Could there be more to the horn than just a signal? Those men and women in the tavern… Anne said they seemed in a trance. Was it the horn's doing?
Before Edward could ruminate on his questions too long, Herbert was nudging him forward and out of his thoughts. Edward glanced at Herbert, who motioned with his chin towards John's backside. Edward nodded, and the two went to the crew's quarters to eat.
The meal, as it had been the time before and the time before that, was a stew of salted beef with various vegetables and the spiced pepper that burned Edward's tongue. Edward threw all his ship's biscuits into the stew at once to soak up the spice, and it seemed to work. Either that or he had become used to the heat of that foreign pepper after so many times.
After the meal, Edward and Herbert were about to make their way above deck for the next shift of the crew, but a mate stopped them.
"Captain's orders," he said as he stopped Edward with a hand on his chest. "Get yer rest, yer useless to her if yer dead on yer feet."
Edward glanced at Herbert and John, who were both as shocked as he. "Truly?"
The mate nodded. "Aye." The mate glanced back and forth all the way over his shoulder and then leaned forward to whisper as best as he could in Edward's ear. "She's taken a shine to ye, so be sure and not refuse her… if ye catch my meanin'." The man winked before taking the crewmates above for the next watch.
"What do you suppose he meant by that?" Herbert asked.
Edward's gaze went from Herbert and fell on John, but John shrugged and seemed as dumbfounded by the exchange as the others.
It didn't take long for Edward and Herbert to stop worrying over the mystery and sleep in their hammocks. The gentle rocking of the ship and normal noises of a bustling machine of wood and men lulled Edward to sleep surprisingly quickly.
Edward awoke in what felt like an instant, the ache of his muscles and bones hitting his whole body immediate and with a fury. After a few stretches as he awoke and readied for work, the pain was mostly gone.
Edward and John's work and rest schedules were now aligned and, together with Herbert, the men went above deck to tend to the ship in the dead cold of the night.
The other crewmates working nights with them were a more amicable sort than Edward had dealt with for most of his time aboard the Black Blood, and so the work was lax and the conversation genial. Edward, Herbert, and John learned more about John and his time aboard the ship, but the conversation steered clear from any mention of Calico Jack's mysterious horn.
John told some fantastical stories of battles against the Spanish off the coast of Honduras, where they were secretly paid by the British for each ship sunk. They performed so well that the British couldn't pay and agreed to turn a blind eye to the pirates' other activities.
During one such battle, Grace's pistols jammed, and she was forced to use her greaves where she single-handedly killed five Spaniards at once. After that, so it was told, the Spanish began calling her Gracia de la Muerte, or Death's Grace.
He also told of the time where a third of the crew swore they had seen a ghostly ship on a foggy night, which they pursued despite the danger. They eventually came upon an empty vessel, full sail and cargo, drifting at sea, no crew anywhere to be seen. Even Grace, not one to be superstitious, was rattled and ordered the ship burned, cargo and all.
One thing missing from each of John's stories was the man himself. His version of events seemed to not have a place for him, save as an observer, as though he were inconsequential.
When pressed to hear a story about him, John reluctantly obliged. He told a story about when he helped an orphaned girl being accosted by bandits in a town the crew had stopped in. The girl fled with the crew aboard the ship, for fear that the bandits would just come back against her after they had left.
"What happened then?" Herbert asked.
John's mouth parted for a moment before his lips twisted into a sad smile. "Her ending was something I would not wish to revisit."
Edward and Herbert shared a look after John's comment and changed the subject.
The two shared their own stories, taking care to not let slip anything too detailed to allow John, or any eavesdroppers, to glean who they were. When those stories seemed exhausted, Herbert weaved a few tales plucked from the sea air itself that involved the Blackstad brothers in their prime. The tale he told was so full of bravado and wild fancy it beggared belief, but after the ghost ship story, it may not have mattered much.
Over three days, it was the same routine. Edward could rest and work as a normal crewmate instead of working for two as he had before, and he, Herbert, and John all shared their time together aboard. When they weren't working hard on the ship, they shared their stories, talked about life aboard a ship, tips for managing the needs of their wooden estate, and sometimes just a relaxing silence.
Edward also noticed that his sleep came easier each time he lay down, and he awoke less and less in the middle of his slumber. The feeling of overwhelming dread left him, and he often found his flask full at the end of the day.
On the third day, before Edward went to work again, he was called to the captain's quarters by one of the mates.
"Why does Grace want to speak with me?" he asked.
"That's for her to know," the mate replied. "Don't keep her waitin'."
Edward glanced over his shoulder at Herbert and John, and they both had stern looks on their faces though Edward suspected it was
