After dinner, Olivia joined me to sit in the light from the windows, and while I stitched the hems she had marked, she undid seams to either take them in or to let them out. I looked up from time to time at the ship. It had maintained its southerly course beyond the shoals, and now that we were clear of the headlands to the west, she remained in our stern, her hull partly hidden over the horizon.

Bound for the Spanish Coast? Or following us? With these questions, Charles had ascended to the quarterdeck. A good long while ago, now.

When Olivia had finished demonstrating a stitching pattern to me, she said, "Richard told me that ship might be following us."

"Oh! When did he tell you this?"

"He came when Titus brung the dinner basket."

"My, that is clever of him."

She chuckled. "I told him it's a good time if he wants ta talk ta me during the day."

"Then, that is clever of you."

"So, is it following us?"

I looked again at the ship. "We will soon know. Charles went up top to order a change of course."

"Ta see if it changes too. That's what Richard said he'd do if he was the captain."

A while later, she pointed out the windows. "Oh, look! It's changing course. Not following us, after all that worrying."

I watched the ship slowly move toward the right, then as she was about to disappear beyond the window frame, I said, "No, it is we who are altering."

I stood and stepped closer to the windows to regain a view of her. "Come. You can see the ship from here."

We watched for a long while as her sails slowly grew broader, and when one mast became three, I said, "It appears she continues southward."

"Who is she? Does you know a lady aboard there?"

I chuckled. "No, I call her that because ships are referred to as she and her."

"Oh! Why is that?"

"Possibly because of their grace and elegance. Maybe by the way the ship carries them. Mothers them." I shrugged. "It has been this way since antiquity."

I wondered whether calling her thus might be why women aboard are bad luck. Competition? All the while, Zeelandia's list to starboard increased as the wind changed from well abaft the beam to forward of it, and her slow rolling across the seas changed to a gentle pitching into them. Astern, the three masts slowly became one again.

I blew out a deep breath. "Oh, dear! She truly is following us."

"No, I don't think so, m'Lady. It's way over there ta the right, not behind us."

"She is there because of our change of course, and she now cuts the corner to gain upon us."

"Oh! Why would she follow us? Richard said it's a worry, but he dint say why."

"Did you hear what Charles – what Captain had said when he addressed us yesterday? They likely realise the vast quantity of gold and silver we have aboard, and they seek opportunity to take it."

"With their guns? Fire at us?"

I pointed. "They are too far away for their shot to reach us, so we need not worry. Come, shall we continue stitching?"

A while after we had regained our seats and recommenced, Olivia asked, "What if they get closer? Then they could fire 'em into us – like we did with the other ships."

"They appear to have remained at the same distance as we sailed south, so our speeds are similar."

She looked out through the windows."But they are now closer than afore."

"That is from our altering course. A small gain from the changing angles."

"So, they can do that each time we turn."

"Yes, and I suppose Charles will have chosen a course we can maintain for a long time before needing to alter again."

"Why would we alter? Why not jest keep – just keep going the same?"

"We would reach land, another island or foul water, and we need to steer to avoid such."

She nodded, grimacing. "So, they will catch us."

"Unless we lose them in the dark tonight."

"Or maybe they will get tired a chasing us."

"Not likely. We have aboard more than ten thousand pounds in gold and silver. Enough to buy five or more ships such as Zeelandia. Enough to pay two thousand workers for a year. And we have more than half that again in cargo for New York."

"Oh!" She remained silent for a while, bobbing her head, then she said, "Captain is real rich."

"Not only Captain. All of us. Remember, what we have aboard is not his alone; it is shared with us all."

"That ain't what some say. They say he'll give us but a pittance and keep all the rest. Like what the laird did for our work on his land."

"They are wrong, Olivia. Do you recall signing the book when you were taken as crew?"

She nodded. "I placed my mark, but I dint know what the words meant. And Titus dint neither, but he made his mark, so I did mine."

"That book is a contract between Captain and each person aboard, and it gives the details of what share of the gain each will receive."

"Oh!"

"Possibly those who complain also cannot read. Ask Richard to explain it to you; he will know from his previous voyages."

Olivia nodded, then pointing out through the windows, she said, "Then we all need to hope they don't catch us."

"Indeed. And for more reasons than only the wealth we carry. Think about the ones we freed from the island, the ones who had been captured and enslaved."

"And stripped naked." She shuddered.

I nodded and shuddered with her.