The Village in the Sea

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Victoria was learning how to row a boat even faster than she imagined. Her arms were aching and she was beginning to think they were going in circles. But, she hadn't dropped the paddle into the water or looked at the ocean below her yet, which she thought was a major accomplishment. Jessamine had been pointing out practically identical houses and said whose house was whose. Victoria had been paying too much attention attemepting to do her share of the rowing to remember much else than "our crazy neighbor that fell out of the sky a couple years ago."

"Oh look! There's Analeise! Come on, help me turn the boat. I really want you to meet her, she's basically my best friend," screeched Jess.

Victoria sighed and worked on trying to change the boat's direction. It wasn't turning, and she was starting to think she was paddling on the wrong side. She looked up and found a short girl with blazing red hair excitedly waving at them. When they finally reached the girl's porch, Jessamine hopped out onto the ladder and attached the boat with a rope. She held out her hand to Victoria who shakily took it.

"Hi, I'm Analeise!" said the bubbly red head.

Victoria awkwardly waved. "I'm Victoria. Nice to meet you."

"She's the new girl I was telling you about this morning. She's from America," said Jessamine.

Analeise's smile grew even bigger, although Victoria would have thought that was impossible, and ushered them inside her house. It looked a little bigger than Jess', and the inside was decorated more so that you couldn't see much of it's wooden walls. But, Victoria pointed out to herself that the floors weren't nearly as sweeped as Mrs. Locke's.

"You know, we don't get many new people around."

Not alive, anyways, thought Victoria, remembering Mrs. Locke's comment.

But instead of saying anything unnecessary, she said, "Yea, everyone seemed pretty surprised when I showed up."

"What do you think of the village? I'm sure Jess has showed you around," Analeise continued.

"Actually, I was thinking of showing her your greenhouse," interrupted Jessamine.

The other girl squealed and jumped, "Yes! Come on, let's go check it out. I'm positive you'll love it."

She grabbed Victoria's hand and dragged her through the house. Victoria didn't know how Analeise knew she was going to love anything when they had only known each other for maybe a minute, but still didn't say anything. She could tell that with two energetic and talkative friends, she wasn't going to be able to say much.

They continued to walk through doors and walkways, showing that the house was even bigger than it looked. Victoria thought of it as a maze, and after the first several turns she realized she had no idea how to get back out.

Eventually, they appeared in a courtyard covered in potted plants. There were some with small trees sprouting out of them, and others containing colorful bushes. Along the walls were assorted flag poles with dangling ferns and other plants. And standing among the greenery was an awkwardly tall, tan boy. He looked like the exact opposite of Analeise, and Victoria saw immediately their personalities weren't alike either.

"This is the greenhou- Oh hi, Gabriel."

The boy looked up from a bush covered in blue fruits he had been watering to the three girls standing in the door way.

"Erm- Hey Ann, Jess. And uh- new girl."

Victoria showed her smile that she had been using all morning to greet these new people. "Hello, I'm Victoria."

Analeise interrupted before she could say anything else, "Gabe is my brother. And guess what! She's from America!"

Gabriel nodded. "I'm Gabriel, but I'm thinking you probably already guessed that. I'm not from America."

Victoria smiled, "Well, I happen to love this greenhouse. Analeise, you were right."

"Yay! Gabe does most of the work here, and I'm beginning to think he likes the plants more than people."

They all laughed, and Gabriel didn't deny it. "Come on, there's so much more to see," said Jessamine. She began walking out of the room, Analeise following close behind. Victoria yelled a quick good-bye to Gabriel and followed them to continue her tour of the house. She mainly hoped that rowing the boat wasn't coming anytime soon.