, and excellent suggestions.Previous bits...
| 1. Tortuga 2. Happiness 3. Festive 4. Last Minute 5. Calm 6. Truth 7. Bargain 8. Spook 9. Down 10. Wounds 11. Moon 12. Monsters | 13. Beauty 14. Name 15. History 16. Service 17. Advice 18. Captain 19. Awe 20. Cross 21. "You've made a big mistake" 22. Heroism 23. Gold 24. Echo | 25. Greed 26. Advance 27. Challenge 28. Adventure 29. Sentence 30. Treasure 31. North 32. Coat |
And here's today's...
33. Good and Evil
~ An Execrable Business, continued...
Bill excused himself, saying he would take the tray of dirty crockery away to be washed, and that Jack would be down in an hour or so. “Though it might be more, a bit of weather coming up from the south, if I don’t mistake matters. He likes to stay on deck in a blow.”
The girl accepted this and bid him adieu, going back to her work even before he was out the door.
He handed the tray off to young Worley and returned to the quarterdeck. The wind was picking up, and Jack had that half maniacal glow that marked him when they were headed into a storm.
“Nice little squall coming, Bill. Just enough to make it int’resting.”
“Pretty int’resting below, too,” Bill said.
Jack frowned. “She’s all right, ain’t she?”
“Seems to be, for all she’s been stuck a month in Tortuga, though how long she’ll stay that way is the question.”
Jack gave a roll of his eyes. “Don’t be nagging, Bill. I’m takin’ ‘er home is what it is, and my cabin’s the safest place for her while I do it.”
Bill sniffed. “Don’t tell me you ain’t prepared to seize the opportune moment, and she an innocent!”
“She’s more fly to the time of day than you’d think. But no worries. I’ll swing a hammock while she’s with me.” Jack shook his head. “What a scold you are. When I had Letty Granger to stay you was all for me putting her up in my cabin, and it was a far tighter squeeze.”
“Letty was a widow!” Bill protested, remembering the rather colorless lady Jack had won in a duel, when Tobias had still been alive. Or trying to remember. He couldn’t quite recall her face. “This… Smith is—“
“I know what she is, Mr. Turner,” Jack hissed, impatiently. “None better. Didn’t I spend the last two nights with her, and did I so much as try to kiss her?”
Jack might be captain, but Bill had to say it, and did, quiet but firm. “There’s a special place in Hell reserved for blackguards who take advantage of innocents like that girl. A special place.”
But Jack just gave him a sharp, quizzical look. “You’ll be knowing all about that, won’t you, Bill? I know how old Mary is. To the day.”
Bill flushed, thoughts of his wife, his Mary, and of their first time together rushing through his head. And Jack was right, Mary had been only sixteen, and he a man of twenty-two. But that’d been different. Something almost… holy. God, how he’d loved her… and how much he still did, longed for her with his whole being sometimes. Sudden anger welled in him. “Don’t you dare compare—“
“Bill!” Jack’s sharp tone brought Bill back to a sense of where they were. Who they were. Jack went on, rather fierce. “It’s not the same, no, but I’ll not hurt her, Bill. I swear it. A six weeks’ voyage and I’ll deliver her safe and sound – intact! – to her grandmother. Savvy?”
Bill’s spurt of temper cooled, quick as it had warmed. “Aye. But—“
“No buts, not now. There’s a squall comin’ in.” And Jack’s eyes lit again as the first drops of rain came, spattering cold on their faces.
TBC...