Secrets of the Realm Read Online Free PDF Page A

Doc is Doc. The rest of the crew will let you know what to call them."
    Annie tilted her neck back to watch a sailor scale the ratlines leading to the top of the mast.
    "That's Baggott," Christopher said. "He's a good man, in his twenties. He came aboard with his best friend, Carter." He gestured toward a sailor who appeared to be working with the rigging. "Like the rest of us bosun mates, Baggott and Carter are mighty friendly. I cannot say the same for the gunners. Ready to do battle, they are, but you won't meet them. They live on the gun deck."
    "What do you mean they live on the gun deck?"
    "They eat and sleep down there. They are all top-notch, too. Have to be, since the captain refuses to sail in convoys under the Royal Navy's protection."
    "Why not?"
    "Captain Hawke trusts no one's authority but his own. Besides, it would slow the Realm down. He has a reputation to keep." Christopher stopped for a moment near the ship's bell. "What do you think of the captain?"
    Annie ran her hand along the belfry. "He's…interesting. But I dare say, he keeps a messy cabin."
    "I know," Christopher said. "I used to keep it tidy for him."
    "Were you his cabin boy?"
    "Aye, but I haven't been one since I became a full-fledged bosun mate about a couple months ago. That's why the captain needs a new cabin boy."
    "I always thought cabin boys were much younger. That Lawrence chap was certainly no child. How old were you when you became his cabin boy?"
    "Sixteen. I am eighteen now." Christopher smiled while his boots clicked unevenly on the deck. "It is no secret Captain Hawke doesn't want to deal with children."
    "Why does he hire cabin boys at all?"
     "I don't know." Christopher chuckled. "But I can tell you this; the crew is mighty surprised Captain Hawke chose you."
    "I guess I am just lucky." Annie smiled. "Finish showing me around, Christopher."
    He pointed his finger. "The bow is the front of the ship."
    Annie cut him off. "And the stern is the back. Starboard is the right side facing the bow and larboard is the left side." Annie reveled at the astonished look on Christopher's face.
    He scratched his head. "Well I'll be. This isn't the first time you been on a ship, now is it?"
    "A coble, my father's fishing boat. It even had a sail, a small one."
    "Ah, so you're a fisherman's son."
    Annie made exaggerated rowing movements with her arms. "Salt water in me veins. Quite exciting bringing in the day's catch, you know." Annie remembered how her father had taken her a handful of times on his boat when the sea was calm. She knew of no other girls allowed that privilege.
    Christopher continued telling Annie the terminology she was not familiar with. "The bulkheads are what you call walls. The bulwark…"
    Preoccupied with Christopher's dissertation, Annie didn't see the sailor swinging a mop handle at her legs. The quick blow to her shins pitched Annie forward. Her outstretched hands broke her fall, knees banging on the deck. Before she could get up, a wave of cold water splashed over her backside sending a spasmodic shiver through her body. Quickly rolling over, she found herself looking up at a short burly sailor glaring down on her.
    "Look what you've done!" He snarled.
    "What I've done?" Annie fired back.
    In one hand, the sailor held an empty bucket. With the other hand, he poked a mop handle into her stomach. "Ye prissy little maggot, clean up this mess!"
    Annie grabbed the handle, shoving the mop back at him, but the sailor pushed back with even greater force. Fearing he would impale her, Annie yielded. "I'll clean it up."
    Once on her feet, Annie clutched the mop. Cursing under her breath, she furiously swabbed the deck until Mr. Montgomery marched up and grabbed the mop out of her hands. He tossed it back to the sailor.
    "Mr. Symington, you're not being kind to Captain Hawke's cabin boy, now are you?" he said.
    Symington shuffled his feet. "I was only 'aving fun with the little maggot. I meant no 'arm, sir."
    "No harm done,