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She didn’t ask which type of sickness he referred to Both, she suspected "Are the waves always this large?"

But when she turned to hiaze heavenward Above her, sailors called to one another as they ascended the rigging again Her stoainst the backdrop of greenish sky Sophia clutched the rail and shut her eyes

"Be reasonable It’s just a few clouds," ca, black clouds to the West You knoell as I do, a stor"

"A bit of a blow, perhaps The Aphrodite’s weathered far worse Reef the topsails, keep all hands at the ready"

There was a pause, thick with enmity

"Not in the Downs," ca a ht at sea We’ll drop anchor and furl the sails, and we’ll wait it out"

"Joss, you’re behaving--"

"I’ as the captain of this ship, Gray If you don’t start affording me the respect that deserves, I’ll order you below" The voice sank deeper still "And if you dare contradict "

A burst of spray hit Sophia’s face again, startling her eyes open With droplets of seawater clinging to her eyelashes, she slowly rotated her neck until the two brothers ca swirling around theed heat of steam Apparently, the Grayson brothers shared no more affection than Sophia and her sister did

The captain turned toward the ship’s bow, calling, "Mr Brackett!"

A thirdand spray obscured the features of his face, but Sophia could see he was tall and lean, standing raht despite the waves

"Mr Brackett," said the captain, "see that all passengers"--he shot another glance at his fu brother--"are returned to their cabins Furl the topsails and prepare to drop anchor"

"Aye, aye, Captain" Mr Brackett strode forward, sharp cheekbones and blade-thin nose slicing through the fog He began barking orders, and the crew exploded into activity

"Coed her toward the coait as the waves rolled beneath

Once they were safely below, Stubb left her alone, only to return a few moments later with a bucket threaded over his arm Behind him followed another of the sailors--an impossibly tall and broad-shouldered black man whose size required him to nearly double over and turn sideways just to thread his body through the cohts" Stubb tilted his hoary croard the black s to the table’s bolted base

"Deadlights?" Just the sound of the word left Sophia cold, and she braced herself against the table to receive its

"Shutters for the cabin s," the steward explained "To keep out the stor into her berth He carried a circular plate, drilled ’round with screw holes

Stubb passed the bucket to Sophia "You’re like to have need of this"

She looked down at the leather pail "Ahter "Levi! The lovely e!" Levi hed twice as loudly to compensate "Nay, miss If we take on some sea, there’s a pump in the hold"

"Then why the bucket?" Sophia asked The ship dropped suddenly, and her stomach rolled with it "Oh That"

"Now don’t be worried about the waves, ?" She didn’t like the sound of that