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“Charlie, I’m sorry but we’ve looked everywhere for this piece. I don’t think we’re going to find it any time soon.” Thomas sat up on his knees, his back aching from crawling around. They had been searching for this piece since Peter had stormed out on the game and, in all honesty, Thomas cared more about seeing if he was alright than helping find this missing king.
Charles was still on his hands and knees, carefully scanning over every inch of the floor. “No, we have to find this piece, Tom.” Putting his face closer to the floor, the midshipman paused. “Do you think it might’ve gone through the gaps onto the deck below?”
“It would be too big,” replied Thomas, sighing.
“Then it has to be on this deck. We must’ve missed a spot-” Charles paused again, looking up at the window next to the table. “It didn’t… Did it?” In a flash, the midshipman stood up, frantically rushing to look out at the vast sea outside. “You don’t think it went out the window, do you Tom?”
“I don’t know. Pete sent the pieces flying every which way. It’s possible that one went overboard.”
Gritting his teeth, Charles balled up his fists. “Damn it!” He turned away from the window, picking up the rest of his chess set and storming off to their cabin.
Thomas sighed again. He had never seen such tempers over a game of chess before but he shouldn’t have put it past the two of them to make a scene. Part of him did feel bad for Charles though; this chess set clearly meant a lot to him. But there was no way Thomas was going to spend any more time looking for that king though. Maybe, instead of finding the old king, he could make a new one? He didn’t know much about carving and wasn’t convinced that he would be able to do a good job but he knew two people who could help him out. Thomas stood and went down to the orlop deck.
Knocking gently on the door, Thomas entered the carpenter’s shop. He couldn’t see Winston but his mate, Marcus, was sitting on one of the stools. It seemed that he hadn’t noticed Thomas. “Um, excuse me? You’re not busy, are you?”
Looking up from what he was doing, Marcus quickly stood when he realised someone else was in the room. “Sorry! I didn’t hear you come in. I’m not too busy at the moment. What can I do for you?”
“Well, Charlie’s lost a piece in his chest set and he’s upset because he can’t find it. He thinks it might’ve been tossed out a window. I was wondering if you had any spare bits of wood that could be whittled into a new king?”
The carpenter raised his eyebrows. “Wow. Certainly one of the more interesting jobs I’ve been given on this ship.” Marcus smiled at the midshipman. “The boss is busy at the moment but I’ll see what I can do for you, alright?” Thomas nodded, thanking him before leaving.
Winston paused as he walked through the shop’s door. He could see his mate hunched over the workbench, working on something. “Keeping yourself busy?”
Marcus turned and smiled at the other carpenter. “Oh, hey boss! Just working on something for those midshipmen boys.” Laying his blade down, he held up the unfinished piece of wood he had been working on so Winston could see it. “Not done yet, obviously.”
“Is it a chess piece?” asked Winston.
“Yeah. A king fell overboard during their game so the kid asked for a new one.”
“Fell overboard?” Winston chuckled. “I never knew chess got that intense.”
“Maybe that’s just how they play in England?” The two carpenters laughed again as Marcus continued whittling the piece.
“There you are. A new king.” Winston handed over the piece to Thomas. “Just try not to let him go flying out the window now, alright?”
Thomas let out a sheepish chuckle. “I’ll have a word with Pete about flipping the board. Thank you for making this.”
“Hey, don’t thank me. Marcus made it.”
“Well, please pass my thanks on to him.” Thomas left the shop, going back up to the gun deck and stopping just outside the midshipmen’s cabin. As he rested his hand on the door handle, he took a moment to look at the piece, turning it over in his hand. Originally, Thomas had intended to just give Charles the new king and leave it at that. However, after giving it a second thought, he decided on giving it to someone else instead.
It took a little bit of time to find him but eventually, Thomas found Peter in the lazarette. He still seemed pretty upset about the chess game so Thomas gently knocked on the door before entering, not wanting to startle the other. “Pete? Is it alright if I come in?”
Sighing, Peter looked up from where he was sitting. “I want to be alone. Mr. Hoscut already talked to me.”
“Right…” Thomas stood awkwardly in the doorway. “I know you’re upset and I don’t want to bother you but…” He carefully placed the king by Peter’s feet. “I thought you would’ve wanted to give it to Charlie more than me.”
Peter looked down at the piece, not acknowledging the other midshipman. Taking the hint, Thomas turned to leave but stopped as he heard a soft, “Thank you, Tommy.” He smiled to himself before closing the lazarette door, giving Peter some privacy.
A tense silence fell over the cabin when the door opened. Charles glared at Peter from his berth when he first entered but quickly tried to hide in his book again as Peter made eye contact. Sensing that a conversation wasn’t going to start without a little help, Thomas awkwardly cleared his throat. “I think Pete’s got something to say, Charlie.”
Without looking up, Charles sarcastically responded with, “Good for him.” There was another moment of silence before he sighed, finally putting his book down. “If you’re going to talk, talk.”
“I want to apologise… for earlier…” said Peter, looking down at the ground. “I shouldn’t have thrown the board, no matter how upset I was.”
As much as he wanted to stay mad at the other, Charles’ face couldn’t help but soften. “It’s fine, Pete.” He knew that losing a game of chess wasn’t the only reason Peter had been so upset and he felt guilty for not checking if his friend was alright. “I shouldn’t have shouted at you either. It’s only a chess set. It’s not the end of the world.”
“Well, about that…” Holding out his hands, Peter revealed the handmade king. “I wanted to give you this.”
Charles raised his eyebrows, a surprised smile spreading across his face. “No way! You made this?”
“Not quite,” admitted Thomas. “But we asked the carpenters to make you a new one.”
“I’m sorry it doesn’t match your set,” said Peter, handing it over to Charles.
“What are you talking about? I love it!” Charles took a closer look, tracing his fingers over the distinct shape. “Now that I have a full set again, we’ll have to have a rematch at some point.”
Stifling a laugh, Peter shook his head. “Over my dead body, Charlie!”