Page 8 of Palaces and other Prisons
Brett found his voice and glared at Dawson as if he shouldn’t have said anything. “They are fetching water because there’s none on the platform. We’re also running out of food, so we’re hoping that we can come to some kind of agreement.”
And if there was no agreement, what did that mean?
Were they going to have to fight for water and food?
While one of those large cows might keep them fed for a day or two, they couldn’t live on beef alone. And whoever owns the cows wouldn’t be too impressed if they started killing them.
Even though their situation appeared better than other places, Dawson appreciated how precarious it actually was. Like the mythological people in England, America, and elsewhere, they were dependent on the kindness of the people in front of them. And if these guys reacted the way some humans had, they were fucked.
A blue-skinned soldier stood. He pointed at the castle in the distance. Dawson wasn’t sure if he was talking to the othersoldiers or to them; either way, it didn’t matter as Dawson didn’t understand.
The blue-skinned soldier pointed at them with one of the tentacles that seemed to come out of his back and at the castle with a different one.
“I think he wants us to go to the castle…which makes sense. If we are going to make an agreement, we should do it with their king.”
Brett glared at him.
“It might be a queen,” Katrina muttered.
“It’s not going to make any bloody difference if we can’t understand them,” Dawson snapped.
“No one is going anywhere,” Brett said. “We just want some water and food, and then we will leave you guys alone. We don’t want any trouble, and I’m sure they’ll send a boat to pick us up as soon as things settle down.”
The human-looking soldier pointed at them and then at the castle.
Dawson nodded. Nothing in the agreement said he needed to listen to Brett, who was clearly not listening to the people who lived on the island. Dawson tapped his chest and then pointed at the castle and continued nodding like he understood exactly what was going on.
The blue-skinned soldier smiled and motioned for him to come closer and then at the grass as if wanting him to sit.
Brett turned to him. “You are not in charge. I make the calls, and we are not going to the castle. That was not what I volunteered for.”
“We volunteered to make contact and sort out food and water, and if that involves going to the castle, that’s what I’m going to do,” Dawson said.
Katrina nodded. “I agree with Dawson.”
She tapped her chest and pointed at the castle.
Together, they walked over and sat on the grass near the other blue-skinned soldier, who offered them a cup of tea with a three-fingered hand. If it was a hand, given that the fingers seemed to be small tentacles. He caught himself staring and looked away.
Up on the platform, people were still watching.
Brett crossed his arms. “I’m not going to the castle.”
“Then you should go back up to the platform and tell management that Katrina and I are going.”
“What about the water?” Brett frowned. “Without that, we’ll die in a couple of days.”
Dawson shook his drink bottle. “Water.” He pointed at Matt and Joe in the distance. “Okay?” He nodded and smiled, not sure why he was suddenly the interpreter when he didn’t speak any second language fluently, and some of his English teachers at school would say he didn’t even speak English.
There was another rapid discussion, which involved pointing at both Matt and Joe and then to the platform. A couple of the soldiers shrugged.
The blue-skinned one, who’d given him the cup of tea, pointed at the water bottle and at Matt and Joe and nodded.
“There you go. You now have approval to collect water for the platform.” Dawson took a sip of the tea. He wasn’t sure what it was made of, but it tasted okay, and since the others had all been drinking it, including the one who appeared to be human, it probably wouldn’t kill him. And given a choice, he’d rather death by tea than death by dehydration.
“You’re serious about going to the castle?” Brett asked.
“Why not? I’ve got nothing better to do.” He took another sip of the tea.
