Sailing Into Night

Noah was filled with nervous energy as the day passed, along with a subtle undercurrent of guilt. The crew were clearly working very hard, and now he knew they were pushing themselves and the Nawyet in order to give him some time in the Empty City. It was a strange thing for him, to realize that these people cared for him so quickly and so strongly. As he did for them.

And then to think about his hopes and plans for the next stage of his journey?

Well, the dissonance was enough to make him antsy and **** to think very deeply about tomorrow.

At least the nervous energy was put to good use. Ashe did partake of his offer just before the mid day meal, asking him to bugger her like he would a boy. With her breasts bound she seemed to enjoy it, but after Noah came in her arse she admitted she didn’t feel quite like a boy (she assumed), but she did appreciate the space to experiment with him.

After lunch Hannah, off watch, asked for him again - a fun and muscular fuck that had the first mate almost play fighting with him as they jokingly tried to wrestle each other around. When she was done she kissed him, then whispered a thank you. She paused then mumbled she was also thanking him “for the Cap’n” which he found sweet.

He did not realize he was doing it at first but he was subtly avoiding some of the crew. He felt like an ass, but when Fatima waved him to the front of the boat, he was shamefully happy to have an excuse to disappear under deck.

The cook gestured at four mid sized packages. “Here. As the Captain asked, some preserved foods, enough for a month.” She was typically gruff, but Noah could see she had spent a good deal of effort on it.

“Thank you, Fatima. Truly. I can see you must have spent a lot of time doing this and I wish I could repay you.”

The woman shrugged, but her face softened. “Wasn’t that much. Used the containers you wasted your money on, and we have plenty of food on a boat. The girls caught some fish and I salted it, just made sure it was all packaged right and was enough variety to keep you healthy. For a month.” She scowled again and said, “You stay there, you’re looking at least two and a half weeks alone until we get back. Maybe more. Remember that.”

He suppressed a sigh. They couldn’t know how confident he was, so he nodded diplomatically and said, “I have no intention of being stranded in the middle of nowhere, or starving to ****, I assure you. If I need to stay, I’ll be very careful to catch a ride out!”

“Well good. If we come back downriver and find you dead on the dock it would ruin the mood, for certain. Might cast a pall over the crew all day even,” her mouth quirked and Noah had to laugh loudly. At least joking about it was easier to take then the alternately nervous and almost angry looks he was getting from some of the crew.

“I’d hate to be a bother, so I promise I won’t forget how to make a fire or drink water out of fetid puddles. Don’t want the crew to be annoyed.” He grinned and the cook gave a chuckle, shaking her head. She said, “That reminds me, there are small streams of running water but remember to boil any you drink or use for cooking.”

His gear was ready, and Noah spent some time reviewing his notes, but more out of something to do rather than any expectation of some fresh insight. All the documents and materials he had found to this point were exhausted, and any hints of what he had to do next would be in the Empty City if they were anywhere. He felt sure of it.

At supper time he helped Fatima serve the meal on deck so the crew could eat on station while the boat sailed upriver. The wind was changeable but gusty, and the Nawyet fought against the current ably. With the crew taking their meals where they may, Noah brought mugs full of warm mulled wine and some water flasks around.

“Thanks steward,” Alexandra said as she took a mug and downed the spicy concoction. Noah was about to thank her for her efforts, as he had thanked the rest of the crew, when she suddenly looked past him. Her expression flickered, then went carefully blank as she handed him the mug back and turned back to the mainmast and began fiddling with the line at the fife rail.

Noah had heard the footsteps and was turning when Hitty came up and stopped. He had not been avoiding her, exactly, but she had busy with her duties and he had not gone out of his way to approach her. Now, she stood, unsmiling, holding a large fish in her hands.

“Hitty, hello?” He wished he hadn’t made the greeting into a question, it made him sound guilty.

The young sailor paused, then nodded and gave a tight smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. She held out her hand and said, “Here.”

Taking the fish, Noah tried to hide his distaste. He held it with both hands, trying to not focus on how rough the scales felt and how floppy it was. Or how cold and slimy it felt.

“Thank you Hitty, and, uh, thank you all. For how hard everyone is working. I truly appreciate it, I can’t repay this kindness…” He trailed off and then looked at his hands. “And for the fish.”

Hitty gave the impression of a woman struggling with conflicting impulses. She ultimately shook her head and sighed, “You don’t have to thank us, Noah. You’ve given… us a lot. So much.” She took a deep breath and her eyes flicked to the side.

Turning his head casually, Noah saw Alexandra coiling some rope and emphatically not listening as hard as she could.

“Come with me to the stern, please?” Hitty asked, and she smiled, “I have a cutting board set up.”

Following Hitty, Noah eventually put the pieces together so he wasn’t surprised to see a wooden board and filleting knife next to the camp stool and fishing rod.

“Catching fish from the old stone city probably isn’t that hard, there are plenty of fish in the reeds next to the old piers,” Hitty said as she gestured for the fish back. “We have a net and pole for you, and I showed you how to tie a hook and you were able to reel in a catch so there’s that. You have enough food, I asked the Captain and she insisted you’d have plenty, but she also said it wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to show you a few things. Just to supplement your food if you have to wait for us to come back.”

She paused, then looked at Noah. He nodded, trying to radiate calm and understanding. He felt the Captain may have suggested this to Hitty as much for her as for him, but it couldn’t hurt to catch a fish or two to stretch out his food. “Sounds like a good idea Hitty, thank you. So, uh, how do you clean the fish?”

“The easiest way is to do it slow.” She took the large trout and spun it around on the cutting board, carefully putting the knife into the bottom of the fish. “So you put the knife in the anus, here, and slowly run it up. Keep the knife as shallow as you can so you don’t cut the guts.”

Over the next 10 minutes Hitty expertly gutted and cleaned the fish, then pulled another out of a bucket and had Noah follow along. He did not enjoy pulling the guts out, at all, but he did it, and even received a grunt of approval from the woman at his careful scraping of the scales. With both fish cleaned, Hitty explained the easiest way to cook them over a fire and then ran through a few suggestions on how to eat the flesh carefully if you didn’t take the time to debone it first.

During the lesson Yura had walked by to light the lanterns on the railing as the sun slipped further beyond the horizon. Hitty gave a tremulous sigh, then shot Noah a crooked grin. “I really hope you don’t need to stay Noah. I’ll be worried about you. I was very scared a few days ago, but the Captain - well the Captain said you’d be safe, and we’d do what we had to do to make sure you don’t get pressed by another crew or starve.” As she ended, her grin fell and she looked unsure.

Noah felt like an ass.

“I will be fine, really, and I’m sorry if I am making you nervous. You don’t need to worry, but I realize you all might, and that’s very kind. I will be extra careful.” He gave her a confident nod.

As she nodded back, slowly, Hitty could only think about how she had debated jumping ship. How she had given serious thought to breaking her contract with the crew and stealing some food to camp with Noah in the haunted ruins of a long dead people. To keep him safe, to make sure he had someone to watch his back when the naïve boy waved down whatever boat of rapists and pirates happened by.

“See that you are,” she said, “and we’ll see each other again and then you can sail with us back to Anglet.”

He didn’t know what to say to that, so he impulsively reached out and hugged the girl, feeling her take a sharp breath and then grab on to him tight, almost like saying goodbye.