Chapter 14

THE CAROLI III

The reunion had been a joyous occasion. Crystal’s father, the enigmatic high priest, had a magnificent memory and remembered Dylan and Cindy both. His mysterious insight clearly saw the joy in her return to the company and in response; he ordered a private, but jovial feast for the extended family.

“We are gathered tonight,” Crystal’s father announced at the head of the large table they were seated around, “to welcome Cindy, our wandering daughter back into the fold of our family.” He raised a glass and looked skyward. “Great all-knowing and all seeing Creator, Father of every rock, leaf and creature, we ask thy blessings and grace upon our friends, our family, and all those who are true to thee. We ask that thou wouldst visit upon thy enemies the vision that they should see the error of their ways and return to the fold. We ask in thy divine protection against the powers that work against thee. And in time of trial, help us to remember the victory of thy champion, the Overlord, and may the memory of his perseverance against the overwhelming evil that is no more move us to fight with equal heart. By thy will may the blessings be bestowed.

The priest then passed the crystal glass to Cindy who sat at his left. Calista, the priest’s wife had warned the girl of what to expect and to do. On cue, Cindy stood and took a sip from the glass and then passed it to the next guest, who was Gage.

When the glass arrived at his seat, Dylan also stood and sipped the contents before passing it to Crystal. The liquid was sweet, like honey and was a golden color. As soon as it had touched his tongue, he felt a warm glow of peace and contentment wash over him.
The meal was delicious, even though there were many things that he normally didn’t like. All around the table the gathered guests were strangely quiet even though a marvelous form of communication was taking place. Dylan looked at each of his companions and received a mixed but positive range of emotions that seemed to be emanating from them. From Crystal he received a feeling of protectiveness and mild amusement. From Rathe, a brief glimpse of wondrous and mischief seemed to appear before his mind’s eye. And across the table, sat a young woman his own age who he had long known and developed certain feelings of friendship for. To his surprise, however, the feelings he had gotten back were a bit more than friendship, and deep in his heart, Dylan met with a seed that had been planted long ago that was only just beginning to blossom.

After a moment, the wave of emotions passed and Dylan was left feeling warm, content and happy. He continued the meal listening distantly to some of the minor conversations
When the food was gone, and their host had thanked them for breaking bread with him, Gage stood and indicated that Dylan should accompany him. Crystal likewise ushered Cindy away from the table and they retired to another room where they sat in chairs around a central fireplace. Gage sipped on a goblet of wine as Crystal and he talked quietly about travel arrangements and plans.

Cindy and Dylan talked among themselves as they caught up on what had been happening with their lives. Dylan told Cindy about all that had happened since he had become Gage’s apprentice, and in turn learned that Cindy had worked with her father quite a bit, but a troublesome turn of events caused the business to fail. Still, her father had wanted her to learn the trade, so he had arranged for her to apprentice with a friend of the family. She had been only been in Keron for a short time.

Cindy and Dylan took great pleasure in each other’s company. She showed much interest when he demonstrated some of the cantrips that he had been taught and she in turn told him about several alchemical processes that she was studying. It was late into the night when Gage interrupted their company and announced that they should get to sleep.

“You have duties and studies to resume tomorrow,” he told his apprentice, “and Crystal will have things for Cindy to do as well. Be diligent, for tomorrow is the last day we will be here. We must continue on with our quest, and the day after tomorrow we will set sail with the turn of the tide. Rathe has already made the arrangements.”

Dylan and Gage bade Cindy a good night and left the girl in Crystal’s care. They returned to their own quarters where Dylan drew his master’s bath while Gage reviewed some of Dylan’s research. “Your work is very good,” Gage told him. “There is only a minor error, here in the range calculation. You must remember that the use of certain power words can change the magnitude of the spell ranges. In this case, the resultant of this spell will not reach a distance of twenty feet, but twenty yards. If you had taken the time to check, you would have seen that although the equation is balanced in the values, you had to use a coefficient multiplier to make the balance occur. That should clue you in that there is something wrong. The spell will not backfire or misfire, but it will have some unexpected results.”

The master appraised his student. “It would seem that your attention was not entirely on your work this evening,” he chuckled. “But I suppose the cause was understandable.”

“I’m sorry, master,” Dylan apologized. “I don’t know what got me so distracted.”

Gage laughed. I do,” he answered, “and I feel pretty sure that you noticed the changes in her every bit as she noticed the changes in you.”

Dylan blinked and stared blankly back at his master. Gage smiled briefly then passed the apprentice’s work papers back to him. “Keep after it, Dylan. You are doing very well.” The master then turned and left Dylan to puzzle out what he had just been taught.

The lesson was all but forgotten. Inadvertently, Gage had diverted Dylan’s attention from his studies to his childhood friend. With it spelled out in front of him, Dylan recollected just how much Cindy had changed. She was not only a lot taller than he remembered, but her body had changed a great deal and it was not a change for the worse. It made him a little uncomfortable, just like Sharon had under the haystack, but Cindy was something entirely different.

The memories of their years together came flooding back. He remembered being thrown from the rocks out of her jealous rage and he remembered how she kept using innocent conversation to bring her still unblossomed charms to his attentions. The deviousness of the girl’s ways were apparent to him at last. Dylan mused at his own imperceptive naivety. As dense as he was, she would someday need to take a brick and write her intentions on it. Then she would have to hit him over the head with it if she wanted him to ever get the hint.

The next morning, Dylan was surprised when Gage took him aside and began the daily lesson very early. He was even more surprised when the lesson had absolutely nothing to do with magic, but with morality and ethics when it came to human reproduction. In a small way, Dylan was offended. He had long been taught about biology and sex. Adam had been his instructor at the academy on the subject, and he, himself had absolutely no intentions of getting too involved with the sport of procreation, so he could not help but feel a little hurt that his master had found it necessary to have “The Talk” with him.

On the other hand, Gage was very honest, and did not talk down at him. The mage expressed his level of confidence and trust in Dylan and went out of his way to say simply that in the youth of adolescence, the power of hormones was very strong, and in some cases, he might not think reasonably.

Dylan thought about it for a moment and he vaguely recalled how he felt when he was under that haystack with Sharon. He remembered that he had not really been himself. It had been almost as if he had been under the girl’s control.

When the morning’s rather odd lesson had been completed, Dylan accompanied Gage to the dining area to get something to eat. There they found Crystal and Cindy. Dylan waved somewhat sheepishly as they approached and Cindy smiled back with an almost imperceptibly bashful blush.

Dylan and Cindy came together and began talking about the previous day as they both prepared themselves something to eat, oblivious to the older mentors who were quietly eating as well. Though neither said a word, a conversation passed between Crystal and Gage as they sat and took in the meal with their charges.

The afternoon returned to the regular routine of magic studies for Dylan. Crystal and Cindy, however, visited the merchant area of Keron and returned late that afternoon with an assortment of various things that Crystal used in her trade. A variety of bags, bladders, jars and boxes were delivered to the private quarters of the temple where Crystal lived. Gage and Dylan were seated at a table in the great room discussing Dylan’s latest formulations when the women returned.

Much to his dismay, Rathe had been commandeered by the two females and the big Minotaan put on a great show of having to carry the extraordinarily heavy crates that Crystal’s purchases were packed in.

Dylan suspected that the crates were not that heavy to the huge creature, but after a few months, he knew Rathe enough to know that the giant had a mischievous streak to him and would not miss an opportunity to tease Crystal a little bit.

Coran, who had been sitting on the opposite side of the room polishing his breastplate, took one look at the load that Rathe had lugged into the room and decided that discretion was the better part of valor. The tall dark man tried vainly to sneak out of the room without the little woman’s notice. He failed miserably.

“Just where do you think you’re going?” Crystal’s voice rose at the end of her question indicating that she was not in a mood to be played with. “There are more crates outside and I want them put under a roof until tomorrow morning if you please.”

Coran sighed and turned to join the big Minotaan. “I’m glad I’m not married,” he muttered to the huge creature.

The comment didn’t escape Crystal’s hearing and she gingerly reached out and tagged Coran on the upper arm none too gently. “And we can also do without the commentary from the snide and sinister Tycarian Guard.”

Rathe lowered his burden to the floor with a ridiculously false grunt. “If you think that’s bad, you should have two, or even worse, four. Haven’t you ever wondered why my people take to the sea and stay away from home?”

“And you, you big oaf!” Crystal fussed as she shook her finger up at Rathe. “Quit loafing. I know those crates aren’t that heavy. I’ve carried them myself on occasion.”

The two men acquiesced and ducked back out of the room, to fetch another load. Dylan almost laughed out loud when Crystal’s roving eye spied the master and apprentice. Gage turned his face toward his pupil and held up the book as if showing Dylan something.

“Act busy or we will both be carrying boxes,” the mage whispered as he pointed to the book.

Dylan responded by picking up his piece of chalk and made some marks onto the dark slate. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Crystal. She narrowed her eyes and frowned at both Dylan and his master. Beyond, Dylan could see Cindy laughing silently. When she caught him looking at her, she blushed again and waved shyly.

By some miracle, Dylan and Gage managed to avoid any of the work that day. And when evening arrived, Velar returned from his peculiar absence. He had disappeared a few hours before sunrise leaving Coran to explain his absence as simply taking care of business. But when he finally returned, he claimed to have procured passage on a schooner for the seven of them.

They retired that night after sharing one final meal with Crystal’s parents. Her father, the priest, invoked a blessing upon them all and wished them a safe journey. He spoke privately with Gage, Coran and Crystal afterward, and when asked, Gage revealed that Crystal’s father had given them some instructions that might prove useful if they encountered outwordly enemies--“outwardly” being an entity from the nether regions.

The next morning, Gage and Dylan woke early and packed their things. They then joined Crystal, Cindy, Coran, Velar and Rathe in the great room. They had morning tea and ate warm cakes for about half an hour, and then Velar led the way out the door and towards the shipyards. Rathe pulled a two wheeled cart containing their luggage along behind them.

The way through the early morning city was quiet. Various street vendors were only just starting to set up their stands and let them pass unmolested by heckle or enticement.
The walk was brisk in the morning air, and the prospect of taking to sea actually had Dylan quite excited. He and Cindy walked closely together and she too seemed to carry an air of anticipation. They had both seen the vessels come and go, but neither of them had ever boarded one of the larger ocean going ships.

As Coran led them along the wharf, they passed several ships of considerable size and noted that many of the ship hands were out and about. The sailor’s life at the shore did not revolve around the rising or setting of the sun, Coran had told Dylan earlier. Instead it revolved around the ebb and flow of the tides.

In the case of that morning, the crews of ships that were departing were preparing for the turn of the tide. Then when the waters began to flow out, the ships would depart riding the strong current as well as the winds.

Finally Coran and Velar stopped their progress, and Dylan found himself looking at a huge four-masted schooner. Velar spoke briefly with a tall and rough looking sailor, who in turn scowled at the group in general. When the sailor spotted the giant Rathe, however, his expression softened to one that Dylan almost took for respect.

The sailor approached Rathe and politely inquired of him. “Would ye by any chance be a nav’gator?” he asked.

Rathe nodded slightly. “I do know the art,” he answered. “But I’m not a practicing member of the sect.”

The sailor nodded his head respectfully. “That bein’ the case, it’s still an honor to have ye ‘board.” He turned to Velar. “Youse all can board and you’re all welcome aboard the Caroli III.” The sailor whistled and three hands descended the boarding plank to the dock.

“If youse’ll leave yore bags here, m’crew’ll take care o them directly.”

Dylan followed Velar’s lead and removed his master’s bags from the cart as well as his own and piled them on a tarp that the sailor had ordered spread out on the ground. Crystal, and Cindy also unloaded their belongings and placed them on the tarp
The sailor, with whom Velar had spoken, led them up the plank onto the main deck of the ship. Dylan was impressed with its size. The main deck was a broad slightly curved surface and was almost featureless. Except for the four huge masts, there was a wheel house near the rear and a low transom with steps going down to either side.

“I be Mister Hardee, the boson on this vessel,” the sailor told them when they were assembled on deck. “If’n you has any problems or needs, come to see me.” He strode to a side rail and opened a locker. Then he drew out what looked like a leather coat. He passed it to Velar and then took another from the locker. He passed these garments out until each of them had one. Dylan examined the one that had been given to him. It was not leather, but wool and had a thick coating of tar on the exterior. It was a tarred coat, a common enough tool for those who sailed the high seas. The outer tarred covering repelled water keeping the inside warm and dry.

The boson barked a few gruff commands and Dylan saw their luggage being hauled onto the deck by a hand-to-hand chain of sailors in relay fashion. They handled the bags a bit less than gently in his opinion. The boson urged them to claim their belongings and follow him. Dylan struggled to carry his bag as well as that of his master when Gage came to his rescue and took part of his load. “Do not get used to this,” was all the elven mage would say.

They were led to a stateroom that was quite cramped, but otherwise clean. It was also apparently beneath the waterline, a fortuitous circumstance they would discover, that kept the room quite cool during the warmer parts of the day.

Gage and Dylan shared a room with Coran and Velar. Dylan was assigned the bunk above Gage and Velar was assigned the bunk above Coran. The quarters were cramped when they all were present, but otherwise it was livable. The consensus was that they would not be in the quarters much except to sleep anyway.

After depositing their belongings, they returned to the upper deck where a few moments later Crystal and Cindy joined them. Rathe followed a bit later, disclosing that he had been billeted in the hold due to his size. He felt that it was not unreasonable and that he would not mind, as the hold had plenty of space.

Gage studied his student briefly. “You may have this day to your own devices,” he finally told the boy. “I suggest you use the time to learn about the vessel and how the crew operates. Such knowledge may someday be helpful.”

Velar, who had been standing off to one side nodded his agreement. “Verily, it can be said that he who sails knows no bounds.”

Rathe chuckled. “You’re familiar with Minotaan prayers?”

“Aye,” Velar replied. He then turned and walked quietly toward the bow of the ship. Dylan watched as the man passed. He had not forgotten Velar’s secret, and though it seemed to be lost in the fog of a memory, Dylan still felt a twinge of fear towards the man.

“I like the way he talks,” Cindy said as she joined Dylan. “Do you know where he’s from?”

“I think he lives in Tycho,” Dylan answered. “At least that’s where he came from. He’s a friend of Coran.” It was not a lie, but Dylan could hardly tell Cindy the amazing truth about Velar. The apprentice wondered how the girls would react if she knew that the man was actually a dragon in disguise.

Cindy and Dylan sat near the bow of the ship. The crew worked around and about. Dylan watched, as his master had suggested. He was intrigued at the cooperation, and intense finesse that the men used to coax the incredibly complex web of lines and sail.

The men raised a series of jibs and a single sail on the main mast. This provided enough power to ease the great ship out of the dock and into the harbor. Then when they were well into the waters, the other masts’ sails were erected. After about two hours, they were well under way at full sail. The bow of the ship plowing through the water rose and fell gently as it passed from swell to swell.

Dylan had heard of seasickness, but had likened it to being in a wagon on a rough road, or on a rough river barge. He had never gotten sick before, so he was taken quite by surprise when his stomach heaved without warning. Dylan hurried to the side of the vessel and hung his head over the low railing.

The sailors laughed at his discomfort, but at the moment, Dylan was beyond caring. In his misery, he strongly considered the positive aspects of dying. As far as he was concerned, anything was better than the way he felt.

The sickness wouldn’t have been so bad, except that it didn’t seem to affect Cindy and she made no effort to be consoling. Inevitability did, however take pity on him. Once his stomach was empty, the sickness faded and Dylan finally was able to return his attentions to the present.

He staggered against the rolling gait of the ship to the base of the fore mast. There he sat next to Cindy and joined in as she watched the sailors trim the sails and go through their routines.

After a few hours, Rathe came forward and found the two. “How goes it?” the giant asked. He spared a critical glance upward at the rigging. “Have you enjoyed the trip so far?”

“I have,” Cindy answered quickly, “but I’m not sure that Dylan has. He seems to be a little sick.”

“How’s your stomach?” Rathe asked the boy.

“My stomach and I aren’t on speaking terms,” Dylan answered. “Did my master send for me?”

“No,” Rathe told him. “They’re back under the spanker. I only came to see where the two of you had gotten off to?”

“What’s a spanker,” Cindy asked. It was her first ocean voyage too, and both she and Dylan were unfamiliar with maritime terminology.

The Minotaan chuckled a deep throaty laugh. There was a twinkle in his eye, and he helped each of the youngsters to their feet. “Come on,” he told them. “I’ll show you. If you plan to sail, you’d best know your way around the ship.”

“This is the fore mast,” Rathe told them. “All the sails and lines on this mast have ‘fore’ in their names. The jib extends out front of the ship, and those sails are the jib sails.” Rathe pointed in various directions as he spoke, he instructed the young adolescents on the names of the masts, sails and decks. By the time they completed their impromptu tour of the ship, they had arrived at the rear of the vessel, what Dylan learned was referred to as the stern.

Gage and Coran were quietly talking with Crystal near the stern of the ship when Rathe and the kids approached. Gage had asked Rathe to make sure that Dylan was not getting underfoot of the crew. The stranger, Velar had accepted the task of protector for his charge, and had already proven himself quite capable of the responsibility, but Gage would have felt better if the big Minotaan had been nominated instead.

Velar was Coran’s friend, and Coran seemed to know something about the stranger that was being kept from everyone else. Gage felt left out of the loop, and Dylan was his apprentice. He suspected that his father and probably both of his uncles had figured out what the secret was, but none of them had seen fit to clue him in on it. That bothered him. With Dylan’s safety in question, if anyone should know Velar’s secret, it should be him. But the only clue that he had was the dialect and accent, and though they were strange, Gage could not place them. It was familiar though.

Gage dismissed the thought. If his uncles, his father, and Coran all had that much faith that Velar was a good choice as Dylan’s protector, then he had to accept that. Still, if Rathe was the boy’s guardian, then Dylan would probably be in much less danger. Who would molest the boy with a ten foot, half ton, axe-wielding giant hovering over him?

“So have you enjoyed the trip so far?” Coran asked the two youngest members of their party as they approached.

“I have,” Cindy exclaimed excitedly. She smirked and added, “but Dylan’s been sick, so I don’t think he has.”

“Oh?” Gage asked. “Are you ill?” he asked his apprentice.

“I don’t think so,” Dylan answered dutifully. “I think it’s just seasickness.”

“Seasickness?” Crystal asked puzzled. “Didn’t the tonic help?”

“What tonic?”

Crystal’s confusion turned to disapproval and she redirected her attention to her own charge.

“Cindy!”

The girl put her hand to her mouth defensively and whimpered an embarrassed sound. “Oh, I forgot all about it,” she admitted. She reached into a soft leather shoulder bag that she had been carrying and withdrew a small vial. Sheepishly she passed it to Crystal.

Crystal gave the girl a hard stare then passed the vial to Dylan. “Drink this,” she instructed him. “It’ll ease the nausea.” Then to Cindy she added. “We’ll talk about this a little bit later,” she rebuked.

Dylan pulled the cork and drank the vial’s contents. Immediately his stomach began to feel better. He glanced sideways at Cindy. The impish grin that she had displayed most of the morning began to come back to him. Surely she had not intentionally withheld the potion from him just to observe his discomfort. Or had she? Just how many times had she pushed him into the pool at the academy?

Rathe patted Dylan on the shoulder and winked at him when the boy turned. “Even without the potion, if you feel like you’re getting sick again, I suggest you stare at the horizon. I think you’ll be surprised how much better you’ll feel.”

Crystal took Cindy by the hand and the two of them walked off together, evidently to discuss Cindy’s rather suspicious loss of memory. At the same time Velar, Coran and Rathe walked the other way to the ship’s helm.

Gage and Dylan stood near the stern railing and the mage appraised his student. There was some disapproval in his own face.

“Why did you get sick?” Gage asked.

“I guess I’m not used to being on a ship,” Dylan answered. “With the exception of the rides across the lake and down the river, I haven’t really been on boats very much.”

“No, I mean what caused the sickness?” Gage was trying to get to a point, and was trying to steer his pupil to the discovery on his own.

“The motion of the ship?” Dylan asked.

“Right, there is an internal conflict in your mind. Your eyes see everything around you standing still, but your balance knows that the boat is moving. This is what makes you sick.”

“So that’s why Rathe suggested watching the horizon?”

“Partly. Watching the horizon will allow your eyes to see what your balance already knows. It will make you feel much better, but you already had a good cure if you had thought about using it.”

“I did?”

“Remember walking on the wagon wheel?”

“The balance cantrip?”

“Precisely,” Gage told him. “If you had used that cantrip, it would have helped you overcome the sensation of imbalance. I must admit that I am a bit disappointed that you did not think about that, but then again you did not know what the cause of the seasickness was to begin with.” The mage put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Call this a lesson in the value of experience. You had the ability, but did not know to use it.”

Gage studied the sun for a moment. “That potion is an alchemical formula and will last most of the day. When you are asleep you will not feel the seasickness, but when you wake up in the morning, I do not want you to use any more potion. If you start to feel sick, try the cantrip. It will help you to get in some practice. Then tomorrow afternoon, the studies will resume.”

Dylan did as he was told. His stomach did not give him any more problems for the rest of the day. Instead, he spent the time exploring various parts of the ship. He noted that the crew all had quarters in the deepest part of the ship, just above an area where a lot of filthy water was held. He was told that that was called the bilge and helped to keep the ship balanced.

The galley, he discovered was near the rear of the ship and beneath the helm. It was quiet and deserted when he looked in, and when he emerged, he saw Crystal coming up from the lower deck. “Where did Cindy go?” he asked.

“Cindy has some lessons to study alone in her cabin,” Crystal told him. “She’s being punished for withholding that potion from you.”

“Maybe she just forgot,” Dylan offered in his friend’s defense. He did not believe it himself, but in his opinion, it was between Cindy and him. He did not want her to be punished by anyone.

“No, it was intentional,” Crystal smiled back at him. Apparently she knew something beyond what he and the others did. “And you’ll figure it out soon enough, I think.”

“When’ll she be allowed to come back out?”

Crystal smirked. “Soon enough. Why don’t you go and talk to her for a minute. I think she wants to apologize. But remember that she’s being punished, so don’t stay long.”

Dylan thanked Crystal and headed for the cabins. He knocked quietly on the room that Crystal and Cindy were sharing. There was a murmur from behind the door that sounded like an invitation, so he cautiously entered.

The room was a bit smaller than the one that he shared with the other men. It was fairly dark as well. Only the flame of a single lamp burned and in its light, there was a frantic rustle which drew his attention.

Cindy was wrapped in a blanket. The room was a bit chilled because it was below the waterline. The girl had kicked off her ankle high leather shoes, and was sitting across the room from the lamp. Dylan felt sure that there was no way the girl could read in that kind of light.

“I didn’t expect it to be you,” she said meekly when Dylan stepped inside and closed the door.

“I just passed Crystal. I wanted to know when you could come back out. It’s boring without you.”

Cindy smiled shyly. “You miss me?”

“Of course I do,” Dylan answered back.

Cindy patted the cot next to where she was sitting invitingly. Dylan thought nothing of it as sitting together and talking was something that they had been doing for years. He sat down on the cot and sighed. “I’m sorry you’re in trouble,” he began.

“No, I’m sorry for making you suffer,” Cindy interrupted. “It was wrong, and Crystal was very angry.”

“No,” Dylan continued, “It was really my own fault. Gage’s disappointed in me because I could’ve used a cantrip to cure the sickness on my own.”

“You mean that you could’ve cured yourself with magic?”

“Sort of,” Dylan answered. “Actually a cantrip’s not a real spell. All it would’ve done was help my balance. Master Gage says that the sickness is caused by poor balance anyway. All I had to do was use the cantrip and I wouldn’t have gotten sick in the first place.”

“I still should’ve offered the potion to you,” Cindy told him. She leaned close and kissed him on the lips. It was not like all the other times she had kissed him. There seemed to be a bit more to it. It was warm, and in a funny way Dylan sensed a hint of urgency. For a moment, Dylan felt the rush of his breathing and his heart the way he had back at home with the girl in the haystack. What was her name? Then Cindy broke the contact and laid her head on his shoulder. “I’m really sorry for making you feel bad,” she told him.

Dylan seemed stuck in time. For what felt like an eternity, his memory flittered through thoughts and images of a skinny little girl in a white initiate’s tunic and sandals through various stages of growth, mischief and maturity until now in the dark, Dylan had unconsciously placed his arms around a young woman that held as deep feelings for him as he had held for her. It was a magic all of its own, and he was taken aback. Even though it seemed that he had always known it would eventually turn out that way, there was no doubt in his mind that Dylan would belong to Cindy heart and soul.

But being still a very young and inexperienced man, Dylan felt a bit of panic set in as he tenderly broke the embrace. “I need to get back upstairs,” he told Cindy. “And you need to do your assignment.” He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Don’t take too long. I really do miss you when you aren’t around.”

In the dark, Dylan couldn’t tell if the young woman was smiling or crying or what. He simply made good his escape and closed the door behind him. Then he leaned heavily on the wall and tried to catch his breath. His heart was racing, his blood was pounding in his ears, and he didn’t have a clue as to what to do next.

In a state of total confusion, Dylan made his way back up to the main deck. There he found a place to sit among several coils of rope. There were a lot of things to sort out in his mind, and he needed a little peace and quiet to do that.