The Stowaway

XXXV

"I have not always chosen the safest path. I've made my mistakes, plenty of them. I sometimes jump too soon and fail to appreciate the consequences. But I've learned something important along the way: I've learned to heed the call of my heart. I've learned that the safest path is not always the best path and I've learned that the voice of fear is not always to be trusted." Steve Goodier

----

XXXV.

Tom was in a foul disposition. He was hot and bothered, exhausted, and ... well, utterly and completely heartbroken. The combination of which made him a delightful person to be stuck with on a small boat without escape.

His mood had been ever more so exacerbated by the fact that they were in Plymouth. He had resolved to not leave the ship. He could never have predicted that Eliza's parents would seek him out.

Mr Banes was a well-dressed man who carried himself with self-assurance, but there was kindness in his face, made evident by the deep smile lines in his cheeks. He could recall Eliza describing her father as her heart, and he knew Mr Banes to be a good man on her account.

Mrs Banes was much smaller, and most definitely was the source of Eliza's short stature. She was fair, and quite possibly the regalest looking woman that Tom had ever encountered. Of course, he had not ever really been in their sort of society.

She was staring at him with wide green eyes, and for a moment it was as though he was looking into Eliza's eyes. That small familiarity hit him and hurt more than the knife he had received at the hands of Captain Frost.

Tom then realised that the reason she might have been staring at him was because of his state of undress, which he had suddenly become incredibly aware of. He eyed his cabin, and the clothing he would find in there.

He suddenly stopped his wild thoughts and focused. What on earth were Eliza's parents doing aboard his ship? Why on earth would they seek someone like him out?

"Good God, is she well?" he asked fearfully. Visions of her on her deathbed asking for him suddenly filled his head, and he felt sick.

"Yes, Eliza is in good health," Mr Banes replied.

Relief washed over him, but that still did not satisfy his question. What on earth were they doing on his ship?

"Is there somewhere private we might talk?" asked Mrs Banes, subtly glancing around them at the curious eyes of his crew as they went about unloading the sugar.

"Yes," Tom said stiffly. He led them up the stairs towards his cabin, and he heard a gasp from Mrs Banes as he turned his back to her. He knew women like her were certainly unused to seeing men like him, tattooed as he was. He glanced down at the two white swallows on his chest, as he often did.

Tom darted inside his cabin and quickly fetched his shirt from earlier in the day, which had been lazily thrown on the floor. It was not nearly as tidy as he would have liked it for their sort of company. He pulled the shirt over his head as he turned to face them.

Mr Banes held the door open for his wife, and Tom immediately chastised himself for not thinking to do that. Mr Banes then shut the door behind him, and Tom was now alone with Eliza's parents.

There was silence for a few minutes, with no one knowing what to say. Tom stood motionless, and quite clueless.

"We are under no impression that Eliza is an angel," Mr Banes began, suddenly. "She is impulsive and reckless and does not always think of the consequences when she acts."

Tom understood very well.

"We know she stowed away on board your ship, Captain," continued Mrs Banes, "and that her presence here was not anyone's fault but her own."