“And the pirates didn’t suspect a thing?”
“No. You see, the box was made out of wood, and he made sure he threw it over just as the pirate ship got close, so they would see it still floating near the ship. When they saw that, they gave up. They didn’t leave peacefully, though.”
“What did they do?”
“Well, they beat several of the crew, trying to get information out of them, and in their fury upon seeing the box floating in the water, they struck the captain and threw him overboard, unconscious. But the cabin boy, who had been hiding behind the lifeboats in terror, saw the captain go overboard and threw a rope over the side of the ship. He climbed down, and quietly eased himself into the water. The pirates never noticed a thing!
“Now this boy, you see, he happened to be a strong swimmer, and made his way to where Captain Jeremiah was floating. The boy kept the captain’s head above water until the pirate ship was far enough away the crew could safely bring them aboard. Needless to say, that cabin boy was well looked after from then on.”
He put the model back on the shelf and said with a hint of reluctance in his voice, “Well, now, I suppose we’d both best get back to our work.”
Katherine turned and began to vigorously dust the shelf behind her, not wanting the captain to regret having taken time for the story. She somehow knew that there were many more he could tell, and she began to pay closer attention to the things she dusted, wondering what story each one would reveal.
8 Secrets and Stories
Wednesday had never seemed longer to Katherine. It was no different than any other Wednesday, with the Dailies each coming in at their appointed time, and the Luncheon Society’s ever-present chatter throughout the noon hour, but to Katherine, it all seemed to drag along at a snail’s pace.
Even the dishes seemed to take longer than usual, despite Miss Harriet being as cheery and talkative as ever. Katherine enjoyed giving her an account of her first day at the Harborside and Captain Braddock’s tale of the Anne’s first voyage, but all the while, she had a bubbling sort of impatience inside. She wished the evening would fly just a little faster, for tomorrow was Thursday, and she would be spending the entire day at the Harborside again. There was no telling what she might learn or discover!
Katherine did manage to sleep that night, although somewhat fitfully. When she awoke, the sun was smiling in, sending bright beams through the round window overhead. Katherine jumped out of bed, eager to begin the day.
As she hurried down the sidewalk to the Harborside that morning, the sun had already begun to warm the sticky air. Katherine looked up at the cloudless sky, thinking how glad she would be to work in the dark, cool storeroom most of the day. A slight breeze drifted in off the harbor, bringing a hint of freshness to the humid morning. Katherine smiled and breathed deeply, her heart full to bursting with gratefulness for the new day—a day which just might turn out to be an adventure.
She knocked on the door and the captain hurried to open it. After a quick greeting, he carefully informed her of the tasks he wanted her to finish that day. Having received her marching orders, Katherine eagerly took the clipboard off the wall and opened the door into the storeroom.
She savored the cool, musty air, which she now noticed smelled the same as the rooms above, but slightly staler, and with a bit of the earthy smell that always seemed to permeate old brick structures.
She flipped on the light and approached the first stack of boxes, looking carefully at the labels and trying to match them with the countries and addresses on the inventory sheet. It reminded her of a matching game she liked to play as a child. She took her time, determined to figure out every label on her own. Once the last shipment on the list had been checked off, she took out the boxcutter Captain Braddock had handed her when she arrived and set to work unpacking the boxes.
Thursday flew past with all the quickness Wednesday had lacked. Before she knew it, the mid-afternoon sun was streaming in through the tiny porthole window high up on the back wall of the Captain’s office. She had finished unpacking, had filled up the few empty jars on the shelves of the little shop, and stowed the rest of the teas in the larger jars kept behind the counter.
“Tea needs to be kept fresh; you see.” The captain had explained as he showed her how he wanted the lids carefully tightened down with the rubber gaskets just so.
Katherine placed the last jar behind the counter and straightened up. She noticed a woman outside one of the big shop windows. She had met a friend on the street, apparently, and seemed lost in conversation with her, while a small boy stood near them and looked around with boredom plainly evident on his face.
He was a cute little thing, about five years old or so, Katherine thought. She felt sorry for him, and when he turned his gaze inside the shop, she smiled and waved through the window. He waved back, and turned around again, tugging on his mother’s hand.
Captain Braddock came into the storefront carrying a jar he had been fitting with a new gasket and spotted the little boy outside. He told Katherine he would finish with the jars and instructed her to go fetch the broom beside the storeroom door and do some sweeping up.
Katherine quickly found the broom, but as she neared the doorway into the shop, she stopped short, shocked to see that the little boy had actually ventured inside! She shot a glance towards the window and saw his mother still deep in conversation, seemingly oblivious that her boy had wandered away.
Curious how the captain would handle this tiny customer, Katherine stood by the doorway, just out of sight, to see what he would do.
“Well, hello there, my little lad. And how are you today?”
Katherine had never heard the captain use such a gentle tone before, and watched with what could only be called shock as the little boy walked right up to the counter and began chattering away. He didn’t seem to be at all afraid of the old sea captain.
The boy rattled off something about the hot weather, and being bored outside. Then, catching sight of the captain’s hat on the old-fashioned coat rack, he exclaimed with wide-eyed admiration, “Are you a real captain?”
The captain looked grave and reached out his hand as he said, “Yes, I am. My name’s Captain Braddock. What’s yours?”
“Tommy. I never met a real captain before!” He gave the captain’s hand a hearty shake.
Captain Braddock opened one of the many small drawers in the back of the counter and fished something out, saying, “Well, now, Tommy, I suppose it must be awfully hard to stand and listen to the grownups gab out there in the heat, so here’s something to keep you occupied while you wait,” and with that, he reached down over the tall countertop and handed the boy a peppermint candy, adding, “Now, you make sure you ask yer mother before you eat that, and whatever you do,” he leaned further towards the little boy and dropped his voice to a solemn whisper, eyes twinkling, “don’t ye go telling yer little friends I gave that to yer.”
He ended with a quick wink, and the boy nodded in equal solemnity, turning to leave, then stopping at the door with a bright, “Thank you, Cap’n!” and a boyish salute as he left.
Katherine waited a moment, then walked in and began sweeping as if she hadn’t seen or heard a thing, but she did look over at the captain now and then with a secret smile.
We all keep a favorite picture of the ones we love squirreled away in our hearts, to be taken out and remembered again and again over the years. Katherine thought that this would be her favorite picture of the captain: leaning over the counter, dropping his persona of the grumpy old man, just for a moment, to make a small child feel important.
Katherine kept the Captain’s well-guarded spirit of benevolence a secret from all except Miss Harriet. She knew she could trust her friend to keep it to herself. They had come to a place of mutual confidence, and felt the freedom to discourse about any topic, without fear of their words being “bandied about the town”, as Miss Harriet once put it.
Miss Harriet found the intelligence concerning the captain’s interview with little Tommy surprising indeed, and replied by setting her teacup down on the table and gently exclaiming, “Well! So he’s got a heart after all underneath all that bluster. I always suspected as much, but I’ve never been able to discover just what the chink in his armor might be.”
“I guess now we know.” chuckled Katherine. “Although, I wonder when he first started keeping candy in that drawer? I suppose he must have gone out and bought it on purpose, for I’ve never seen him eat any.”
“It’s a tradition left over from when Serena was there.” Miss Harriet said with a sudden tinge of sadness in her voice.
“Really? Did she keep candy in a drawer for kids that came in?”
“Not exactly. She had it in a lovely cut glass candy dish atop the counter. She told me one day that she kept the candies in a dish with a lid so that the children had to ask her for one. Otherwise, she said, they would just reach right in, and then their parents would be embarrassed. She said having to ask discouraged her young customers from being quite so greedy.”
“I suppose when the captain took over the shop, he must have just swept it all into a drawer to get it off the counter. I’ve noticed that he’s very particular about what gets put out on that counter.”
The two agreed that must have been what happened, and Katherine resolved to keep her eye out for that candy dish.
