The next day the Windflower pulled into Haverston harbor as the sun was low on the horizon. She might have made it sooner but the repairs to the hull and sails took a large part of the day. The crew was cheerful at the thought of laying their eyes upon mugs full of short beer and chatting with curvaceous wenches. They even chatted with the two ‘boys’ as they put them to work repairing sails and scrubbing the decks. The ship’s carpenter even allowed them to help him carve some of the easier to make spars to replace those that were broken or burned.
As evening drew close, Daisy considered how she could leave the ship and avoid asking the captain for permission directly. So far she had gotten away with passing as a young boy but as soon as she talked she feared her voice would betray her. The captain was well educated, well connected and probably even knew of her family. It wouldn’t take much for him to figure out her story once he knew her gender and breeding. She wouldn’t be able to hide her court-bred accent which even years of playing with farmhands kids couldn’t entirely conceal.
When they finally found a moment relatively unmolested by the crew she pulled Benji aside and told him of her desire to leave and worries about the captain though she did not reveal her rank or identity. He nodded. "I’m about done on this ship though I love er dear as me mum. Capn Lornsen is none too happy wid me anow nor’d I blame ‘im. But iffin I stayed Id be sorry for sure. We kin sneak off you and I, t’nite. We need t’ be waiting til the watch ‘as been set an the crew is mostly offship boozing it up. Den we can swim ashore. Ye do know about swimmin eh?" Daisy nodded hastily. "Though I am not much of a strong swimmer."