Heart's Content

Part Forty-Six

{'Storm on Sea' by Ivan Aivazovsky from Wikimedia Commons}

The crew of The Gallant held little hope for being blessed by the sun's rays, it was hidden by thick gray clouds that flew across the sky but showed little signs of dissipating and made it impossible for the sun to completely clear away the darkness. The high winds that chased those ominous clouds across the sky and churned the sea up into crashing waves served as a warning for the coming storm, but being that they were in the middle of the ocean, there was little the ship's crew could do to defend themselves against it. As soon as they had been made aware of what they were likely expecting, each man had been busily going about his assigned task in hopes of preserving the ship, crew, and all of the precious cargo aboard.

Nathaniel busied himself in the hold with a portion of his crew securing crates, barrels, and making certain that everything was evenly stored. He hadn't returned to his quarters the previous night, choosing instead to sleep with his crew. The embarrassment of what had transpired was just too much for him and he wasn't of a mind to face Lisette any time soon. It was much easier to attend to things that he deemed to be far more important than apologies or saving face, especially considering what passed between them had occurred on his ship. A ship which he had granted passage on to two ladies who had no other options. He felt justified in his actions and for his feelings over the whole matter considering what he had been asked to do and the fact that those who had asked seemed to do so without any regard for how he actually felt. His own feelings aside, he knew that Lisette would expect him to apologize for his actions and to explain himself. He finished tightening a rope around a set of crates and took another drink from his flask as he felt his ire once again rising, concealing his mood with his liquor just as he concealed his liquor once more in his coat pocket while he made his rounds checking the work of his crew where the rest of the cargo was concerned.

The galley was unnervingly quiet, as though even speaking would pronounce some ill fate upon them or disturb the balance of the ship itself. The rain and sea water that bombarded the exterior of the ship made the main deck cold and unbearable, but the heat and humidity that reigned in the lower decks was almost more so. Those that felt able breakfasted on pickled eggs and bread slathered in jam while others were too plagued by bouts of seasickness to even consider eating and huddled in dark corners with buckets in their arms. Nathaniel was confident that they had faced worse storms than the one which currently threatened them and he casually smashed an egg between two pieces of crusty bread, taking a large bite as he glanced around at the walls of the galley. He chased the distasteful flavor of his meal with another swig from his flask as he concluded that it would be wise to check the hull for any potential leaks.

He was so readily pushing Lisette and the rejection she showed him out of his thoughts that he entirely declined to so much as mention her or Genevieve to Lorenz as he sat across from him. The fact that he said nothing at all didn't bother Lorenz so much, but considering how busy they had both been, he was quite certain that the ladies hadn't been seen to and once Nathaniel had left his presence, he took it upon himself to gather some semblance of victuals that would sustain them for hopefully more than one meal.

The length of time seemed to stretch on eternally as those aboard The Gallant were made more acutely aware of the coming fury, the darkness of the sky only becoming more foreboding as clouds that were darker still drew closer and brought with them bright flashes of vengeful lightning whose distant booms couldn't be heard over the roaring sound of the thrashing waves. With each rough jerk of the ship as it was thrown along the stormy surface of the sea, every man on board felt their anxiety rise and there was little anyone could do to ease his own tension. Some comforted themselves with silent prayer while others were consoled by gazing upon pocket sized portraits of their loved ones and the ones that didn't partake in either of these activities were either too sick to care or too busy ascertaining the state of the ship and assisting their Captain in rectifying any issues.