Hearing slight response beyond laughter, she foughtharder. She was brought to the rail in my near presence. "Bitch, what was your name?" "I am the Lad... Marie du Rochforquet. How do you dare say, 'what WASmy name'?" "Simply put, on this ship you will be Bitch, and you will be so untilyour father redeems your ransom, we sell you to slavery, or we drop you overas chum to attract the fishes! Will you submit with honor, or do you wish meto begin the process of breaking your will?" "I shall never. She asked if I ever had. I hadn't. I remember her hand grabbed the strap of her shirt and she pulled up on it, lifting on breast and she dropped it. As it bounced back into place, I couldn't help but stare. Still hadn't sipped the milk. She laughed at me. Told me I had to stare less and make more eye contact. She told me that if I wasn't going to talk, that I shouldn't just stare at a girls tits. She was giving me pointers on how to impress and approach girls for a while.While talking, we had. Something passed between us, I felt I know what it was but I was afraid to name it. A moment that seemed it could have gone anywhere if one of us had had the courage to seize it. But neither of us did, and the moment passed. ‘Your very talented,’ she told me. I wondered if the moment had happened at all. ‘I think this is my best work,’ I told her. ‘Can I see some of your other stuff?’ she asked, looking eager. ‘Sure, let’s do that while this one dries. It always looks a little different after. I have what I need to live and have some fun; after that, I send most of it to my brother to invest and make me more money.”“So, are you going to spend some of that money on me?”I knew she could just ask for money and I would give whatever she wanted; but, I said, “I would like it if you could come over a couple hours a week and take care of the weeding in the garden beds, and make sure that the birdfeeders are filled. That would be a couple of hours total and I’ll pay you ten an hour for that..