Who was currently the object of Tony's admiration. Joan Lanken was less than half the age of her husband, Dick estimated, and was an extraordinarily pleasant young woman, not especially pretty because of her somewhat flattened features, but with an agreeably plump figure and a delightful little tinkle of laughter. Her hair was pale brown, and a positive mass of curls, although these were presently concealed beneath the edgings to her fur bonnet, for the breeze remained chill. Dick, indeed, was fast coming to regard her as almost a sister, as it was impossible not to regard all the cabin passengers as close relatives, in view of the intimacy in which they were forced to exist, sleeping, eating, dressing and undressing, quarrelling and laughing, grumbling and dreaming, all together in a cabin hardly twelve feet square.
Tony was on his feet. 'Ladies. A better day.'
'Oooh, this roll. Oooh, this pitch.' Mistress Marjoribanks sank to the blanket he had spread on the deck. 'I shall never travel again, Mr Hilton. Never. I should not be travelling now. It is cruel, cruel, to send for me like this. James has existed without me these four years. He could have done so for four more.'
'But think of it,' Dick said. 'The Caribbean. Why, save for the occasional hurricane, it never blows there. Endless months of calm seas, warm sun, blue skies . . . you will be wondering why you did not accompany your husband in the first place.'
'Ugh. All those cannibals?'
'I think the Caribs are just about extinct,' Dick said. 'Except perhaps for a few settlements in the smaller islands. In any event, they have learned to respect our strength.' His gaze drifted to the rail, where Joan Lanken and Tony were leaning, shoulders touching, apparently contemplating the sea.
'Reading, sir? Reading?' Humphrey Lanken barked rather than spoke.
'The Essentials of Cane Growing, sir,' Dick explained. 'By Dr James MacLaren.'
'Essentials? Why, sir, there is nothing to it. In those islands, sir, why, cane grows like grass. Oh, indeed, sir, it is a simple matter.'
'I'm sure you are right,' Dick agreed. 'Good afternoon, Captain Morrison. A fine day.'
'Good day to you, Mr Hilton. Oh aye. The weather is on the mend. For the time.' He winked. 'We don't want to forget 'tis the storm season.'
'Oooh,' screamed Mistress Marjoribanks. 'Not a storm.'
'Ah, 'tis early yet,' Morrison declared. 'The first hurricane seldom sprouts before August; we've a week in hand. Soon enough we'll pick up a trade wind, and then, why, it'll be coasting along with the wind abaft the beam, and not a whitecap in sight. You'll like that, Mistress Marjoribanks.'
'Oooh,' remarked that lady. 'Will she still roll?'
'Oh, aye, well, ships do roll, madam. Ships do roll. But none of this pitching. Ah, no. There'll be no pitching once we find the trades. Now ladies, gentlemen, I'm unpacking my cheese today. Real Stilton, ladies, gentlemen. You'll want to be in the cabin at four, eh? Good stuff, no mildew, well, none you can't stomach, and going cheap. Oh, aye, four o'clock.'
He bustled forward, and the Collie children, momentarily silenced by his bellow, began to wail once more.
'Damned scoundrel,' Lanken said. 'Why did he not uncover his cheese last week, eh, while it was still fresh?'
'Because then we all had cheeses of our own, captain,' Tony said, having turned back from the rail. His cheeks were flushed, and to his consternation, Dick saw that Joan Lanken's were also pink. And they had been looking over the lee rail, backing the wind.
'And now he can charge us what he likes, knowing that our own stocks are low,' Collie grumbled. 'Truly they say that all seafaring men are pirates at heart.'
'Aye, well, we are in the rascal's power, and must make the best of it,' Lanken declared. 'Mistress Lanken, I'm for a stroll. You'll take my arm, if you please.'
'Of course, sir.' Joan Lanken gave Tony a quick smile, and seized her husband's left arm to propel him over the quarterdeck. Dick found that his own arm had been seized, and by his brother.
'Do you fancy her?' Tony whispered, pulling him to the taffrail.
'Eh? Good Lord, no.'
'Then you're a fool. She let me touch her titties just now, and right through the cloth, Big.'
'For heaven's sake, Tony, with her husband right there?'
'He is a total fool. And quite incapable, she says.' He grinned. 'His leg keeps getting in the way, and she says it is the stiffest part of him. Listen, she is absolutely begging for a little service.'
'Then are you the total fool. In our circumstances?'
'Ah, well, there's the difficulty. I suggested she and the captain shift their berths to our side of the cabin, but she feels he would suspect something. On the other hand, it is going to get much warmer in a day or two. No one could be blamed for waking in the middle of the night, and needing air.'
'What about the watch? What about when the captain also wakes up and needs air?'
'I have thought of that. We must act together. That way we can share the profits, and also the watch-keeping requirements. A very military matter.'
'You must be mad.'
'I am going mad, if that is what you mean, with sheer desire. To know all of that is just a few feet away from me, has been there for a fortnight, and will be there at least a fortnight more, my God. Listen, she really is a delicious little thing, under all that cloth. If you like, I'll arrange with her for you to stand at the rail tomorrow. Then you can discover for yourself.'
'I have no intention of discovering for myself. You gave me your word . . .'
'To act like a Hilton, now and always. You are the one behaving like a changeling.'
'I happen to be engaged.'
'And do you think Ellen would thank you for letting your weapon rust away from lack of use?'
'For God's sake, Ellen is well aware that it has never been used, in that sense.'
Tony stared at his brother with his mouth open. 'You're not serious?'
Dick flushed.
'Good Lord.' Tony seemed genuinely amazed. 'And you'd wed, without discovering what it is all about? You really are the most disorganized chap. I'll have no argument, young fellow. You'll pitch in.'
'I will not.'
'Well, then, you'll help me, or I'll have her right there in the cabin. Think of the foul-up that will cause.'
'Psst.'
Dick opened his eyes. He seemed to have been asleep only five minutes. The last thing he remembered was Captain Lanken snoring, and now again he listened to Captain Lanken's snores, rumbling through the cabin, keeping time to the sway of the lantern, just visible above his head, and thus to the creak of the ship's timbers.
Tony shook him again. 'Wake up,' he whispered. 'It's far too hot to sleep, wouldn't you say?'
Dick blinked, and began to focus. And watched a figure on the far side of the cabin wrapping her blanket around herself before tiptoeing to the door, stepping carefully across her husband and Master Rowland.
'You must be out of your mind,' he whispered. But Tony had already followed the woman to the companion, there to pause as Lanken gave another series of trumpets, and rolled over, his arm flying out to strike the mattress where his wife had been lying but a moment previously.
Joan Lanken's hand was already on the ladder; she froze, and looked over her shoulder. But Lanken merely snuffled and went back to sleep.
Joan climbed the ladder, silently; her feet were bare. Tony followed, and paused once again at the top, to give Dick a jerk of the head.
Dick sat up, folding back his blanket. Of all the crazy adventures. And yet, the blood was suddenly pumping in his own veins, and his own weapon was hard enough. The excitement had been building over the previous two days, as Tony had spoken to Joan again, and about them both, and she had taken to giving each of them a long and appraising stare, no doubt anticipating. As they had, equally, anticipated.
Slowly, carefully, he got to his feet, holding on to the bulkhead as the ship lurched. But it was a very gentle lurch. Captain Morrison had been right about the trade wind; they had picked it up the previous morning, quit
e without warning. The endless plunging and beating had ceased, the wind had shifted to the stern quarter, and in doing so seemed to lose all of its bite, and the ship had commenced a slow and regular roll as she careered on her way, downhill as the sailors called it.
The couple were gone from the top of the ladder. Dick buttoned his shirt and climbed behind them, squeezed into the narrow space at the top, where the door led to the deck, and found himself in the midst of human bodies.
'Good lad,' Tony whispered. 'Oh, give him a cuddle, Joan. He's as cold as ice.'
The woman's arm went round Dick's waist, and he felt her softness against his body; she wore only her shift. 'You're a right pair, you are,' she whispered. 'What's this?' Her hand stroked the front of his breeches.
'For God's sake,' he protested, and she giggled, and kissed him on the chin. 'You'll wake everyone else.'
'Aye,' Tony agreed. 'Don't get him overexcited, sweetheart. 'Tis the longboat. I unfastened the canvas this evening. Follow me.'
He wriggled past the woman, cautiously opened the door. Instantly the breeze plucked at them, sent a strand of Joan's hair across Dick's face.
'I'm all a goosebump,' she whispered. 'Feel these, Dickie lad.'
His hand was seized and inserted under the blanket; he caressed the linen of her nightdress, and the point of the nipple, scraping across the palm like a finger, sent a tingle of anticipation all the way from his hand up his arm and into his chest.
She sighed. 'Christ, how I have waited, these weeks, looking, at you two strong lads . . .'
'Come on,' Tony whispered, having checked the deck. The door swung open, and they emerged into the waist of the ship.
With the breeze astern, here it was sheltered; immediately above them was the quarterdeck and the helm; they could hear the slow tread of the mate, the murmur of the pulleys as the helmsman twisted the wheel to and fro. The remainder of the watch were forward, sitting round the foremast, smoking and gossiping.
'Evening to you, Mr Ratchet,' Tony called. 'Ain't it a splendid one.'
'Better than before,' the mate grunted. He paused at the rail for a moment, squinting into the darkness. He would be able to make out three figures, and perhaps even to decide one was a woman, and from that, make his own deductions. But he could not be sure.
'This way,' Tony whispered, and led them across the deck, beyond the shelter of the mainmast, and round the far side of the longboat, resting on its chocks amidships. 'Here.'
Joan placed her elbows on the gunwale, to look at the phosphorescence streaming away from the ship's side. 'It's chill,' she said. 'Will no kind gentleman put his arm round my waist?'
Tony obeyed.
'I can stand the pair,' she said.
Dick hesitated. Now he was fully awake, where in the companionway he had not been sure he was not dreaming. He had promised Ellen. But oh how he wanted, this moment. But this was madness, had to be madness. And yet, why? If the mate, and the crew, would have little doubt about their purpose, it was none of their business to become involved in the passenger's affairs.
And besides, to have a woman, suddenly available, suddenly willing, suddenly, indeed, anxious ... he realized with a sense of shock how many years he had waited for this, dreamed of this, how many things he wished to do.
And could do, now. His arm moved, slowly, but not round her waist. His fingers slid the blanket aside to caress her buttocks, and she gave a little murmur of pleasure, and squirmed beneath his hand.
'Long enough,' Tony decided. 'Now then, Dick boy, do you remain here, looking out. And should anyone come too close to that boat, you give a loud cough, eh?'
'Is that all he's for?' Joan demanded. 'To keep watch?'
'Keep your voice down, for God's sake,' Tony begged. 'You'll have him after.'
'I can manage you both together,' she said.
'After,' Tony insisted. 'It was my idea. I have first. Then I'll keep watch.'
'Your idea,' she remarked. 'May God save me from arrogant men.' She turned, under Dick's hand, kissed him on the chin, then seemed to change her mind, held his face between her hands, and kissed him on the mouth. The quest of her tongue took him by surprise; he had grown to expect it from Ellen, but from a comparative stranger . . .
'You stay hard,' she whispered. 'He'll not be long.'
Tony had already rolled back the canvas of the boat cover, and waited to give her a leg up. Dick watched her nightdress fly in the breeze, the white of her leg shine even in the darkness, and then she was gone, and Tony was gone behind her, pulling the flap across the boat to conceal them. Dick glanced aft. The mate continued his slow perambulation, up and down the quarterdeck. There was a snatch of laughter from forward. The timbers creaked, and the waves hissed, and the rigging thrummed, as the ship proceeded on her way. They were better than two thousand miles from land, Captain Morrison had estimated yesterday. A little world, all of their own. In the midst of which this microcosm was committing adultery. What madness. But what a delicious sport, too. Desire, and excitement, rippled through his system, and he found himself straining his ears to discover what was happening inside the boat, and hearing a faint gurgle of laughter.
He thought he would burst, turned back to the gunwale, gazed at the sea, tried to remember some of the things he had read in his book. And found himself, instead, thinking of Jamaica. Thinking about Uncle Robert, Mama had a likeness of him in her bedroom, a somewhat short, heavily built man, although with undoubtedly Hilton features, leaning on a stick and looking as if he were about to start bellowing commands. Well, no doubt that summed him up, at least by reputation. But the man himself. Father thought him a total brute. Mama remembered, or affected to remember, how he could be amazingly generous, when the mood took him. But his moods were utterly capricious. As their presence on this ship at all testified. 'Psst.'
He turned, heart pounding, supposing them discovered, and saw Tony, climbing out of the boat. Which but set his heart pounding the more.
'Everything all right?'
'Oh, aye. Quiet as a grave. And with you?'
Tony dropped to the deck beside him. 'Christ, how we managed to wait this long. Up you go, boy. She'll make a man of you.'
Dick hesitated. 'No doubt she is sated, for one evening. Perhaps I should wait for another.'
'She is waiting for you, now,' Tony pointed out. 'You'd best not disappoint her, or there will not be another evening.'
Dick peered over the gunwale of the boat. He could not see in the darkness, but he could smell woman, combined with the faint scent she normally exuded.
'Would you run away?' she whispered. 'You are a fainthearted fellow, Master Dick.'
He got his leg over, slid into the bottom of the boat, encountered a thwart, inserted himself beneath it, or had himself inserted, he could not be sure which. Her hands were on his thighs, seeking his belt.
'You are gorgeous,' she whispered. 'You are both gorgeous. But Tony, now, why he did no more than whet my appetite.'
He lay on the boards, and she was in his arms. He put his hand down to assist her fingers and discovered that her nightdress was pulled to her waist. His hand withdrew as if burned, and she gave the chuckle of amusement he had heard from the deck.
'You are a treasure,' she whispered, and once again seized his head to smother his mouth with her kiss, before suddenly appearing to freeze, fingers, mouth, tongue, and even toes, which had just previously been scraping his shin.
Now he also heard the slow, dragging movement on the deck, coming closer every moment. But not a sound from Tony.
'A nice night, Captain Lanken,' remarked the mate.
Lanken grunted. Dick felt Joan's fingers slowly leave his face; her breath rushed against him.
'Seems it's hot in the cabin,' the mate said.
'Oh, aye.' Lanken's voice was very close. 'Where are they, then?'
'Gone below, I reckon,' the mate said. 'Oh, aye.'
Joan's fingers were locked in Dick's; her head rested on his chin. 'Oh, God,' she breathe
d. 'Oh, God.'
'We'll wait,' he said. 'Just lie there. We'll wait.'
After some seconds she seemed more reassured, even released his fingers. But her passion, like his, was fled, drained away in fear sweat.
'Do you think he's gone?' she whispered at last. 'Aye,' he said. 'Now listen. He'll know you came on deck. You'll have to tell him you had a privy urge.' 'Yes,' she said. 'Yes, I'll tell him.'
'So I'll just be sure he's away,' Dick said, 'and then I'll go forward, and stay there until you're back in bed, eh?'
HF - 04 - Black Dawn Page 5