Read Online Come Looking For Me by Cheryl Cooper - Free Book Online Page B

him onward with her eyes, but she did not meet with success.
    â€œIs there someone to whom you would like to send a letter?” he asked. “I could arrange for you to be given parchment and ink.”
    Emily shook her head. “No.”
    â€œRight, then, I’d better return to it while we await the captain’s word.” He left her abruptly.
    No sooner had Leander reinstated himself at his desk than Gus, breathless from his errand, rushed into the hospital shouting, “Dr. Braden, sir!”
    â€œMr. Walby,” Leander scolded, “please remember my patients here require peace and quiet.”
    Mr. Harding piped up. “You kidding? We haven’t had a moment’s peace since that woman moved into your hammock.”
    â€œYou’re not complaining now, are you, Mr. Harding?” asked Leander. From his pillow the sailing master gave him a wink and a cluck. Leander turned back to Gus.
    â€œCaptain Moreland said it was fine, sir.”
    â€œDid he now?”
    â€œOn one condition,” Gus added.
    â€œAnd that condition is … ?”
    â€œHe said that if one man falls from the rigging and breaks his neck, Emily’s to be sent packing below deck for all time.”
    In her corner, Emily laughed out loud.
    9:30 a.m.
    (Forenoon Watch, Three Bells)
    GUS'S NEXT ERRAND was a visit to the sail room on the orlop deck to see whether Magpie had completed his task. He found the young sail maker sitting cross-legged on the floor amongst his tools and yards of canvas. His tiny room, crammed with rolls of fresh sails, was poorly ventilated and illuminated with only one lantern. It amazed Gus that Magpie could do such wonderful work in such small quarters.
    Magpie set aside the sail he was stitching and looked up hopefully. “Have ya come fer the clothes, sir?”
    â€œCaptain Moreland said she could go for a walk on the weather decks, but not in Dr. Braden’s nightshirt.”
    â€œI bin waitin’ fer someone to come fetch ’em. I had ’em all done yesterday, sir.” Magpie sprang to his feet and carefully picked up the neatly folded bundle on his stool. “Did the cap’n say I could meet her, sir?”
    â€œI didn’t ask him, but I don’t see why not.”
    â€œShould I wash up first, sir?”
    â€œYou’re quite presentable as you are.”
    Magpie plucked his flute from the jumble of blankets on his bed and held it up. “Do ya suppose I could play her a tune? She might like knowin’ I ’ave a bit o’ refinement.”
    Gus shook his head. “Music is forbidden in Dr. Braden’s hospital. Come along then.”
    Tingling with excitement, Magpie followed Gus up two decks, through the animals’ stable, the grog room, the sailors’ galley, and the mess before reaching the hospital ward. As there were still some sections of the Isabelle he had never seen before, his eyes were open to everything around him. When Gus and Magpie entered the hospital, Mr. Harding called out, “Magpie, I hope illness is not forcing you to join us.”
    â€œNo, sir. I’m quite well. I do hope yer foot’s feelin’ better.”
    Mr. Harding breathed in and exhaled sadly. “As my foot is swimming in the sea, I’m certain it is feeling better than it ever has before, unless, of course, it’s been chewed upon by a hungry shark.”
    â€œWon’t be no shark chewin’ on yer foot,” called out the sailor in the neighbouring hammock, “so long as it spotted Mr. Crump’s tasty leg first.”
    Mr. Crump grumbled his displeasure at the lot of them making jokes at the expense of his lost leg, shut his eyes, and pretended to be asleep.
    Leander folded up his letter and rose from his desk to greet the little sail maker. “She’s just beyond that curtain, Magpie.”
    In the dimness of the hospital, Magpie’s eyes sparkled as he followed Gus.
    Emily was sitting up in