orik watched carefully over his men as they taught Evie about the ropes and sails, rigging and tools. He smiled in pride over her eagerness to learn and fascination with everything around her.

     “Looks like a storm’s brewin’, Captain,” the helmsman warned. 

     Rorik sighed deeply as he looked ahead and saw storm clouds clustering in the near distance. 

     “Evie,” he called out. “Join me at the helm, my girl.” 

     Falan took her hand and hurried her up the steps of the poop deck.

      “Uncle Rorik! Uncle Rorik!” she cried out as she ran to him. 

     He lifted her into his arms and gave her a hug. 

     “I learned starboard and port and I helped roll up a spare sail!” she said excitedly. 

     “I saw,” he chuckled and nodded his appreciation to the men who helped her. “Would you like to help me turn the wheel now?” 

     She gasped loudly and nodded her head so fast, her long blonde curls bounced around her shoulders.  

     He called for a foot stool and helped her up so she could see over the wheel, then showed her where to place her hands. 

     “Are we going home, Uncle?” she asked with a hint of sadness. 

     “A storm is before us,” he answered and pointed for her to see.

     “Can we turn away from it? I don’t want to go home yet,” she pouted. 

     “We’ll be turning away as we head into port,” he answered. “You’ll still have plenty of time to enjoy yourself on the way. The sun is hanging low in the sky and your mother will have dinner waiting. Aren’t you hungry?” 

     She held onto the spokes of the wheel as Rorik held his hands over hers to help her turn it. 

     “You have a galley onboard,” she simply answered. 

     He laughed along with the men nearby who heard. 

     “Mister Falan and Mister Newton said the galley has wonderful food that I’ve never tasted,” she continued. “May I have some before I leave?” 

     He looked down as she turned her head to look up at him. He smiled and nodded. 

     “I’ll have the cook pack food for you as well as share some of his exotic herbs and spices with your mother,” he promised. 

     He flicked the end of her nose with his finger and she giggled. She pulled the pipe out of his mouth and rested it between her teeth. 

     “Hoist the sails and tie up the ropes!” she called out in a commanding fashion. 

     The men chuckled and replied, “Aye, Captain!” 

     “Tell the cook to bring me his best food!” she ordered and they responded the same. 

     “Uncle,” she said as she turned to him again. “Can I invite your crew to dinner?” 

     Rorik grinned. “I know they would appreciate the offer, Evie, but your mother would flog me if I showed up at her door with dozens of men in need of a bath.” 

     “Mother won’t mind,” she argued. “She and Father often feed the poor and hungry, and homeless people never bathe or cut their hair.” 

     The crew laughed and one of them called out, “Hear that, men? We’re just a touch cleaner than vagrants!” 

     Rorik shook his head and patted her arm. “We will see what Mina says when I bring you home.”

     Evie squealed in delight knowing her mother never turned down anyone in need of food. She looked up at Rorik thoughtfully and smiled. 

     “Uncle Rorik, I want to be like you,” she told him. 

     He looked into her glistening blue eyes filled with love and adoration and gently stroked her cheek. 

     “How is that, my sweet girl?” he wondered.

     “I’m going to have my own ship and my own crew someday,” she replied. 

     Her tone was determined and in that spirit he had known so well of her mother. She would have that life if it’s what she set her mind to, and it worried him. 

     He sighed and patted her head as she looked forward once again to give orders to an indulging crew. He decided then and there she would never come aboard his or any other ship again. The last thing he wanted was for this sweet, tenderhearted girl to live among a crew of privateers barely different from the pirates they hunted for the king.