Free Secrets of the Realm by Bev Stout

thought I assigned you to the galley."
    "I was heading that way when…" Annie hesitated.
    "When you tripped?" Captain Hawke said. "Make sure you don't trip again. Next time, you might not be so lucky."

 
    CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
     
    With flour caked under her fingernails from a day's work in the galley, Annie skimmed the pages of Captain Singleton. Unable to concentrate, she read the same words over and over again. Finally, she gave up and laid the book down.
    "Your first day as a sailor did not go well, did it?" Doc said.
    "Who told you?"
    "No one had to. If it had gone well, you would be chattering away like a magpie. Do you want to talk about it?"
    She took a deep breath. "Barrette told Mr. Allan I should not go aloft today."
    "After having been seasick, you were actually going to climb the mast? It sounds like this Barrette fellow has more good sense than you do."
    "I was a good climber before we went out to sea," she said through clenched teeth.
    "Yes, before you went out to sea and before you had taken ill."
    Annie bit her lip. "I want to be accepted by the other sailors. I want them to like me."
    "Getting yourself or someone else killed is not the way to do it."
    Annie frowned. "Let's change the subject."
    "What do you want to talk about?" Doc asked.
    "I have an excellent idea. Let's talk about you." Annie rolled over and rested her chin on the back of her hands. "What did you do before you came on the Realm?"
    "I am not an interesting subject," he said.
    "Please." Annie puckered up her lower lip making Doc smile.
    "How can I resist that sad face?" He took a deep breath. "I studied at Edinburgh University before becoming a surgeon at St. Thomas's Hospital in London."
    There was a long pause that Annie realized was going to be permanent. "Don't stop there," she said.
    Doc took a swig from his flask. "That is where I met Roger Moon. We became best friends. He had a little sister." Softly, almost prayerfully, he said her name, "Emily."
    "Were you in love with her?"
    "I still am."
    "Is she pretty?"
    "Not pretty, beautiful. Have you ever seen storm clouds open up to reveal the sky when you peer into the heavens? That glorious blue was the same color as her eyes. You are a lot like her. She always spoke her mind. Her father said it was unladylike to discuss politics or religion, but that never stopped Emily."
    "Did you court her?"
    "You are so much like her, full of questions." Doc peeked above his spectacles. "Over the years, I watched her grow from a lovely girl to a beautiful young woman. I married Emily when she was eighteen. I was thirty-two. When I proposed to her, I never thought she would say yes. I will never forget her words. 'Arthur Cromwell, I have loved you forever. Yes, I will marry you.'"
    Doc went to the medicine cabinet. Moving aside a bottle, he pulled out an object wrapped in velvet, the same one Annie had seen the day before the Realm set sail. He solemnly uncovered it to reveal a miniature portrait painted on ivory. He ran his finger ever so carefully across its smooth surface. He handed it to Annie.
    "This must be Emily. Oh, Doc, she is absolutely beautiful," Annie said as she gave it back to him.
    For a moment, the portrait brought life to Doc's sad eyes. Again, he ran his finger across her likeness before returning the tiny portrait to the cabinet with his trembling hands.
    "Where is she now?" Annie asked.
     "She died in 1733."
    Annie shuddered. "That is the same year…."
    "I know, the same year you lost your family," Doc said. "I lost everyone I loved in that epidemic. Me, a doctor, could not save my own…" His voice faltered.
    Barely above a whisper, Annie said, "You told me you had a son named Andrew."
    His eyes downcast, Doc said, "Yes, I had a son named Andrew and a sweet daughter as well, Beatrice."
    "I am so sorry, Doc," Annie said. She wished she could say more, but couldn't. Kind words hadn't helped her when she stood behind a stone church watching her father, mother and baby sister being