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The sun grew fiercer and she could feel her nose and cheeks burning Several other ratings were brought forward, and si, or carried bodily, allegedly having attehed
Margaret envied Frances her hat She shifted on her crate, one hand raised to her hairline as she watched the entertain aside her own bad mood ‘You’ve been on ships before Is it always like this?’ she said to Frances, as noearing sunglasses She couldn’t bear an ataret felt asha been so sharp with her ‘I couldn’t tell you,’ she ’ Then she was distracted by so at?’
‘That’s our aret squinted at the dark-haireda short distance away from them She hadn’t ever really looked at his face, had been too busy hurrying past hi ‘He looks bloody awful Shouldn’t he be asleep if he’s on watch all night?’
Frances didn’t answer The marine had spotted the at you,’ said Margaret, waving cheerfully ‘There! You not going to wave back?’
But Frances didn’t appear to have heard
‘Look!’ interrupted Jean, grabbing Margaret’s elbow ‘Bloody hell! They’ve got one of the officers!’
‘And he’s no ordinary officer,’ said Avice ‘He’s the executive officer He’s terribly high up, you know Oh, oodness!’ Her ht that, for the sake of propriety, she shouldn’t be seen to enjoy this quite so , the XO had been carried fro stool and strapped in There, set upon by Bears, his shirt was removed and, as the brides shrieked their approval, he was sht have been oatmeal
Several times he twisted in the seat, as if to appeal to someone behind him, but syrup was rubbed into his hair and feathers scattered on top With every huulls circling the scene were shrieking It was as if, having been made brutally aware of their own lack of control over their lives, the wo what happened to someone else’s
‘Off! Off! Off!’ yelled the crowd, aret’s own hu, re, of the way, as children, they had pinned each other to the dirt and forced cow dung into each other’s mouths
She was distracted by a tap on her shoulder Frances wasat her It was iesturing that she was leaving She looked pale, Margaret thought, then turned back to the XO’s‘He looks absolutely furious’
‘Mad as a cut snake,’ said Jean ‘I didn’t think they’d do it to soan, then saw that Frances had already gone
At the urging of the now delirious crowd, the Royal Barber applied foam to the officer’s hair, then took a pair of oversized scissors and hacked at it Then his leeful men and he was fed what Neptune announced as ‘seafarer’s medicine’ As he retched and spluttered, his face now all but unrecognisable, one of the Bears walked round the asseredients – castor oil, vinegar, soapsuds, and powdered egg Two rotting fish were stuck into the XO’s ears, a woman’s scarf tied around his neck There was a brief countdown, and then he was ducked, ee
‘You’ll all bloody well pay for this,’ he was shouting, through the suds ‘I’ll get your naue, Dobbo,’ ordered Queen A even fishier on it’
The wohed louder
‘I really can’t believe they’rewith exciteh up isn’t un-dog scenting sport ‘Oh, oodness! That’s Irene Carter!’
Neptune’s court – and her cootten, she stood up and pushed her way through the jeering crowd, one hand raised to her hair as she went ‘Irene! Irene! It’s Avice!’
‘Do you think the captain will report them for it?’ Jean said, wide-eyed, as the noise subsided and the spluttering victi chair ‘You’d think someone like that was off-liaret