Page 18 of Bewitched By the Sea Monster
“Apologies.” A warm hand flattened over my shoulder as a bulky body shifted around to my front. “I didn’t mean ta startle ye.” He dropped to a crouch, leveling me with a concerned stare.
This man had the harsh, weather-wrinkled face of someone who’d spent most of his days exposed to the cruelest of nature’s elements, but his slanted smile was soft, and his grey eyes kind.Tranquil energy curled off him, calming the riot in my heart and stomach. And he spoke with a fascinatingbrogue—not Scottish, or Irish, but something that sounded like those two accents had had a love child with a Welshman. A billowing navy jacket draped over his shoulders, with a big gold pin on the lapel that had the wordValiantinscribed in a half circle. The name of our ship.
Our captain?Maybe?
I smiled up at him, as best as I could manage with as shaky as I still felt. “I’m easily startled. While on this ship, at least. Although, heh…That’s not really true. I’m a bit of a chicken on agoodday.”
The man huffed, “Ach, means yer a sensitive soul, eh? Or so thuy say.”
“That’s me.” I winced when a wave smacked against the side of the boat—a wall of water big enough to make the vessel shudder. My belly gave a viscid twist. “My stomach’s definitely beingextrasensitive today.”
“I thought ye looked a littlah green around the gills.” The man reached into his pocket. “First time on the sea?”
“Ummm. First time as anadult.”
“Oh, aye? Had ye trouble on the sea as a child?”
“Not on a boat. Just…” I blew out a breath, trying, but failing, to expel the memory.
The memory of being small—too small to have been allowed to swim in the ocean, but also too small to have a fear of the sea, or the common sense to avoid it.
My mom and dad had been arguing that day. That was all they did until they finally split when I was ten. Even on vacation they kept their teeth in each other’s jugulars, constantly bickering and gnawing. But that day, Dad had beenextravicious, and he’d taken some big, painful bites out of Mom, before he’d stormed away.
To soothe the raw wounds he’d left, Mom had turned to alcohol. Bought two six-packs of beer from a peddler on the boardwalk and guzzled them like she’d found water in the middle of the desert.
By the time I went out into the ocean, Mom had been in booze lala land. She hadn’t seen me venture into the waves without my swimmies. Hadn’t seen me shrieking with delight when the water bounced me up and down. Hadn’t seen me wailing in panic when the undertow hauled me out to the deep.
The ocean very nearly claimed me that day.Wouldhave claimed me, if the lifeguard on duty hadn’t spotted me flailing and come to my rescue.
“Eh?” the man beside me prompted gently.
“Yeah. Ummmm…The ocean kinda terrifies me. Not kinda. Itdoesterrify me. I’d honestly rather beanywherebut here right now. I almost drowned when I was a kid. And, y’know…” I exhaled. “Well,hopefullyyou know. And I’m not just babbling like an idiot.”
“Aye.” The man gave another warm huff. “I know. Ye didna need to trouble yerself, lassie. The sea is a might not to be trifled with. Any who spend time with her knuws that. Here.” He’d found the thing he’d been rummaging for in his pocket and handed it to me.
I stared at the little, label-less tin in his hand. “Ermmm...”
“Peppermint,” he said.
“Ah. No offense, but I don’t think my stomach can handle any food right now. Even a mint.”
“It’s fer yer nose.” He tapped the top of his lip with his other hand, just below his nostrils. “The scent. Calms the illness from the sea.”
“Oh, yeah. I guess I can try that. Thanks!” When I took the tin and opened it, a rush of peppermint rose from the Vaseline-like goop and walloped my nostrils.
It was almostpainfullystrong. My eyes watered. But it certainly drowned out the brine of the sea. So I dipped my fingers in and smeared the goo along my upper lip.
“Better?” the man asked when I sniffed and closed the tin.
“Better. Yeah. A little. Thank you.”
He nodded and popped the tin back into his pocket.
“That’s an interesting accent you’ve got there.” I inhaled, drawing as much of the minty aroma as I could into my lungs. “Where are you from?”
He rolled his shoulder. “All over, really. Me pa was army, ye ken, so they didna fuss much for keepin’ families in one place.”
“Ah. I totally get that. My boyfriend was in the military too. Air Force. Did the four years. Said it felt too wasteful because it was all Standies who were enlisted. But it was always Sorcerers running everything—they never got their hands dirty though. They sent the Standies to fight and die, and half the people didn’t even know what they were fightingfor.Which…Sorry. I’m babbling. I do that sometimes. Especially when I’m nervous. And I’ve been a nervous wreck since I got on this thing.” I thumped my heels against the floor.
