Dinner was hot and delicious. Leena shoveled as much potatoes, fish, and peas into her mouth as she could. Everything was well salted, too, and she grinned sillily to herself as she rolled a piece of well oiled fish in her mouth.

Ah! It was joyous! When did she last have a hot meal? It certainly was not that oatmeal she had made before Bo and she had left. It certainly was not in the last month. Or maybe many months. The peas were wonderfully sweet; the potatoes were smooth and well beaten; the fish had nice crispy skin.

They ate in the dining room, among the roses on the old wall paper and on faded and worn green chairs. The clanging of silverware was harsh against the echo of Ingrid’s voice as she chattered at them. Esire put in a good word every once in a while, but Bo stayed silent, eating quietly, and Leena was too hungry to want to stop eating to talk.

“Why, Carl, don’t you remember? The time when we went out on your boat?” Ingrid asked, looking over at Bo. Esire nodded.

“Yes, tell us about the time you went out on a boat,” he encouraged Bo. Bo frowned at him.

“I…remember, Ingrid,” he said to her, politely, distantly, “It was…nice weather, wasn’t it?”

Ingrid smiled, “Oh the weather was nice that day! Anyway, we were fishing, and in our net, you’d never guess what we caught! Can you guess? Can you guess…L…L…” Her face turned to a bit of confusion as she trailed off.

“Leena,” Leena replied, “No. What did you catch? A…a mermaid?”

Esire started laughing, stirring the peas on his plate with his fork.

“My goodness, that would have been horrible!” Ingrid said, a bit wide eyed, “No, no, it was a goblin! The poor thing had been washed out to sea from the Upper River during a big rain storm. She had been swallowed by a large fish and subsisted on smaller fish until she managed to get out by clawing at the insides of the fish. She had just gotten free when she got trapped in our net, and we hauled her in.” Ingrid’s eyes glazed over in memory.

“Carl pulled her up into the boat, and, thankfully, we had an emergency kit on board, and we wrapped her up in a blanket and gave her some food. Luckily, she didn’t have any terrible injuries. We went back to shore and let her stay with us for a while. Much like you both are doing!” Ingrid said cheerily, motioning to Esire and Leena.

“And we thank you very much, Ingrid,” Esire said, “If you ever need anything, we’d be happy to help out.”

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Ingrid beamed, her wrinkles deepening, “Oh thank you, young man. It’s so nice to have good people about. You would not believe what happened the other day.”

“I was walked outside, enjoying the sunshine on my morning walk, and I thought to stop by Mrs. Hennessy as she loves to be outside in the morning to care for her garden. She has the best beans in the town, I think, and you should stop there before you leave to try some for yourself! She would love to meet you, especially, L…young lady,” Ingrid nodded at Leena, “But anyway, I was taking my morning walk, and I saw Mr. Talbot, coming out of Mrs. Hennessy’s house!

“He looked at me, and headed over to me. And, oh, you don’t know Mr. Talbot, but he was a crude man. His wife had left him with their two children on account of him being handsy, if you know what I mean. She ran over to some other town. He spent so much of his time working out on his boat, swearing and hollering at everyone, cussing at everyone and everything.

Well, I see him coming out of Mrs. Hennessy’s house, and I am wondering why he was in there in the first place. Why would she let such a cur inside? But, goodness knows, I didn’t want to go ask then, while I was walking on my own. But I passed by him, greeting him with a simple, neighborly ‘good morning,’ just like you do with anyone, and the nerve of him! Why, I am half his age, and he decides to proposition me!

“Of course, I told him ‘no’ in no uncertain terms, and his hands, I remember his hands, they were clenching and unclenching, as if he was contemplating something, and I left hurriedly, walking away towards the dock where some of the fishermen were starting to come in after an early morning haul. Better to be around the good men than the bad ones.”

Leena glanced at Esire, who merely smiled sympathetically at Ingrid and patted her hand.

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Esire said, “It’s a good thing Mr. Talbot isn’t around anymore.” Ingrid’s brow furrowed, and her head tilted in thought.

“I suppose he isn’t here anymore, is he?” Leena swallowed some potatoes, her stomach feeling full to the point of discomfort.

“What happened to him?” Leena asked, “What happened to Mrs. Hennessy?”

There was a distinct silence. It was the kind of silence that happens when someone asks the wrong question or says something at the wrong time. It was the kind of silence that caused a range of emotions from anger and worry to embarrassment and sorrow. Leena felt anxiety in her chest as Ingrid looked coldly at her for the first time.

“Why do you ask?” Ingrid prodded, setting her utensils to the side, “Who are you to be asking?”

“Now, Ingrid, this fish is delicious. Did Carl catch it this morning?” Esire asked, motioning to his plate, “I am wondering what kind of fish it is. My knowledge of fish is somewhat lacking.”

Bo’s hands were tense, his knuckles white as he gripped his fork and knife. Leena smiled weakly, putting her hands up. Ingrid’s face smoothed out a bit.

“This morning?” Ingrid mused to herself, “Why I think…yes, he did go out this morning, didn’t you, Carl?”

“Yes. It was a fine morning to fish. Caught a lot,” replied Bo, curtly, before putting another piece of fish into his mouth.

“It was a beautiful day today. Oh, I’m so glad to have such nice people visiting us. It feels like it has been a long time since we’ve seen anyone.”