As they walked down to the mess Amanda lamented. “You know I was in the middle of one of your ghost stories when those sirens started singing. I never got to read the ending. It was a story about voices luring someone out to sea too, although I think he was a ghost.”

“Which one?”

“The one with the lighthouse.”

“Oh, that one.”

“You’ve read it?”

He nodded. “There’s a copy in the ship library.”

“I could have just read that one then. You didn’t need to buy me a new copy.”

Sirius shrugged. “Think of it like a memento, not that it makes up for the pegasus but…”

Amanda bit her lip. She wasn’t done with that but that could wait. “So how does it end then?”

He looked at her questioningly.

“The story.”

“Well…” Sirius considered it.

But they reached the galley then and stopped talking while they helped themselves to the last of the oats. Returning to the mess they found they had the place to themselves.

As he sat down he started up again. “If I tell you you won’t get to read it.”

“I want to know.”

He smiled. “Impatient aren’t we?”

She leaned forward and took some pleasure when his eyes stole a distracted glance down. “I always get what I want.”

He looked back up at her face and studied her.

Oh she was being a little bold and she knew it. There was a double meaning in her sentence and she could see him pondering it. But she wanted him and she wanted the pegasus. This way he knew she hadn’t given up and maybe if he wanted her too, which she could see that he did, or at least some part of him did, then maybe he’d keep trying to think of another solution too, one that would let everyone have what they wanted.

The problem was that she actually liked him, wanted to get to know him more, and she wasn’t sure if he felt the same way or if it was just animal desire on his part. He was certainly trying not to stare too indecently but whether he was just being a gentleman or whether his animal side was in disagreement with his logic side and maybe he didn’t really like her at all she did not know. Did that even make any sense at all? And even if he did like her as a person and not just because she was the only woman on the ship right now, was it right for her to tease him like this when half her goal had nothing to do with him at all but was more about getting that pegasus back? If half of her motives were honest and half weren’t did that spoil the whole thing? It did leave a guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach.

But if Amanda was good at anything it was at ignoring self doubt or at least pretending to. Once a decision was made she rolled with it. And hey, in for a penny, in for a pound. It was one of her dad’s favourite sayings. So, she casually bit one side of her lip and gave Sirius an innocent looking smile. She watched with well-concealed pleasure as whatever thoughts he had been pondering completely fled his mind.

It was just for a brief second though. The man sure had some self control. And then he was back to giving her that curious look like he suspected something. Perhaps she had pushed things too far? For a moment her resolve faltered and she let doubt flicker across her face.

He gave her a playful smile. “Well, what happens is they all end up living in the lighthouse together. One happy family just keeping the light on. They even get a cat.”

Amanda eyed him. She wasn’t sure he was telling the truth. “Really?”

He gave a single nod. “Really.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re not just telling me the ending you think I want to hear?”

“Cross my heart.” He made the motion that went with the promise but she could see the twinkle in his green eyes.

She laughed. He had such pretty eyes. And his smile made her forget all about her earlier doubts. She was back in the moment again. “How do they get out of the sea then? The story seemed to imply they were stuck there.”

“Well, that’s where the cat comes in.”

“What?” She have him a doubtful look.

But his expression was completely serious, not like all his earlier jokes where he’d had trouble keeping a straight face. Either he was very good at bluffing or it was the truth.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“You’re messing with me,” she remarked. She studied his face, looking for the hint of a smile.

He shook his head and leaned forward as if to tell her a secret. In a voice that was soft and gentle but completely captivating he said, “You see, cats can wander between the spirit world and the real world, and the boy in the lighthouse he rescues this cat and they share the lighthouse for a little bit but one stormy day the cat gets washed out to sea. At first the boy’s upset but then cat turns up again miraculously unharmed. So the next time he follows it and he finds his family in the spirit world and they all follow the cat back to the beach and live happily ever after.”

She looked at him thoughtfully for almost a full 30 seconds before she gave up on trying to figure out from his facial expression if he was just making things up on not. He gave her no sign either way. “Alright then.” She bit her lip again, subconsciously this time and didn’t notice his reaction because she was too busy trying to think of questions that might poke holes in the story and reveal if it was the real one or not.

“You can see it you know.”

“What?” she asked.

“The lighthouse.”

“From the story?”

He nodded. “At the place we’re going next, Scarlett.”

Before she could reply his gaze focused on something behind her. She turned and found Neko standing in the doorway.

“We’ve got a bit of a situation in the hold,” he told them.

Sirius got to his feet. “What do you need?”

Neko nodded at Amanda. “Her.”

Both Sirius and Amanda gave him a confused look.

Neko explained. “We started going through the last of the crates and we’ve found some eggs. Need someone who can identify them. They’re quite large. We weren’t sure if we should touch them. Michael’s still sleeping off last night’s incident and no one really want’s to ask his advice anyway.”

Amanda got to her feet. “Sure.”

Sirius nodded. “I should check on the rest of the ship anyway. Were those Silver’s boxes? I thought we’d gone through all of hers already?”

“No. A different patron. Shiv’s in the wheelhouse chatting with Pierre. He just took over from Griff and Riki,” Neko told him.

Sirius nodded again and then he headed off in the direction of the wheelhouse. As he walked off he called back. “Let me know if you have any trouble with whatever’s in those crates.”

Sirius was starting to wonder if Shiv was right. Amanda obviously hadn’t given up on getting that pegasus back. Maybe that was all she wanted from him? And everything else was just her trying to be persuasive? How could he know for sure what her motives were? He’d seen worry in her eyes, just for a second but it had been there. He’d seen a glimpse of the doubt behind that confident smile and all the charm. But doubt about what? That he did not know. What was obvious was that she definitely had him walking around with his mind at half mast, among other things, which was really no way to make clear decisions. Perhaps it would be best, if at least for today he tried to keep his distance from her.

Shiv was just coming out of the wheelhouse when he got there so the pair took a walk around deck, checking up on the morning tasks as they did. It was lightly spitting and an overcast grey up above but neither man worried about the weather.

“Have you been up all night?” Sirius asked him.

“Nah, I got a few hours sleep. I’ll go crash for a few more soon. How’s the girl?”

“Up and about, better this morning. They found some eggs in the hold. She’s gone to help identify them.”

“I thought we checked all Silver’s stuff first?”

“Yeah, apparently someone else is shipping questionable things.”

“Well eggs don’t sound too bad. And most of our shipments are questionable in one way or another, or we wouldn’t make the bank we do.”

“Depends what they hatch into,” Sirius replied, “And whether or not there’s a risk of them hatching while on the ship.”

“Mmm, well it’s been awhile since I’ve had omelettes.”

“We’ll never get paid with that attitude Shiv.”

“But we’ll die with out bellies full.” He rubbed his stomach in emphasis. Then more seriously he added, “Last night’s events sent us a little of course. Made us even more late for Scarlett. And we’re now in pirate territory.”

“That was unavoidable anyway.”

“If it weren’t for those two extra passengers”

“I appreciate what you did last night Shiv.”

Shiv grunted. “Should’ve just let them drown. Well had to pull you up I guess which meant her as well. Could’ve left him in there though.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Mmm, we’ll see if you still think that in a week.”

Sirius was silent a moment as he thought back to the joke Amanda had made about killing Michael. It really would be so easy. There were lots of things that could kill a man out here and it wasn’t like he’d signed up to take him, not really. Then maybe he could just give the pegasus to Amanda. Would she consider it worth it though? A man’s life for a pegasus. Somehow he doubted it. And if she did, it wouldn’t make his own sleep any easier, even if the man was completely unlikable. Besides Sirena was probably going to be mad about having lost the beetles as it was, even if it wasn’t their fault the things hadn’t been packed away correctly.

At least they’d managed to spare some of the arasnids. Sable, their on board materiokinetic had managed to craft a special sort of container for them. It did mean their main sail repairman was now permanently on arasnid duty, spending hours a day touching up and reinforcing their enclosure. That kind of magic use left a man too drained for much else. And he was their only materiokinetic. If they ran into a particularly bad storm and damaged the sails, they’d have to fix them the old fashioned way. That or throw themselves at Sirena’s mercy even more. Was it worth it? He could just stick it to her. It would cost them business though. Sirius didn’t fear retribution so much as the loss of all the other clients she could potentially make walk. With just a word she could put them out of business. Cross one and you cross them all. Unless he could think of a way to turn the others against her?

“You need to be careful,” Shiv warned.

“Of Sirena?” Sirius asked, wondering how Shiv knew what he’d been thinking.

Shiv sighed. “Of Amanda.”

“Not this again Shiv.”

“She’s playing you boy. All she wants is that damn pony.”

“Well, it was hers to begin with,” Sirius told him. He wasn’t completely sure but his gut told him it was the truth and on that point at least he did not doubt Amanda. Regardless of what else she might be lying about. She was too good of a bluff for him to tell. He’d watched the way she played his men at poker and the way she somehow managed to get them all to open up about themselves, telling stories that he’d never heard his men talk about before. She was charismatic, and charming, and there was that way her red hair seemed to glow in the light.

Shiv interrupted his wandering thoughts. “Doesn’t really matter though does it?”

“No,” Sirius agreed forcing his mind back down to earth, while beneath his feet the boat gently rocked.