Read Online Privateer's Apprentice by Susan Verrico - Free Book Online Page B

lie before me. Careful not to let them uncoil, I hang them on the pegs that jut from the wall. I am about to ask Jabbart if he needs help mending the barrels when Cook calls to me. He points excitedly at the water. “We have caught us a bounty,” he says, leaning over the railing. “We shall feast on fish this night. Help me, lad!”
    I grab the net and scrunch it together in my hands, trapping the fish. Together, we haul the net over the side of the ship. When we let it fall, the fish flop around, spraying us with salt water. I feel a twinge of sadness watching them flip up into the air and then come back down onto the hard deck. The poor creatures are looking for water that is not there. They lie in the net, stunned.
    â€œI’ll cook some for tonight and salt the rest,” he says. “’Tis good we can save the food below, for I counted too many empty barrels in storage last night.”
    The fish are a curiosity to be sure. Some have long, razor-sharp noses, which seem to please Cook. “Ferdie will make quick use of these snouts,” he says. “I heard him complain to the Captain yesterday that he needed more needles to mend his sails.”
    I frown. “How do you thread a fish snout?”
    â€œFirst you must poke a hole in the tip,” Cook says. “Then you pull the thread through. Fish snouts work good as any needle. You’ll see.”
    Above my head, a large gray and white gull screams loudly. She swoops low and deposits her droppings onto the newly scrubbed deck. I stare at the mess in disgust, and then snatch up the stick just as Solitaire Peep and the Captain come through the hatch. They glance at the gull’s droppings and then at me.
    â€œYou must learn speed,” the Captain says. “It should not take all morning to swab a deck.”
    â€œI scrubbed it clean earlier, sir,” I reply, not bothering to hide the annoyance in my voice. “And then another gull flew across.”
    Solitaire Peep peers up at the sky, shielding his eye with a cupped hand. “From what direction did the gull come?” he asks.
    I stare up at the empty sky. “I didn’t notice until it was upon us.”
    â€œWhich way did it fly off, then?” Solitaire Peep asks.
    I bite my lip, suddenly remembering what Peep had said about a gull signaling that an enemy ship may be nearby. I cross my arms defensively and shrug. “Who knows?” I say.
    The Captain’s voice is hard. “Answer a question properly when it is put to you, Jameson. Did the gull fly north, south, east, or west?”
    â€œI answered the best I could, sir,” I say, flinging the dirtywater over the ship’s side. “And what does it matter where it came from. It’s just a stupid gull!”
    â€œâ€™Tis not the gull who is stupid,” Solitaire Peep says. “For he knows which way he flew and you do not.”
    The Captain glances out over the water. “I must keep reminding myself that you have never sailed before. However, one day I am likely to forget, so you would do well to learn how this ship works and why it is important that you watch for birds and other signs that ships are nearby.”
    â€œWe are days from land. A bird this far out means we are not alone,” Solitaire Peep says. “We cannot see our enemies, but they are near. A gull is proof of that.”
    â€œA gull is a bird and nothing more,” I say, unable to stop myself from answering back. “Where it flies matters not.”
    â€œThere you are wrong, boy,” Solitaire Peep says. “For a gull that comes upon us suddenly in the middle of this great ocean has found a resting perch nearby.”
    â€œPerhaps the gull rested on a log floating in the water,” I say.
    â€œPerhaps not,” Solitaire Peep snaps. “Perhaps his perch is a galleon carrying gold for King Philip or King Louis. Perhaps he roosts on a ship filled with Frenchmen or