Jamestown Brides - Chapter 3 - (part 9)
His lips pressed a kiss on her hand. “No, I can assure you the pleasure is all mine.”
She blushed under his gaze, as she removed her hand. Anna was sure she could see a devilish look in his gorgeous blue eyes. Something about him tugged at her heart, she wasn’t sure what it was, just that this darkly handsome man made her pulse beat faster. Anna quickly gathered her wits and stood up as best she could, considering the low ceiling, and walked over to where Edward and Henry were.
“Edward or Henry, can one of you sit with the Major, and make sure he doesn’t fall asleep. I’d like to make sure he stays awake for a few hours just till I know his head injury isn’t going to affect him.” She said with concern in her voice. “Then can the other one help me with the other passengers?”
Edward spoke. “Henry can sit with the Major and I’ll help you with the passengers.” He picked up a bucket of water and some rags and went to help Anna.
She spent most of the night helping the other passengers, when she wasn’t wiping down brows or bringing water and biscuits she was telling stories to the passengers because they seemed to enjoy it. As the day turned into weeks, she organized passengers who felt better into teams, to take turns at different tasks. Anna had always been a natural born leader and the situation at hand had flipped her natural instincts back into gear.
As time allowed during the next three weeks, Anna would grab her sketchpad and draw pictures. One day she sketched some of the crewmembers, dressed in their sailor’s slops. They explained how they were called slops, because they were loose fitting breeches, which allowed them to slop around the rigging comfortably. The sailors also wore white gathered neckline shirts, and brightly colored neckerchief, which she noticed they used to mop sweat on their brow or tie back their hair in the wind. She thought it was funny that the sailors never wore shoes or stockings, but they told her it was easier to move about without them. They were the first men she had ever seen that went barefoot in public.