The Borderlands: Journey

Chapter 14

At dawn they walked down to the boat. Cat sat at the bow, whiskers twitching, and stared off over the sea.

"He misses Gareth," Ness said.

"Can you talk to the animals too?" Dale asked.

Ness smiled. "Can't you?"

Dale thought about it. Could she? Sometimes animals gave her a distinct feeling, like she could detect their mood. She always did this with Cat, but maybe she imagined it. She shrugged her shoulders. Another mystery.

Ness had been right about the weather. The ocean sat like a mirror reflecting a cloudless sky. It would be slow sailing, but safe.

Brutus came close to Dale. He held something behind his back.

"What is it, Brutus?" Dale asked.

"Goodbye, Dal." He brought his hand forward to reveal a crystal, the size of a large marble, attached to a leather thong. He tied it around Dale's neck.

"He made it for you," Ness said.

It was milky white with pale wisps of blue and lavender – like clouds caught in glass.

"I love it. Thank you, Brutus." Dale kissed his cheek and the big man turned a deep red.

"You're a beethead like me." She laughed.

"Look after it; it will be useful," Ness said.

Dale and Brutus walked Joy out into the water a little, and then Dale turned back to Ness and gave the old woman a long hug. "Thank you, Ness. I'm going to miss it here."

"You're welcome, child. We'll meet again soon. You'll see."

Dale stood back and looked up at the old woman. "Really?"

Ness laughed. "Of course! It's what friends do." She reached out and wiped a tear from Dale's eye.

"I sense the pain of your grief has already lessened. It will always be there. Sensitive, like an old scar. But like all wounds it will heal."

Dale nodded and jumped into the boat. A gentle breeze came from the south, filling the mainsail. They glided away. Dale looked back and waved until Ness and Brutus became two specks on the horizon.

The albatross, Nancy, followed them out for a while, and now she flew just ahead, as though guiding the boat. Cat mewed and prowled the bow, looking at Dale every so often and then at Nancy, as though asking her silently to do something about the damn bird.

Dale tilted her head. "Nancy's got every right to fly wherever she wants, Cat, there's nothing we can do about it."

Cat gave her a flat stare and returned to his prowling, like a lion in a pen.

About midmorning Nancy left them. She gave a single squawk before arcing round and heading back to where they had come from.

"Goodbye, Nancy. Tell Ness thank you, and that we are safe." She yelled into the breeze and watched the bird disappear. When she looked around she realised they were surrounded by horizon. There were no cliffs, no shorelines, nothing.

"We're all alone," she whispered.

The wind continued to blow from the east and Joy had an easy downwind sail. Dale busied herself by patting Cat. She even got her sketchbook out and began doodling. She tried to draw the scene before her but the horizon proved rather uninteresting. Still, she let her drawing do its own thing and realised after a while that she had drawn a rather convincing sketch of the sprite.