Neriena Wordsmith

Raised in the corrupt five points slum of New York city, Neriena Wordsmith was in a great hurry to leave home. The small tenement building that she was raised in was very instrumental in making her long for travel, five people lived in the miserable two room apartment. As soon as she turned fourteen, rather then joining her mother as a ill-paid seamstress as had been expected, she ran away from home. She took with her an outfit of her brother's, which was loose on her but not to the point of making her stand out, and a few dollars.

Many children ran away from home in that place, of course most of them were boys, but Neriena had always been a bit of a tom boy and saw no reason why her destination should be any different then that of most of the boys. She headed to the docks to see if she couldn't find a job on one of the out bound ships. It didn't matter to her where the ship was going, so long as it was away from New York.

Dressed in her brother's clothing and with a cap on her head Neriena could pass herself as any number of the street boys that ran around the area of Five points. Even her longish hair didn't make her stand out since hair cuts were not a common concern in those parts. Even if her hair was slightly longer then usual it wasn't longer by enough to cause comment. Neriena had heard enough talk by the sailors who sometimes wandered five points for the cheap entertainment the slum offered to know that it would do no good to simply walk up to a ship ask to be taken in. Instead she went to the taverns that the sailors haunted and just sat outside one of them. Some of the sailors were cruel to her, some of them ignored her but finally one stopped to talk to her in a friendly way and she latched on to him. She told him that her name was Ned and that she was thinking of going to see and he right off offered to put in a word for her with his captain, though he added that she would be better off staying on dry land, for the life was hard. The newly baptized Ned assured the sailor that being a sailor couldn't be any harder then life on land as so the deal was sealed.

With an advance in her pay Neriena was able to buy a fully fitted sea chest, though she was told later by her sailor acquaintance that she had paid far too much for the kit. He used it as an example of just how careful she was going to have to be in this new life she had chosen. He assured her that everyone tried to take advantage of sailors, she was to find that this was a constant lament from him and learn to accept it as the truth. No one seemed to be on the side of the common sailors, not their officers, not the government, not the law, and not the general population. Still it was the life she had chosen for herself of her own free will and she was determined not to regret it.

In the close quarters of the forecastle it was difficult for her to hide her gender but she managed it with much care. Unlike the others she never took of her clothes to sleep, no matter how uncomfortable they were, and she was careful not to use the ship's head when anyone else was around. They considered her odd but they were odd people in their own ways so while they might tease her they let her be. That wasn't to say they weren't rough people.

The first two weeks of their voyage were uneventful for the regular hands but filled with pain and confusion for Neriena who was soft and unused to the harsh world of life on a ship. Her position was the lowest on the ladder of hands before the mast and she was not used kindly. The only person under her in the hierarchy was the nine year old cabin boy but that was only superficial because he clearly knew more of the ocean then she did. Some of the older hands took her under their wing and she learned, but it was still not one of the most enjoyable times of her life.

To be continued...