The Sea Witch's Revenge (ON HOLD)

Chapter Twelve

"Come with me," the captain instructs as they wake ready for the night. Victoria gets up quickly and follows him out of the cabin. He walks fast with Victoria skipping behind him to catch up.

"Why do you only work during the night?" she asks, looking up at the dark sky.

The captain ignores her and pushes open the doors to the dining area.

"Chef!" he shouts.

The chef walks out of the kitchen, smiling widely. The captain stops and gestures to Victoria.

"Your new charge," he states and pushes her forward. Victoria almost trips and she spins to glare at him. Captain Enzo ignores her.

"Work her hard," he says. "If you haven't got any work for her, get Burges to give her some jobs."

"Who's Burges," Victoria asks, not liking the smirk on the captain's face. 

"I'll see you at dinner," the captain says, then turns on his heels and walks out. Victoria looks back at the chef who is smiling.

"Burges is the man who threw the dagger at you," he states.

Victoria groans and follows the chef back into the kitchen. He laughs, the sound harty.

"Luckily for you, I have a lot of work that needs doing today."

"Thank goodness," Victoria sighs. "I couldn't spend another day chained to that wall with only children's books for company. I think I would have gone crazy."

The chef turns, his brown eyes finding hers. He scratches at his messy grey beard and nods his head.

"In normal situations, I would say don't be too excited about the tasks ahead, but I have a feeling you are quite used to hard work."

Victoria nods her head.

"Well, let's get to it then." He throws Victoria a bucket and a ragged mop. She catches it with ease.

"All the floors in here and in the dining area need sweeping and mopping," he instructs, then throws a broom.

Victoria droops the mop awkwardly, nearly tripping over herself as she tries to catch the broom. The chef laughs loudly, clutching at his belly.

"Oh," he says between breaths, "and don't forget to wipe down the table and chairs."

Victoria doesn't have enough hands to catch the dirty rag which the chef had thrown at her face. It squelches against her skin before falling to the floor with a heavy plop. Victoria bites at her lips, trying not to smile as the chef's laughs get louder.

"You know I'm going to get you back for all of this, right?" she asks him. He raises a brow at the challenge.

"Oh, I'm counting on it, Vici," he says, grinning widely and revealing his browning teeth. Victoria rolls her eyes and drags all the cleaning tools from the kitchen and into the dining area.

The table is filthy with stains from dinners from the previous nights. Victoria scrubs it roughly and curses as the old wood of the table splinters her skin.

"You alright out there?" the chef asks from the kitchen.

"Fine," Victoria shouts and carries on. She works fast and by the time she's done, her face is slightly flushed and a layer of sweat clings clammily to her skin.

"Right, potatoes," the chef says as she puts everything away. "Go and grab a bag, then get to peeling."

Victoria goes into the food store and her mouth drops open once more as she sees it. She still can't believe it. In all her years of working on land in various Inns or farm shops, she'd never seen a food store as vast and perfect as this.