Chapter Seven

“Mr. MacDougal, that outfit the princess is wearing looks damnably similar to recently acquired garments in my wardrobe.” Caleb stared as the two women came on deck the following morning clad in breeches, shirts, and woolen coats.

“Oh, aye? I was just making a similar observation about her lady maid’s getup. Her attire looks a wee bit like purchases I made during our last stay in port.”

Turning on his mate, Caleb caught the twinkle in the Scotsman’s eyes.

“Damnation, Dunc…!”

“They had to have something to wear, and since we had no female garments aboard…”

“So I’m to understand we’ve each contributed our best new clothing to enhance their wardrobe?”

“That would appear to be the case, sir.” Duncan MacDougal leaned closer to the ship’s master and lowered his voice. “And don’t they make a right fetching pair, thusly garbed?”

“Perhaps in your eyes, Mr. MacDougal.”

The mate’s amused chuckle served to further rankle him.

“That maid is a dab hand with a needle and thread, isn’t she?” his friend continued, grinning. “Didn’t take her but a single evening to alter those getups to fit. Had to snip off bits and pieces here and there, she told me when I met her in the companionway this morning, but she made a right fine job of it.”

“Snip? You mean my clothing is forever altered for that twit who calls herself a princess?”

“I believe such is the case. Apparently there was no choice. They’d not fit decently otherwise…so I was told.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t give them a pair of my best boots to rip apart.”

“No need. Look at what they’re wearing on their feet. They came aboard decently shod. The princess has a pair of good, sturdy shoes, her maid half boots. Those will serve them well for the time they’re with us.”

“Strange footwear for a princess.” Caleb’s brow furrowed. “I’d have thought satin slippers.”

“And what would you be knowing of ladies’ footwear, Captain, sir?” Duncan cast him a roguish glance. “I’ve always fancied your interest in ladies rested higher up their lovely bodies.”

“I’m not a complete roué,” he snapped. “Unlike you, I do take time to admire a dainty foot and a well-turned ankle.”

“A thousand pardons, sir.”

“Enough. I’m simply grateful their feet are decently outfitted. I paid a fine sum for my newest boots.”

“Now, now, Captain, you’d not go begrudging a few small sacrifices when you’re making such a fine profit from them.”

“Argh!” Caleb swung away and headed for the hatch at the rear of the vessel. “See that they’re put to work at once, Mr. MacDougal,” he yelled back over his shoulder. “These decks need swabbing.”

****

“Now what does that daft pair think they’re about?” Caleb came up on deck the following morning to see a goodly number of his crew leaning against the bulwarks and staring toward the rear of the ship, where the princess was bent over a bucket while her maid rubbed soap into her hair. Both were wearing their male attire, the princess’s bottom enticingly displayed as the breeches tightened across her behind.

“They declared they must wash their hair.” Duncan straightened from where he’d been leaning against the mainmast and came to join the captain. “They demanded water, buckets, and soap.”

“And you obliged! Bloody hell, man, they’re causing a spectacle! You lot!” The captain swung on his gaping crew. “Get back to work. There’s a fair breeze blowing. Get canvas into it, and be smart about it!”

“Shouldn’t you be allowing me to relay orders to the men?” Duncan quirked a corner of his mouth as the men turned away to do his bidding.

Caleb rounded on his mate. “Not if your recent actions speak of your ability to command authority, Mr. MacDougal. Demanded water and buckets and soap, did they? Did you not have the guts to deny them? You two!” He headed toward the women, shouting, “Get below! You’ve not been given permission to display yourselves about my decks.”

“Would you be having us living in filth, Captain, sir?” The maidservant paused in washing her mistress’s hair and turned on him with a saucy, belligerent smirk. “Her highness will not be denied cleanliness.”

The princess straightened and waited while her companion wrapped a length of drying linen about her head. No doubt supplied by my besotted mate. Her royal highness looked at him with narrowed eyes, guessing, he assumed the content of their confrontation.

Bollocks, but she’s pretty, like something out of a fairytale. He fought down the thought. Get on with it, man, just get on with it. Don’t let them weaken you like they have Dunc.

“Get below…now!”

“Her highness’s hair has to be rinsed, and she had decreed that when I’ve finished with her, I shall wash my own.” The maid stuck out her chest and chin, planted her hands on her hips, and faced him. “If you insist on us leaving the deck before all this is accomplished, you will have to remove us bodily. I doubt such a spectacle will sit well with your crew. In their eyes you will appear a man who cannot manage a couple of poor, captive women without the use of brute force.”

The truth of her last comments struck him with all the insult of a dish of stew thrown into his face. He had to retain his crew’s respect. A few who’d sailed with him before, like Doucet and Munro, knew him to be a fair and just man, but the others were new under his command. Dragging two women below deck would sully his reputation no end. Stymied, he paused.

“Very well, finish your ablutions, but be smart about it. We’re heading into weather, and I’ve no desire to see either of you washed overboard with your head in a bucket.”

He turned and strode to the quarterdeck. There he brushed the helmsman aside to take the wheel.

“I suppose you’ve run us miles off course, gaping at that display,” he snapped at the man. “The masts need oiling. Get to it.”

“Aye, aye, sir.” The man scuttled off.

“Aw, Cal, it’s but a bit of innocent relief for the men.” Duncan sauntered up to join him. “They’re no fools. They know those two are untouchable.”

“Yes, well, this is the last we’ll have of such incidents. You, Mr. MacDougal, will see to it. Understand?”

He swung the wheel sharply and was rewarded by a squeal from her highness and a bawdy expletive from her companion as the bucket in which the princess was rinsing her hair overturned onto her servant.

“When they’re finished,” he bellowed to his mate, who had begun to walk away, “take them to the galley and introduce them to Higgins. They can begin working for him. God knows, he needs all the help he can get.”