The baker kept throwing them a wary glance, probably contemplating whether to risk making Captain Hal Jordan angry by insisting he remove the monkey from his premises. Kyle smiled to himself. Little did the baker realize that Hal would have agreed with him.
The little monkey sat on his lap, devouring a piece of buttered bread. Kyle held the end of a piece of twin that attached to a collar around its neck. The shopkeeper had warned him the creature would need the leash when it was out of its cage at first, to give it time to get used to him and learn who its master was.
He patted the small brown head, then looked up at Hal. Hal was still frowning. “I think I’ll call her Mona,” he said. “After the painting by DaVinci. I saw a copy of it in London once.” He looked down at his new pet. “She kind of looks like a Mona.”
Hal just shook his head. “You know they throw their shit, don’t you? And they bite.”
“If you don’t like them so much, then why did you buy her for me?”
“Because if I didn’t buy it for you, you would have been mooning over it for weeks. And you gave me that look, with the sad eyes and the lower lip pouting.” Hal leaned back and crossed his arms. “It’s really not fair, looking at me like that.”
Kyle just gave him an innocent smile. He couldn’t help it if Hal was such a pushover.
They left the bakery, Kyle with Mona on his shoulder and Hal carrying the empty cage. “Don’t you think you should put it away?” Hal asked.
“She’s been locked up too much. She’s fine, Hal.” A small hand patted his cheek as if in agreement.
They walked leisurely down the main street of Tortuga that ran parallel to the wharf. The old man with the violin was sitting on a crate, scratching out lively tunes and there was raucous singing coming from one of the pubs.
Hal stopped at a shop that had jewelry laid out on a blue sheet draped over a table. He picked up six crystal pendants as gifts for Guy’s and John’s daughters.
“Don’t you think the baby is a little young for jewelry?” Kyle asked. Kristen Gardner wasn’t even a year old yet.
“She won’t be a baby forever,” Hal said. “She’s going to be a young lady someday.”
Kyle snorted. “Don’t tell Guy that.”
Then they went into a shop that specialized in books and maps. Kyle picked up a copy of The Iliad. On the inside paper it was stamped “Edward Trelawny, Governor of Jamaica”. Well, that explained why there were so many books in a shop on an island that was mostly illiterate — they were all loot from cargo ships.
Hal found a book for John’s son, A Description of Three Hundred Animals, and Kyle found a blank journal he could use for sketching. He’d nearly filled up the one he’d brought with him from England, mostly with sketches of Hal.
Their gift buying done, they returned to the ship. Kyle climbed aboard he was met by a scowl from Kilowog. “You have a monkey.”
Hal nudged Kyle with his elbow as he passed. “See? Told you the crew wouldn’t like it.”
Kyle rolled his eyes and followed Hal into their cabin. The monkey had been nothing but well-behaved — well, except for peeing on his sleeve during the trip back to the ship, but that didn’t really count. She had been scared of being in the wobbly little boat.
He put Mona back in her cage so he could change his shirt and wash up. She looked at him piteously when he closed the door. He sighed and turned away. Now he knew how Hal felt when he pouted at him.
They had a midday meal with the crew that was left behind to watch over the ship. Hal provided a bottle of rum and they enjoyed a vegetable stew that Kilowog had made.
Hal insisted on doing the dishes, leaving the crew to enjoy the card game they’d started. Kyle helped, gathering up knives and forks while Hal picked up the plates. He dropped the utensils in the galley, then went to their cabin to check on Mona and take her some bread and an apple.
The cage door was open and the monkey was gone.
Shit!
“Mona?” Kyle went around the room, looking behind the crates and trunks, under the bed and the dresser and Hal’s desk and… Where the hell had she gone?
He went back to the galley where Hal was up to his elbows in dishwater. “Mona got out of her cage.”
Hal sighed and wiped his hands on the towel. “How did she get out?”
“I don’t know,” Kyle said, a bit defensively. “I know I latched the cage.”
“It’s going to need a bloody lock on it,” Hal muttered. He shrugged. “I don’t think monkeys swim, so it can’t get off the ship. I’m sure it will come back when it gets hungry.”
“What if she gets stuck somewhere and starves?”
Kyle saw the flicker of hope on Hal’s face and he clenched his fists. “Fine. I will go look for her myself.” He turned on his heel and stalked back to the crew. They were all engrossed in their game, laughing and throwing insults around.
“Has anyone seen my monkey?”
They fell silent and turned to look at Kyle. Then Vath, his nose red from sampling a bit too much of the rum, snorted. “Sorry, lad. The captain would keelhaul us if he caught us looking!”
They all burst out laughing at Vath’s poor attempt at innuendo. Kyle rolled his eyes and turned to leave. Hal was leaning in the doorway, just barely containing his laughter. “Well, I would,” he said with a grin.
“Shut up,” Kyle muttered as he walked past. He went down the stairs to the deck below. The ‘officers’ quarters were down here. Kyle cringed, hoping Mona didn’t get into anyone’s room and caused a mess.
But all the rooms were empty. He looked under beds and in every hole and cranny he could find, occasionally stopping to listen for her movements. But all he heard was the sound of the ship creaking around him.
He went down to the hold. She may have smelled food and went looking for it in the stores. But there was no monkey there either. He sat on a crate and sighed, hoping she would be all right.