14. Really Floats My Boat #2
Mick frowns but says nothing else. If he senses something has changed, he does not share it.
I hear a strange, shrill scream and turn to watch as Pip and another man lead a goat down the stairs, followed by a cage of chickens. I hum to myself, swiveling to scan the ship as people make their way to their usual posts and the last of the longboats is pulled up.
But I can’t stop my attention from wandering once more to Captain Night. He is a magnet, and my eyes are drawn to him, to his frame, to the way he holds the map and squints. To the way he frowns at nothing in particular.
If I could, I’d stare at him all day.
He’s shucked off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, and by god, if there’s something I love more than kissing him, it’s the sight of his forearms. Even from my place at the foremast, the scars on his arms catch my gaze, the black lines of the tattoo snaking up one arm, and the small one on his inner wrist.
Damn him. If he weren’t so kind, if he didn’t treat me better than I deserved, I wouldn’t feel these things.
I work my jaw and hop down to the main deck, returning to the lines.
I follow Mick’s careful work as we finish readying the ship.
The last of the stores and ammunition have been stowed, and there’s a quiet that seems to settle aboard the ship as everyone makes their way to the main deck.
They must know something I don’t, because they’re all waiting, standing with their feet planted apart, arms over their chests as they look to the helm, to our captain.
Captain Night turns and surveys the ship.
He takes in the sails and the crew climbing down on the ratlines.
He studies those scattered about the deck, from the riggers and the carpenters to Clancy holding the helm steady and Astra rolling up a map at his side.
Our captain looks out to the horizon, to the oranges and pinks of a rising sun that seems to set his skin on fire with its hues.
And I think, O Captain! my Captain! because they—perhaps even we—would follow him anywhere.
“Before we leave,” Captain Night calls, his voice booming, “we have some business that needs taking care of.”
The crew waits silently before he goes on. Captain Night crosses the quarterdeck and takes the stairs one at a time, arms clasped behind his back. The way he walks, the way he holds his head, you’d think he’s royalty. And to this crew, he very well may be.
“We lost a lot of our crew,” he continues once he’s reached the mainmast. Captain Night turns, eyes scanning the crowd.
“I know there is no greater pain than losing crew, but this next task we’ve been handed, this next thing we must do, it is not for the people we do not trust, and I trust each and every one of you.
” His eyes find mine for a moment before they slide next to me to Jack.
“While we will not be bringing on any new crew, we have a spot to fill. When we were betrayed, we lost our quartermaster, and it’s about time we vote on our next one. ”
The crew cheers, and someone calls out Jack’s name. Another follows, calling the same, and a third, and I think we’re done, that the quartermaster has been chosen, because everyone seems to have called his name, but Jack turns to me.
“You must vote,” he whispers.
“But I’m new,” I say.
Captain Night stops before me, and the butterflies flit around my insides as he stares on patiently. “You’re a part of this crew, now, Laszlo. Your voice matters.”
What those words do to me.
I’ve never had a home, never felt at peace in any one place for long, but as I regard the crew, this ragtag group of pirates who, despite my shortcomings, have been nothing but kind to me, I realize they were all voiceless before they stepped aboard She Deceitful.
They felt that by joining this crew, by climbing aboard this ship, they’d take it back, regain some of the power they lost in their previous lives.
They go against everything I thought I knew about pirates.
This crew is a family, and despite my sudden appearance, despite my strangeness, they have accepted me into their fold.
He has accepted me.
That makes my heart sing loudest. To know that he approves, that he is the one who pulled me under his arm and gave me a place aboard this ship. I press a hand to my chest like that will stop my heart from thumping against my ribs, but it’s no use.
“You have my vote, Jack.”
The crew cheers and Jack claps me on the shoulder before clasping hands with the crew members surrounding him.
I’m smiling so much it hurts. The crew cheers and jostles me as they congratulate Jack on his promotion, and just as quickly Mick is promoted to first mate and another crew member to master rigger.
And though the crew hasn’t grown in number, the killing of Peter, the knowledge that the man who sent half their crew to their deaths can no longer hurt them, seems to settle something inside everyone.
I swivel toward the helm, to where Captain Night now stands. He holds himself with the air of a man weighed down by decisions. He made a decision last night, one that is acknowledged by the crew with simple nods of approval.
But it’s more than that. He sent a message with the slice of a neck. He told the entire island what he would do to anyone who double-crossed his crew again.
And when the first rays of the sun finally break over the horizon, the anchor is hoisted and the sails are pulled taut.
The winds are strong, and they sweep the ship up with ease, sending us splicing rapidly through the water.
As I return to my spot at the foremast and tug on the lines to adjust the foresail, the sleeves of my shirt rolled up and water spraying me from the sides, I think, just maybe, that the story being gathered with messy notes in my back pocket doesn’t need telling.
That maybe I have found my home after years of searching.
My eyes find and hold Captain Night’s over the wheel. His lips curve up into a tentative smile, and I can’t help but smile back. It may be terrifying, and I might not know what lies ahead, but I know, of all the pirate captains out there, he’s the one I want leading me.
He’s the one I want.