Zypheria's Call (A Tanyth Fairport Adventure) (33 page)

“Good for you, mum. We’ll have heavy seas for a bit yet, but it should calm down in a few bells. The glass is already rising and we’re out of the worst of it.”

“I’ll take your word for it, Mr. Groves.”

He laughed. “Sorry, mum. Just hold on a bit longer. You can probably go back to sleep if you like.”

“What time is it, Mr. Groves? Does Cook need a hand in the deckhouse?”

“Nearly noon, mum, but the galley’s secured for now. It’s too wet and wooly out there to do more than curl up and stay warm and dry. Cook is in his hammock, I wager. We’ll have a hot meal for dinner, but we can get you some cold beans and biscuits if you’re hungry, mum. Can we bring you something?”

At the thought, her stomach threatened to do a somersault without her. She found herself suddenly awash in sweat. “I think I’ll just lie here and try to sleep, Mr. Groves. Thank you.”

“Rebecca? You’re wanted on deck,” Groves said.

Rebecca held up a hand, pale in the dim light. “I’ll be right there.”

“Report to the bosun when you get up there.”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

He gave Tanyth another broad smile. “Hold on for a little while longer. This one’s almost over. You can see it’s already getting lighter. The sun will be out in another bell.”

As soon as he mentioned it, the light from the small port brightened almost perceptibly and Tanyth found she could see him quite a bit more clearly than when he’d first opened her door.

“Thank you, again, Mr. Groves.”

He waved and closed the door with a careful slam to set the latch.

Rebecca levered herself out of her bunk and into her trousers, putting on a couple of cotton shirts and her jersey over it all. She took a moment to take a dab of liniment and rub it around on her hands before heading for the deck. “See you in a bit, mum,” she called and closed the door behind her.

Tanyth stretched her neck out to get a glimpse out the port and immediately wished she hadn’t. Ugly black clouds stretched to the horizon and every so often the view out the window itself was obscured by foaming, rushing, gray water.

“All-Mother, preserve us,” she grumbled. “A bit of fun, he calls it. A bit of fun.” She sighed and shook her head, but her eyes closed. She found that, yes, she could go back to sleep.

Tanyth’s stomach woke her, insisting that it was time for a little something to go in it. She felt muzzy and a bit sore. Wrestling with the ship for a few hours had left her muscles feeling hard used. “You’re getting’ soft,” she muttered and crawled out of the cozy bunk.

Rebecca’s bunk was empty, but her coat and boots were missing. Tanyth figured to find her on deck.

She pulled on a pair of trousers and added an extra pullover before shrugging into her blue coat and making her way into the open air. The ship bobbed a bit more forcefully than she was used to, but a bit of extra care with flexed knees seemed to work just fine and she pushed into the cookhouse without incident.

Cook looked up with a nod. “You weathered the blow all right, mum?”

“Not somethin’ I wanna wake up to every day, Cook, but I seem to be alive.”

Cook’s eyes twinkled and he nodded. “Wait’ll we get a big blow, mum.”

She shook her head and propped herself in the corner. “Anythin’ I can do to help?”

He shrugged. “At the moment, I’m just trying to get the stove hot enough to cook with. Everybody’s cold, tired, and hungry. They’ll be looking for something filling and hot for their dinners. Stove’ll be hot enough in another bell. I’m thinkin’ a nice stew with a spicy broth. Should be just enough time to cook if you care to peel me some roots.”

She slipped out of the coat and hung it on her customary peg. “Sounds fine, Cook, and I’d take a mug of tea if you had it.”

He placed his hand on the side of the teakettle. “Next one still warmin’ up, mum, but shouldn’t be too long now.” He leaned down and opened the fire door to peer in. He grunted and closed the door again. “It’ll be hot enough when it gets there, but it takes a while to get a good bed of coals laid down.”

“All right then,” Tanyth said and rolled up her sleeves, pulling open the folding worktable as she did so. She fetched a bucket and put a couple of inches of water in the bottom. “Bring on the vegetables, Cook,” she said, pulling a paring knife from the block. “I’m ready for ’em.”

He grinned and wrestled half a bag of potatoes from the ready pantry. “A couple dozen of these, if you please, mum. I’ll find you some carrots to do after that.”

Tanyth dug into the potatoes and lost herself in the mundane exercise. Cook poured her tea when it was ready and a steady parade of sailors came to the door to take a cup of tea, or a biscuit, or both. When she shifted over to carrots, Cook took a pot of fresh tea and grabbed a fistful of mugs through their sturdy handles.

“I’ll be right back, mum. I need to go visit the bridge and see if the captain needs some tea.”

She saluted with the paring knife and kept on peeling. Three sailors came to the door while Cook was gone and accepted mugs from her with grateful smiles. All of them looked wet, cold, and tired, but every one smiled and offered a word of thanks.

Cook returned with the pot and no mugs after a bit. “All quiet, mum?”

“I handed out some tea and I’ve got these carrots almost done.” She paused to survey the pile of unpeeled carrots. “Another few minutes. You got anything else after that?”

Cooks head swiveled in a methodical survey of the galley. Tanyth could practically see him checking off things in his mind. “I need to get the stew on and then make some biscuits, mum. A hot broth and a bit of bread will get this lot through the night. Tomorrow I can give ’em some sweetened oatmeal for breakfast and baked beans for dinner.”

“I can make biscuits. If that’ll help you any.”

“Well, mum, that’s probably—” Two bells rang and Cooks eyebrows shot up. “Thank you, mum. If you don’t mind? I can get this stew simmerin’ if you can make me a sheet of biscuits to go into the oven. It’s probably hot enough by now.” He leaned down and checked the firebox, throwing in another stick for good measure. He stood, dusting his hands together. “Aye, mum, that’d be right helpful.”

He set her up on his sideboard with a huge bowl, a half barrel of flour and the rest of the fixings for biscuits. While she mixed and measured, he started browning some meat in the bottom of a caldron-sized soup kettle. They worked together, sometimes bumping hips in the confined galley, both so engrossed in their individual tasks they barely noticed.

“Tight space,” Cook muttered once. “Sorry, mum.”

She bumped his hip on purpose. “I’ve worked in tighter spaces, Cook. We got sailors to feed.” She offered him a friendly grin and he laughed and set about throwing spices and redolent herbs into the stew pot.

By the time she had the large sheet pan filled with biscuit rounds, he had a pot of stew bubbling on the back of the stove. Just the aroma coming off the meat-and-vegetable rich broth warmed Tanyth as she stood there. Cook grabbed a towel and pulled open the oven door so Tanyth could slide the large tray in. He slammed it shut and checked the firebox one more time.

Three bells rang out across the ship.

Cook grinned. “Perfect timing, mum. The stew should be ready and the biscuits fresh from the over at the next bell.” He cocked his head and asked, “You’ll be dining with the skipper again, mum?”

“Plenty of time to put on a ball gown and get there, Cook.” Her mouth twisted into a wry grin.

He barked a couple of sharp laughs. “True. Not like you’ve a long way to go.”

“And I’ve got a limited number of frills in my closet just now,” she added.

“Well, thank you for the help, mum. That woulda been tight to do on my own.”

“Thank you for keepin’ me entertained for an hour or two, Cook.” She pulled her coat down off the peg and slipped it on. “I best get back and get ready for dinner.” She took another deep breath of the wholesome aromas filling the cookhouse. “Hope I can wait that long. My stomach feels like it hasn’t been fed this week.”

“Take a cuppa tea with you, mum. It’ll keep your belly busy ’til reinforcements arrive.”

She took one of the crockery mugs and he poured her a careful measure from the big pot at the back of the stove. The hot tea warmed the china and she held it up to her chin, letting the warm, moist air drift across her nose and face. A small sip felt good going down and she took another before offering Cook a small toast. She made her way back to her cabin without spilling the tea and found a place to rest the cup while she stripped off the heavy coat and hung it on its peg.

She found Rebecca carefully paging through the bundle of papers. The young woman smiled up as Tanyth turned to her.

“What ya findin’?” Tanyth asked.

“Lots of notes about herbs and such. A few leaves so far.”

“Borin’?”

Rebecca considered the pile and took so long to answer that Tanyth laughed.

Rebecca colored. “Not borin’, mum. Just—I never read anything like this. Notes about this or that. Some of these herbs I never heard of.”

Tanyth shrugged. “That’s why I been collectin’ ’em.”

The cabin felt cool to her, after the overheated cookhouse, so Tanyth dug into her pack and pulled out a heavy sweater. She tugged it down to her hips and felt the extra warmth almost immediately.

“Well, you’re no basket of fruit, old heart, but at least you’re warm,” she muttered.

“Beg pardon, mum?” Rebecca asked.

Tanyth shook her head. “I’m just mumblin’ to myself again, my dear. Pay me no mind. If I’m talkin’ to ya, you’ll know.”

Rebecca grinned and held up a page. “Who’s Mabel Elderberry?”

Tanyth tilted her head to look at the page. “That’s the last woman I stayed with before I came to Ravenwood. Spent all that winter workin’ with her on ointments and salves. You can prob’ly still smell the beeswax.” Tanyth held the paper up to her nose, catching just the faintest whiff of sweetness from the page. She held it out for Rebecca to sniff.

Grinning Rebecca closed her eyes and took a long breath through her nose. “Just barely,” she said.

Tanyth read the page, recognizing a recipe for the wintergreen salve that Mother Elderberry sold at market.

“What’s that for, then?” Rebecca asked, nodding at the page.

Tanyth smiled. “Mostly whatever ails ya. Mother Elderberry sold a lot of it and some of the elders said it helped their arthritis a bit, others claimed it healed blisters.”

“And did it, mum?”

Tanyth gazed at the page and pictured the round, smiling face of Mabel Elderberry, skin flushed from stirring a boiling pot and her gold-green eyes dancing in the morning light of her tiny cottage. Tanyth gave a shrug. “Prob’ly didn’t hurt, but mostly, it smelled good.”

Rebecca laughed just as somebody rapped on their door.

“Miss? Bosun says you’re wanted on deck.”

“Be right there, Scooter,” she called and began bundling up the papers.

“I’ll deal with this, my dear,” Tanyth said and made little shooing motions with her fingers. “Duty calls.”

Rebecca flashed a smile in thanks and disappeared through the door. Tanyth heard her footfalls pounding up the companionway and onto the deck.

She smiled and slowly gathered the bits of her life back into a neat bundle, letting her fingers trace the occasional drawing or caress a dried leaf.

At four bells she presented herself at the captain’s cabin for their nightly meal.

“Come in, mum. Come in.” Captain Groves answered her knock almost before she made it.

He stood when she entered. Tanyth thought he looked a bit gray in the lantern light. He waved her into a chair on his right hand. “Sit, mum. Please. I’m too tired to stand on much ceremony just now.”

Jameson slipped in and latched the door behind him. “Sorry I’m late, Skipper. Evening, mum.”

“Not an issue, Mr. Jameson. Come in, sit down.”

Tanyth took her seat and found herself grateful for the chair. While she seldom sat on chairs, even when ashore, the shipboard habit of standing up or lying down with little in between tired her. Apparently the captain found it comforting as well. He let out a long sigh before turning to Tanyth.

“So, tell me. How’d you fare in our little blow?” Tired lines creased his face, but he managed to smile and his eyes held more life than she felt.

“I was a bit frightened for a time, Captain, but soon discovered that holdin’ on for dear life takes up a great deal of attention,” Tanyth said with a grin.

The two men laughed with her just as Cook knocked on the door with his cheery, “Dinner!”

“Come in, Cook! What have you for us tonight?” the captain said. “I’m hungry enough for two men, and I think they’re fighting over who gets to eat first.”

Cook brought in a large china tureen of soup and Scooter carried a towel-covered basket and a pile of crockery. “It’s a bit of savory stew, Captain. It should warm you nicely, and Mother Fairport here helped me with the biscuits this afternoon. She’d make a find addition to the crew, if you don’t mind my sayin’ so, mum.”

“Thank you, Cook, but I think I might have trouble if I had to sleep in a hammock,” Tanyth said.

“Oh, I don’t know, mum. Hammock’s not so bad once you get in. Quite comfy as a matter of fact.”