Nerdy and the Beast

Liam was having a hard time with, as Kamon put it, “using his pretty face to keep Emma distracted.” He did prefer keeping close to her to keep her away from the rest of the crew, but he was starting to get the sense she may have a crush on him. Which had been what Kamon wanted, but Liam’s conscience was plaguing him. It was bad enough that he had lied about being an investor and brought her here under false pretenses to begin with.

He knew he should keep his focus on the fact that this expedition was the key to his freedom. He could finally leave behind his life of crime and escape Kamon and Natasha’s clutches. And, as Natasha had pointed out, Laure was still alive. Liam rarely got a chance to see her since he’d been dragged into Kamon’s employ, since Kamon liked to dangle Liam’s sister like a fish on a hook. It was how he kept Liam in line; reminding him that he always had eyes on Laure and would kill her or worse if Liam grew too disobedient. All the same, he was the only one on their godforsaken ship that had any concern for Emma’s well being. So he’d just have to suck it up and continue to stick close to her. More than likely once they’d returned to Mistgrove, she’d get over her small crush.

“We’re off on a high seas adventure and I have a nice face, so I’ve been told,” Liam muttered to himself. “It’s just jungle fever. Sea fever. Whatever. It won’t last. Her feelings will fade once the novelty wears off.”

He nodded as he walked into the galley, sure he was right. His logic seems perfectly sound when he thought of it like that. And the soft spot he felt for her was just because he hated lying to a nice girl who wanted to save her museum. And she was the only person on this barge that he could hold a reasonable conversation with. It was nothing else.

“Nothing,” Liam said firmly.”There’s nothing happening.”

His thoughts strayed to the pen he kept tucked in his pockets and made a face as some traitorous voice whispered across his mind that he’d felt a weird tug in his chest when she’d given it to him, and again when she was so worried about him after his fight with the drunk.

“It was just indigestion,” he said, as if there were someone there to convince. Besides himself. Liam was distracted from his internal struggle when he heard a thud from inside one of the cupboards. Narrowing his eyes, he strode over and listened. There was definitely a rustling. It sounded too large for a rat. Liam yanked open the cupboard and a young boy tumbled out with a yelp.

“Ah, so it is a rat then,” Liam said dryly. The boy scrambled back, staring at Liam with wide eyes that peered out of a dirty, freckled face.

“Please, Sir,” the boy said, “I didn’t mean no harm. I was running away from some men who wanted to beat me, see, and this ship was there and no one was on board that I could see. I hid out but then I fell asleep and…” The boy’s eyes flicked longingly to the cupboards stuffed full of food.

“What’s your name?” Liam asked.

“Duncan, Sir. Duncan Early.”

“And how old are you, Duncan Early?”

“Fourteen,” Duncan said, too quickly. Liam just stared at him until he squirmed. “Just turned twelve,” he muttered.

“And won’t your parents be worried about you?”

“Don’t got any parents, Sir. Not anymore. Mum passed this winter and Da is…well he spends most of his time at the gambling hall and the pub. He forgets I’m even around unless he’s yelling at me.”

Liam ran his hands over his face. “I really don’t need this right now,” he grumbled. He sighed and looked at the kid. He was scrawny and clearly underfed.

“Has anyone else seen you yet?”

“No, Sir.” Duncan seemed to gain from confidence from this, sitting up a little straighter. Then he turned wary. “You’re not going to…throw me overboard, are you, Sir? Make me walk the plank and such?”

“What? No, I’m not going to throw you overboard.”

“Lock me in the brig?”

“No.”

“Throw me to some sharks?”

“Duncan, I’m gonna need you to stop with these questions. I’m not going to hurt you, all right? But I need you to listen to me. The crew on this ship are…not child-friendly. Now look, I’ll let you stay on, as a cabin boy of sorts. You’ll be fed, and have a place to sleep. But you will answer to me, and avoid the rest of the crew as much as possible. If you don’t get in their way they likely won’t notice you much. And listen now, this is important. There is a man, the captain. He’s a big guy, with a mean look on his face and a gold earring. And a woman, with long black hair. You must take extra care to avoid the two of them. Do you understand me, Duncan?”

“Yes, Sir. You’ll really let me stay?” Duncan looked at him eagerly.

“Yes, I’m letting you stay. You’d have to stay until the next port anyway, and you’re welcome to leave when we dock again if you want to.”

“Begging your pardon, Sir, but I’d have thought you were the captain of this ship. You have a captain’s air about you and all.”

“Well…thank you. And you don’t need to keep calling me “Sir.” You can just call me Liam.”

“Doesn’t seem proper, Sir.”

“Mister Liam?” Liam suggested, decidedly uncomfortable with being addressed as if he was someone important. There was a knock on the door and they both froze, liam gesturing to Duncan to duck out of sight. But when the door opened it was just Emma, to Liam’s relief.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but I just needed to speak with you,” Emma said, seeming nervous. “About last night, I want to apologize.”

“Apologize? For what, exactly?”

“I fear I’ve made you uncomfortable and I’m sorry if I’ve seemed too forward or have behaved unprofessionally. I know you’re going to great cost and effort to finance this voyage and I don’t want to seem as if I’m taking that lightly.”

“Emma, I really don’t know what you mean. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Perhaps I should stop taking up so much of your time. You’ve spent nearly every day catering to me, and you must have more important-“

“You’re not taking up my time,” Liam interrupted. “You are the entire reason for this voyage, all I did was fund it. Besides, who else around here am I going to spend my afternoons with? Kamon wouldn’t know what to do with a book if it walloped him in the face.”

Emma looked surprised, then slightly amused. “But if I do at any point cross a line-“

“You won’t,” Liam assured her. “I didn’t rush out on you so suddenly because I was offended by you. I just-“

“He had indigestion,” Duncan piped up from where he was hiding beside the stove. Liam could have throttled him.

“Who’s there?” Emma frowned.

“It’s all right, Duncan, come on out,” Liam sighed. Duncan reluctantly came out of hiding, hastily wiping at his dirty cheeks.

“Oh!” Emma exclaimed. “Who is this?”

“A stowaway.” Liam shook his head. “He’s my new cabin boy. Emma, this is Duncan Early. Duncan, this is Miss Emma Cunningham.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss,” he said politely.

“What a little gentleman.” Emma looked ready to scoop him up and adorn him with bows. Liam rolled his eyes heavenward.

“God help me, we have a charmer in our midst,” he said. “Duncan, listen up. Emma is the only other person on this ship besides myself that you can freely associate with. Stick close to one of us at all times. Emma is very kind and she’s not going to rat you out or hurt you. Can you read and write?”

“Yes, Sir-Mister Liam. I didn’t get much school but Mum made sure I went to learn my letters and numbers and such.”

“Good lad. You can act as a research assistant to Emma then, when she needs your help. If she’s all right with that?”

“Of course,” Emma said. “If you like to read, I have some books you can look at.”

“I like reading quite a lot, Miss Emma. Haven’t had much chance to do it though.”

“Sit, Duncan. I’ll put together something for you to eat and I want to show you something.”

Liam went to the far wall, removing a jar of crushed thyme and revealing a small hidden room behind the shelves. Duncan and Emma both looked delighted. Liam knew of the secret compartment since Kamon had sent him to scare Horace Whippol into lending it to them. He’d received a tour and hadn’t shared this particular nugget of information with anyone else.

“You can sleep here, I’ll bring you a blanket and pillows. And should anything ever happen, anything dangerous, you come here and hide. Just…remember the thyme,” he instructed, holding up the jar he’d moved to open the room. He fixed a bowl of porridge for the boy and got him some fruit to eat. Duncan dug in with gusto; he probably hadn’t eaten in days.
“It was very nice of you to let him stay, instead of getting him into trouble,” she said quietly while Duncan ate. Liam shrugged.

“I lost my mom too when I was Duncan’s age,” he said without thinking. “Pneumonia. It’s…hard on a kid.”

“I didn’t realize…I’m so sorry.”

Liam shook his head, giving her a half smile. “I’m sorry to unexpectedly saddle with you with a pint sized assistant,” he said.

“Oh, no. He seems like a nice boy. With you two around this ship won’t feel quite so lonely.”

“Yes, well. I’m glad to hear it. It’s a long trip, I wouldn’t want you to get lonely.”

They were looking at each other, and Emma was giving Liam a sort of soft-eyed look that was making him squirm. In part because he wasn’t deserving of such a look, and partly because he kind of liked it.