Ill Wind and Dead Reckoning: Caribbean Pirate Adventure (Valkyrie) Read Free Page B

care. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.’
    I nodded, his manners shaming me into remembering my own. ‘Thank you, Mr Sharpe,’ I managed. ‘Um, there is one thing.’ I paused, embarrassed, but had to ask. ‘Is it possible to have a chamber pot? I cannot use the privy ledge with that ship so close.’
    He smiled but didn’t laugh. ‘Of course, I will see to it for you. Forgive me, I should have thought about that.’
    I smiled, still embarrassed, and the pirates took their leave. I crossed to the table where Klara had arranged the food, and sighed. Every meal so far had been the same: meat, meat and more meat; although this time we had a treat – an onion. Raw and whole, but still, something other than meat. I supposed the sailors ate like this every day. I picked mine up and bit into it, enjoying the sharp taste flooding my mouth.
    ‘What meat is it this time?’ I asked Klara.
    She took a bite and smiled. ‘Goat,’ she replied.
    ‘Goat?’ I asked. I hadn’t eaten goat before. ‘What’s it like?’
    ‘Try it,’ she urged. ‘It’s delicious, watch out for the bones though, their cook is no butcher.’ She pulled a sliver of bone from her mouth to demonstrate.
    I sat and picked up my knife, stabbing a slice of meat. Dark yellow fat was already congealing on the plate and my stomach turned, but I was hungry. I put the meat in my mouth and chewed. Klara was right, it was full of flavour, and I stabbed another piece.
    I sat back, replete, my plate empty, and watched Klara clear the table. She’d definitely grown a little friendlier after the events of the day, but not much.
    I took a sip of rum punch and someone knocked on the door again: Henry Sharpe holding a bucket, which Klara took without a word, then handed him the plates. He passed them to another man behind him then cleared his throat. ‘Ah, my apologies once more, Mistress Berryngton, but the Captain, ah, would like to see Klara immediately.’
    I heard Klara’s gasp and my shoulders stiffened.
    ‘My own apologies, Mr Sharpe, but I require Klara’s services myself this evening. I regret I am unable to comply with Captain Hornigold’s request.’ My voice sounded firm enough, but inside I felt liquid.
    He gave a small smile and nodded. ‘Very well.’ He left.
    I let my breath out in a sigh – I hadn’t realized I’d been holding it – then slumped against the wall and looked at Klara, who was staring back at me.
    ‘Can you pass me that bucket, please?’ I’d been holding it in all day, and really needed to relieve myself, especially after that.
    ‘Th . . . thank you,’ Klara stuttered as she passed it to me.
    ‘If I’d known last night—’ I couldn’t continue, but she understood, nodded, and turned her back as I used the bucket. When I’d finished, she took it and threw the contents over the rail of the privy ledge.
    Another knock at the door; this one heavy and insistent. Klara and I looked at each other, then I shook my head and opened the door myself. The captain stood there, his face red with anger, and I couldn’t take my eyes off his black bushy eyebrows. He looked at me, then over my shoulder at Klara, then back to me. I noticed Sharpe standing behind him.
    ‘What’s the meaning of this?’ he asked, his voice loud.
    ‘I beg your pardon?’ I asked, pretending confusion.
    ‘I have requested Klara’s company this evening.’
    ‘I beg your pardon,’ I said again, ‘but I require Klara’s services myself this evening.’
    ‘Why?’
    I stepped back, for some reason I hadn’t expected to be challenged. I thought quickly and held on to the door; my legs felt weak and I wasn’t completely sure they could hold me up on their own. ‘I need her to prepare my bath.’
    ‘Bath?’ This is a working ship, not a travelling inn,’ the captain said, his voice full of scorn.
    ‘I am aware of that, Captain, but I’m on my way to meet my future husband and I’d like to bathe.’ I knew I had to stay