“You weren’t injured.”
Fair enough. “You have books?”
He grinned, showing deep creases at the corner of his eyes. “Meet me at my cabin at the end of second dog watch, when you hear them ring the bell eight times.”
“Where is your cabin?”
He rose, stuffing the tobacco pouch back in his pocket. “Two steps from yours, my dear.” He clamped the pipe stem between his teeth, climbed the ladder, and quickly shut the hatch again.
Harriet itched to go up on deck and talk to the surgeon more, but he seemed to need time alone with his pipe. Besides, Sheffield was up there.
She nibbled on a ship’s biscuit, tapped her toes in time to the fiddle music, and eagerly anticipated the end of the second dogwatch.
* * *
Nick noted their location and speed in his logbook and took a final glance around the
