3

Stowaway!

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“I owe you my gratitude, sir. They almost had me.” Ailish stood, then eased out from behind the casks and dusted the dirt off her dress. She was in a rather awkward spot. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’m here …” She couldn’t think of anything to say and decided to turn the tables instead. “But since you were stuck behind the barrels too, perhaps you’d tell me why you had to avoid those men and who you are?”

She waited as the boy finished wiggling free of their mutual hiding place. He was dressed differently from the lads she knew. The sleeves on his shirt were loose-fitting and his pants were tied off above the calf. She was about to comment on his sailor’s garb, when he looked at her and the words dried up.

He had the strangest eyes. They were large and luminous and ocean-green.

“I was hanging about down here, like always, and the vibration in the deck plates told me we were about to have company. I figured from watching you climb out of that crate that you didn’t want anyone to know you were aboard so I thought I’d help a damsel in distress. The name’s David Jones, but you can call me Davy.” In the light from the gas lamps, his strange eyes sparked like lightning bugs. “I work here. I’m a bash boy.”

“A bash boy? What’s that?” Ailish had never heard the term before, but from his accent, she could tell he was from England; maybe it was some peculiar thing known only to the English.

“Hear that?” Davy asked, cocking an ear.

At that moment, Ailish heard a distant clang of a hammer striking metal.

“That’s Charlie.” Davy explained. “He’s a riveter here on the ship and I’m his helper. I hold the hot bolts while Charlie smashes them in. We keep the ship, and all three million of her rivets, from falling apart,” he added proudly.

“Oh, my goodness! That does sound impressive,” she said with genuine respect.

“Who are these ‘Fenians’ Dalton was going on about?”

His question caught her by surprise. She couldn’t ignore it, but gabbing about the Fenians was not something any Irishman did. Ailish tried to explain. “We, that is the Irish, don’t like being ruled by the English. It chafes every Irishman who draws breath. The Fenians are the brave souls who speak out for independence but they’ve been branded traitors for their efforts. They’re hunted, and when caught, the gallows await. We common folk agree with these freedom fighters but because of the severe penalties, the only grumblings you’ll hear are those muttered where the authorities can’t hear. An Irishman’s loyalty to Her Majesty can never waver…” She paused. “At least not within earshot of an Englishman.”

It suddenly struck her that this bash boy was English and perhaps she’d said too much. He could turn her in for speaking such thoughts!

Instead, he nodded sagely. “Being captain of your own ship makes sense to me. I’d sign on too.”

Ailish immediately liked Davy, even though, for some odd reason, she got no feeling about him, whether good or bad. He could be Satan in a pink bonnet for all she could sense.

“So what are you doing on my ship?” Davy asked bluntly.

“Ah, actually, the reason I’m aboard is because…” Ailish groped for some way to explain her presence. “Because I’m visiting my uncle, my favourite uncle,” she amended. “He’s a sailor and well, I guess I wandered off and ended up here. I was afraid I’d get the old dear into trouble for being where I didn’t belong so I hid in the crate...”

It sounded so false she knew from the look on Davy’s face that he hadn’t believed a word. She shrugged helplessly. “Or I could have smuggled myself on board and become trapped in that blasted crate when someone stuck another box on top.”

He winked at her in that same playful way her da did and Ailish had a sudden pang. She said a silent prayer that her father was mending.

“A brave plan – not very well thought out, but a brave plan, nonetheless,” Davy said casually. “So, now you’re here, what do we do with you?”

Ailish’s stomach flipped. Rufus Dalton had said he controlled belowdecks. Maybe this bash boy had saved her because he wanted to be the one to turn her over to Dalton. If Davy worked for that villain, turning in a stowaway would put him in his boss’s good graces for sure. And once she was in his hands, Dalton would arrange one of his “accidents” to silence her about the golden horse.

“Heavens, will you look at the time! I’m late.” Ailish edged the corners of her mouth up in what she hoped was a winning smile. “I guess I’d best be getting off now. Thanks for the warning.” She inched toward the stairs again, wondering how she could get on a boat that would take her back to shore without anyone noticing. Having to leave the treasure behind galled her down to the bone, but the idea of being in Dalton’s clutches was terrifying.

“I’m no friend of Mr. Dalton’s,” Davy said, as though he’d read her mind. “And leaving’s going to be a good trick, my girl, since we’re already many miles at sea.”

Ailish stopped her retreat. “At sea? Impossible. I don’t feel any movement.”

“That’s because you’re aboard the Great Eastern. She’s near seven hundred feet, longer than any wave trough, double-hulled and loaded with airtight compartments. She glides across the seas as effortlessly as an albatross rides the wind.”

Ailish swallowed. “This simply cannot be. I have to get off now!” The panic in her voice was unmistakable.

“You can’t,” Davy assured her. “Captain Anderson isn’t about to stop the cable laying for a lass like you. This is a ship of important ghost messages.”

“What do you mean, ghost messages?”

“Why, the cable, of course! Whispers along the ocean floor for thousands of miles,” he said wistfully. “Amazing. Magic, really. Those gents topside constantly send words made up of dots and dashes called Morse code back and forth, back and forth, to make sure the cable is working. I’m happy my ship is being used and wouldn’t mind if this cable-laying business took a hundred years. I’m enjoying the company.” He blinked as though to clear his mind. “But as for you, miss, you’re going to Heart’s Content with the rest of us.”

Her mouth dropped open. This couldn’t be happening! “Stay aboard all the way to Newfoundland – not a bit o’ me!” She shook her head, still not wanting to believe it. “How will I survive?” she croaked. “I’ve nowhere to sleep, nothing to drink. No food! I’ll starve down here!” She thought of her need to go to the toilet and averted her eyes. “And other things need attending to also...”

“Well, this is a knotty problem, isn’t it? You could end up spending the entire voyage in the brig; then it’s debtor’s prison for you if you can’t pay for your passage.”

She was shocked at this prospect. “But it was an accident! I didn’t mean to stay aboard. Surely, they’ll let me go?”

“Captain Anderson goes by the book, sure and simple. He’s not likely to give a stowaway, an Irish lass, no less, a free pass on his ship.”

Ailish pushed the panic away, regaining control, then voiced her thoughts. “I’m stuck. We’re at sea and there’s no way out. That’s plain enough. So, if I’m here I may as well take advantage of my predicament and go ahead with my original plan.”

Her companion smiled impishly. “So you did have a plan when you got yourself locked up in that box! What was this brilliant strategy, if I might ask?”

He seemed to be enjoying her unfortunate circumstances way too much. Ailish was about to give him a blast, but then she thought of what lay ahead.

If she was going to make her way on this ship all the way to Newfoundland and find her treasure as well, it would be much easier with help, someone who knew the workings of the ship, and though she wasn’t able to discern whether he was good or bad, she decided to take a leap of faith and trust Davy anyway. She would take Mr. Jones into her confidence.

“You see, I’m here to reclaim my property from Rufus Dalton.”

His eyebrow arched. “Your property?”

“Yes, mine, or at least my family’s. Last night, Dalton took a valuable statue of a golden horse from my da, thrashed him badly to do it too, and I’m here to get it back. I can’t leave without that horse, Davy. It’s our future.” She hoped he’d understand how important this was.

She need not have worried. He immediately nodded, a frown creasing his brow.

“I can’t abide thieving! I stay below working and try not to interfere in anyone’s business, but sometimes, I must get involved and it’s plain to see, this is one of those times. You have to stay aboard, alright.”

“The trick’s in not being discovered. There must be a way.”

Davy thought about this. “You know, not so long ago, the Great Eastern was a luxury liner complete with cabin boys who tended to the needs of the ladies and gentlemen...”

Ailish immediately saw where this was going. “A cabin boy! Of course. The only problem being, I’m obviously a girl.” She planted her fists firmly on her hips and lifted her chin haughtily.

Davy looked her up and down, and then grinned wickedly. “I don’t think that’s a big problem. With a little decoration, we could easily hide your feminine side. I have some old clothes stored that you could wear, a disguise to hide your obviously being a girl and all.”

The way he smirked made Ailish want to box his ears. True, she was a wee bit skinny and had no womanly curves yet, but that was no reason to mock her. She touched her waist-length hair. It was thick and framed her face in a mass of soft dark waves. Her crowning glory was the other gift she’d inherited from her ma and there was no denying it was truly feminine. “What about this?”

“Nothing to worry about, lass.” Davy said appraising her coolly. “Cut it off.”

Ailish stared at him in disbelief. “Cut it off! Are you daft?”

“It’s not like an arm or a leg and the stuff will grow back.”

Ailish didn’t know what to say. Cut off her beautiful hair? Unthinkable! Then she thought of the little golden horse. She would have to be in disguise while she tracked down the treasure and her da had always said the best place to hide was in plain sight. Besides, she really had no choice.

Her shoulders slumped. “Where are the clothes?”

“Back there’s a disused storage room where my sea locker’s stowed.” He indicated the rear of the hold. “Davy Jones locker, you might say. In it, you’ll find most everything you need.” He chuckled. “That mop of hair you’ll have to deal with yourself.”

“Mop, indeed!” She sniffed. “There are other problems. Where will I sleep? And don’t suggest my crate! And eating – what about food?”

Davy dismissed these concerns with a wave of his hand. “Silly questions. Before it was gutted and the three cable tanks put in, this ship was designed to carry four thousand passengers and our staterooms are fit for kings and queens. There are several still held ready in case we have fancy visitors, so you could easily bunk in one of them. The rest of the crew is berthed in steerage and won’t be bothering you in those fancy digs.”

Davy carefully told her how to find her way through the ship to Stateroom A and to the galley to nab a bite of food.

“And as for the other things that need attending … there are heads, toilets,” he explained, “on each deck and a private facility in your quarters. The rest is up to you, but if it were me, I’d try to stay out of the captain’s sight as long as possible.”

Ailish could see this would be prudent. She may be able to fool the rest of the crew with a bit of blather, but not the captain. He’d be sure to know all those who sailed on his vessel. “I’ll be invisible,” she assured him.

Wending her way past a scatter of crates, Ailish went to the small storage room. In it were stacks of coiled wire rope and other ship’s supplies as well as an ancient wooden locker on the floor. She opened it and there were the promised clothes. Holding them up, she saw they were dusty, but they’d fit her well enough. She tried on the striped shirt, which was only a little large, then the funny britches that, on her, tied at her ankles instead of below the knee as they had on Davy. She laughed as she pulled the green suspenders over her shoulders. The lads back home would never wear clothes like this. The styles were so old-fashioned. She guessed Davy didn’t get to port often to buy new or more likely, he was like her with very few pennies to spare. This made her like him even more.

Reaching into the pocket of her trousers, she felt something hard at the bottom. Withdrawing her hand, she found an iron rivet, rusted and bent. She wondered why he would have kept such an old thing. Maybe for bash boys, it was a lucky talisman. She tucked the rivet back in her pocket.

Dealing with her hair was a problem. How would she cut it without shears?

“There’s a fair to middling sharp knife in that tool box.” Davy’s voice from the door made her jump.

He was leaning against the door jamb, arms folded as casual as a king, watching her. Her face flushed. “How long have you been standing there?” she demanded.

“Be at ease, lass. I wasn’t spying on you and your feminine self. I came to warn you that in five minutes, a work gang is coming to shift the cargo.”

Ailish hurried to the box he’d indicated and, rummaging in the tools, found the knife. She picked up a hank of her silken hair and swallowed. Her da would be dreadfully disappointed – he loved her “glorious tresses” which reminded him, he said, of her ma. Then she thought of that scoundrel Dalton and the fabulous horse and her poor father lying in all that blood. She closed her eyes and sawed at the hair until it fell away. Feeling slightly sick, she picked up another handful and chopped. Soon, her shoes were covered with her crowning glory.

Ailish returned the knife to the box and rubbed her shorn locks. She couldn’t imagine what a fright she must look.

“Now you fit the part of a proper cabin boy.” Davy nodded approvingly. “We’d best be going, it’s late. We’re well into midwatch and I know Charlie will be hankering to deal with those worn rivets in the outer hull near the bow.”

“Outer hull?” she asked, stuffing her discarded clothes into the trunk to hide them from the prying eyes of any who might wander in.

“I told you my ship is double hulled.” Davy went on with his chatter as they wended their way through the crates and boxes. “First of her kind in the world. She has two complete hulls, one inside the other with three feet between ’em, which makes her unsinkable, but does require twice the work from me and Charlie. I spend most of my time down there with him. He’s a real tyrant.”

They reached the stairs and Ailish was about to start up, when she paused to smile at her new friend. “Thanks, Davy.”

“Welcome aboard the Great Eastern, Ailish.” He gave her a jaunty salute, before sauntering off.