Ivy was dripping water all over the deck and despite that, the wooden floor was uncomfortably hot. The ship that was run aground on the rocks seemed abandoned. No one on deck and no one to answer Em’s shouts, which, even at a distance, resounded clearly. There was no wind, no waves. All around her was still.
She boarded first, using her usual underwater approach, jumping and securing the deck in a blink of an eye. Now, with a harpoon in hand, she was watching in case it was all a trap.
The boarding was precisely fast and quiet. When the Ballerina reached abeam, Macha secured the ropes and Em, armed with his revolver, creeped into the ship’s hold.
No one would follow him. Not Ivy and much less Macha, who seemed too eager to follow. He responded visibly frustrated when the captain ordered him to stay. She understood though. It was not a matter of trust. He was, after Lim, the one who knew more about contagious diseases, and if that was the case on that ship, it was much better to expose just one than all.
“Are they from the Blue?” Macha asked impatiently, while sneaking a look through the dark opening.
After weeks navigating the north of Blue Kingdom, he had abandoned his buffoonery to exhausting hours of work in an endless canvas of water. Now, constantly overwhelmed and bored, he was showing his true nature, the one that Ivy had seen inside the bell.
“Let’s wait and see what Em says,” she signed.
Macha reacted with a deep sigh. “Do you think there’s anyone dead inside?” Ivy shrugged, though she knew the answer to that question. If the ship was clean, they would have already received word to enter.
“There are two bodies, “ Em answered, appearing through the hatch. “They had food and water but nothing for the scurvy. If those two were too sick to row the other crew must have left them to die. That’s my guess.”
“Something of value that we can use?” Ivy signed.
“Nay.” Em removed the bandana he used as a mask. “I will burn it. They were parni. Flames will do.”
“So there are parnis in the Kingdom, after all,” Macha said.
“Of course. The Blue welcomes everyone from everywhere. Although I think they were new. The people who live here know that this area is treacherous. We’ll ask Ahlong when we get to the Lighthouse. All newcomers go through there before heading to any settlement.”
“Will we stop at any of these settlements? I’ve seen nothing but salt water for weeks.”
Ivy put her finger over the lips to blow a silent shush but Macha didn’t notice. It was remarkable how fast he had learned almost all the signs of her language within a few weeks. Even so, he was not used to the most important part of it, that was to look at her hands all the time.
Em, who had emptied the gallon through the hatch, was hitting the flint with his knife. A misstep and he’d ended up surrounded by flames.
“I warned you that this journey was going to be hard and tiring!” he yelled, as he ran around the two decks to get his catamaran away from the rising fire.
As the Ballerina clattered away to the beat of the steam engine, Ivy watched the flames mingle with the setting sun. Few steps to her side, Macha sank to the ground with a groan of despair. Ivy enjoyed seeing him so overwhelmed and bored. Hopefully, the boy would give up when they exit the Kingdom and quit the job somewhere south of the Ring of commerce.
“Are we going to flag-leading any longer today?”
“Yes,” she signed. “Is not dark yet, we will continue until the captain says. Why? Are you tired?” He dragged his stricken body to the bow, shaking his head and grabbing the colored flags as if they weighed a ton.
Ivy enjoyed every moment guiding the ship around the reefs. It was a stunning, unique place and there was always incredible marine fauna that accompanied her through the intricate passages of coral. It was a job of extreme importance that required her entire self on it. The ship depended on it. Her family depended on it. Seeing that kid succumb to apathy was another point on the list of things she didn’t like about him.
Jumping headfirst, she dived through the rocky passageway like an arrow. The area was wide and easy to sail, still the high tide completely hid the shallows, turning the place into a dangerous trap for their ship. She reached the end of the passage, where a gigantic boulder was almost touching the surface. The wooden slate hanging from her waist had all notes of the daily journey. If Em wasn't wrong, which never was, that was point thirty-two of a much longer list.
The Ballerina, steaming slowly towards her, was trailing off course due to a slight current from abeam. She raised the red flag over the head, with the stick in horizontal position, which would tell them to correct courhe. Then, after a quick check to the southeast opening, she signed for hijhi forty-five degree left turn as soon as they were in position. Macha copied the exact movements and crossed his flags thereafter, notifying her that Em wanted to anchor.
She took her time to return. Not because they need fish for dinner. Not because she wanted to play with the dolphin pod closing by from stern seas. She needed a moment. Exhausted but with a fulfilling feeling of a well-done job, she drifted motionless through the channel. The catamaran was trying to follow, pulling its anchor tightly. She got away slowly, eyes closed, ears listening to the singing of the pod. Her special sense tingled as she became surrounded. It was one of those moments when she didn't overthink. Didn't worry. A moment of a priceless connection with the world only she understood.
Back on deck, Macha was lying as if he had been the one who spent the day swimming. Exhausted, she sat on the wood, far from him, observing the endless blue mirror around them fading to black. With a new moon hidden under a clouded sky the only light was now coming from the bridge.
Em brought them fish broth and dumplings, but didn’t stay. He liked to spend the evening at the table with Lim, eating and chatting until late. Ivy hadn’t been with them often since Macha always joined so, lately she ate outside, enjoying the coolness of the quiet evenings.
The precious solitude away from the buccaneer’s absurd jokes had been broken for a couple of days, since for some unknown reason, he decided to eat outside as well, which made her wonder if maybe it was time to eat inside again.
“The other day I saw a long-legged monster walking over the water,” he said.
“Reef fishermen. They carry stilts to better move over the rocks.”
“Yeah... I thought I was going crazy. When Em said this was a hard journey, I imagined it was physically hard. But it’s the mind that really takes a blow.”
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“Sailing is a hard job, you’d consider- “ Ivy stopped her hands to turn towards the dark sea.
“Consider what?” Macha asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Nothing.”
The kid snorted and said no more. Ivy gratefully enjoyed her soup for a long silence that lasted until it was pitch dark. “Hey, hey! What is that?” Macha snapped, standing up suddenly. “I’ve seen eyes shine in the water, I swear!”
“It’s just night vision. Marine animals have it too. I thought you knew.”
Macha took a few steps back. Tensed as a tree. “Yes, yes. But that was a head. A merman… The eyes were too close together, like yours.”
Ivy scowled. “What? Did you just call me a merman?” Macha had seen her special eyes. One night, a week back, as she boarded later after a long day of work, Macha shined the flashlight directly into her face. Her eyes, used to the darkness of the sea waters, glowed like those of any dark-adapted animal, which scared the boy to the point he began to treat her strangely.
Ivy stomped, squeaking the deck’s wood, and raised her fist to Macha’s face, who took a few more steps back. “Did you call me a freak?” She repeated threateningly.
“What? No! I was just saying like… It’s like yours, but not… I mean… Sorry I offend you, it was not my intention.”
“Yes, sure it wasn’t.”
Macha click his teeth. “You know what? I’m tired of you!” He took two steps closer and slapped Ivy’s fist. Her arm didn’t move a single bit, but the sudden daring of his action surprised her enough to back up defensively. “I’m tired of your hostile and bossy attitude. Tired of your condescendence and arrogance.”
Ivy blew and turned her body, arming the fist for a hit. “You want to punch me?” He shouted. “Go ahead. Do it, I don’t care! That won’t change the truth.”
She relaxed her posture, to answer with movements as aggressive as her threatening fists."What truth? That you are a liar and a trickster?"
“You keep blaming everyone for what happened to you, making us all miserable with your bitterness. Those mercenaries trashed your home and killed your parents, so what? I’m sorry, but you’re not the only one that had it difficult. Misfortunes happen every day. It’s terrible, but people get up and keep going. “
Ivy clenched her teeth so hard it could have broken a blade. Her stare, if had flint and powder, could have shot him dead.
“I am tired of you judging me. I was a Macha in the Rabbit hole. Do you know why? My parents sold me!
“I became a thief because beggar boys get their eyes burned or their legs broken. I became a thief because I didn’t want to end up dressed like a girl in the harem of a sick lord!”
He rushed to clean his running nose with the arm. “Now do whatever you want. Hit me, tell your uncle to fire me. I don’t care.”
Filled with rage, she strode inside, straight to her room. She felt relieved, even proud that she hadn’t hit him. One punch with all his might would have killed him, and though she hated that kid to death, Ivy couldn’t do something like that.
She loathed him deeply for an hour. Then, after a good shower and a long rest staring at her cabin ceiling, her hate tamed, giving way to thoughts of doubt and feelings of worthlessness.
Lately that was her life: When she wasn’t angry about menial troubles, she sunk in a dark well where nothing seemed worthwhile. Where everything about her was wrong.
Macha’s words opened a wound that never healed. Was she the real reason she had no friends?
Did her anger tantrums make her family unhappy?
Maybe Macha was not entirely wrong. She knew for a long time people avoided her because she was a freak, but what if rejection turned her into a bitter person who drove others away even more?
After all, her physical oddities couldn’t be seen with the naked eye. On the contrary, to someone that didn’t know, she seemed totally normal.
It was her. She suddenly saw it clearly. She was the real problem. Leaving the ship appeared now as the best path to follow, not only for her, but for her family as well.
The sound of footsteps and the slam of the next door put her on feet again. Starved, she shambled to the bridge, wishing not to cross paths with anyone else. The electricity lights were closed, a sign that Lim was already reading in her cabin and Em was outside, hopefully asleep.
Ivy didn’t need her night sight to see Em still awake, with a small oil lamp at his feet, tying his hammock to the mast.
The tray of food was still intact at the same place and Ivy sat next to it, stuffing on her mouth as much dumplings as she could fit. As she expected, Em didn’t take long to sneak to her side.
“Did you hear?” She asked.
“Aye. Difficult not to.” His lips played with the end of the unlit pipe. “Lim and I decided if you want him out, I will pay him in Srivijaya. There are no Geckos in there. He’ll be safe.”
Ivy raised her eyebrows. She’d expected a ‘you are leaving us soon and I need him,’ or a ‘he is a good boy, he didn’t mean it,’ but not those words.
“The kid has been quite frustrated since we entered the Maze,” he continued. “But we both think he have been a bit out of place.”
“Is it true? What did he say about the Rabbit hole?”
Em hummed with the skill that made it sound like a ‘yes’. He looked askance, waiting for some signals from her. She, instead, took another dumpling and stared at the burning sea, shimmering at every flap of the dolphins playing around the ship.
“If I get rid of Macha and you leave, I need to hire someone in Ujan.”
“Don’t fire him. You won’t have time to train someone else. I will stay in the Rigg after we return from Srivijaya. You won’t have any more problems until then,” she said.
Staring at the ethereal beauty of the bioluminescence, Ivy realized that staying on the Rigg was best for everyone, even if it didn’t fix the problem in the long run. Even if it didn’t fix her.
“Do you think I ‘m arrogant?”
Em clicked his tongue. “Don’t take what the kid said too seriously. You are not perfect, neither am I. Damn, not even Lim is perfect. Be easy on yourself, Pumpkin.”
“I’m sorry if I make you and Aunt Lim pay for my frustration and temper. I truly want to change. I just feel,“ her hands hesitated. “I know I have you, but I still feel… alone.”
Em took a deep breath. “Aye. I understand. We are a bunch of rarities on this ship, aren’t we?”
“Macha is pretty normal. Annoying, but normal,” she said, leaning her head over his shoulder.
“Ha! Have you seen him dance? No one you consider normal would move like that!”
Ivy hugged her uncle’s arm, using a finger over his metallic hand to talk with the language of the telegraph. The one they used when her hands couldn't move or his eyes couldn't see. “Talking made me feel better,”
“Aye. Every engine needs a funnel, or it blows.”
“I suppose. What is yours?”
Em raised his pipe. “Whether it’s bad memories or negative feelings, I put it inside here and smoke it out of my mind. Works for me.”
“Thank you,” she said, closing her eyes, remembering old times, when he used to let her sleep in his arms.
“Hey, that’s what uncles and aunts are for, right? Maybe we cannot fill that loneliness entirely, but we will be always here for whatever you need. That’s a promise.” Em made a cross sign over his chest, an old sailor’s custom. “And I will be here to annoy you from time to time.”