A Captains Life (Story One .6)

[Rosebud]

Dupree preferred the cooler evening hours to the humid afternoons of the Caribbean. Often sleeping through the suns zenith, he would return above deck as it sunk low. Awakening to any situation that required his attention was easier in the light of day then the shroud of night. On this night he was walking the quarterdeck under a half moon. Charleston was two days out. Even with the slight cowardly route change, he would dock ahead of schedule.

 

 

 That’s when the largest rat he had ever seen on a ship scampered across his boot. It stopped just feet away to eat some ill-gotten morsel. Rats were a problem on every ship; no vessel was immune from their company. It was this particular rat’s attitude that Dupree noted. Most would run for the cover of barrels or stacked line…not this one. This one consumed its fare with arrogant distain for Dupree. Suddenly it hit Dupree, they all acted like this. So accustomed had he and every other sailor become to their presence that they were ignored, left to their own. Randolph Dupree never liked the nasty animals and was sick of seeing them.

 

 

He kicked the furry creature across the deck. It squealed as it tumbled into a bulkhead. Then it turned, charging directly back toward Dupree. He moved quickly, grabbing a stay line he hoisted himself to safety just as the crazed rodent bull passed beneath. King, who was helming the ship at that time, roared with laughter.  This brought on the attention of some nearby sailors aloft. Hearing Kings laughter the rat turned and charged him. Circling the helm several times, King tried in vain to avoiding the hairy beast as it ran up his pant leg. Now Dupree and the other sailors doubled over with laughter. Just as the rodent cleared Kings waste band he deftly brushed it toward the rigging lines.

 

 

The angry rat scurried up the line toward the sailors aloft.  They in turn tried as best they could to distance themselves from the creature. The progress of the animal could be measured in the reactions of the sailors it passed. Dupree wondered through tears of laughter how none fell. As fate would have it little Timmy was aloft that night. Lil Tim was on his first cruise, brought along by his father. It was just bad luck that the rat zeroed in on him and rushed down the top of a mast toward him. Just as the rat came within his reach, Timmy swiped it off the mast and into the dark swirls of the water below.

 

 

For a brief moment the only sound that could be heard was the waves crashing into the ships bow and the creak of her timbers. Then a roaring cheer that awoke the sleeping crew below. The laughter and stories continued into the morning sunrise. Little Timmy enjoyed his new stature as both hero and villain until the Ricki Tiki docked at Charleston.

Edited February 13, 2016 by Rosebud