Trade Winds (Choc Lit) (31 page)

‘We are
not
turning back and that’s an end to it! As I’ve told you repeatedly this morning, the wind may not be ideal, but it’s an off-shore one and it’s propelling us forward. That’s good enough for me. I’m the Swedish East India Company’s representative on board and therefore my decision is final. I say we’ve waited too long already.’

‘But we can’t sail with a female on board, it’s impossible.’ The captain looked mulish now.

‘The stupid woman can stay in her husband’s cabin and not set foot outside it. No one will know.’

‘For seven or eight months? Preposterous!’

‘Oh, I’m sure she can be exercised from time to time.’

‘Exercised?’ Killian was outraged to hear Jess spoken of as if she were an animal in need of exercise when out of its cage, but the other two men ignored him.

‘And what of the other supercargo who was to share the cabin with Kinross after Cadiz?’ Trolle asked.

‘He can sleep somewhere else.’ Campbell said, the bulbous tip of his nose even redder than usual. ‘Now stop thinking up excuses and get on with sailing this ship to China. I’ve had enough procrastinating to last me a lifetime!’

‘If that’s your final word, then so be it, but I’m warning you, we’ll not get far without the right wind.’ The captain stalked to the door and slammed out of the room, while Campbell sent a look of loathing after him.

‘Pig-headed mule of a man,’ he muttered, then sighed and dry-washed his face, looking very tired. ‘Kinross, the woman is your responsibility. See to it she’s not a nuisance.’

Killian decided not to argue for the moment. There didn’t seem to be any point. ‘Very well, I’ll make sure of it,’ he said.

‘You do that.’ Campbell sighed again and shook his head, calmer now he had prevailed over the captain. ‘Females, eh? Never know what they’re going to do next.’ As Killian reached the door, he added, ‘You’d best find her some food, or she’ll be screeching the place down because she’s hungry next.’

Killian nodded. ‘Very well.’

‘Oh, and you know what? Why don’t you dress her up as a boy and tell everyone she’s your brother, stowed away because he wanted to come with you? Might work.’

Killian doubted that very much, but couldn’t think of a better idea so he bowed to Campbell and said, ‘I can try.’

He cursed all the way back to his cabin.

‘What do you mean, there’s no turning back?’

Jess stared at her furious husband, her stomach twisted into knots of anxiety. She wished herself a hundred miles away at the very least. Why, oh why, had she listened to Albert? She should have known it wouldn’t be any use. Killian hadn’t wanted to hear what she had to say in any case.

‘Exactly that, you can’t go back to Gothenburg. You’ll have to come with us, at least as far as Cadiz. The ship set sail during the early hours of this morning and Mr Campbell is refusing to go back just for your sake.’

Jess could see he was keeping his temper in check with enormous effort. He was holding onto the door latch so hard his knuckles were white. No doubt he was sorely tempted to beat her, even though he’d sworn he would never do that. Hearing his news, she had to agree he would have been well within his rights. She had acted very foolishly.

‘Dear Lord, I never thought … but then, the sailor said he was going to find you straight away. I had no idea he was going to take so long. Why didn’t you come and speak to me?’

‘Because no one told me you were here. The dolt was probably distracted by some other duties and forgot all about it.’ Killian sat down on the bunk opposite and sighed. ‘It never occurred to me you would come or I would have been waiting for you.’ He shook his head. ‘What a mess, but we’ll just have to make the best of it.’

‘How long will it take to reach Cadiz? And how can I return to Sweden from there?’

‘It’ll take a month perhaps, or so I’m told, but I have no idea how we’re to send you back. For now, however, Mr Campbell has suggested you dress as a boy and pretend to be my brother.’

‘What? You can’t be serious. Why, that’s, that’s … scandalous!’

‘Not if no one knows you’re a woman. After all, it’s no use antagonising the other crew members unnecessarily.’

‘What do you mean? Why should it matter to them?’

Killian raised an eyebrow at her. ‘Surely you’re not as innocent as all that? Why, they’ll think I brought you with me on purpose because I can’t be without a woman for the duration of the journey. They’ll be imagining me swiving you at every opportunity while they have no one. They don’t know the truth, do they.’

Jess felt herself blush to the roots of her hair. Of course he was right, but she honestly hadn’t thought of that. ‘There’s no need to be crude,’ she snapped. ‘Besides, no one will believe I’m a boy, will they?’

‘Maybe not, but it’s worth a try. I’ll get some clothes off Adair, he’s about your size. And you can wear one of my waistcoats. It will fit you loosely and disguise your shape. We’ll have to cut your hair and tie it into a queue – a pity, but it will grow again.’

Jess remembered that he had admired her long, straight flaxen hair on more than one occasion and had stroked it in the aftermath of their lovemaking. She turned away to hide another blush as the memories of that night returned to haunt her.

‘This is ridiculous. There must be some other way.’

‘I’m sorry, but you have no choice in the matter. We have to do as Mr Campbell says. His word is law on this ship.’ He sighed again. ‘I think it’s probably best if you stay in this cabin as much as possible. I’ll tell everyone I’m making you help me with my paperwork as a punishment for stowing away. Then I’ll take you up on deck after dark so you can have some fresh air and exercise. Agreed?’

Jess nodded, miserably aware that she should be grateful he was trying to arrange things to suit her, despite the fact that it was all her fault. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, but he was already on his way out the door and didn’t hear her. Either that or he chose not to acknowledge her thanks.

Jess just wanted to lie down and die.

To Jess’ immense surprise, and perhaps Killian’s as well, no one questioned her presence on board, at least not openly. Whenever anyone asked, she was introduced as his younger brother, a naughty stowaway caught too late to be returned to dry land. Since it was always dark the few times she left the cabin, she was able to pass for a boy fairly easily. She spoke only when asked a direct question and luckily her voice wasn’t too high-pitched.

‘I suppose we should be grateful you’re so tiny,’ Killian commented after their first outing on deck. ‘Unless they see you without your clothes on, there’s no difference in build between you and Adair. And his idea to smudge your face with a bit of dirt helps too.’ Jess had been against this at first, but had to admit it worked.

Adair’s clothing fitted her reasonably well and as Killian had predicted, wearing his much larger waistcoat hid her feminine shape. At first, it felt odd to be wearing male clothes. The way the breeches clung to her backside and legs was definitely indecent, but she became used to it and soon began to enjoy the freedom of movement without skirts. Most of the time she also wore her wolf-fur coat, since there was no heating in the cabin or anywhere else. She wouldn’t be able to discard it until they went further south.

Killian set Jess to work copying logs, journals and ledgers, a job he was supposed to have done himself. His casual compliment, ‘I know you’re as capable of doing it as I am,’ made her feel better, but most of the time she felt very down and spent her free time just staring into space.

She also suffered from seasickness most mornings, although her stomach seemed to settle down in the afternoons. Adair brought her food, since Killian spent his time with Campbell and the other supercargos or with the first mate learning about sailing. Killian had also volunteered to take his turn at keeping watch each night. As the first supercargo’s assistant he could have been excused from this duty, so Jess was sure he only did it in order to spend less time in the cabin with her.

‘Please don’t tell Killian about me being sick all the time,’ she begged Adair. ‘He’s already so cross with me, I’m sure he’d be disgusted to find I’m such a poor sailor as well.’

Adair stared at her for a moment, as if he was on the point of making a comment, but then just nodded. In the short time she’d known him, Jess had grown to like him a lot. She appreciated that he acted as a buffer between herself and Killian. As long as Adair was present, they managed not to argue openly, and his cheeky ways gave them something to talk about other than their predicament. Most of the time, however, Killian stayed away from the cabin altogether, so that no conversation was necessary at all. This should have pleased Jess, since she told herself she’d rather not see him, but at the same time it made her angry that he avoided her.

One way or another, it was going to be an interminable journey.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The beginning was certainly not auspicious. Unfavourable winds forced them to anchor somewhere off the coast of Norway for several days. The captain and Campbell were heard to argue non-stop about whether they should attempt to continue or not. Indeed, the battle between these two strong personalities proved the only diversion, apart from reading.

‘I don’t know if these are of any interest to you, but I’m afraid that’s all there is,’ Killian said one morning, dumping several tomes on ancient Roman history onto Jess’ bunk. ‘Unless you’d like to read about astronomy?’

‘No, thank you, the Romans will do just fine.’ She was grateful he’d thought about her at all, although perhaps he was only trying to stop her from complaining about being bored.

The food was as monotonous as the weather. Although Jess was only hungry when she wasn’t feeling seasick, she found the fare unappetising and was soon fed up with watery porridge for breakfast every day. Adair agreed.

‘It’s a shame we cannae eat wi’ Mr Kinross,’ he commented. ‘He and they other high heid yins get different food from the rest o’ us. They’ve even brought their ane cook an’ there’s a steward tae serve ’em.’

‘Yes, but I’m sure their food will spoil just the same as everyone else’s once we’ve been at sea for months,’ Jess said.

It was well-known that even the water went bad during long journeys, and had to be sieved in order to sift out the worms and other insects. Jess hoped this wouldn’t happen until after she had left the ship at Cadiz. The mere thought of it was enough to make her stomach heave. As for the food, she ate most things and didn’t really care whether Killian had better food or not.

They passed through the English Channel, although Jess didn’t see much of it since it was night at the time, and then continued south towards the Channel Islands. Up to that point they hadn’t met any other ships, but once past Alderney, they sighted several that looked threatening.

‘Could be Sallee pirates,’ Campbell muttered. ‘We’d best hoist English colours, since they usually don’t fight with them.’ This ruse appeared to work and fortunately nothing bad happened. They were left to continue their journey in peace.

Not that there was much peace on board.

Jess had never imagined a ship would be so noisy. Even at night, with the changing of the watch, there seemed to be a never-ending cacophony of sounds, all clearly audible from within the cabins. There were craftsmen of every kind – carpenters, sail-makers, a smith and a cooper among others – who laughed, joked or told stories while plying their trades. The many sailors kept up a steady stream of chatter as they worked, swearing frequently, shouting joking insults to each other or singing. Then there were all the live animals on board. They were clearly unhappy at being shut up in the hold and they let everyone know about it with their loud bleats, moos or squeals. On top of that chickens clucked, cocks crowed and geese honked.

Even the ship itself made a constant noise as it ploughed through the waves. Timbers creaked, sails snapped in the wind and the block and tackle clanked and groaned while the water splashed and sprayed up around them. And once a day the ship’s bell rang out. This was the sailors’ favourite sound as it meant it was time for their daily ration of
snaps
, a bonus Jess very happily declined. It all made her long for the quiet and solitude of the deep Småland forests.

Fine weather and fair winds brought them quickly down the coast of Portugal. After rounding Cape St Vincent, they reached Cadiz on the twenty-eighth of March. A pilot came to steer them past some cliffs and other hidden dangers into the large, deep harbour and they anchored in Cadiz Bay early in the morning. Soon after, Adair brought Jess her breakfast as usual, but almost dropped it when an almighty boom shook the ship to its core. This was followed by seven more.

‘By all the saints, what a racket,’ Jess exclaimed, putting her hands across her ears.

Adair grinned, his light brown eyes dancing with excitement. ‘The eight gun salute tae greet the other ships moored here. Never thought it’d be quite tha’ loud. Wish I could help wi’ firing the cannon, but Mr Kinross won’t let me go onywhere near them.’

Jess shook her head at him with a smile. He was still such a child in many ways even though in others he was wise beyond his years. ‘Very sensible of him. You’d be a menace.’ Another eight shots were fired off and Jess made a face and shouted, ‘Wasn’t eight enough?’