Pirates of the Storm (Stranded In Time Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

I would hate to see you die
before you had a chance to adapt to our time,” replied the
Captain.
    “So going back to your writing,” the
Captain began. “You said you write of health. That is medicine,
yes?”
    “Yes, in a manner of speaking,” Jeff
replied.
    “Have you training as a
surgeon?”
    “Not as a surgeon. I took some
pre-med, er, preliminary medicine classes in college and I’ve
studied a lot about nutrition and herbal medicine on my
own.”
    “If you decide to stay with us, you
could be our ship’s surgeon. Mr. Graves is our acting surgeon now
and I’m afraid his name is apt for his medical prowess,” Coxen said
with a sigh.
    Jeff shook his head, “I’m not sure I’d
be much better and I really hope I won’t be here very long – no
offense!”
    “None taken,” Coxen replied. “I can
understand your desire to return to your own time, but rest assured
if you do take on the surgeon’s duties you can’t do any worse than
Mr. Graves! Some weeks ago one of the crew came down with the
French pox, which requires the number 10 remedy from the medicine
chest. Mr. Graves discovered we were out of the number 10, so being
the clever ship’s surgeon that he is, he gave the man double the
dose of the number 5 remedy. He went to sleep and never awakened.
I’d assign one of the other men, but none of my crew is likely to
be any better, except for Mr. Robinson perhaps and he has his hands
full running the galley. You might not make the finest ship’s
surgeon, but I feel certain you would make a competent
one.”
    “I’ll think about it,” Jeff
said.
    “Splendid!” the Captain said as he
picked up the rum bottle to refill their mugs.
    The conversation was interrupted by a
knock on the cabin door as Mr. Robinson delivered the evening meal.
After setting the plates on the table, Mr. Robinson asked, “Do you
require anything else, Captain?”
    “No, thank you Mr. Robinson, that will
be all for now.” Robinson turned to leave and the Captain leaned
over and swatted him on the butt before the crewman departed with a
smile. The Captain laughed at the puzzled look on Jeff’s face. “Is
there a problem with your supper, Mr. Greene,” Coxen asked with a
grin.
    “No, the food looks fine, I uh just,
uh… never mind.”
    “Would it alleviate your confusion to
learn that Mr. Robinson is a wench?”
    “A wench? You mean a
woman?”
    “Yes. Please keep that knowledge to
yourself. As far as I know none of the crew has figured it
out.”
    “I will not say a word, but how did
she…”
    “Hers is a sad story. She told me that
she had been married to a good man and that they had both been
afflicted with the fever, to which he eventually succumbed, but she
recovered. As is common, her husband’s brother then wed her.
Unfortunately, he was a foul-tempered man, nothing like his
brother. She had been left barren by the fever and when she failed
to bear him a son, he became even more foul-tempered and beat her
daily. She had run away to a nearby town - where I first met her.
She feared being discovered by her husband and she asked to join my
crew as a means of escaping him for good. I certainly did not want
a woman aboard, but she convinced me that she could disguise
herself and I agreed to allow her to try. It was a good decision.
She is quite a good cook, as you will see – at least as good as she
can be with the ingredients we have available. To my surprise she
has also turned out to be a capable crewman. When she first joined
us, she could barely lift a sword, but now she is as good a
swordsman as any other on my crew, with the exception of Mr.
Harrison.”
    “I would never have guessed that was a
woman!” Jeff said, shaking his head.
    “As per our agreement, she has
continued to disguise herself to avoid issues with the rest of the
crew, but undisguised, she is not lacking in womanly
charms.”
    “I take it from your familiarity with
her that you’ve availed yourself of those charms?”