The Stowaway

X

"Fall in love with someone who tastes like adventure but looks like the calm, beautiful morning after a terrible storm." Nikita Gill

----

X.

After spending the remainder of her day scrubbing the entirety of the ship, with intermittent ginger tea breaks, Eliza sat down to supper, this time being waved over by the Irish brothers, Cian and Diarmuid.

They were served the same meal as the night before, but after a day of work, Eliza did not care. Cabbage had never tasted so good. She ate hungrily and prayed that she did not throw it all back up later on in the evening.

Eliza was introduced to another sailor, one who looked very similar in age to herself. He was young and handsome, with a strong, broad frame and dazzling blue eyes. He called himself Zacky, but Eliza had no indication if that was his real name, or something that he had adopted.

"How on earth does a boer like yourself end up on a ship like this, Eliza Lee?" asked Diarmuid curiously.

Eliza recalled that boer was meant to be a compliment. "Well, I have always read about pirate ships," she confessed, albeit a little bashfully. "I longed for an adventure aboard one."

Much to her chagrin, Cian, Diarmuid and Zacky all laughed heartily.

"Afraid you'll have to keep searching, miss," Zacky disclosed humorously. "For this is no pirate ship."

Eliza frowned. It wasn't? But they did not fly British colours. That was something that she had first noticed about the ship. They did not fly a British flag. She did not expect them to be marauders, but pirates certainly. Answering to no one, going where they pleased. Travelling to far off places like Jamaica!

"What sort of ship is this then?"

"Why, a merchant ship of course," Cian chided.

And Eliza suddenly felt very foolish. Of course, it was a merchant ship. Why had her mind immediately gone to the extreme? Pirate ships were probably fictitious nowadays, reserved only for her romantic novels.

"The Atlantis is owned by a rich Englishman in Kingston, Mr Richard Kerry. He controls the largest sugar plantation on the island. You have probably had Mr Kerry's sugar in your tea, Miss Banes," Zacky noted.

Eliza's first thought was that sugar was incredibly dull. But she had to remind herself that she was travelling to an exotic, foreign land, and this vessel was merely her means. Eliza had never much thought about where any of the foods that she used every day had come from. She certainly had no idea that her sugar had come all the way from Jamaica, and it was the job of men like these sailors to supply the public with it.

"But why do you not fly a British flag?" Eliza asked. "This ship is British, is it not?"

"There are still pirates, Eliza Lee," Cian warned. "Thieves, more like, who board and take what they want. They have no qualms with taking life, whereas our captain means only to preserve it. Where we are heading, a British flag can often be antagonistic to outlaws. It's best to appear neutral and help them on their way with as little fuss and harm as possible."

Cian's Irish drawl seemed to soften the seriousness of what he had just said. But Eliza was mesmerised, and not perhaps it a good way. Did that mean there was every likelihood of her encountering real pirates?

"It's a fine night," remarked Diarmuid. "How about a céilí?" His brother immediately nodded, and they both rose and walked away, heading towards the lower deck.

"What is a céilí?" Eliza asked Zacky.

Zacky merely smiled. "You will enjoy it," he assured her. "I am still curious, Miss Banes. What on earth would entice you to this life, when the one you have come from is, I am certain, much finer than this?"