![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dwgmWe move along apace. 550 words today, with 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...
40. Prophesy
~ An Execrable Business, continued...
Bill approached Jack and Nell as they descended the companionway from the quarterdeck. He said, quiet but firm, “That was well done, Captain, make things easier all around, I reckon.”
“Maybe.” Jack glanced at Barbossa's retreating back, his particular cronies at his heels as he shoved his way forward. “Come to my cabin for a bite when we’re underway again, Bill. I've got an important task for you and it'll go best after coffee and toast.”
Half an hour later, Claypool’s men were shrinking into the distance, trudging along the beach in the direction of Cockburn Town, and the Pearl was skipping away from Grand Turk Island in the steady, storm-fresh morning breeze. The sails having been set to a nicety, the watches were called to breakfast, and Jack handed the wheel off and joined Bill as he headed for the Great Cabin.
They both went in and Bill gave a whistle of appreciation. It was evident that Nell had made further progress in organization and cleaning. She’d already tidied the bed, and tied back the heavy drapes over the windows, allowing the sun to shine on furnishings that were unusually free of dust. Breakfast was laid out, too, steam issuing from the various porcelain dishes on the big table, which had been cleared for the purpose with Jack’s permission, and set with china and flatware of the finest quality.
“One could get used to this in a hurry, eh?" said Jack. "Nell, darlin', come and have breakfast. It’s been a long morning already and no mistake.”
Jack and Bill ate heartily, Nell rather less so, though she seemed cheerful enough, and the three finished the meal with another pot of coffee, brought to the cabin by Cook himself, a burley, ill-favored gent, with a patch over a missing eye and a decided limp due to his losing half a foot during an action when he was a member of the Royal Navy. He was a good cook, though exacting in his ways and something of a curmudgeon, but it was evident that he liked Nell. He beamed at her in gap-toothed approval, and God love her, she returned his regard in the friendliest fashion, not a bit put off by his rough appearance.
Cook said, “Smith here told me she’s to lend a hand in the galley, Captain, and I give ye thanks. You know how I’ve needed a good lad to help – or lass, as is the case here. We’ll have some very fine victuals this voyage, very fine indeed!”
The weighty “very fine victuals” came out werry foine wittles, and Nell giggled, but so far from taking offense was Cook that he only simpered at her and winked his one eye.
“I see she’s won you over,” Jack observed with considerable surprise. He’d sent many a “good lad” to the galley to help Cook, and each had been thrown out in days, if not hours, after being vilified for laziness or “sauce” or both. “Nell can join you later, if she likes, to help prepare dinner, but just now I want Bootstrap to take her around the ship, show her where things are and where it’s safe to go, and where it's not. How does that sound, Smith?”
“I should like it very much!” said Nell, agreeably.
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 33. Good and Evil 34. Sickness and Health 35. Lost 36. Court | 37. What if? 38. Island 39. That can't be |
And here's today's...
40. Prophesy
~ An Execrable Business, continued...
Bill approached Jack and Nell as they descended the companionway from the quarterdeck. He said, quiet but firm, “That was well done, Captain, make things easier all around, I reckon.”
“Maybe.” Jack glanced at Barbossa's retreating back, his particular cronies at his heels as he shoved his way forward. “Come to my cabin for a bite when we’re underway again, Bill. I've got an important task for you and it'll go best after coffee and toast.”
Half an hour later, Claypool’s men were shrinking into the distance, trudging along the beach in the direction of Cockburn Town, and the Pearl was skipping away from Grand Turk Island in the steady, storm-fresh morning breeze. The sails having been set to a nicety, the watches were called to breakfast, and Jack handed the wheel off and joined Bill as he headed for the Great Cabin.
They both went in and Bill gave a whistle of appreciation. It was evident that Nell had made further progress in organization and cleaning. She’d already tidied the bed, and tied back the heavy drapes over the windows, allowing the sun to shine on furnishings that were unusually free of dust. Breakfast was laid out, too, steam issuing from the various porcelain dishes on the big table, which had been cleared for the purpose with Jack’s permission, and set with china and flatware of the finest quality.
“One could get used to this in a hurry, eh?" said Jack. "Nell, darlin', come and have breakfast. It’s been a long morning already and no mistake.”
Jack and Bill ate heartily, Nell rather less so, though she seemed cheerful enough, and the three finished the meal with another pot of coffee, brought to the cabin by Cook himself, a burley, ill-favored gent, with a patch over a missing eye and a decided limp due to his losing half a foot during an action when he was a member of the Royal Navy. He was a good cook, though exacting in his ways and something of a curmudgeon, but it was evident that he liked Nell. He beamed at her in gap-toothed approval, and God love her, she returned his regard in the friendliest fashion, not a bit put off by his rough appearance.
Cook said, “Smith here told me she’s to lend a hand in the galley, Captain, and I give ye thanks. You know how I’ve needed a good lad to help – or lass, as is the case here. We’ll have some very fine victuals this voyage, very fine indeed!”
The weighty “very fine victuals” came out werry foine wittles, and Nell giggled, but so far from taking offense was Cook that he only simpered at her and winked his one eye.
“I see she’s won you over,” Jack observed with considerable surprise. He’d sent many a “good lad” to the galley to help Cook, and each had been thrown out in days, if not hours, after being vilified for laziness or “sauce” or both. “Nell can join you later, if she likes, to help prepare dinner, but just now I want Bootstrap to take her around the ship, show her where things are and where it’s safe to go, and where it's not. How does that sound, Smith?”
“I should like it very much!” said Nell, agreeably.
TBC...