Sail With Me (A Discovery Series Book) Read Online Free Page B

my mother’s
arms around me again.
    “That’s perfect for a deckhand,” Benjamin said.
    I nodded, my composure too near falling apart for words. After setting
aside the breeches, tunic, and sweater, I rummaged around Eric’s wardrobe some
more and, with Benjamin’s help, we put together some acceptable selections. I
rushed over to my room across the hall and retrieved a burlap sack. I stuffed
the efforts of our raid in my brother’s room into the sack.
    “I need to alter these tunics,” I said as we came back downstairs.
    “You’ll also need a few more things. Let me run back to the store and see
what I can get you.”
    “Benjamin,” I said as he turned around to leave.
    He looked over his shoulder. “Yes?”
    “Thank you.”
    “I said I’d help you with anything, Charlotte, and I meant it.” He
offered me a smile as he disappeared down the stairs.
    I set to work on altering the tunics. As I worked at a fevered pace, the
blurry edges of my plan came into focus. After an hour’s time, three tunics
were sufficiently fixed to suit me. Taking a deep breath, I freed myself from
the confines of my feminine garb. I eased my legs into the breeches, secured a
corded belt at the waist, and slipped on one of the altered tunics. Back
upstairs in my room, I stared at myself in the long looking-glass.
    “Almost… but not quite.”
    Turning to my bed, my gaze rested on a small pillow. I slipped it under
the tunic and positioned it so instead of having the developing bosom of a
girl, I had the belly of a portly boy. It was the perfect size and fit
comfortably in place, but I would have to keep my stomach guarded.  
    I pulled the sweater on over the tunic and slipped my feet into my own
boots, which were a plain brown leather with no elaborate detailing. I examined
my image once again. From the neck down, I was easily a male. Only one other
thing that needed adjusting to make my transformation complete.
    My hair.
    My long locks of blonde hair would surely give me away. While boys often
wore their hair long and tied back, mine hung to my waist with a rippling wave
to it. Too long and fancy for a boy. Far too much of it as well. My eyes stung
as I thought about what would have to be done.
    I stood in front of the looking-glass, thinking of cutting away my hair,
cutting away a piece of my mother.
    “Charlotte?”
    I turned to see Benjamin standing in the doorway.
    “Here.” He tossed a small sack onto my bed. I rifled through it to find a
compass, a knife, and a few other necessities.
    “Thanks.” I stuffed the sack into my larger one already filled with
clothing.
    “Let’s see about that lip.” Benjamin walked over to the washstand I had
filled while he was gone. He dabbed a clean cloth into the water and stepped
over to me. Grabbing my chin, he ran the cloth along my swollen lip, washing
away the dried blood, soothing away the ache. His touch was feather light,
gentle.
    “There. That’s better. Does it hurt much?”
    I shook my head and took a step back before I changed my mind about this
plan and about leaving Benjamin behind. “Would you help me cut my hair?”
    He picked up the shears on the washstand.
    “You’re sure about this?” he said.
    “Yes.”
    “Nothing I can say to change your mind?”
    “No.”
    “Hope this is like shearing Mother’s sheep.” Benjamin divided my hair
into two sections and hesitated behind me. “I feel as if cutting this is a sin,
Charlotte.”
    I squeezed my eyes shut. “Just do it.”
    He ran my tresses through the shears. A sizable chunk of hair dropped to
the floor, and although I was horrified to see that much of my own hair on the
ground, it felt right. So incredibly right.
    Benjamin hacked at the rest of my hair until the back of my neck was out
in the cold. What was left fell below my ears and could be tied back or crammed
up into a hat. Looking to the floor at my feet, I cringed at the golden blonde
pile that had taken me a lifetime to grow.
    “Charlotte