I, Mary
by Mike Hartner
by Mike Hartner
Publisher: Eternity 4 Popsickle Publishing
Pages: 266
Genre: Historical Romance
Mary Crofter's first trip on the water was just after her
first birthday, when her parents came from her birthplace in Kilwa to Portsmouth Portsmouth London
For More Information:
- I, Mary is available at Amazon.
- Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
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Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
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Book Excerpt:
I
looked upon the gray waters that surrounded me.
To the west it was dark and cloudy, the wind blustering. But as I braced myself against the gale
hitting full force against my peacoat, I smiled.
It
was fitting that I was here, and nothing could ever convince me otherwise. I’d been birthed on land but it wasn’t long
afterward that I was on the water—and acquiring my sea legs. From the time I could walk, I learned to
balance myself on the uneven deck. And later to climb the gnarly spars and
ultimately the sayles. My parents taught
me my numbers and to read and write as well.
Numbers, well, was my best subject, and I was good at that. But my time at sea was what I loved the
most. In truth, the only fun I remember
in my childhood was when they took me on our merchant ship from our home in
Portsmouth to London or to Bristol. It
wasn’t the location that I liked or the end of the journey; no, for me it was
the sayling, standing on the deck, listening to the wind, watching the ocean
and the clouds and . . . late at night . . . the stars. I wanted to be on the sea forever, and I knew
this from my very first time aboard ship.
I
remember very well every one of those trips, because during each voyage I would
close my eyes and concentrate, and it was as if I were talking to the
water. And through a combination of
waves and the ship’s motion, it felt as if the sea was in turn communicating
with me.
I
recall all of the journeys with my father and his good friend, Captain
Jose. The saylors on those ships were
always good to me, and I came to respect all of them. They taught me sayling while they went about
their own jobs. Even as a little kid I
was taught how to tie knots. And when I
was eleven they instructed me on how to throw knives and swing a cutlass. Soon afterward I was taught how to prime,
load, and shoot a musket. But I turned
up my nose at the musket, even the smaller flintlock pistols. To me, there was no honor in this sort of
fight. No great talent was needed to
shoot somebody. Any idiot could pull a
trigger. In my mind, it required real
skill to defeat a man, or woman for that matter, with a cutlass. And, yes, I will take up swords against a
woman. Because, you see, I am one also.
Captain Jose had been a friend of the family
since before I was born. He’d sayled
with my father, James, and my mother, Rosalind.
I heard the stories of the trip from Kilwa, where I was born, and then
to Portsmouth, where we now live. I
don’t know how they originally met because I haven’t been told that yet, but
Captain Jose is so close to the family that I’ve always called him Uncle Jose
or Uncle for short.
Currently, I am not quite twelve years old,
thin as a rail, a little over eleven hands high, and maybe weighing four stone
soaking wet. My hair is long enough to
wear tied behind so it looks like the tail on a pony, but many men wear their
hair the same way, so no one would know I was a girl just by looking at me.
I
was in the office of Crofter Shipping Yards one day when Uncle Jose called me
to him said, “Come over here and sit down.”
He was always so nice to me that I never hesitated at any request of
his, so I took a seat next to him. He
gave me a funny look, kind of sly but not really since he smiled right
away. “I’ve already talked to your
parents, and both James and Rosalind agree with me.”
I
looked at him and fidgeted, not having a clue what he was going to say next.
“You’ve
sayled with your father and me all your life.
We brought you to Portsmouth on a carrack many years ago. You’ve been on the caravel we sayled to Le
Havre and on a special boat too, a cog—the one with just one sayle—when we
sayled to London.”
I
nodded at him, but I was confused. Had I done something wrong?
“Mary,
there is a caravel that will be leaving these shipping yards in a little over a
week. It's headed to the north of
Scotland. Seldom do pirates sayle these
waters, so other than weather it will be relatively safe and . . .” My eyes
widened. Was I getting the right
message? Was he really doing this? Was he really going to make my dream come
true? “If you should be interested, I
can schedule you to take your sayling tests in the next few days so you can be
on that caravel and start out as part of the crew on this trip. This way, you can see if sayling is really
what you want to do.”
I
threw myself at Uncle Jose. “Yes, yes.
Please, yes.”
He
laughed. “Then let’s go get you some
sayling clothes and set you up to crew on your very first ship. Then I’ll introduce you to the captain.” I jumped up from my chair but Uncle Jose
pointed to me so I’d retake my
seat. His face turned solemn, almost to
a frown. “There’s something we need to
discuss, and this won’t be easy to talk about.
I brought this up this with your parents, and they told me to go ahead
and tell you.”
Uncle
Jose’s change of attitude was so great that I was startled. “I don’t understand.”
“I’ve
already spoken to the captain, since I assumed you’d say yes. And he assured me that his main crew will
respect you as a girl and also as a Crofter.
But there are always new men brought on board. And even though the regular crew is honorable
as far as this captain knows, they are still men of the sea. Mary, do you understand what I’m saying to
you?”
“Your crew was always wonderful to me.” As soon as I said this I started to think back
to all the times the men had helped me.
“You
were a young girl who was the daughter of the owner of the ship, and I was the
captain who knew each man well. If
anyone had stepped out of line, he would have been run through or thrown
overboard. This will be different, and
you must understand that you are older now, almost a woman if you aren’t
already. I don’t know how else to put it,
but to say you will have to be on your guard at all times. The captain will have a couple of his most
trusted men watching over you, but even a caravel is a big enough boat that . .
. well, no person can be looked after day and night.”
I
hadn’t given what Uncle Jose was talking about a single thought, but I wasn’t
scared. “I’m not saying I can take down
a saylor, but I know how to defend myself, and Mother has taught me how to hurt
a man where it hurts the most.”
Uncle
Jose let out a muffled laugh that might’ve been a groan. “Always know who’s around you, and be aware
that you’re going to constantly have to prove yourself.”
“Because
I’m a girl?” I snapped, mad that I’d done so at Uncle Jose.
“Yes,”
he came back just as fast, but then he smiled and showed his big teeth. “Just be aware that nothing I have said was
with the intent of trying to talk you off the boat. I just don’t want you—”
“Uncle
Jose, I’ve heard the men talk on the boats since I was first able to walk the
decks. Sometimes I’d hear things that I
know I wasn’t supposed to, and as I got older many saylors didn’t even think I
was not one of them, so I’m not unaware that men are going to be men at
times. I can handle myself, I promise.”
“Let
us hope you don’t have to.” He stared
hard at me. “At least with the crew.”
About the Author:
Mike Hartner was born in Miami United States Vancouver ,
British Columbia , Canada
His latest book is the historical romance, I,
Mary.
For
More Information:
- Visit Mike Hartner’s website.
- Connect with Mike on Facebook and Twitter.
- Find out more about Mike
at Goodreads.
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