Annie was screaming in his ear to go, and go now, with her. Wake felt some sort of slime covering his face, and the pain was starting to arrive in throbbing waves. He let Annie drag him along and out the back door, but not before he cast a glance at the lieutenant commander lying on the floor with his hands holding the bloody gash that had been his mouth. Blood was splashing out of the gash as he tried to speak. Then the door closed behind them as Annie dragged him down a back alley and across another lane to a path that led through the scrub brush.
After a hundred yards they came to a shed, and without knocking Annie entered and lit a candle. In the dim glow of the flame she sat Wake down on a straw tick mattress over a plank frame and looked at his wounds.
“Cap’n, I’ve got some salve to apply on those scrapes, but you’ll have to part with a dollar, deary. Nothin’s for free on this here island, ’specially if’n it’s a medicine for the sick.”
Wake assented and she laid him back on the thin burlap mattress while she salved his cuts and bruises and took away his ripped shirt. He agreed to pay her another dollar to repair the rents on his coat and shirt. Half naked and unable to stand or even sit, he lay back and let her touch him while dressing his wounds. He knew that come morning he would have to pay far more than money for this evening, but he didn’t care. Reaching into his trouser pocket he pulled out the rest of his pay money and handed it to her.
“Annie, take all of this and charge me no more tonight. Just pretend you care for me. That’s all I ask.”
Disappearing outside with the money for a moment, Annie returned, blew out the candle and slid out of her dress, which dropped to the palm weave floor mat as she crawled onto the mattress beside Wake. Despite her hardened demeanor, her body felt soft. He was glad she couldn’t see the tears in his eyes in the darkness. Her fingers caressed his chest and arms lightly, and in a surprisingly soft voice she whispered to him.
“’Tis all right now, Peter Wake. Tonight you’re safe and soun’ with ol’ Annie, deary. I’ll make that war and those fools of the navy seem far away. Mornin’s a long way off, deary.”
The events of the long day played in his mind as Wake drifted off to semi-sleep. Was it really this morning that we sailed into the harbor in our foolish triumph? And just today that my pompous new admiral showed his opinion of me, and the course of my future career. And just tonight that I showed an ass of myself? Oh God, what will tomorrow bring? Will I need witnesses? Who was that lieutenant commander I hurt?
And then Annie, with the consummate skill of a veteran in her profession, tenderly removed all thoughts of his depressing day from Wake’s mind. Until the morning sun showed itself, he was a man and she was a woman, and that was all that mattered.
4
Weighing Anchor
A shaft of sunlight through the unglassed window bored into his eyes like a hot poker. Wake tried to move away from the dazzling light and suddenly dropped off the edge of the mattress frame onto the woven mat with a thud. An oath came forth immediately, followed by a cackle from the woman still in bed.
“Capsized, did ya, Cap’n?”
The humor was lost on Wake as he tried to sit up, shielding his eyes from the glare that seemed to follow him around whichever way he turned his head. His temples throbbed and his mind reeled from the visions passing through it. Did I really assault a lieutenant commander in front of other officers? Oh God, what have I done?
Annie had no such reservations regarding the previous night and was mildly perturbed at being awakened at such an early hour, far earlier than she was used to rising. Usually her sailor customers left quietly, but she knew this one would be different. He had been different all night long. No pity clung to her survey of the man on the floor next to her, but a certain curiosity picked at her as she tried to categorize Wake among her men. He just didn’t fit in, and she knew that the money she had gained from him the previous evening would probably be the last. But one never knew for sure, and it always paid to be nice to an officer.
“Deary, let me help you up and get you dressed. I’ll sew them rips up in a wink and brush off your coat. Then you can look presentable like for the town on the way to your ship.”
“Thank you. I’m afraid the rum hurts worse than the wounds do this morning. You’ll have to help me find my way back to the tavern.”
“Aye, well, Cap’n Wake, but I think the less you’re seen ’round the tavern today the better. I’d say that makin’ your way back to the St. James as quick as a priest from the Protestants would be the smart thing today, sir. That row there last night will be remembered this morn.”
The following hour was spent in munching a few biscuits and water while Annie sewed up the shirt and coat of Wake’s uniform. The bloodstain on the shirt was mostly hidden by the coat, and the one on the blue sleeve of the jacket was dark enough by now to be less noticeable. One of his sleeve laces had to be resewed also. He had heard that new regulations were going to be made regarding officers’ rank insignia, but he had no idea what they would be. Undoubtedly they would require more expenditure on his part. At sea he wore
