Страница 42 из 65
"You still know more'n me."
"I suppose I do." He took a deep breath. "I would be happy to help you, Ana
"Really?"
He nodded.
I hugged him. Just threw my arms around his shoulders without thinking, like he was Chari or Papa or one of the Tanarau crew. I realized what I did quick enough, though, when he stuck his hand on my upper back all awkward, like he wasn't sure what to make of me touching him. I pushed away, dropped my arms to my side. "Sorry," I muttered.
"Your enthusiasm for learning gives me hope for the future," he said. "We can start now, if you'd like. You don't seem to be… working."
"I'm the daytime crew." I squinted. "I thought you wanted to go down below."
He took his time answering. "Well, the air up here is much more pleasant."
"Yeah, never was clear how you could stand the smell."
He looked like he wanted to laugh, but cause he's Naji he didn't.
"We'll need something to write on. And some ink."
"I'll ask Marjani." The whole night seemed brighter now. Naji wasn't glowering no more, and I was about to learn something neither Mama or Papa'd ever saw fit to teach me proper.
Naji nodded at me, and I ran off to the captain's quarters, to find some ink and scraps of sail.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Marjani taught me the basics of navigation in the evenings, mostly, after mealtime when the bulk of the crew was up on deck drinking rum and watching the sun disappear into the horizon line. It was a lot of measuring and taking notes, and at first she just had me work off the records she took so I could learn how to do the calculations. And Naji gave me practice equations during the day, when there wasn't no sailwork for me to do. He came up on deck and everything, and we sat near the bow of the ship while I worked through them.
The crew ignored us the first few days, just went about their business like we weren't there. Then Ataño picked up on us and took to swinging down when I was working, asking me what I was writing for but staring at Naji while he asked.
"Ain't none of your business," I told him, scribbling with Naji's quill. It didn't work no magic for me. Wouldn't even tell me the answers to the equations.
"I du
"Ana
Ataño howled with laughter, too stupid or too intent on acting the bully to notice that Naji hadn't answered his question. My face turned hot like it had a sunburn but I kept scribbling cause I wanted to learn navigation more than I wanted Ataño to like me.
"The hell?" Ataño asked. "That's even better'n the idea of her writing spells." He laughed again.
"Don't you got deck duty?" I muttered. It was hard to concentrate on the equation with him standing there gaping at me.
"You can't tell me what to do," he said.
"She will once she learns navigation," Naji said, "and you're serving under her colors."
I stopped writing, embarrassed as hell but also a little bit pleased that Naji thought I could be a captain someday.
There was this long pause while Ataño stared at Naji. "She ain't never go
"Yes, that's probably true," Naji said. "Since I doubt she would require the services of someone as incompetent as you."
I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing, but then I noticed Ataño staring at Naji with daggers in his eyes. Naji didn't seem to care much, but it occurred to me that we probably shouldn't be stirring up trouble when we were riding on this boat as guests.
Fortunately, the quartermaster stomped up to us and cuffed Ataño on the head before he could say anything more. "Get your ass to work," he said to Ataño, before fixing his glare on me.
"Doing something for Marjani," I said real quick, which was what she'd told me to say if any of the other officers caught me practicing. The quartermaster wrinkled up his brow, but he nodded and sauntered off.
"You shouldn't have said that to Ataño," I told Naji. "You made yourself an enemy just now. You see his eyes?"
"I'm not afraid of children."
I frowned and started working real hard on the next equation so Naji wouldn't see my face. The ink blotted across the sail.
"You're pressing too hard," Naji said.
"I ain't a child," I muttered.
"What?"
"Ataño's the same age as me." I didn't mean to tell him but it came out anyway. "And I ain't a child."
Naji stared at me. I stared back as long as I could but Naji was always go
"You're the same age as him?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah. Seventeen."
This long heavy pause.
"Hmm," Naji said. "I put him at thirteen."
"Oh, shut up. You did not."
"Well, I'd put him at thirteen by his actions. Thirteen or seventeen, it doesn't matter. He can't hurt me." He hesitated. "I won't let him hurt you–"
"Oh please." I tossed the quill and sail scrap down to the deck. "You think I'm scared of Ataño? You really think–"
Then I saw that sparkle in Naji's eye and knew he was laughing at me.
"See?" he said. "Now you know how it feels."
I glared at him for a few seconds. He looked so pleased with himself, but he also looked kind of happy, and that was enough for me to turn my attention back to my equations. I was happy, too, about finally learning navigation, and the possibility that I could become an officer on a ship, which was the first step to having my own boat. And there hadn't been any whispers about the Hariri clan, either. I was starting to see my future again.