The sounds from inside the barrel were muffled and the occasional tones of voices talking did not give Daisy much of a clue as to where she was heading. She had not thought past this part assuming a good heroine would have the luck to overcome any difficulties as they arose. She had not thought much of the cramping she was now experiencing, stuffed into a rank empty wine cask. At the start, she feared the lid would fall off and she would be easily discovered but fortunately one of the workers noticed it was loose and hammered it back in to place. Daisy was much relieved after that and forgot her troubles long enough to doze off.
When she woke she was hungry, cramped and needed to use a chamber pot but there was no help for any of that and she miserably waited for the rocking motion to stop. The motion finally did stop. She waited a few moments and then pushed on the lid. It would not budge. She pushed harder and then finally with all her might. With a whimper she realized she was stuck. Her misery grew by leaps and bounds. Finally she convinced herself she was going to die stuck in a barrel and when someone opened it all they would find was someone's skeletal remains in a savagely altered dress with a haversack full of curiosities. This reminded her of the food she stored in the bag. But she could not get to the bag now as it was stuck behind her cushioning her back.
Suddenly she felt the barrel rise and then there was a sickening feeling as if she was falling and then the bottom of the barrel touched down roughly on something wooden making a sound loud enough to hurt her ears as her head hit the lid and her joints hit the edges of the barrel. Pain shot from all angles towards the center of her body. She gritted her teeth and prayed no more such jolts would happen to her in the barrel. As her body's aches subsided she noticed a lurching feeling that had a more steady but strange rhythm than the one she felt before. Also she no longer heard any voices at all.
Determined to not be found dead in a casket she pushed upwards with all her might on the lid and was rewarded with a creak and then the lid flew off the barrel. She shot straight up. She heard the lid hit something and roll to a halt on a wooden floor. She noticed also that she could see sunlight streaming in from an open doorway that was partially blocked by someone shorter than herself. She also noted the sound of something falling. The light from the dropped lantern spilled into the room as the hood on it flapped sideways. Quickly the boy recovered from his surprise at seeing someone pop out of a barrel and grabbed the lantern before it spilled its contents and set the floor ablaze.
Daisy realized then that she was no longer on solid land. Somehow the merchant must have sold her barrel and others to a ship. She had never been on a ship before but the signs were unmistakable including a slight nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach. The boy with the lantern closed the door, cutting off the daylight except where it leaked through the cracks of the ship and came cautiously forward.
"Here, ye be no wight after all, aye?" He said with some relief while chiding himself for such a foolish fear.
"Nay, ye be a landlubber and if I be not mistaken a girl to boot?"
Daisy found herself tongue tied, and unsure of how to converse with someone whose accent was so thick.
"Be ye a mute then?" The kid crooked his head at her.
"Nnno. I beg thine pardon, young sirrah. I am pri...er call me 'Daisy'..." She said politely, unsure of how much more she should say.
"Hoho! No sirrah be me. Daysee aye? I be called Bangee, or 'boy!' if ye be the capn. Ye be aboard the Windflower, finest tradeship east of Vohemth." Benji did aver with such sincerity, Daisy believed him immediately.
"Being ye are a gurl I should fair warn ye. If ye are discover'd aboard there will certain trouble. Truth be told, most of us have no qualms about wimmin being on our ship but the capn, he be old fashioned and there are some among the older sailors who hold it a most dire unfortunate omen to have one of the fairer persuasion in their midst on the high seas. Theyd likely cut yer throat without thinking or do worse before doing away with ye." This being the longest Benji had spoken in ages he fell silent in thought trying to come up with something more to say.
"So...perhaps we should not let them be aware of me then?" Daisy said hoping he would agree.
"That will be nae hard while ye stay put. If ye wander outside though ye'll be spotted for certes. It will no go easy for me neither being that I be the one who clean these decks and would be the one to find any stowaways." He paused for a moment then continued.
"Ye be too pretty to be kilt by scurvy rogues though." he said shyly. "I be missed if I do nae get back soon. I nae want any more whippins than I haf earnt, so stay put! Ill be back when I can with such victuals as I can be grabbin. Assuming they dun punish me for sumtin and keep me from ye."
"Okay, Good meeting you, Benji. See you soon I hope." Daisy said with a smile.
She climbed out of the barrel and pulled out her haversack. It stank of rancid wine but the insides appeared dry. She was still wearing her dress she escaped in. She considered the possibility of some other sailor wandering back here and finding her. Imagining horrible things that could happen if that were to occur she dragged the rags from the bag and set about making herself look less like a girl and more like a two-legged sewer rat that no one would want to touch.
Aside from her present difficulties she could not believe how easily she managed her escape. Why had she not considered it before? She admitted that despite feeling cooped up she got used to being pampered and treated like the princess she was. She missed her family but she also grew comfortable in her gilded prison. It was only when the reality of her life sank in that she decided upon desperate measures. In some small way she was stepping into the fictional shoes of the heroes she read about. Her life would now be an adventure and she a protagonist like it or not.
Her poor uncle would be ‘fit to be tied’ when he discovered her absence and certainly soldiers would be sent to look for her, but no one would suspect that she managed to stow away on a trader. Meanwhile the boy Benji seemed nice, smart and though young, well-versed in all things related to this ship. His accent was unpolished and not much educated but his eyes danced with a sparkle often lacking in people financially or socially his better. She decided she liked him.