MistressSusan

      CHAPTER THIRTEEN: BUMP IN THE NIGHT The dawn light came streaming through the slightly dingy porthole, and struck the ground in a long oval that stretched between Jim’s bunk and Nick’s hammock. Jim was lying awake on his stomach and watching Nick across the room as she played with a length of rope, tying and retying various basic knots that he had taught her weeks ago. He watched for what felt like a long time, too asleep to care that she was doing nothing interesting, and too awake to go back to sleep. His head buzzed with a looming headache and even breathing seemed to require more effort than usual. Eventually the irritat