The Grey Lady Ch. 04

I want to thank everyone for all the positive responses to my story.

I did want to give you a heads-up. This chapter, as well as some occasional future chapters, may contain a bit of gore (after all, this is a "pirate" story and pirates do occasionally get violent.) But I will try to let you know ahead of time.

I already have chapter 5 and most of chapter 6 written. The chapters after that are outlined and need to be fleshed out. I don't want to leave you hanging, wondering what happens to Jake, Sabina/Samantha, Toby, and even Rachel, John and Rachel's baby.

That being said, please enjoy.

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Chapter 4

Sam awoke once again to the persistent knocking on the cabin door and an empty bed. Toby's grinning face peered around the door in answer to her call. "Gud morn, Miz Samantha. I hope yew slept gud." Sam stretched and gave Toby a nod and a smile. "Gud. Today's a busy one so's while yew dress I'll fetch yur food so's yew kin break yer fast." His shoulders seemed just a little straighter as he left the room.

Since she had slept in her clothes, she really didn't need to dress, but she did make the bunk up before pouring a bit of fresh water from the bucket and quickly washing her face. She felt stiff but at least her headache was gone. Her cheek felt sore and she suspected that she had a new bruise. And she was afraid that as long as she was stuck in the company of The Grey Lady, she would stay black and blue. She got out Jake's brush and when Toby returned, he found her brushing the tangles out of her long hair.

She quickly cleared a spot at the desk and Toby set the food out and pulled up the stool. As they ate, Sam looked at the young man and quietly told him, "Toby, I never really got the chance to thank you for last night."

Toby looked a bit embarrassed. "Yer welcome, Miz Samantha. If'n yew need enything, yew jest let me know. Yew know, the Capt'n put me in charge uv takin' care uv yew." His chest puffed up a bit and Sam couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you Toby. I know that I am in good hands with you in charge."

Toby began picking up their empty dishes and as Sam cleaned the crumbs off the desk, he mentioned before leaving the room, "Yew 'ave free time a'fore we 'ave tew be topside at 6 bells."

"What does that mean? When is 6 bells?"

Toby looked back at her, "Didn't the Capt'n talk tew yew 'bout it?" Sam shook her head. "6 bells is 'bout an hour 'fore noon and it's w'en punishment 'appens." He quickly turned and left and she felt apprehensive remembering that Jake had mentioned that Pete would be punished.

She dusted the room and straightened up things. Anything to keep busy. Sitting at the desk, she noticed that paper she had seen before. At the top of the page it said 'RAMROD' and beneath that was a list of things like fabric, tarp, wine and salted pork. Some items appeared to be worth more, like silver candlesticks, and others worth less, like muslin bandages or India ink.

There were also things like a map with markings on it. She tried looking for Rabel, thinking that maybe it would help her remember something from her past. She found the port town, but neither it nor any of the surrounding towns jostled any memory.

She even found what appeared to be a list of the crew. Some names she recognized but most were men she had yet to meet.

Finally, she stacked the papers back on the desk, turning to look for something else to do. She glanced at the bookshelf and noted the titles of various books that Jake had. When Toby checked in on her a short time later, she asked if he could get her a broom. He returned in a few minutes with one and soon she had swept every inch of the cabin free of dust. Now what? It would be nice to go up on deck and see some of the ocean. How long would she be expected to stay in this small room?

She spent some time staring out the porthole trying to see if she could see anything. Through the small, open window came the noises of the men working on deck - laughing, calling to each other, someone singing a dirty ditty. At one point she heard a series of bells chiming. There was the sound of wood being dragged overhead. Outside was a whole world and she felt so lost. So alone.

Once they got to Wexling, she would be totally alone. She had to find a way back to Rabel. But how? She owned nothing, had no money. She really didn't even own the clothes on her back. So how would she be able to pay for passage back? Maybe she could find a job as a maid or housekeeper, or even nanny. She leaned her forehead against the wall. Who was she kidding? She would never be hired without a letter of reference. She would never earn enough money for something like that. She wanted to cry but chided herself. She had to make here and now work and quit shooting for the impossible.

She lifted her head and once again looked out the porthole, trying to see what was out there. She had hoped to see maybe another ship or perhaps an island. But all she saw was sea and sky.

Sometime later the door opened and Jake entered. Last time she had seen him was when she fell asleep in his bed last night. The solemn look on his face made her stomach do nervous flips. She held her breath, tension filling the air.

Noting the dark bruise on her pale cheek, he took her hands in his and said, "I need to explain what is going to happen, and why." Her legs felt weak and she quickly sat on the bed. "The fact that you are in my cabin makes you my property. That will protect you from the crew."

'But who's going to protect me from you,' she thought.

"The crew knows that my personal property is off limits to them. Because Pete attacked you, he broke the Ship's Articles."

His words echoed in her head. She was his property? Her eyes flashed in anger. How dare he say that!

Anticipating her ire, he told her, "I know that you don't like that idea, but I don't think you would like the alternative. You are in my cabin and therefore my property. You are either my property, or the property of the crew, and if you are the property of the crew then you can be used by any crew member at any time. Now do you understand? As far as the crew is concerned, you are my property. And the crew must see it that way. Since Pete tried to use my property without permission, he will be punished. It will be before the entire crew, and you need to be there to witness this. After I remind the crew of Ship's Articles, then you can leave the cabin when you wish, but only if you are accompanied by either Toby or myself."

His words slowly sank into her brain. "Only you or Toby?"

"Yes. Do you understand?" Jake looked hard at her and she swallowed and slowly nodded. "It may be hard to watch the lashing, but you must. It's part of Pete's punishment and humiliation. "

His words sank in. He took her hand and pulled her up to him. "Be strong," he whispered as he turned her toward the door. She couldn't believe that she was finally getting to leave the cabin, and yet the idea of seeing all these men scared her. As they stepped on deck, she finally got an idea of the size of the vessel. The ship was larger than she had thought. The wind whipped the sails above her and the fresh air felt so good filling her lungs. She hesitated before Jake took her arm to turn her to the steps that led to an upper deck. Jake climbed them then turned to help her up. She noticed that Toby already stood on the upper deck waiting for them. He gave her a quick smile before looking straight ahead.

When they turned to face the crew, she saw a large wooden 'X' at the far end of the lower deck. Pete stood near the 'X', held tight between two men, one of which she recognized as Stan. From this viewpoint it was obvious that the crew was lined up making several rows of men standing at attention. She saw Pegs standing in the midst of the assembled and even though he had appeared as the scariest man she had ever seen, she noted that the rest of the crew didn't really look all that appealing. Most of the men looked dirty or mean, or both. A large number of them seemed as large as Pegs and Stan, and a few were even larger. The pirates were a mix of various shapes, sizes and colors and their clothing was just as varied. Obviously pirates came in all shapes and sizes, and wore no uniform.

They all stared at her, and she suddenly was very glad to be considered the Captain's property. She wanted to run and hide, but Jake slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him, causing her to feel safer but light headed.

"Men, this is Samantha. Samantha is my personal property. She belongs to me, and as such, is off limits to any crew member. You may not touch her, or even talk to her unless I give you permission. Toby is to be her personal guard." The men shuffled a bit and Toby stepped up to her other side, not touching her but lending moral support with just his presence. Jake continued.

"Pete broke the Ship's Articles. He dared to touch my personal property, dared to attack my personal property. According to the Articles, punishment of 30 lashes will be meted. In addition, he will be confined to the brig for the duration of the voyage and he will forfeit his portion of the booty to be evenly divided amongst the crew." Stan and the other man stepped forward holding Pete between them and escorted him so he was facing the 'X.' Each reached up to strap the quaking man's wrist to the top of the 'X' leaving Pete's back facing the assembled. Then Stan reached up to tear Pete's shirt down the back, baring his back while the remnants of the material hung from his arms. Both of them turned to face Jake before stepping away to leave the shaking man alone.

Jake paused a moment, then his voice boomed out. "Bring out the Captain's Daughter and let punishment commence." Samantha started. The Captain's Daughter? Was he married? She thought that she was the only female on board, but she must have been wrong.

Those words seemed to wake up the little man for he suddenly began to scream and cry, begging Captain Jake for leniency. "Please, Capt'n, sir. 'ow kin yew dew this t'me. I got 'er fer yew. If'n it wurn't fer me, yew wooden 'ave 'er." He was screaming the words, babbling so fast that they didn't make sense. The more he spoke, the higher the tone of his voice went. "If'n it wurn't fer me, she wood still be walkin' down that street, so's yew oughter thank me."

"Belay that order!" Captain Jake shouted and all movement stopped, save for pitch of the ship as the sails snapped overhead, and the wiggling around that Pete did while tied upright. Jake left her side and stepped to the railing, placing both hands on the wood balustrade to lean forward. "Just where did you find her, Pete?" Sam held her breath waiting for the answer. Maybe she would find out who she was now.

"I wuz there in the alley wen she steps in frunt uv me. She wuz scered uv the drinkin' men. If'n I 'adn't been thinkin', she wood uv got away." Pete kept twisting from side to side, trying to see if he was moving the Captain with his story. Sam couldn't see Jake's face, but from where she stood she saw him tighten his grip on the railing as if he was trying to keep from jumping down there to beat the man himself.

Jake suddenly snapped to attention as his voice coldly ringing out, "Master-at-arms, let the cat out of the bag." He returned to stand beside her. Now she was really confused with his talk about cats, but Toby must have sensed her confusion as he leaned towards her slightly and muttered under his breath.

"Cat-o-nine tails. It's the lash."

Samantha watched a large man step forward holding a red bag with a leather strap wrapped tight around its mouth. He unwrapped the strap and reached in to draw out a bundle of leather strips and unfolded them to their full length. It appeared to be a rope and leather handle holding together numerous long strips of leather. Around a yard long, it looked like knots were tied interspersed along each strip. The man spent a moment or two shaking the whip's strands to untangle them. She could tell that some kind of little weight had been tied to each end of strip. It reminded her of a quirt, but this instrument looked like it would deliver quite a bit more pain. He tested the weight of it in his hand.

A chill zipped up her spine as the muscular man swung the lash over his head and there was a whistle of sound from the piece. Apparently, Pete heard it also and tried to look over his shoulder as he gave a panicked cry. He began to shake and would probably have collapsed if he had not been tightly tied to the frame. Another swing of the lash and this time Sam heard a crack of sound before Pete screamed and a puddle grew at his feet as he lost hold of his bladder.

The next swing made contact with Pete's back and fine red lines suddenly appear on his back. As his scream pierced the air, blood began to slowly trickle down the man's bare back. She swallowed hard and looked down at the deck. A hand on her shoulder squeezed it. Bending down, his mouth near her ear and voice low for her ears only, Jake said one word. "Watch." Drawing a deep breath, she lifted her eyes to the spectacle playing out before her.

With each stroke, Pete's back became more bloody. Lines and welts on top of lines and welts. More blood ran down his back. Each scream from the man's throat seemed to be louder than the previous one until the tortured man passed out. And yet the whipping continued. She glanced at the others on the deck, their faces impassive but the lesson learned.

Finally, the punishment stopped and Sam glanced at the cat hanging from the large man's hands. Blood dripped from the leather strips to dot the deck below. Pete's back was a maze of red welts and bloody stripes. No words were spoken as overhead the sails whipped gently in the breeze.

Stan stepped to the side of the ship and threw overboard a bucket attached to a rope. Pulling the bucket back up by the rope, she saw seawater slosh over the side to splash on the deck. Stan then walked to the unconscious body tied to the wooden 'X' and threw the contents of the bucket on Pete's back. The man jerked and howled as if touched with a hot poker before sagging back into unconsciousness, his body hanging from his thin wrist. The seawater helped to wash away some of the blood and urine from the deck and Samantha felt dizzy and nauseous. Suddenly Jake slipped his arm around her waist to usher her toward the steps to the lower deck. She didn't see the nod he gave to Bilge before he headed down the steps. He turned to put his hands around her waist to lift her down to the lower deck with him.

She was beyond noticing the eyes of the crew as Jake lead her to the entrance leading below deck. Hoping that she could hold herself together until she reached inside, she just made it through the door of the cabin before the gore began to rise. Rushing across the room, she bent over to spew the meager contents of her stomach into the bucket. It was more acid than food, but she couldn't seem to stop gagging as she finally dry heaved, eyes tearing. Jake held her hair away from the mess and gently rubbed her back. When she appeared through, he helped her stand and took her in his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head and muttering soothing words.

"I know it was hard, but necessary."

She beat her fists against his chest. "Necessary! You call that bloody spectacle necessary? How could you!" She choked back tears.

She could see a muscle working in his jaw and knew that he was clinching it to avoid losing his temper as he spit out the words. "Would you rather I let him rape you?" Anger flared in his eyes and his lips tightened to a thin line. He let go of her and abruptly turned to stalk out of the cabin, slamming the door behind him. Samantha was left alone with the memories of the violent display on deck. She slowly sank on the bunk crying.