As soon as Zed pronounced her capable Elle through herself in to her work. She even set traps in the hold for rodents. Determined to excape her emotions she worked till dead on her feet so her body had no choice but to sleep. She ate when needed. Cook, Jr, Harv, and Zed made sure of it at every meal. Even James seemed to watch her. But the weight she had lost on the trip to India refused to return.

Talbot growled at Elle. "If you don't want to be spending the next several months peeling potatoes and counting barrels of rum then you will not work your self to death on my ship." He glared at her then looked down at the papers on the desk. "If you're anger at me - fine. But your not punishing me by working yourself into the ground. It ends now. You do your shifts only, no more unless cleared by me or Harv."

Elle's mouth snapped closed. She had no desire to be banished to the galley or her cabin again. She had kept all of her rebellions private as she had agreed, not that there had been many in the last week at sea. She had been obedient to a fault in front of the other crew.

"Do I make myself clear?" He asked. Each of his hands planted on his desk as he leaned towards her.

"As rain." She mumbled.

"Good." He grinned triumphantly. He leaned back and nodded. "You'll get just as much work as the others. We're working with eight less men then we need so I can't afford for anything to happen to any of you. We may pick up a few crew members in Sri Lanka." He told her. "At least I hope." He picked up a pen and nodded to the papers.

She nodded but he was no longer looking at her. She didn't know why but everything about him irritated her at the moment.

She waited. He dipped the pen in ink and wrote on the page.

She turned. After two steps she froze.

"You can read." He said from the desk behind her. She turned to face him. She waited. That hadn't sounded like a question. "Well, can you?" He demanded looking up from the desk.

"Yes."

"Hmm." He said thoughtfully drumming the fingers of his left hand on the cover of a book. Ink splotched the tip of his third finger. The book was half buried under papers, not that he noticed. "You can write?"

She nodded. "Yes." She confirmed verbally because he wasn't looking at her. She wanted to throw something at his head and see if he looked at her then. He moved papers around on the desk.

"Okay." He looked up at her. He smiled but Elle knew it was forced. "I guess you'll have a bit more work then the others after all." He said watching her reaction.

Her muscles tensed. Her eyes narrowed. "Meaning?"

"I want the crew listed in a ledger. Name, place of residence, date of hire, next of kin, position on the crew. Any information that can help me manage the crew better." He put the pen in an empty jar.

Her brows furrowed together. "I can do that. Where's the original list?"

"I don't have one, exactly." He admitted, almost sheepishly. "You can ask the crew."

"All of them?" Elle demanded in irritation .

"The ones that I don't have down now, yes." His displeasure clearly intoned in his voice.

"How many do you have?" She asked warily. She hoped that it was mostly completed but expected it to be zero to none.

"Ten." He told her. He seemed harried. A small space in her mind noted it but her main focus was on the dreaded list.

"That still leaves over fifty." She gritted her teeth as he nodded. Writing was not one of her favorite pastimes. It was messy. She glanced at the spot on his third finger. It was time consuming. "When do you want me to start?" She asked resigned.

He thought for a minute. His long sun darkened fingers tapping on the cover of the book. "Tomorrow."

  *-*-*

It took Elle three weeks to gather and enter the information as the captain wanted. They were able to pick up four more crew members on the docks in Sri Lanka two weeks from India.

One of those being a woman. She didn't try to hid her gender. She didn't bind her chest. She did dress as a male but that was for convenience. It was easier to move and work on the ship in male clothing. Mel, whose name was really Melody McClain, slept in the crew quarters.  She was like no one Elle had ever met.

Within two weeks it was quite clear that the crew thought of Melody just as one of them.

Elle felt a spark of jealousy. It had not been that easy for her. Most had resisted her presence on the ship. Yes, that had changed but it had taken years.

At the moment they sat alone in Talbot's office as Elle filled in the ledger with Mel's information.

Elle's leg muscles twitched under the table as she entered emergency contact information on Mel, a sister in Pridual, Ireland.

"You don't like me, do you?" Mel asked.

Elle looked up to find Mel studying her.

Instead of complete honesty Elle answered with a half truth. "I don't know you."

The woman nodded. Elle looked down and continued writing.

"It seems I owe you a debt." Mel said. Elle's fingers stilled. She looked up, unable to completely hid her agitation.

Mel smiled knowingly. "The crew accepts me because of you." She said and paused.

"What are you talking about?" Elle demanded, eyes narrowed. New crew were not trusted instantly. 

"This isn't my first voyage. I've been a sea maiden for ten years. I've been on four ships. I've never been accepted so quickly. I've never met another woman on board either." Mel added thoughtfully.

Elle narrowed her eyes. How did Mel know?

"Don't look so concerned. No one told me. But I'm not blind. But I have heard about your - exploits - shall we say. The wild boar, the man that was hung on this ship, insubordination in India, the information that you somehow manage to get that makes the crew wealthy, a fight over a tavern whore." The woman nodded and leaned back in her seat.

"Zara's my friend, its best that you watch-" Elle hissed. She was ready to leap the desk.

"Relax. My mother was a whore. My Da died a month after my birth. It's not like she had many choices. She had three little one to care for so she took up the oldest profession know to man. She was a good woman."

Elle nodded.

"When I heard about the fight it threw me off. I had already figured out you where a woman but that had me doubting my assessment."

Elle sinced Mel was curious about it but she didn't ask and Elle didn't volunteer the information.

Elle waited. When she figured Mel had finished sharing she turned back to the ledger. She cursed. The pens nib had dried ink on it that would distort the letters if used. Instead of cleaning it she pulled another complete pen from the drawer. 

"What do you think of Paul?" Mel asked sounding almost random.

"Um? Paul?" Paul hadn't been her biggest fan at first. The last year, mostly after Bartard, their relationship had started to change. She wouldn't say they were best friends but there was no animosity between them now. He had even been concerned after her punishment and made a point to show his interest in her friendship. He wasn't a bad man, as far as pirates went. She would call him friend, now. She grinned. Things have changed.

"What do you mean, exactly?" Elle asked still smiling.

"He interest me. I wonder if he would be a good lover." Mel said with her own smile. Her smile didn't look completely real. There a hint of jealousy in the woman's eyes that dulled the smile.

Elle resisted the urge to gap at the woman. "I don't... I..." She wanted to... With Paul?

"So you haven't been in his bed?" Mel asked. She seemed pleased about it. Elle shook her head, adamantly. "That's good. Do you know of anyone he's - interested in. A woman in one of the ports maybe." Now her smile was real.

"No. He's not lonely but he's not seeing anyone regularly, that I know of anyway."

Mel nodded, smiling, her shoulder length blond hair swaying. "Are we done?"

"Almost." Elle said and finally dipped the pen in ink.