Inter Mundos (Between Worlds)

Eleven: Convincing Captain Amelia

Jim was gone again, as luck would have it.
One of Stickler's men was caught just the other day and I could only imagine what they were doing to him to get information. I grimaced as the thought of torture came to mind. If they were doing anything like they did in Hollywood movies, I'd almost feel sorry for the sucker. But I didn't care to find out.
For the time being I was with Sarah cleaning up the inn. Lunch was over and the last customer for the day was just leaving-or so I thought.
"Welcome!" Sarah's voice beamed with delight. Another customer meant more money.
I almost groaned as I heard her welcome them inside, but when I turned around I thought otherwise about making any noise. There standing about ten feet from me were Lucard and Maria. It had been three days since I last saw them.
"Take a seat right over here." Sarah led them to a clean table. She then walked up to me. "Briar, will you take their order? I'll take these dishes." She took the dishes resting in my hands and walked to the kitchen, door swinging behind her.
I grabbed my pen and pad as I was not used to the menu yet and had a hard time remember what was what. I set two menu's down in front of them. "Can I get you anything to drink?" I felt really awkward all of a sudden.
Lucard and Maria smiled at me.
"Oh, Briar! It's nice to see you." Lucard slid his menu closer to him. I was surpised he still remembered my name. "I'll have coffee." He opened his menu and scanned over what he might like to eat.
I joted down his drink and looked to Maria. "And for you?"
Maria chuckled. "Oh, I'll just have some green tea."
"Great. A coffee and a green tea. I'll get that for you right away." I walked to the kitchen where I saw Sarah washing the remaining dishes. I quickly poured their drinks and brought it to them without spilling. "Have we decided what we want to eat?" I asked.
Lucard scanned the menu further. "Do you not have peach dumplings?"
I shook my head. "No, sorry." If we had something like that I would remember. I loved dumplings; so did my stomach and butt apparently.
"Well," said Lucard. "I must be thinking of something else then. Ah hah! I'll have the chicken pot pie." He slid his menu towards me.
"I'll have the same, too." Said Maria.
"Awesome! Two chicken pot pies. Coming right up, you guys." You guys? I thought. What the heck was I thinking? As I grabbed their menus I tried not to let the look of embarrassment cloud over my face.
Lucard laughed. "I may not know you very well, Briar, but you seem like a funny person."
Funny or stupid? Because you have no idea, kid. That's what I wanted to say to him, but I kept my mouth shut.

I walked back to the kitchen and helped Sarah make the two pies. Everyday I was learning something new, whether it was in the garden, cooking, cleaning, or just simply how to do my job better. Not to mention the multiple languages I heard in a day; none of which I was familiar with. Aside from English I knew a bit of Spanish and Italian, and I had yet to hear anyone speak those.
"Here," said Sarah sliding the two pot pies on the counter. "Take these out and I'll finish cleaning the last of the dishes. When our customers finish eating be sure to clean those plates, too. I'll be heading upstairs soon to enjoy the rest of my day."
I nodded and took the pot pies. Lucard and Maria seemed to have been having an interesting conversation as I walked out and stopped as soon as they saw me. "Enjoy." I set their food down in front of them. "Can I get you more to drink?"
They both shook their heads.
I nodded, feeling like I did a good job. "Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes if you need anything." I turned my heel but Lucard called for me to stop, so I turned back around. "Yes?" Maybe he changed his mind?
"Will you join us?" He asked.
I was taken aback by his offer, but I didn't want to be rude so I pulled up a chair.
Maria took a bite of her pie. "This is really good!"
I smiled, happy to hear such a nice complement seeing as I was the one to make her pie. "Thank you."
"Are you the Inn Keepers daughter?" Maria asked.
I raised both my brows, surprised and slightly amused. Lucard on the other hand nearly choked on his food. "No, I'm not." I looked to Lucard. "Are you going to be okay?"
Lucard took a drink of his coffee. "Yeah, I'll be fine."
Maria took another bite and swallowed before asking another question. "Do you live here at the inn then? Since you work here I figured..." Her voiced trailed off. I assumed she didn't want to say anymore in fear of asking another question that would result in Lucard choking to death.
"Yeah, I do. I haven't for very long, though. You see, I'm new here, just like you guys." I told them.
"Do you like it so far?" Lucard asked.
I nodded. "Yeah, I do. Do you?"
Lucard and Maria both nodded.
To change the topic Lucard said, "I heard the food here is really good. I'm not disappointed."
I smiled. "Good,"
"It's a shame we won't be able to come back for a while after today." Maria said.
"Why is that?" I asked.
Maria was nearly done with her food when she started to explain herself. "The academy starts in three days. That's clear on the other side of Montressor. I fear Lucard and I won't have much free time to do much of anything, let alone take the time to come all the way out here." She seemed really disappointed and so did Lucard. I didn't think the food was that good.
Of course, I knew that wasn't the problem and that there was something else bothering them. "I heard once you graduate you are chosen by one of the captains and taken on a six month long voyage. That sounds fun!" I tried to lighten the mood, although, I wasn't all too happy myself seeing as Jim would be gone, too.
Lucard suddenly beamed with delight. "You should sign up!"
I made a face at him. "What?"
"Anyone can join. I don't think it matters how old you are, as long as you have what it takes!" This kid was totally serious about me signing up.
I looked to Maria for some answers.
She just smiled nervously at me. "Its true." She told me.
I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment before looking at Lucard. "Look," I said. "I'm not exactly pirate fighting material. And even if I was I have no idea how to sign up or where to go for that sort of thing."
Lucard laughed, as if what I was saying was somewhat amusing and the answer was a no-brainer. "You can talk to Captain Amelia."
Amelia, I thought. I met her my first day here, along with her kids and husband. "Right. I don't know where she lives."
Lucard started naming off streets and what buses and trolleys to take and I held my hands up to make him stop. I wasn't really familiar with most of Montessor yet. He apologized. "I'm just excited is all." He told me. "You can ask Sarah how to get there, or she can take you there."
The next two days the inn would be closed so going to see Amelia was possible. "Wait," I said. "How do you know Sarah's name?"
Lucard's face flushed a light pink. "Uh, you said it earlier."
I thought for a moment. "No, I didn't."
Lucard nodded. "Yeah, I remember you said her name."
I was certain I didn't. "Right," I said slowly.
"Anyway," said Maria standing now. "I think you should give it a try, Briar. But only if that is something you really want to do." She looked to Lucard. "We should get going, don't you think?"
Lucard took his last bite and chewed it quickly and then stood up to brush the crumbs off his pants. "Thanks for the pie, Briar. And like Maria said, you should give it a try."
I watched the two walked out and I was left clean up the mess.