The Belladonna

Chapter 4

Sky was not made navigator, which she didn't mind when she found out that everyone's' lives depended on how well they did their job. What she wasn't happy about though, was being made a swab boy. The new recruits had been given their jobs for the voyage once they set sail and most of them were to help out with the general running of the ship. Some were sent to be gum men and take care of the maintenance of the cannons. A few others were made to help with the rigging and some had even been ordered to aid in preparing the food for the trip. But only two of them were give the wonderful task of scrubbing the deck every day.

Sky was angry only because she suspected they gave her the job because of her size and she did not like being made to feel incompetent. Lucus, however, seemed glade to have the job and said he would prefer it over anything else they could give him. At least this way he was able to stay out of people's way.

"I would prefer not spending two weeks on my hands and knees." Sky grumbled as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. It was hot today and there was a haze over the sea that trapped in the warmth. It was driving Sky insane. She watched the men run around the deck carrying out the tasks needing to be done efficiently as any navy ship would be.

Lucus was across the deck from her and Sky was glad to have his company at least, though she found he often got a look on his young face that made her think he wasn't really paying attention to the work they were doing. She stopped to watch him for a bit not caring if it seemed a little creepy watching the boy. His light hair was almost glowing in the sun and his blue eyes were foggy with a far way look.

"What it is?" Sky asked. Lucus' head snapped up to her.

"Nothing." He said and continued to scrub the already clean patch. They were down on the main deck near the front of the ship and just out of reach of the shade the sails created. Sky sighed and went back to her task with the questions she wanted to ask on the edge of her lips. In the end she couldn't take the silence between them.

"Why did you lie about your age?" Her voice was low and gentle; she didn't want him thinking she was attacking him. At first she was worried he hadn't heard her but she saw in how he scrubbed that he had. His muscles were tense and his hands using more force then necessary.

"I didn't think they would let me on the ship," He admitted.

"Oh," Sky said unsure as to why she was dissatisfied with is answer.

"I have to be on this ship," Lucus pause in his work and leaned back to sit on his feet. He said nothing more and Sky moved farther up the ship to keep working alone.

By the fourth day she had had enough. The deck was clean and her knees were bruised. She longed for something more entertaining than an up and down, back and forth motion. She looked at her Captain and wondered, not for the first time if he even realised she existed; whenever she scrubbed the quarter deck he simply ignored her as if she was a ghost. She didn't mind it as it gave her the chance to inspect the man who may be made commodore.

So far the most challenging thing on this voyage had been trying to get to sleep with hundreds of men soring and the smell of sweat and salt that cling to them all. Being on the bottom bunk with Lucus above her was better than being under someone she didn't like though. As the spent almost ninety percent of their time together Sky was glad the boy had become her friend and not someone she could not stand like most of the officers. She often wondered how James managed.

Surly we could be doing better things with our time. As the thought came to her she spotted that many of the men were practicing their sword skills down on the main deck. Among them were eight of the new recruits, their movements not as fluid as the officers, but their stances confident.