Read Online Sea Change by Darlene Marshall - Free Book Online Page B

not work under these conditions! You insist I doctor your men, fine! But first get them down into the bowels of this ship with more soap, vinegar, sulphur to fumigate..." He ticked off the list on his fingers. "Oh, and while you are at it, see if you can steal a cat. You have a rat population."
    "All ships have a rat popul--see here, Doctor, there is something you need clarified. I am the captain, and I might add, the owner and master of this vessel. You are a doctor. And a prisoner. That means you do not give me orders. I give the orders, and you obey them."
    "Or what?" Alcott sneered. "You will let me go? Have me flogged? Set me adrift in a boat? I do not think so, Captain Fletcher. You need me, and we both know it."
    David fastened his shirt to keep his hands busy. Punching the doctor in the face was probably not the best way to resolve this, but it was a temptation. "You already have Miller assisting you, Doctor. Talk to Mr. Bryant, and he will know which men are available."
    Suddenly the doctor's face changed as a smile broke through. A thought passed through David's mind that Dr. Alcott should smile more often if he ever hoped to attract a young lady willing to take her clothes off for something other than a medical examination.
    "I do not need to bother Mr. Bryant with this, Captain, because Mr. Fletcher returned to duty."
    "What?" David said, then felt his own smile flow across his face. "Why didn't you tell me right away?"
    Dr. Alcott looked distracted for a moment, then blinked and said, "That is what I came to tell you, but a rat the size of a curricle ran across my foot and reminded me about the disgraceful condition of your ship. Mr. Fletcher is above and, in my opinion, is capable of resuming his duties."
    "He is no longer in pain?"
    "He still has pain. He will always have some pain, including phantom pains from the missing hand. But resuming his duties makes him feel needed and useful, and that will help his recovery."
    "He is needed, and useful," David said. "If you say he's ready, then I will defer to your judgment."
    "As you should," Dr. Alcott said recklessly. He turned to leave as David reached for his coat.
    "And get a cat!" was the last thing he said as he closed the cabin door behind him, but this time David only smiled.

 
Chapter 6
     
    When he came above David saw Henry next to Mr. Bryant. His brother was standing straight and looked less drawn, though he was still too skinny and too pale from his ordeal. With Henry's left arm in a sling it was easy to fool the eye into thinking there was nothing more than a broken limb, until you looked closer and realized there was no hand coming through the other side of the cloth.
    Bryant was going over some papers with the Fancy 's second-in-command, and David walked over to see what they were discussing. The doctor was nowhere to be found, probably stirring up trouble elsewhere. Then the wind shifted and he caught a whiff of vinegar and brimstone, and he grinned. Clearly Dr. Alcott was wasting no time in putting his demands into effect.
    "High time you stopped loafing about in your bunk, you sluggard! I was beginning to suspect you and that quack were in collusion to keep you from doing your duties."
    Bryant and Henry looked over at him, and Henry's wide grin as he saw his brother was better than any medicine Dr. Alcott could have dispensed to David.
    "Not at all, Captain! In fact, Dr. Alcott was just here ordering men right and left and putting them to work below."
    David grunted. He was annoyed because the doctor had a way of getting on his nerves like no one else. But he knew inside that the doctor wasn't being unreasonable.
    "If it keeps the men busy, then I see no problem with the doctor's demands," he acknowledged.
    "And he wants a cat, too."
    "I believe his exact words were we should 'steal a cat.'"
    Henry chuckled, a sound that lifted David's spirits, and Mr. Bryant returned to his duties. The Fancy was humming like the well-tuned machine it was, each