Page 35 of Whispers of the Starlit Sea
“Other than a few bumps and scrapes, there’s not a mark on her.”
Arick pondered the question as he finished picking up the broken china and cleaning up breakfast. Often his hand drifted to his chest, leaving a damp spot from the dishwater. Once he was done, he returned to the dining room.
“I need to head out. Do you mind if I take the cart again?” Speaking to as many people as he could about the storms was not going to be a quick task, so he wanted to get started on it. It wouldn’t be easy, either, so he was mentally preparing himself for the anger and frustration he’d have to face.
Elsbeth cast a shrewd look between him and Sorcha, then nodded. “I won’t need it today. You two have fun.”
Arick couldn’t stop the heat rising to his cheeks. “It’s not like that.”
She waved a knitting needle at him. “I never said it was, my dear boy.”
Protesting would only make her more convinced, so he turned to Sorcha. “Do you want to come with me, or stay with Elsbeth?” He used his hands to mime it out as he spoke.
“Arick,” she replied promptly, then ducked her head.
He wondered if the lightness that filled him at her choice was joy that she’d chosen him or relief that he wouldn’t be risking the agony of the day before if he was separated from her.
Overthenextfewdays, Sorcha and Arick visited many homes around the town. Everyone was kind, but most ignored her once they discovered she couldn’t speak their language. After the first house, she asked Arick what they’d said. The man had been so angry, and she couldn’t see why.
“Storm,” Arick told her, using the hand signs Thomas had used to indicate lightning. He pointed to the sun and motioned backward twice.
Of course. The storm that had changed everything.
She frowned and pointed back to the house. “Why that man?”
Arick ran a hand over his mouth, his eyes sad. “Broken ship,” he said simply, putting his two fists together and breaking them apart.
Oh.
No wonder the poor man was so upset. Arick was asking him to relive a harrowing experience.
They continued on to visit others. Sorcha paid more attention, gleaning as much as she could from the few words she knew and piecing things together from expressions and hand movements. She was quiet as Arick helped her into the cart after the fourth house. She should have understood sooner.
“What is “dol-fem’?” she asked, fearing the answer. All the people they’d spoken to had used the word.
“Dolphin,” he corrected her. “Big fish…” He pointed to the water, then put his palms together and wove his hands back and forth. Next, he held his arms out wide to show size.
She swallowed as he confirmed her fears. He was trying to figure out how all the people had been rescued.
Father and the Watchers were always so careful. But never had there been that many people in the water, so many lives that had needed saving at once.
What if someone had seen one of the merfolk?
What if Arick remembered seeing her?
A lifelong habit of hiding her existence from the humans fueled her hope that he would never learn the truth. The tiny part of her that longed to be truly seen by someone wished he could.
On this morning, Arick kept up his usual chatter as they drove. At first, she thought he was doing it only for her benefit as he pointed out the landmarks and taught her his language. But today there was a heaviness to his words. He wasn’t talking aimlessly; he was thinking aloud, inviting her into his thoughts. She listened quietly, able to make out only a few words yet sensing his meaning from his tone. Was this what her life would be like from now on? Only a partial participant to what was going on around her? In time, she would learn more of the language, she was sure. But that would only resolve one of her troubles.
Her fingers brushed the hollow below her throat, seeking the caged heart necklace. It had gone missing after her fall, but she couldn’t break the habit of worrying it when something was bothering her.
The cart stopped outside a little thatched house. A low stone fence enclosed the tiny garden. Sorcha looked at the stone path and sighed. Even that short distance would be painful. But waiting in the cart would be worse. Arick offered his arm as always and led the way to the door.
A small girl answered his knock. Only after a voice from inside called out did she allow them entry.
Arick ducked his head as he entered, his hair grazing the doorframe. Heavy beams across the ceiling weren’t much higher, and he stood with his head tilted. Sorcha blinked at the gloom after the gray brightness of the sky outside.
The house was tiny, with only one room. The hearth took up most of one wall, with a table and low counter at one end and a bed at the other.
