Flint and Silver: A Prequel to Treasure Island

Chapter 53

Selena knew now that Flint was mad. But mad in his own special way.

Just as he'd promised, the door to his cabin was mended and herself locked in. But once the ship was properly under way, and the island out of sight, he'd let her out and welcomed her back on deck, and given her every kindly consideration, just like the first time she'd been brought aboard, and he called her "My dear" and "Madam" and "My Nubian princess".

She could see he wasn't the same man though, for he would fly into tempers as he'd never done before, and was highly dangerous when he did so — dangerous to the men, that is, not to her. She thought that perhaps this was because of the headaches he was suffering from the wound in his head, and which Mr Cowdray had had to close up again where Flint had popped the stitches. And perhaps he missed the parrot, although he never spoke of it.

Fortunately the crew were even more afraid of him now than they'd been before, since he was unpredictable, and old certainties had had to be thrown over the side. And this was just perfect as far as Selena was concerned. Indeed, she hoped that they sizzled and fried in fear of Flint, because it meant that they behaved themselves better towards her. There were no more hungry leers from the men, nor dirty words from the boys. It was all "Yes, Miss Selena" and "No, Miss Selena" and she could go where she liked on the ship and never worry.

Nor was Flint peeping through his holes in the cabin walls. Those, mysteriously, seemed to have been closed up — she'd long since found out where they all were. On the other hand, he'd taken to kissing her hand, and putting an arm round her waist whenever she stood beside him. This seemed to please him, and she suspected that it was a new alternative to his old games.

Beyond that, she had to face the fact that she was parted from John Silver, with no prospect of seeing him again. And that was bad. She could only wait, and watch for opportunity.

To encourage opportunity, she made a point of getting Flint to explain to her exactly how a pistol was loaded and fired, which he did with much amusement until — with daily practice — she learned the business so well that she could load without looking and could hit whatever she pointed at.