The Phantom Read online

  The man waved off his explanation with the flick of a hand.

  “Forget it. Just don’t do it again.”

  Then Toby recognised the man.

  “Aren’t you Tiger?” he asked.

  The man bent under the bunk to retrieve his towel, which he threw over his shoulder. He took his underpants off and threw them on the bed so that he was standing there in all his glory.

  “That’s right,” said Tiger.

  Toby’s eyes dropped to the man’s semi-erect cock, which was fat and uncut and hung down from a thick bush of dark blonde hair. Behind them his balls hung down almost as low as his cock.

  “Is there a problem?” asked Tiger.

  “No, um, no,” he replied. “I’m Toby, from last night. From outside the Rose and Anchor.”

  Tiger scratched his balls and headed for the door, his gluteal muscles rising and falling beneath the lily-white skin of his buttocks.

  “So you are,” he mumbled.

  Toby lay down and stared at the wooden planks above him. An image of his mother formed and he wondered what she’d be doing. Probably sipping her tea and reading the newspaper. Then she’d do the dishes, get dressed, and probably do a bit of gardening if the weather was cool enough. He sighed and rolled over onto his side to watch the other men climbing slowly out of their bunks.

  He recognized Pete, the burly man from outside the pub, but didn’t call out to him. Things hadn’t gone so well with Tiger and he didn’t want the morning to start off as a complete disaster. There were three other men. One looked as rough as guts with scars and tattoos all over his scrawny body. Another was bald and had a pot gut but a kind face. The third guy was Eurasian and slender but toned.

  “Hey you,” said the rough-looking one, directing every pair of eyes in the room towards Toby. “What’s ya name?”

  Toby sat up in bed. “Toby.”

  “Well, I’m Sandy. I’d get down if I was you. The Captain’ll kick ya butt if he finds ya still in bed.”

  Toby nodded and threw his legs over the side of the bunk in readiness to jump down.

  “Hi, Toby. I’m Chad,” said the Eurasian man. “And this is Lennie.” He indicated to the larger crewmate. “Did you come aboard last night?”

  “Yes,” Toby replied as he landed on the floor with a thud.

  “Don’t worry. A nice cold shower will get the blood pumping,” said Chad, slapping Toby on the back. “Better get your gear off and grab a towel. Breakfast’s in about ten minutes.”

  Toby dived into his duffle bag and retrieved the only towel he’d brought with him—his beach towel. He took his clothes off and threw them onto his bunk, then followed the rest of the men to a small shower room. On his way he passed two men coming in the opposite direction, one of whom he recognised as Zeke, the man who’d shown him to his bunk the previous night. The man behind him was Bird, a small man in every way—height, features, cock. Zeke on the other hand was solid, muscular and had olive skin. He looked Greek or Italian and had the longest foreskin and the hairiest chest Toby had ever seen. They said hello and squeezed past each other.

  Tiger was drying off when Toby arrived. Pete, Sandy, and Lennie were turning the taps on and getting under the three showerheads, leaving Chad and Toby to wait their turn.

  The sight of three naked men soaping themselves soon had Toby’s cock sticking out like a third mast. Fortunately, his towel was bulky enough to camouflage his excited state. Or at least that’s what he thought.

  Chad laughed. “Got yourself a hard-on, Toby?”

  Toby could feel himself going as red as a well-smacked arse.

  “No,” he snapped.

  Chad laughed even louder, drawing Tiger’s attention.

  “We all get them. Don’t worry about it. I woke up with one this morning. Pete always gets them. It’s a natural part of being a man. Get used to it.”

  Sandy, with his assorted tattoos and scars, vacated the shower and Chad took his place, hanging his towel on a small hook protruding from the wall. Not half a minute later, Lennie turned his shower off.

  “All yours,” he said looking at Toby.

  Toby’s cock had gone down a bit, though it was still sticking out at a noticeable angle. But the longer he waited the more attention he would draw to himself. He hung his towel up next to Chad’s and walked towards the vacant shower.

  On his way, Tiger, who was just about to leave, looked down at Toby’s semi-hard cock and then winked at him, an action which sent the blood flowing back into his cock so it became even harder than before. Like a flash he was under the shower and washing himself, working up a lather in the hopes that the soapy foam would hide his embarrassing hard-on.

  “Hey, aren’t you the kid from the pub last night?”

  Toby nodded. “Yeah. And you’re Pete, aren’t you?”

  “That’s right. How was ya first night on The Phantom?”

  “The Phantom? Is that the name of the ship?”

  Pete replied with a look that told him it was.

  “It was alright, I guess. Only been aboard a few hours.”

  Pete bent his knees, reached between his legs and gave his hairy arse crack a wash with the soap. “You’ll get used to it. But these old ships are a lotta work. You’ll be glad of your bunk by nightfall.”

  Toby’s romantic dream of life on the open ocean was beginning to fray at the edges. It was becoming crystal clear that this was no cruise ship.

  Chad, who’d been washing his smooth, toned body next to Toby, offered him some shampoo.

  “It’s specially made for use in sea water,” he said.

  Toby thanked him and took the bottle, noticing as he did that Chad had shaved off his pubic hair. Toby preferred lots of hair around a cock. He thought it looked more masculine. Yet on Chad it looked perfectly natural, probably because he didn’t have a much hair on the rest of his body.

  “You like it?” asked Chad.

  “Like what?” asked Toby, flipping open the lid of the shampoo bottle.

  “My cock. How it’s nice and smooth?”

  Toby shrugged. “Looks alright. Doesn’t it get itchy?”

  Toby poured the shampoo and began to massage it into his hair.

  “Nope. Feels really nice. Smooth as silk.”

  “Ya big girl,” said Pete, playfully.

  “You don’t know what you’re missing,” said Chad. “Run your palm across it if you like.”

  Toby continued to massage the shampoo into his hair. “No thanks.”

  “Go on. It feels unreal.”

  Pete reached behind Toby and placed his hand on the shaved skin above Chad’s cock.

  “It does feel pretty good,” said Pete in his gruff voice.

  Toby rinsed the suds from his hair and through the cascading lather and water he could feel Pete’s cock growing against his buttocks.

  “How about you, Toby? Do you want to have a feel?”

  Toby noticed two things. One was that they were now alone in the bathroom and the second was that Pete’s hand was on Chad’s erect cock. Despite the fact his own cock had only just gone down, the sight of Chad’s erection had him hard once more. He put his palm on Chad’s pubis and slid it across the smooth expanse of skin.

  “It sure is smooth,” was all he could think of to say.

  “If you want, I could shave you on our day off,” Chad offered.

  Toby could feel Pete’s cock in his arse crack and judging by the pressure there was nothing accidental about the way it was being pressed against him. As Pete’s hand continued to slide up and down Chad’s erection, he began grinding his thick, stubby cock into the crevice between Toby’s arse cheeks.

  Toby took hold of his cock. Apart from Tiger, Pete was the only other crew member he had met whose cock he would love to feel sliding into his tight hole. With his other hand he reached around and cupped Pete’s buttock, pulling the man even closer.

  “Ya like that, do ya?” said Pete.

  “Yes,” Toby replied.

  Pete
’s hand was now flying up and down the length of Chad’s cock and Chad, who was playing with his tiny nipples, twisting them back and forth, closed his eyes and parted his lips as his breathing became deeper and faster. His hips began to thrust into Pete’s hand and finally, with a loud grunt, he blasted the tiles with a thick coating of cock cream.

  Toby hoped it would then be his turn. He was expecting Pete to slide his thick cock inside him, but to his disappointment that didn’t happen.

  “We should get goin’ or else we’ll have the Captain on our arses, and not in the good way.” He slapped Toby’s butt.

  Toby felt a flash of annoyance. He frowned. He was still as hard as a rock and dribbling pre-cum onto the tiled floor of the shower. Nevertheless, Pete was right. He couldn’t bunk off on his first day. He turned the taps off and walked across to his towel.

  “That’s quite a cock ya’ve got there, boy,” said Pete as he sat down to dry between his toes.

  Toby snatched his towel from the peg and felt Pete’s fingers wrap around the base of his cock. Toby’s frown evaporated. A small smile bloomed on his face as Pete guided his cock into his mouth. Unfortunately, he only gave it a few sucks before standing up to finish drying himself.

  “I’m gonna have to explore that salami of yours a bit later on,” he said.

  * * * *

  The trio returned to the crew’s quarters to dress and then went up to the small mess. Breakfast consisted of hearty helpings of beans, bacon and eggs, toast and coffee, and fruit and fruit juice. Toby dug in and ate as if he were eating his last meal, which was just as well, since almost everybody else except Pete and Chad had finished theirs.

  After breakfast the men made their way onto the main deck. Pete gave each of them their instructions and everyone headed off to perform their various duties. Except Toby.

  “This morning you can just observe,” said Captain Bartlett, materialising beside him. “When we’re out on open water I’ll get someone to show you around the ship, but for now just watch carefully how things are done.”

  Toby stood with his back against the captain’s quarters and watched as the mooring ropes were hauled onto the deck and the magnificent sails were lowered, their stark whiteness dazzling against a cloudless, blue sky. Captain Bartlett took the wheel and after a good deal of shouting back and forth, the ship slowly slid away from the dock and out onto the Swan River.

  Toby hurried to the side of The Phantom and waved to the port authority men who were watching their departure. At last, with a gentle breeze blowing on his face and tousling his hair, and the squawking of gulls overhead, he felt like the adventure had now commenced. The closer to the open sea they got, the higher the waves were, but soon the ship was skating over them as though they were on ice.

  “Now Toby,” said Pete, clamping a hand on his shoulder. “Ya gonna need to know every part of this ship. Ya said ya were a fast learner, well now it’s ya chance to show me how fast ya really are.”

  Pete walked toward the larger of the two masts.

  “This big one here,” he said slapping the mast, “is the main mast and the one down there near the bow is the…”

  “Front mast,” replied Toby.

  Pete laughed. “Ya close, boy. The foremast. These things here are called shrouds and I reckon even you can guess what they’re for.”

  “To get to the sails and the…” The word was on the tip of his tongue. “…bird’s nest.”

  Pete laughed again, louder and longer. “Crow’s nest. But we don’t really use it now that we’ve got electronic navigational equipment.”

  “So this old ship isn’t really an authentic replica?”

  Pete frowned. “It bloody well is. We’ve just added a few modern conveniences. Ya think they had showers four hundred years ago? Ya got a bucket of water thrown over ya if ya were lucky.”

  “Now, each of the sails has its own name. On the foremast you’ve got ya foresail, top foresail, and top gallant. That one at the front is the jib. On the main mast you’ve got ya main sail and main…”

  “Main topsail and main gallant.”

  Pete slapped him on the back.

  “Right. Anyway, I reckon that’s enough of that. Let’s go and learn some knots.”

  By the time Bird rang the lunch bell, Toby felt like his brain was going to explode. Even on the way down to eat Pete was quizzing him on various parts of the ship.

  “So how’s our young recruit?” asked Captain Bartlett.

  “Overwhelmed,” Toby replied.

  “And we’re only about halfway through,” Pete added.

  Toby nearly choked on his soup. A little bit even came out through his nose.

  The afternoon was spent learning the deckhand’s chores. There were some, though, he was told, he wouldn’t be doing, such as maintenance, but there were other, more menial tasks that were to be his responsibility, such as fetching and carrying, helping with the rigging and sails, cleaning. The fact he was allowed time to himself each day was music to his ears, although he wasn’t sure how he’d get through all his jobs and have any time left over.

  By the time the sun was kissing the horizon the ship was far out to sea. No matter where Toby looked, there was only water and sky. There weren’t even gulls this far out, although an hour or so before Toby was able to call it a day, a pod of dolphins tried racing the ship.

  “Happens all the time,” Lennie told him. “They love trying to beat us.”

  Night slipped a cover of starlit pitch over the ship. With a full belly and a well-earned weariness in his bones, Toby found a small corner of the deck where he could be alone and sat down. The whisper of a breeze and the gentle rocking of the ship soon lulled Toby into a state mid-way between consciousness and dreams. He could feel his eyelids growing heavier, though he struggled against sleep. Sleep could come later. For now he wanted to rest, to be alone with his thoughts.

  He shook the sleepiness from his head and raised his eyes to the heavens, marvelling at the many millions of stars sparkling overhead. He’d never seen anything like it in his life. He’d read where a sky like this could make a person feel small and insignificant, but it made him feel safe. How could anything dangerous or threatening possibly notice him when there was something as vast and distracting as a night sky like this?

  The smell of cigarette smoke drew him from his reflections.

  “It sure is a beauty, isn’t it?” Pete directed his statement to the stars. “What are ya doing out here by yaself?” he asked. “Not homesick already, are ya?”

  “Not homesick, no. I was thinking,” said Toby. “Just thinking about nothing.”

  Pete nodded and released a cloud of grey smoke that evaporated into the night air.

  “Sometimes that’s the best thing to think about.”

  Pete leaned on the side of the ship and for a moment there was silence between them.

  “What made ya wanna join the crew of The Phantom?” Pete asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Toby. “I saw the ad in the paper and just knew it was something I had to do.”

  Pete nodded and took another drag on his hand-rolled cigarette.

  “I’ve never felt like I fitted in anywhere,” Toby continued. “I thought that I wouldn’t have to bother about fitting in out here, in the middle of nowhere. I also get plenty of time by myself. No-one, apart from you and perhaps the Captain, seems that interested in getting to know me anyway.”

  “Aw, I’m sure that’s not…”

  “No. No, I prefer it that way. It’s what I came for. Solitude and adventure.”

  Pete flicked his butt into the waves and sat down beside Toby.

  “Ya’ve only been with us for a day. Give it time. We’ll all get to know each other pretty well. There’s no escapin’ it. Zeke and Bird are new too. You might wanna start with them.”

  Toby shrugged. “We’ll see. Like I said, I’m happy just the way things are.”

  “I hope ya don’t mind me talkin’ to ya,” said Pete.

 
“No. I don’t mind at all. I like it. I just meant I’m not here to win any popularity contests.”

  “Good,” said Pete resting a hand on Toby’s thigh. “’Coz I’d really like to get to know ya a lot better.”

  Toby looked at Pete and knew what was going to happen next. He closed his eyes as Pete’s lips came towards him.

  “There you are!”

  Toby looked up to see Tiger standing in front of them.

  “What do ya want?” Pete growled.

  “Captain wants to see ya in his quarters.”

  Pete got to his feet and brushed the fingers of one hand through his hair.

  “What does he wanna see me about?”

  Tiger shrugged. “Don’t know.”

  Toby’s eyes were fixed on the moonlit form of Tiger. Even draped in shadows the man was the most perfect thing Toby had ever laid eyes on.

  “Hi Tiger,” he said after Pete had walked away.

  “Hi…”

  “Toby. My name’s Toby.”

  Tiger turned to leave, prompting Toby to leap to his feet.

  “Wait,” said Toby. “I wanted to ask you something.”

  Tiger stopped. “What?”

  Toby walked up to him, till he could smell the cigarette smoke and sweat on his skin.

  “Well, what did you want to ask me?”

  Toby’s mind raced. Tiger was looking at him, expecting him to say something. He tried to think, but his brain had been soaking up so much information all day long that it refused to help him out.

  “Where are we going?”

  “What?” asked Tiger.

  “The ship. All of us. Where are we headed?”

  Toby felt proud of himself when he heard the question because he realised he didn’t know where they were headed. In all the excitement he’d forgotten to ask.

  “Secret mission,” said Tiger. “Only the Captain knows. Maybe Pete too. Now if you’re finished, can I go to bed? I’m bloody knackered.”

  Toby followed Tiger to the hatch that led down to the crew’s quarters. Just as Tiger put his foot on the top step, Toby reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

  Tiger looked first at the hand and then at Toby.