Finnjust laughed. “Aye, it’s not the prettiest of places to rest yehead, but I reckon it be better than hogtied at a desk.”
“I begto differ,” I whispered.
He perked aneyebrow at my forwardness and I regretted the insult. “Well,perhaps cleaning the lower deck shall be ye first job.” He stompedover toward an empty hammock, larger and wider than the rest. “Thisis where ye shall be tonight. Be grateful for it. I could haveslung ye in with Maurice.”
My eyesfollowed where he pointed and saw an unsightly old man who seemedto be the human form of the disgusting space and he grinned at me.Not a friendly grin, either. No, he eyed me with a hunger I hopedI’d never have to satisfy and I made a mental note to stay awayfrom Maurice.
“Are youjust going to leave me down here with…” I swallowed hard andglanced around at all the pirates I had yet to come to know. Notthat I really knew Finn, but I had a sense of trust in him. Howeverslight that may be.
He chuckledquietly. “Nay, I’ll be restin’ me head right next to ye. This be myhammock.” He hopped in and slipped his boots off the side. “Ye bestnot snore, neither.”
I nervouslywrapped my jacket tightly across my torso and slowly eased my bodyinto Finn’s hammock where I slid right up against him. He was warm,and my spine immediately thanked me for the relief. The nightsspent curled up on a crate and the hours tied up on the floor leftme aching. But, tired as I was, I couldn’t bring myself to close myeyes next to this strange man whose body mushed against mine.
I felthim shift and froze as I felt his lips come close to my ear. “Yedinnae have to worry, lass,” he whispered carefully. “As beautifulas ye may be, I dinnaefancy the curvy body of a woman.”
I turnedmy head, so my eyes could meet his and found him grinning like a child who’d justtold me the location of their secret hideout. “Youmean–”
The coarseskin of his palm covered my mouth. “Don’t mistaken me friendlinessfor compassion. Ye tell anyone what I just said, and I’ll gut yemyself.”
I didn’t replyas he shifted his body again, so we were pretty much spooning.“Now, g’night, wench.”
***
I woke thenext morning, disoriented, but well-rested. At some point duringthe night, Finn had wrapped his giant limbs around my body and heldme close like a teddy bear. My bladder sprang to life andimmediately protested, but I couldn’t move a muscle. The burly Scothad me trapped.
I wriggled andtried to wake him. “Finn. Finn, you’re crushing my body.”
He moaned, andI felt his body tense as he stretched. “Aye, sorry. Ye was havingnightmares and I couldn’t sleep next to ye flailin’ about likethat.”
“Iwas?”
“Ireckon,” he replied as he rubbed his face and yawned. “Moanin’ andcryin’. Ye just about flipped us over, too.”
“Crap,sorry,” I told him. My bladder squeezed again. “Um, I have to,uh–”
“Take apiss?”
I cringed.“Yes, is there a restroom aboard?”
“Whatthe Christ is a restroom?” he asked, pronouncing the words as ifthey were foreign. Which, when I thought about it, probably were tohim.
“Like, aplace to, y’know?”
“Aye, aplace to take a shyteand piss.” He rolled off his side of the hammock andstraightened himself out. “Come with me, lass.”
I copied theway he got out of the tipsy bed and followed him over to the cornerof the lower deck area. A torn and soiled curtain hung from theceiling and created a half-circle around a sketchy lookingbucket.
“Here yego,” he said and motioned to the bucket. The smell wafted up to myface and I knew then where the majority of the room’s stench camefrom.
I looked toFinn, eyes wide in fear. “You can’t be serious?”
“Asserious as a blade in the back, lass.” He turned and faced awayfrom the make-shift restroom. “I’ll stand guard while ye do yerbusiness.”
Sitting onthat bucket was the last thing I wanted to do but I had to pee.What else would they offer if I refused? Hang me over the side ofthe ship? I mustered up the courage and hover-squat over thebucket. “Could you at least sing or something, so we don’t have tolisten to me pee?”
Helaughed but, thankfully, began to hum a Gaelic tune. After I was done, Finn led me tothe ladder and up out of the lower deck. The change in theatmosphere, cleaner and thinner, was glorious after a night spentdown there. I sucked in as big a breath as I could manage, lettingthe fresh air fill my lungs and noted the heavy scent offood.
The mess deckwas alive with the breakfast crew and they all stopped to stare atme. Suddenly, I was extremely aware of how I looked; frazzled,dirty, and totally out of place on a ship full of men. I rememberedsomething that Gus had said before. Women were a bad omen on thesea. I made a note, then, to watch my back. My life could end in asplit second if left alone with a superstitious sailor.
“Aye,what are ye all gawkin’ at?” Finn growled. “Ye all never seen awoman before, or what?” He put a hand on my back and pushed metoward a table near the front where Gus waited, his food nottouched.
“Abouttime you both got up. The day’s half gone,” Gus said by way ofgreeting.
“G’marnin’ to ye, too,” Finn replied and then looked to me.“Sit. I’ll grab ye some grub.”
I slid my buttonto the wooden bench seat, across from Gus, and nervously fiddledwith my hands under the table. “Good morning.”
He scowled.“We shall see.”
I didn’t knowwhat his problem was. He despised me from the moment they pluckedme from the sea. But the tiny Englishman didn’t scare me.
“What’syour deal?” I asked him. He looked confused and I remembered that Ihad to stop using modern lingo. “Why do you hate me? I’ve donenothing to you. I’m a good person, I swear.”
“I don’tmuch care what you are,” he replied. “But you make
