A Mermaid's Tale

Chapter 15

"Then ya pull on this bit 'ere an'..." James pulled on the rope in his hands. The growing knot decided it didn't really want to be a knot after all and fell apart. "Great slipp'ry eels! It don' usually do that."

"James, do you really know what you're doing?" Peter asked from beside me.

The three of us were sitting in a patch of shade on the deck, and James had been teaching us how to tie knots. Peter's knot had also fallen apart, and mine was doing a better job tangling me up than itself. I laughed at the frustrated look on the young boy's face and the confused expression on James'.

"Whatcha doin'?" Squeaker showed up with his usual mousey grin.

"Tying knots," Peter explained. "Or at least we're trying to."

"James is teaching us," I added.

"'Ere, lemme see that." I handed Squeaker my bit of rope, and he deftly tied it into a strong knot. "Ta dah!"

"Show me!" Peter pleaded excitedly. He watched closely while Squeaker demonstrated the knot again.

"Hey, don't worry about it," I said with a smile to James, who looked thoroughly upset. "You still beat me at cribbage all the time."

This made him smile. "Suppose yer right."

"How much longer until we get to the Southern Continent?" I asked as I stared at the horizon. We had been sailing for over two days, and there hadn't even been the slightest glimpse of land yet.

"We shoulda arrived early this mornin', but the winds just ain't as strong as usual," James answered with the slightest of frowns. "Don' worry yer purtty li'l head. We'll git there soon 'nough."

"I hope so." I gazed out over the clear blue sea as a gust of wind filled the sails momentarily before dying down. The wind hadn't been that strong lately, and it gave me a bad feeling. "I'm going to find Alfred," I told the other three as I stood up. They nodded in acknowledgement while still trying to tie knots.

I hadn't gotten the chance to speak with Alfred since I saw him a few days ago. He was too busy working the sails and such. Everyone was doing their best to get the Queen Lady moving, but she was reluctant. I figured now was as good a time as any to search for the energetic blonde. He wasn't on deck, so I thought I'd check down below. Turns out he had the same idea because I met him coming up just as I got to the stairs.

"Hey, (y/n)! Just the person I was looking for!" he said with a big grin.

"What a coincidence." I mirrored his smile. It was impossible not to smile around this kid. "Why don't we find a place to talk?"

"Sounds good to me!"

Alfred led the way to a sunny spot next to the starboard rail. He sat down and swung his legs over the edge, and I did the same. The weather had been a touch on the warm side, but it was still very pleasant with a slight breeze and cloudless skies. I took all of this in as he began talking.

"Here, I snatched some apples from the food stash." He handed me a bright red apple before taking a bite of his own. "Sho, wha wash it ya wanted t' talk about b'fore?"

I rolled my eyes at his attempt to talk with his mouth full. "Well, I wanted to ask you about your mom."

Alfred's smile faltered, and he swallowed slowly. "Why do you want to talk about that?"

I but my lip. I wasn't sure what the best way to approach this was. "It's just...I saw a picture of someone that looked like you..." It sounded dumber out loud than it did in my head. I had noticed the resemblance between Alfred and Arthur's mother when I had seen the photograph, but it seemed like such a ridiculous coincidence that I didn't bother to ask Arthur at the time.