Charmed Vengeance by Suzanne Lazear

laughed at his expression. “I may have helped.
    Miss Noli,” Winky bobbed his head. “Now I don’t mean to generalize, however, you wouldn’t by chance be able to manage buttons, would you? I can’t see the holes to sew them back on the way I used to.”
    “Maybe you could make a trade?” Jeff pulled out a chair for her and she sat down. “We all have chores we do every day around the ship from making breakfast to cleaning the head. Often we’ll swap. I reckon darning socks and sewing on buttons could be worth something don’t you?” He looked at the other men and grinned.
    “I might be up for it.” She’d much rather darn socks than clean the head—which was another word for the necessary.
    The captain helped herself to breakfast, then passed the plate on. Noli watched and noted that everyone waited for the captain to start eating before taking their first bite.
    “Who’s flying the ship?” she asked Jeff as she stirred sugar and powdered milk into her coffee and took a tentative sip. They had white sugar.
    “It’s on auto-pilot, but I keep an eye on it.” He stood, taking his plate with him.
    Thad took a bite of oatcake and made happy noises. “Now this is not bad at all. Much better than anything Jeff makes.”
    She added more sugar to her coffee and took another sip. Ah, much better.
    “This is a very good breakfast,” Asa added, his manners slightly more refined than Thad’s. “We’ve got ourselves a new engineer. We still looking for a gunner? Denver might be a good place to find someone.”
    Vix nodded. “Preferably someone with fieldwork experience. Noli won’t be leaving the ship much, and certainly her duties are confined to the engine room.”
    The firmness to her voice gave Noli the feeling she meant more than the dangers of stealing or whatever they did.
    “Noli’s my little sister , did I mention that?” Jeff stood in the doorway between the galley and the bridge, arms crossed over his chest, eyes narrowing.
    “Little sister will be fine,” Asa boomed. “I have little sisters back in England. You’re about sixteen?”
    Noli nodded, mouth full of oatcake.
    “I wish we’d hire a ship keeper.” Thad licked syrup off his fingers.
    “Keep wishing, Thad. We’re not a pleasure boat,” Vix retorted. “We clean our own ship, do our own washing, and fix our own meals.”
    It was nice that Vix sniped at more people than her.
    “Speaking of pleasure, are we stopping in Denver?” Thad’s eyebrows waggled.
    “Yes—and don’t cause any trouble, Thaddeus. We may stop off at a few places along the way, but not for long.” Vix took another pancake, pouring on some syrup. She met Noli’s eyes and gave a nod of approval.
    Noli’s insides warmed at the affirmative gesture, she’d done something right.
    “What makes a girl like you join a ship like this?” Thad gulped down the rest of his coffee in big slurps.
    “It’ll be nice to have a lady onboard,” Winky added shyly. “Appreciate the nice breakfast you made here, Miss Noli.”
    “Anytime.” She dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “I don’t mind cooking—or sewing—but I can do far more than that,” she added so Vix wouldn’t comment.
    “I officially vote for little sister to cook on Jeff’s days,” Thad offered.
    “Here, here.” Asa raised his mug and grinned at Jeff.
    Jeff waved his hand in a rude gesture, then he blushed. “Umm … excuse me, Noli.”
    Vix made an annoyed noise as she eyed them over her mug of coffee. “She’s a woman, not a lady, though honestly, I don’t mind if you decide to use better manners.”
    “Yes, Captain,” everyone muttered.
    The captain stood and put her dish in the sink. “Personally, I think you should always trade with Jeff so you cook meals when it’s his turn.” She gave him a sly look. “However, I’d name your price high. Very high.”
    Jeff snaked his foot out as if he was going to trip her.
    She shoved him playfully in return. “As you were , Mr.