Ethereal

Chapter 19: Stranger on Deck

"Looks like you lucked out." Grouch-o said, dropping another load of apples at my feet. I had been slicing the skin off them for the past hour and my hands were nearly peeled themselves with the effort. I tried not to groan at the sight of the new, untouched batch.

"Lucked out of what?" I said, heaving the bag closer to my side. I opened the bag and began to pull the lot out. Grouch-o wanted to make apple pies for everyone, but from the state of the oven and Grouch-o's lack of delicate handling, I think these are going to be made into apple sauce instead.

"Captain's told me that you don't have to do your night shift tonight. Apparently, there's a storm on the horizon, or at least that's what he says." Grouch-o said, the displeasure evident in his voice. I was grateful at that moment that Jax was captain and not Grouch-o, as something told me that if Grouch-o had the power to keep me topside during a storm, he would.

"Careful old boy, your bitterness is showing." I said. Grouch-o shot me a dirty look from over the counter, his hunch back looking much more pronounced than usual. I turned away from him and sat down at one of the tables, a wave of relief flooded over me at the news – I would finally be able to get a full night's worth of sleep in.

Ignoring the pain lingering in the joints of my fingers, I began to cut the apples with a greater gusto than before. The sooner I get this last job done, the sooner I could go to bed.

Time slipped by, and slowly the beams of sunlight that poured through the cracks in the ceiling above us all but disappeared as the ship began to lurch from side to side. I could hear the wooden paneling around me groaning from the stress as waves crashed up against it, as well as the light pattering of rain hitting the deck above me. I suppose Carlo and Jax had been right all along – a storm had been approaching the Minnow, and now it was here.

Grouch-o tossed one last knife into the sink before he wiped his hands across his shirt, leaving a grimy stain in the fabric. He grabbed a lantern that hung from the ceiling and moved to go below deck where the rest of the crew were already settling in for the night.

"Don't forget about the dishes, now." Grouch-o said, passing me one last smile before he disappeared from sight.

I twisted around the bench, my eyes finding the grotesque pile of unwashed dishes waiting for me. Grouch-o must have purposefully left the breakfast, lunch, and the dinner plates for me to clean. It was going to take me half the night to get them cleaned and put away.

Fighting the urge to cry, I bent my head back down and got back to work. There was nothing else I could do at this point, and crying wasn't going to make the job go any faster.

The pile of apples dwindled as the night drew on, the light droplets of rain above me began to fall faster and heavier than they did before. I made sure to keep the bag of apples tucked securely between my knees as the ship began to rock back and forth more violently than ever before. At some instances the Minnow would hit a wave so vast that it nearly sent me to the floor had I not been clutching a nearby beam for support.

I flicked the last skinned apple back into the bag, tying it off tightly before stowing it below the counter for Grouch-o to spit on tomorrow. Rubbing the sore muscles in my neck, I turned towards the pile of dishes, my fingers already feeling the dirt and grime that surely waited for me beneath all that water.

"Need a hand?"

The voice caught me off guard, making me jump backwards and into the wall, causing several pots and pans to go crashing to the floor. Thank goodness Grouch-o had already gone to bed, or else he probably would have made me clean those too.

"What are you doing here?" I said, heat rising up into my cheeks as Jax watched me from across the room.

He was leaning against a wooden beam, his eyes dark in the lamplight as he took me in. A small smile formed at his lips as his eyes saw the state of my unkept hair that was no doubt a large fuzz ball above my head by now. I made no move to pick up the pots and pans, instead I remained frozen against the wall, unsure of what to do. A small part of me wondered how long he had been standing there, watching me from the shadows. While anybody with a reasonable head on their shoulders would be frightened of such a thought, it filled me with warmness instead. Maybe I really was starting to go crazy.