Page 120 of Bewitched By the Sea Monster
And my heart bled a little for Onyx. “That’sawful.”
“Yeah.” Elisabeth pinned a section of my hair to the back of my head. “I guess if anyone’s entitled to a bit of fussiness, it’s her.”
My gaze swung from Onyx to where the men were strewn around the VIP section, some perched on benches, some leaning over the railing, watching the sea. Like Jackson, who leaned against the planked wood with a drink in one hand and a smoking cigar in the other. He was red-faced and a little loose in the way he moved, a sign he’d probably had a few drinks too many. And although he was talking up a storm to the men around him, his gaze never left Rune Bloodworth.
Rune, for his part, was out in the middle of the ship, entertaining the other tourists with his magic. Big, blobby bubbles floated in the air around him, bouncing and jiggling in time to the sea shanty he chanted. The kids were mesmerized,clapping along to the music, and squealing whenever one of the bubbles burst, dousing Rune in glimmering water. Occasionally, a bubble broke away from the formation to super soak someone from the audience.
“That one’s got a big personality, huh?” I said to Elisabeth.
“Who?” She followed my gaze. “Rune?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, for sure.” She shifted my hair into one hand so she could use her other to lift her drink. “Always. Big and boisterous. And he uses that charm too, make no mistake. He was born with a damn good weapon, and he knows how to wield it.”
A gale of laughter swelled around the boat as a bootylicious bubble did the mambo around Rune’s body. And then a voice twined over the hubbub, shooting into the air at an almost unnatural volume.
“Alright, may I have your attention. Eyes to me, please, ears as well…both, if you can spare them.” A tall, beanstalk of a boy stood on a platform on the other side of the ship, waving his arms. “Eyes and ears please—oh, and bubbles too.” He laughed, along with everyone else, when Rune’s bubbles formed an arc around the bottom of the platform.
“Very good. Very good.” The boy patted one of the bubbles, grinning when it jiggled. “We’re going to be putting the anchor down here. And we’ve got a mighty fine meal cooking for y’all, so I sure hope you brought your appetite, but there’s still time yet to work it up if you haven’t. Now, I’ll be asking each of you to pick a side of the boat. Try to split yourselves evenly, please. And leave room, eh? There’s no need to crowd, certainly no need for pushing and shoving and the like. The Loch Ness Monster swims around the whole ship, so it doesn’t matter where you stand, you’ll be able to see him.”
Excitement plumed into the air as people began to move, sorting themselves in groups and making a beeline for the railings.
“Ahhhh, don’t you go rushing off,” Elisabeth muttered to me, even though I hadn’t moved. “Let me get this last weave in your hair.”
“We ask that you wait until you are settled at the railing,” the attendant continued, “beforeyou put your goggles on. You may notice some distortions in your vision while wearing them, so please be mindful of that. If you feel unsteady, please step back and lower onto one of the benches.”
I glanced down at the splash goggles, dangling from where I’d hooked them over my elbow.
“Parents, mind your little ones.” The attendant raised his voice, so it didn’t get lost in the mounting fervor. “If you have food with you, we ask that you please keep it secure. Donotfeedthe Loch Ness Monster. Do not lean over the railing either. Our Loch Ness Monster has a strict diet, and we do not want him to rot his stomach because a delectable little human fell into his jaws.” He made an overly exaggerated “oooohhh” motion with his hands, like an actor at a cheesy haunted house.
My stomach clenched.
“Strict diet,”the boy called it.
I called it cruelty.
Even if Alistair hadwantedto snack on some of the humans, hecouldn’t. He’d puke them back up.
“And, done,” Elisabeth chirped. “Gorgeous.You’ve the perfect hair for this kind of weave bun, wouldn’t you say?”
I thought she was talking to me, which seemed a silly question, when I couldn’t really see the updo. But as a “yes” was rolling off my tongue anyway, Jackson’s curt “sure” dragged my response to a halt.
“You should wear your hair like that more, babe,” he continued. “Instead of always leaving it down.”
“Oh, I’d wear my hair down all the time too, if I had curls like hers,” Elisabeth said. “I’d want to flaunt them. But this’ll keep the salty humidity from frizzing it.”
Jackson gave a good-natured huff. “I gotta say, I never thought much about how weather and humidity can affect hair. Not until I started dating Pippi. My hair’s always the same.”
“Such is the way with men.” Elisabeth sighed, and then gave me a light tap on the shoulder, whispering, “I think your man wants to take you to see the show.”
“I think he wants to protect me from the monster,” I whispered back.
Elisabeth laughed.
Jackson managed a thin, but charming, smile.
We took our spots along the railing near the front of the ship, on the opposite side of Rune, which made Jackson grumble. And he would’ve tried to zoom me to the other side, if one of the attendants hadn’t swooped over and forced him to stay put.
