In the belly of the ship

Darius held the door to the cabin open, and as Molly

Molly followed the Black steward down the long corridor and then down a narrow set of steps. She quickly realized she was no longer in the passenger section of the ship; they had entered the crews' area.

"Should I be down here, sir?" Molly was getting nervous.

"Of course it's fine. You're with me." Darius stopped before a narrow wooden door. "Now you wait here; I've got to see if the sausage is ready."

The steward opened the door, passed into a room, and closed the door behind him. Molly stood silent and nervous. Only a couple of minutes passed before the door swung open. "Come in, Miss, we're all ready for you."

Molly didn't catch the tone of the steward's voice. She followed him into the room. It was small, much smaller than the room she shared with the Ingram children. The room was dim, no window here in the bowels of the ship. There were two bunkbeds with four sleeping areas. Sitting on the two bottom beds were three black men. All of them were younger than Darius. All of them were smiling broadly.

"The young Miss wants some sausage, gentlemen." Darius gave a little chuckle. the three other men laughed. One of the men stood. "We got lots of good hot sausage here!"