Page 24 of Escaping Pirates (Legends of Neverland #4)
S ugar and Blossom possessed the unique skill of scattering their possessions as far and wide as possible, then inevitably wondering where they’d got to.
After their morning tea, it took me more than twenty minutes to track down each component of the porcelain tea set.
I dug teaspoons out from under the couch, found a teacup wedged into the cushions on the bay window seat overlooking the ocean, and swept up tiny dunes made from spilled sugar.
Once I managed to finally collect everything and pile it onto the silver tray, I backed out of their quarters and into someone standing just outside the door.
“Beg pardon,” I began, but as I turned and saw who I’d bumped into, my heart plummeted. Now I knew who Captain Harsh had been meeting with.
It was his brother, Tyrone.
His oily black hair was slicked back and tied into a low ponytail fastened at the base of his head, and his moustache looked greasier than an eel’s slippery body .
He bowed low and took the tray out of my hands. Too stunned to do anything else, I allowed it.
“My lady, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” he crooned as his greedy eyes slowly dragged up and down my front.
“Captain,” I murmured by way of greeting. “I didn’t see you there.”
“Call me Tyrone, love. And think nothing of it. I quite enjoyed it, to be honest. How providential that our paths should cross so quickly after I came aboard. It’s as though it was meant to be.”
My insides curdled. I tried to take the tray back, but he was too strong and refused to slacken his grip.
“Elena, love, I never did get that dance we talked about.”
“I have work to do, Captain,” I said, tugging harder on the tray.
“I can make it so you never have to work another day of your life,” he told me, pulling the loaded tray closer to his chest. “Besides, there’s always time for recreation, and I told you to call me Tyrone.”
Where were Sugar and Blossom when I needed them?
“ Captain , I really have no time for dancing. I need to wash this tea set?—”
Tyrone released the tray right as I gave another tremendous tug, and I tumbled backwards, down the wooden steps leading to the deck. The porcelain cups, saucers, and teapot shattered with an almighty crash .
“What was that?” Sugar shrieked from inside her quarters.
They were going to have a fit when they saw what had become of their favorite tea set. Just as the door to the captain’s quarters flew open, Tyrone swooped down to my side, taking far too much time to brush fragments of the broken porcelain off my dress .
“Dear, dear, so clumsy of you,” he murmured, wrapping an arm around my waist and lifting me to my feet. I cringed at his touch, which gave me a feeling just as slimy as his hair.
“Ella, what did you do ?” Blossom screamed, staring at the broken cups. “You half-wit!”
Before his girls could cry out, “Daddy!” as they always did, Captain Harsh appeared and glowered at the broken pieces of crockery.
“Explain, girl!” he barked at me.
“It was my fault, Harsh,” Tyrone cut in smoothly. “I’m afraid I surprised your serving girl here, and she accidentally dropped the tray. Allow me to replace it. I have a particularly fine set aboard the Fortune Hunter that I know my nieces would enjoy.”
“Scurvyella should be the one to replace it, not you,” Sugar sneered. “She broke it, after all.”
“Perhaps, but I’m a gracious man who’s willing to take responsibility for my part in this unfortunate mishap. I’ll send a man now to fetch the set. It’s the finest porcelain imported from Haven Harbor and is trimmed with gold.”
“Ooooh, gold!” The girls squealed together, holding hands and jumping up and down with excitement.
I wanted to shout that Tyrone was the sole cause of the accident, but I held back. No one would believe an enslaved scullery maid’s story when a ship’s captain had already spoken. And Tyrone knew Sugar and Blossom well enough to know that they would never turn down a gift like an exotic tea set.
“Girl, what do you say?” Harsh growled at me.
My jaw clenched before I gave a small curtsy. “Thank you, Captain, for your generosity.” I hated the feeling of each word as it weighed on my tongue .
“I’m sure you can make it worth my while,” he said with a self-satisfied smile. “I heard that Berkway is planning to celebrate Prince Ernst’s coronation soon, and I must confess that the news put me in a festive mood. Wouldn’t you girls agree?”
Sugar and Blossom bobbed their heads up and down.
Tyrone stroked his moustache. “If I remember correctly, Harsh, you said that your girls were fond of dancing.”
“Ella taught us to dance just like her,” Sugar cooed. “We’re ladies now.”
“Indeed? I’d very much want to see her talent in action.”
“Talent is an exaggeration,” I said, staring resolutely at the shards on the floor that I needed to sweep up. “I’d rather not?—”
“How ungrateful can you be, wench?” Harsh boomed.
“My brother just offered to take care of your clumsy mistake, asking a mere dance in return for an imported luxury worth twelve times anything you’ve ever owned, and you turn him down?
” He shook his head at me then directed his attention to Tyrone.
“Elena would be delighted to dance with you this evening. My girls are eager to dance with Harlan, and we would be honored to have you join us.”
Sugar and Blossom squealed again. “A real dance! How exquisite!”
“I don’t have a suitable dress,” I protested, grasping at the last excuse I could think of.
Tyrone’s lip curled into a covetous smile. “I happen to have a gown perfect for such an occasion aboard my ship. I’ll send it over so you girls can start getting ready.”
I gaped in horror at the so-called gown Tyrone sent for me. It was the type of low-cut, form-fitting dress that only raunchy tavern maids would wear in less reputable company.
“Blossom, may I borrow one of your dresses?” I begged.
“No scullery maid is going to wear my clothes,” she said snippily. “Now help me with my hoops. I want to dazzle Harlan tonight.”
“Sugar?” I pleaded, fastening the hoops in place around Blossom’s waist to give her the illusion of having hips. “May I borrow one of yours? Please.”
“It would be an insult not to wear what my uncle sent for you,” she sniffed, powdering her nose in front of the vanity. “And after all he did for you today, you owe him. Just put it on. They’ll expect us soon.”
I owed Tyrone nothing but contempt.
Perhaps I would be able to get away with staying in my dirty and patched servant dress. I didn’t care about offending Tyrone, but I did worry what Harsh would do if he felt I had intentionally insulted his kin. And it wasn’t me who would pay the price; it was Harlan.
The afternoon wore on, and I worked on every task possible to procrastinate getting myself ready. I even found excuses to complete the dirtiest of chores and didn’t bother to wipe the grime from my face and arms. Would Tyrone lose interest if my hygiene was poor enough?
My feeble rebellion was quickly squashed.
An hour before dusk, Captain Harsh arrived.
After praising his daughters until they glowed with pride, he turned a scathing eye on me.
The venomous look he gave me made me wish I had flung myself into the ocean instead of agreeing to act as his daughters’ handmaiden.
He stalked toward me like a cat toward a mouse, and I felt just like a powerless mouse cornered by a predator. His fist clenched around my upper arm.
“Let me make myself clear,” he hissed. His shouting had always made me anxious, but this low, venomous tone was far more frightening.
“You will get cleaned up and into whatever my brother sent for you, and you will be ready to go with a smile on your face by the time the sun sets, or I’ll let you spend the evening with my crew in the galley, and I assure you that they won’t be as benevolent as Tyrone. You won’t get another warning.”
A fresh surge of fear tightened my chest so that breathing became impossible. Harsh released my arm and backed away, flashing a final warning look as he left the cabin.
With the fresh threat to motivate me, I rushed to get ready.
Sugar and Blossom were too pre-occupied with practicing dancing to pay me any mind, so I hurriedly bathed, combed my hair, and squeezed into the tiny dress.
There was hardly enough of a bodice to deserve the name.
I felt so ashamed that I didn’t even want to look in the mirror.
At least I had Harlan’s letter tucked safely away.
“Well, well, it looks as though Scurvyella thinks she’s a princess now,” Blossom said when she finally noticed that I’d gotten ready. “Going to be too good to scrub the floors now?”
Sugar’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t go thinking that this makes you anything other than a servant, Scurvyella.”
I couldn’t help it; I snuck a look at my reflection.
Sugar and Blossom may have considered my outfit flattering and attractive, but I felt nothing but humiliation as I stared at the mirror.
The tight crimson dress hugged my curves and cinched my waist to nearly non-existent.
I hadn’t realized how emaciated my middle had become, and no matter how much I tugged it up, the plunging neckline showed enough that I easily could have been mistaken for a barmaid at a seedy tavern.
My cheeks burned so brightly that they matched my dress, and instead of styling my hair into an elegant updo to match Sugar and Blossom’s, I left it down, praying that it would hide as much skin as possible.
Sugar and Blossom strutted out, prancing so that their hips swayed from side to side. Their wide hoops accentuated their backsides even more than normal, a fact that both girls seemed delighted to flaunt.