Part 28 (2/2)

I make an effort to settle down. Fighting with Davy over female virtue ain't exactly what I had planned for this morning. ”I'm sorry. I just don't want you to hurt her is all.”

”I'm not going to hurt her, Jacky.” He says this gently and I half believe him.

”All right,” I say, calm now. I sit down in my chair and fold my hands in my lap. ”Please, now tell me what's up with jaimy.”

Davy goes over and flops down on my bed. He has gotten longer and leaner, for sure. He is turning into a fine-looking man and it is easy to see why Annie is taken with him. ”All right, jack, I'll tell you.” He picks up my pillow and sniffs it and then crams it back under his head. I'm glad to see there is no tar in his hair.

”On the way back to England, he was Mr. Mids.h.i.+pman and Tink and me and w.i.l.l.y was Ordinary Seamen, so our paths didn't cross much anymore, but I will say that Jaimy never lorded it over us but always found a way, like if he had to give us an order, to do it in a way that didn't make us feel like dirt. And, sometimes, if we was some of us on watch in the middle of the night, we'd sit and talk and joke like in the old days. Then we rounded Margate and were taken into the docks on the Thames and little men with notebooks swarmed over the Dolphin and declared she was not fit for sea, her knees having been weakened by the blast of the pirate's fires.h.i.+p that day,” says Davy. ”You got something to drink here?”

I had sat on the edge of the bed to listen and I got up and got him a gla.s.s of cider from the jug I had put up here for just such a purpose. It is a little bit hard, and I figure, shamelessly, that it might loosen his tongue a bit.

”Ummm,” he says. ”Good.”

He puts the gla.s.s down on my bedside table and taps it with his finger. I fill it up again. ”I like you as a servin' girl, Jacky,” he says. I give him a low growl. He goes on.

”Anyway, we're back and the Dolphin's crew is bein' broke up and Tink and w.i.l.l.y and me volunteer to go on the Raleigh, and bein' seasoned man-o-war's men we are taken on, and we're happy that at least some of the Brotherhood is still together, but then some bra.s.s hat from the Endeavor comes aboard and he outranks our Captain and he takes a bunch of men, includin' Tink, to his s.h.i.+p, and then two days later another bleedin' Captain comes up and takes w.i.l.l.y and some others for the Temeraire. p.i.s.sed us off, it did, but what could we do?

”But anyway, the Raleigh is layin' next to the Ess.e.x, which Jaimy is posted to, and he comes over and says to come to his house and where's Tink and w.i.l.l.y, but I says they're gone to sea, it's just him and me now, so we go off together, brothers again as soon as we're out of sight of the Royal Navy and we gets in a coach and I'm feelin' like a proper n.o.b, I am, and we're laughin' and rememberin' old times, but then we get to his house, which is a pretty fine place, I can tell you, and we go in and I meet his mother, and that dragon takes one look at me and I'm off to the servants' quarters for a meager bite with cold tea and then I'm out the back door by myself. I ain't seen Jaimy since then as the Raleigh made sail the next day and I was gone.”

”He didn't try to find you after his mother sent you off downstairs?”

”He was going upstairs to change clothes and I'll wager when he come back down his dear mother had some sort of story for him. Like I ran off after a scullery maid, or got sick or something.” Davy draws a long breath. ”It was like she didn't want Jaimy to have anything to do with his past life or anybody who was in it. Which is funny considerin' the money that put her family back on its feet come from the likes of us.”

I thinks on this and says, ”Life ain't fair sometimes, Davy.”

”For sure, Jacky.”

”What about Liam?” I ask, avoiding the big question for a bit.

”His plan was to take his prize money and light out for his farm in Ireland where his wife and kids were. Whether or not he made it past the press-gangs, I don't know. Saw Snag in a tavern a little later and he seems to think that Liam made it.”

Good for you, Liam. I wish you the joy of your farm and your family.

”Jaimy. Did he say anything about me?” I prepare myself for the blow.

”He talked about nothin' but you and I know he checked with every s.h.i.+p that come in from the States to see if you had sent him a letter, but he never got one. There was the Plymouth and the Juno and the Shannon...”

”The Shannon?” I cries, and jumps up. ”I sent a letter on the Shannon and the mids.h.i.+pman who took it from me knew where Jaimy lived and swore that he would deliver it to the house and I believed him!”

”And I'll bet he was as good as his word, Jacky,” says Davy quietly and shuts up, letting me figure it out on my own. Which I do.

I sit back down on the edge of the bed. ”His mum prolly wants him to marry a fine lady. Which I ain't. And which is why she ain't lettin' my letters get through to him. And now he ain't got no letters from me and prolly thinks I've gone off with someone else.”

”That's the way I'd cipher it out, Jacko,” says Davy. ”And the story of you running around in the riggin' of the Excalibur and takin' a dip in your drawers didn't help none, neither.”

”You heard of that?”

”Everybody's heard of that,” he says, and then mimics my voice. ”'Ain't no sailor alive what can catch Jacky Faber in the riggin'!' Oh, you're famous, you are! Famous in legend and song, just like you always wanted!” He rocks back and forth with glee.

”Hush now, you!” I hisses at him. ”Someone will hear!”

”Captain Morgan of the Excalibur has let it be known that he will run his sword through you at next meeting, and if he has to hang for it, so be it!” he crows. ”And I hope to G.o.d I'm there as witness!”

”All right. Enough,” I says. ”I will have a letter for you on the day after tomorrow, when next you have liberty, to deliver to Jaimy. Be good to Annie or I'll find a sword to run through you. Now get out. We've got to get ready to serve dinner.”

Davy gets up and says, ”Gladly, as I got someone to meet.” With a wink, he is out the window.

Chapter 33.

Jacky Faber

In care of Miss Amy Trevelyne

Dovecote Farm

Quincy, Ma.s.sachusetts, United States

November 8, 1803

Mr. James Fletcher, Mids.h.i.+pman

On Board the Ess.e.x, on Station

Dear Jaimy, If you are reading this letter, you will know that I met Davy in Boston when his s.h.i.+p made port here. It was a great joy to see him and it was an even greater joy to hear from him that you were well the last time he saw you.

<script>