came for Rasmus to again meet with Robertson and Master Green, I hung back a while before going down to the ship myself. I’d spent the time going back to the Chandler’s to retrieve everything I’d need to take with me aboard the ship for our journey. My stomach was turning over like a wheel on a rickety cart, but it was caused by the excitement of knowing we were ready. For a change, I wasn’t the slightest bit frightened or anxious. Every thumping heartbeat I felt was like a drum marching me into battle.
“Ivory, you must be even the smallest bit afraid, aren’t you?” Miranda asked. The girls were watching me as I rushed about, stuffing things into my duffle.
“Don’t forget your book, Ivory. I’m sure you’ll want something to read,” Cass said.
“Thank you, but I doubt with so much work to do I’ll be able to hold my eyes open at night long enough to read,” I answered. I was doing my utmost not to worry them. Any chatter of fighting or danger I swept aside for more lighthearted discussion, such as reminding them of upcoming church functions that I hoped they’d attend, and how I expected to hear all about them when I returned.
“I’d rather go with you,” Keara grumbled. “I know I wouldn’t pass well as a man at my size, but someday you’re going to have your own ship, Ivory, and when you do, I’ll be at your side every time you set foot on her.”
I tied my duffle closed and turned to her and said, “I know you will, and I couldn’t imagine anyone, including me, could stop you.”
I was packed, dressed, and ready to set sail as Ivan. The girls walked me out to the stable, and as I mounted Peppi for the last time, I smiled down at them and made them promise not to worry about me. “You know I’ll be back, so stop your sniveling. I’m leaving Cassandra in charge, so don’t give her any guff, or you’ll have me to answer to when I return.”
“We’ll miss you,” Cass said, reaching up and taking my hand.
With a nod and a grin, off I flew to the Lady Jade .
Six
A NEEDLE AND THREAD
Throughout those two months working aboard the Jade , Rasmus had also required that I learn doctoring. Although I wasn’t a fully qualified doctor, I was the closest they could hope to come to one. I’d been schooled by an elderly physician by the name of Seamus McGraw, who, although sightless in one eye and confined to a chair for most of his days now, was not only an excellent teacher but storyteller as well.
I met with him on Sundays after church at his home. He no longer practiced medicine, but he’d been the Chandler’s family doctor for nearly twenty years before losing the sight in his left eye and most of the use of his legs due to a hard fall from a horse. His snow white hair and brogue told me before he did that he’d come from somewhere in Ireland. Although he’d lost his wife several years before, he’d managed to secure the services of a lovely young Jamaican woman who he referred to as his daughter. Her skin was the shade of tea with a splash of cream, and her eyes were a honey brown. I wondered if perhaps calling her his daughter was more than simply his appreciation of her doting care.
Doctor McGraw hadn’t lost his sense of humor and often teased me about being such a young fellow to take on a task as weighty as medicine, but he admired my long, nimble fingers, despite my callouses. In those two months, between his lengthy stories of gruesome wounds, infection and disease, he managed to impart to me basic medicine that he believed was sufficient to assist me aboard a ship. I’d, of course, not informed him of the nature of the ship’s business or possible injuries I’d be required to tend, but I could properly clean and stitch a wound, amputate a limb, and address basic stomach ailments and abrasions. Of course, stitching and removing splintered wood I was already familiar with.
On the final day of my brief education, Doctor McGraw had gifted me a medical kit to
“Ivory, you must be even the smallest bit afraid, aren’t you?” Miranda asked. The girls were watching me as I rushed about, stuffing things into my duffle.
“Don’t forget your book, Ivory. I’m sure you’ll want something to read,” Cass said.
“Thank you, but I doubt with so much work to do I’ll be able to hold my eyes open at night long enough to read,” I answered. I was doing my utmost not to worry them. Any chatter of fighting or danger I swept aside for more lighthearted discussion, such as reminding them of upcoming church functions that I hoped they’d attend, and how I expected to hear all about them when I returned.
“I’d rather go with you,” Keara grumbled. “I know I wouldn’t pass well as a man at my size, but someday you’re going to have your own ship, Ivory, and when you do, I’ll be at your side every time you set foot on her.”
I tied my duffle closed and turned to her and said, “I know you will, and I couldn’t imagine anyone, including me, could stop you.”
I was packed, dressed, and ready to set sail as Ivan. The girls walked me out to the stable, and as I mounted Peppi for the last time, I smiled down at them and made them promise not to worry about me. “You know I’ll be back, so stop your sniveling. I’m leaving Cassandra in charge, so don’t give her any guff, or you’ll have me to answer to when I return.”
“We’ll miss you,” Cass said, reaching up and taking my hand.
With a nod and a grin, off I flew to the Lady Jade .
Six
A NEEDLE AND THREAD
Throughout those two months working aboard the Jade , Rasmus had also required that I learn doctoring. Although I wasn’t a fully qualified doctor, I was the closest they could hope to come to one. I’d been schooled by an elderly physician by the name of Seamus McGraw, who, although sightless in one eye and confined to a chair for most of his days now, was not only an excellent teacher but storyteller as well.
I met with him on Sundays after church at his home. He no longer practiced medicine, but he’d been the Chandler’s family doctor for nearly twenty years before losing the sight in his left eye and most of the use of his legs due to a hard fall from a horse. His snow white hair and brogue told me before he did that he’d come from somewhere in Ireland. Although he’d lost his wife several years before, he’d managed to secure the services of a lovely young Jamaican woman who he referred to as his daughter. Her skin was the shade of tea with a splash of cream, and her eyes were a honey brown. I wondered if perhaps calling her his daughter was more than simply his appreciation of her doting care.
Doctor McGraw hadn’t lost his sense of humor and often teased me about being such a young fellow to take on a task as weighty as medicine, but he admired my long, nimble fingers, despite my callouses. In those two months, between his lengthy stories of gruesome wounds, infection and disease, he managed to impart to me basic medicine that he believed was sufficient to assist me aboard a ship. I’d, of course, not informed him of the nature of the ship’s business or possible injuries I’d be required to tend, but I could properly clean and stitch a wound, amputate a limb, and address basic stomach ailments and abrasions. Of course, stitching and removing splintered wood I was already familiar with.
On the final day of my brief education, Doctor McGraw had gifted me a medical kit to
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