Page 112 of A Flash of Golden Fire

He nodded. “Well, why don’t you go find Captain Martin, then, and let him know we’ll need to batten down the hatches in—” He looked into the distance again, and shrugged. “—a few hours. I reckon the gale will hit just before dusk. Which ain’t ideal to begin with. But nothing about that looks ideal.”

He made the sign of the cross over his chest.

“I will. I’ll go now,” I said and hastened down the stairs to find the captain.

He wasn’t in his chambers, or the meeting rooms that were attached. I tried the galley and found Domingo chopping limes.

“Oy,” he said, tossing me half of one. “Suck on that, why don’t ya. Stop the scurvy, right?”

I caught the piece of fruit and thanked him. “We’ll need more than limes though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Storm’s coming. Big one.”

His face went white. “Ah, fuck.”

“Not a fan of storms?” I asked, feeling the same, honestly.

“Not at sea. I’m just getting used to the whole floating all day and night thing. Not sure I want to try sinking.”

“We won’t sink,” I said, with more conviction than I felt. “But the situation could get dangerous.”

“You are a cunt!” Esmaralda shouted from the rooms behind.

“Shut your fucking twat, you sorry pile of feathers!” Mr Guthrie yelled back from nearby.

Esmaralda laughed, sounding like Domingo when someone told a good joke.

“Wonderful.” Domingo pointed the tip of his knife at me. “See, that was one good thing about being a whore, White. If the weather was bad, there weren’t any clients, so we had a chance to rest. But I can tell you, I’m not looking forward to weathering a storm on this floating pile of timber.”

I snorted. “Don’t let Dinesh hear you talking about his ship like that.”

Domingo laughed. “Oh, I say all kinds of things to Captain Martin. I don’t exactly watch my words with him, if you get me. But he knows I don’t mean half of what I say.”

“Do you know where I’ll find him?” I asked.

Domingo nodded toward the stern. “He went with Hillier to check the stores.”

“Thank you.”

“White?”

“Yeah?”

“Where’s the safest part of the ship during a storm?”

“I…don’t really know. Anywhere but on deck, I suppose?”

“Right.” He went back to his work, but his forehead furrowed, and he muttered under his breath.

I took my leave and found the captain and Hillier where Domingo had said they’d be. Hillier was standing before a wall of shelves, holding a clipboard and a pencil. Dinesh was reclined on a pile of burlap bags that had the word ‘FLOUR’ printed on them, one knee bent and the other leg stretched out.

“Ah, there he is, Hillier. Tell me, does he look taller to you?” Captain Martin asked with genuine curiosity.

“What?” I said, coming to a halt.

Captain Martin smiled benignly with amusement in his eyes.

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