Chapter Four

Fire:

"Close your eyes." She said to him.

"What?" He asked confused

"I have to take my shirt off. I don't want you to see." She said, giving him a look.

He sighed and shut his eyes. Morgan slowly took off her shirt, wincing at how it scraped against her wounds. She pulled the shirt around to her front covering her breast so they wouldn't show. She sat on the bed facing away from him.

"Ok." She whispered.

He opened his eyes. He wasn't sure what he expected to see but this wasn't it. Her back was nothing but blood. He could see two large gashes that were the cause of it but it was hard to tell if there was any other damage or wounds. He dunked  the cloth in the water, rung it out, and then carefully wiped her back. Morgan bit down on her lip to keep from crying out in pain. He repeated it again. Trying to just clear the blood away to see what he was dealing  with. After a third pass he could finally see her back. He was shocked at it. Her back was riddled with scars. Besides the two large gashes, her back was covered in bruises. She looked like she had been severely beaten. He took a deep breath in.

" What happened?" He asked softly.

"What's your name?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"Gavin. What-" he went to ask again but she cut him off.

"Named after your father?" It was a silly question but maybe it would change the subject.

"Lass-

"I told you we needed away out. That's why we got on your ship." She said calmly.

"The girl, is she your daughter?" He asked, trying to put this puzzle together.

"No, my little cousin." She said.

He could see the annoyance of the questioning in her body language. He felt sorry for her but didn't care that she was annoyed.

" Your back...husband?" He asked knowing he was pushing his limits.

"Husband? Pssh no husband" She laughed. Even though it was condescending, he liked it. 

"So-"

"So are you done? " She sighed

" You know Lass I would cut a man's tongue out if he interrupted me as much as you are." He smirked 

"It's Morgan " she said without looking at her he could tell she had a playful smile on her face.

He let out an exasperated sigh. She knew this persistent man was not giving up.

" Look, captain. I would rather not and say we did. I don't want to go trudging down my past. As soon as you dock Claire and I will be out of your hair." She said starting to get up.

"Sit" he grumbled, placing a hand on her shoulder making her sit back down.

" We need to bandage these to apply pressure." He said getting  up and walking over to his desk.

He fumbled around in the draws and came back with some bandages. Morgan glanced over her shoulder and seeing the bandage she began to panic. He would have to wrap it around her front and he would see her. He rolled his eyes at her, seeing the panicked look. He placed the  bandage lightly on her wound. She winced as it touched her skin. He then passed the bandage to her. 

"Here you do the front," He said shortly. 

She lowered the shirt carefully and wrapped the bandage around her chest and brought it to the other side, where Gavin  grabbed it and brought it across her back. He could see the side of her breast and he could feel himself growing tense at the situation. He cleared his throat as he tried to focus on the wounds and not her. It was becoming difficult. They passed the bandage a few times. Then Gavin got up, went to a closet and returned with a shirt and some pants.

"These may fit. My first mate was a rather small and thin man." He said placing on the bed and then walking out the door.

The sea air hit him as he leaned back against the door. He needed the cold air at this point. He needed more than cold air, he needed a drink. He watched his men move about the ship carrying out their duties. He spotted Jack and the girl , Claire cleaning some of the railings. What in the world was he going to do with these girls? He let out a groan in frustration.

"Captain?" One of the men asked.

"Nothing Earl. Go about your duties. " He said.

Earl was middle aged. Short and stocky. He hadn't been part of the crew long but he was a hard worker and quiet most of the time. He felt the door open behind him and he nearly fell back into Morgan. She placed her hands on his back to steady him. He gained his balance and he looked at her. She had a sweet silly smile on her face that could melt the heart of the coldest man.

"You ok?" She asked.

"Fine." He muttered  moving aside and out of the doorway.

She walked out and went to the railing leaning against it to have a look at the ship. Gavin froze. The pants did more than fit. They hugged every curve on her. His eyes traveled up her long legs and locked on her butt. Every curve on her he thought. The shirt was loose but you could see her outline and with the pants the imagination could dream the rest up. He wanted to know what it would feel like to run his hand down her thigh. What it would feel like to grab her by the hips. How her bottom would fit nicely in the palm of his hands. He swallowed hard. Trying to take her eyes off her and his thoughts  from her body. 

"So how can I help?" She asked turning around to face him.

You could get off my ship.  He wanted to yell. She was a huge distraction already and she hadn't even been here a day.

His eyes began to wander again with his thoughts. Damn it! He yelled at himself

"Earl." He shouted

"Yes captain?" Earl popped up to his aid.

"Take Morgan here and find something for her to do. Let the men know there will be  consequences if there's any misconduct with her." He said the last part was threatening.

"Aye aye." He said then turned towards Morgan.

"Right this way Miss. We'll find something for you to do." He smiled

Morgan smiled as she had been studying Gavin this whole time. She had noticed he kept getting uncomfortable and then angry. The man clearly had emotional problems she thought as she followed after Earl.

Gavin ducked back into his room and sighed with relief closing the door. This was going to be bad. This woman is on his ship. Nothing good could come of it. He pulled at his pants trying to loosen them from his discomfort. 

"Nothing but trouble." He muttered and then walked over to this map.

His map  wasn't a full map. But he had remembered it enough to fill in the blanks. His first mate, Travis and he had split the map in half. They both had to be present to go after the treasure. Now he didn't care about the treasure.  All he cared about now was finding Travis and making him suffer. He sank in his chair. He was getting a headache. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he thought.  He was exhausted. He leaned back on his chair trying to be comfortable and relax. Within a few minutes he dozed off.

He was walking back home. It had just started to rain. He hugged the groceries close to  him so they wouldn't get so wet. He had just rounded the corner to his street when he smelt the smoke. Something was wrong. He knew it in his heart. He raced up the cobble stone path trying to get to the top as quickly as he could. That's when he saw it. His small cottage was engulfed in flames. He dropped everything in his arms. The carton of eggs splatter on the stone. He raced towards his house. His wife Christina was home. Neighbors had gathered outside of it. Some with buckets of water trying their best to fight the flames. 

"Christina!" He shouted, his eyes searching the crowd.

"Christina!" He screamed again. 

There was no answer. His heart pounded as he looked at the house. He bolted towards the front door kicking it open. Black smoke poured out he couldn't see. He pushed inside. Smoked filled his lungs as he tried to make his way to their room.

"Chirstina!" He yelled, coughing as smoke filled his lungs.

The structure was starting to collapse. He was getting out of breath quicker than he thought he would. He struggled to pass the flames. His skin burned as tried pressing on. He hadn't made it very far inside. A piece of the ceiling fell blocking the way to their room. He began to cough  non stop now. He crouched on the ground trying to get below the smoke. 

"Christina!" He managed to  yell between coughs.

He felt his lungs giving out as he hit the ground. He woke up to the cold. His lungs were on fire as he tried to breathe air in. He forced himself up. The last thing he remembered was he was in his burning home searching for his wife. A neighbor steady him.

"Easy Gavin. I got you." He heard him say.

"Christina?" He said stil in a haze.

"We couldn't find her. We barely got to you before it all collapsed." His neighbor whispered. 

Gavin jumped up to his feet and spun towards his home. The fire was barely still burning but everything had collapsed. His home was nothing but a burning rumble. He fell to his knees staring at it in disbelief. 

"Christina. " He whispered as his whole world crashed. 

Another neighbor approached him cautiously.

"Gavin, you can stay with us tonight." He said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Gavun continued to stare at the debris. He didn't respond. He hung his head in defeat. What could have happened? What went wrong? He thought.

"Why." He whispered 

He nearly jumped up out of his chair at hearing his cabin door shut. He was still shaking from the dream. It was like it was yesterday he could swear the smell of his burning home was forever stored in his nose. Sweat beaded against his forehead as he tried to make out who entered.

"Captain?" A man asked.

"Aye what is it?" He said annoyed

"Well captain. Ya see the thing is. Well the men were talking a d-"

"John, get on with it." Gavin growled

"Well the man were talking and where are these misses gonna sleep." He asked stepping back 

"For God sakes John really one girl and this is how you all act." He said, shaking his head.

"Here. They will sleep in here. no one is allowed to touch anyone. If anything happens to them there will be consequences. " He growled.

The man nodded a few times before ducking back out the door. He steady himself against his chair. His mind returned to the dream. He remembers searching through the debris trying to find anything that would tell him if Christina had been in there or not. He knew in his heart she had been in there. He had waited for hours outside the burnt down home hoping she would come walking up. He had raced to the few friends she had houses and she had not been there. It was as he was sitting on the curb that a man approached him. He didn't say anything, just handed him a piece of paper and left. It was almost like he had never been there at all. He opened the folded paper and recognized the scribbles immediately:

Now that you no longer have any ties to this fake life you were leading; I'll see you on the sea. I'll be where my map ends. My condolences 

Gavin's blood boiled thinking of the night and the note. He would kill him.