“My dad says you’re parasites,” he said. “You live off our hard work. You’re Grabbies, and that’s no mistake.”
“We are not parasites,” I said.
“If things were the way they ought to be, we’d be the ones living like kings, not you.”
“If we live like kings, why were you saying earlier that we had to live all crowded together in barracks?”
He was nonplussed for a moment and then he said, “Because you like to live like pigs, that’s why. I can’t help it if you like to live like pigs.”
“If there are any pigs around here, it’s you Mudeaters,” I said.
“What?”
“Mudeaters!”
“Grabbie! Why don’t you take a bath?” He put his hand against my chest and gave a hard shove. In spite of our quarreling, he caught me unprepared, and I went tumbling overboard.
The feel of the water was shocking. It was colder than the air, though after the first moment not unpleasantly cold. I got a mouthful of water as I went under and it was very bad-tasting, dirty and bitter. I came up, coughing and spluttering, as the boat swung on past me. I got a glimpse of Helga with her head turned back toward me and a surprised look on her face. I treaded water while I coughed out the water that had gone down my windpipe, and some that had gone down the wrong way came up the wrong way and out my nose. It took several seconds before I was breathing properly. The shock and choking did settle my stomach, I found to my surprise, but it wasn’t the way I’d have chosen to do it if I had had a choice.
Helga had spilled the air out of the canvas and turned the tiller. The Guacamole was just rocking on the water and drifting. She stood up, looking back at me.
“Do you need help?” she called.
We weren’t really far from the dock, so I called, “No, I can swim in.”
I had light clothing on. My wet, loose sleeves were a little of a problem, but I found I could manage. I’d never swum in anything but a pool before, but I found it wasn’t really a problem to stay on top of the waves, though I had to be careful that I didn’t swallow any more of that bitter water. I wasn’t a fast swimmer, but I was built enough like a cork that all I had to do was keep at it and I had no trouble going where I wanted to.
As it was, we were close enough to the dock when I went overboard that I was able to reach a ladder by the time they had the Guacamole all tied up. I pulled myself up and then found that I was very tired, collapsed in a heap and dripped water all over the boards of the dock. I watched as thirty feet down the way, Ralph and Helga lowered the sail and lashed the boom.
As they finished, I got up and walked down the dock to the head of their ladder. The gravity had taken most of the energy out of me. Ralph caught on to the end of the ladder and started up. He had an apologetic look on his face as he saw me waiting. When he had gotten to the top and was just about to step out on the dock, I grabbed the ladder in both hands to brace myself, put a sandal lengthwise across his stomach, and pushed off as hard as I could.
He had a strong grip, but I caught him off balance. He let go of the ladder, waved his arms in an attempt to hold his balance but then saw he couldn’t. He twisted to guide his fall and turned it into a dive. He entered the water cleanly just behind his little boat. I leaned over and waited until he came up. Then I gave a look to Helga.
She shook her head. “I didn’t do anything,” she said fearfully.
Ralph caught on to the stern of the Guacamole, and clung there. He looked up at me, hopping mad.
“I had a real swell time,” I said. “Both of you will have to come up to the Ship sometime, and let me show you around.”
Then I walked away, leaving a dripping trail. I pushed my wet hair back off my forehead, squeezed a little water out of my sleeves, and shook myself as dry as I could. Then I left the quay. I didn’t look back at all. Let them solve their own problems.
I set off up the street that we’d come down. Some of the people on the street looked oddly at me as I passed. I suppose I was a strange sight, an odd little girl, dressed in funny clothes and wringing wet. I wasn’t sure where I was and where I’d find the scoutship, but I wasn’t worried about it. Somehow, during the course of the hours I’d been here, Grainau had lost its power to scare me.
As it turned out, it didn’t matter that I didn’t know my way around. Before I’d even gotten to the top of the hill I ran into the monster, the dinosaur, George Fuhonin. He’d been out looking for me, and surprisingly, I was almost glad to see him.
He said, “What happened to you?”
I wasn’t dripping by that time, but I was still wet, looking, I’m quite sure, like a half-drowned kitten fished out of the water. Thoroughly bedraggled.
I said, “We went swimming.”
“Oh. Well, come back to the ship and we’ll get you dried out.”
I fell into step beside him, as best I could. We walked on silently for a few minutes, and then he said, “You know, I really didn’t intend to embarrass you. I wouldn’t have done that intentionally.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Just make sure the switch is off next time, please.”
“All right,” he said.
When we got back to the ship, I went into the toilet and turned on the hot air blower in the refresher. In a few minutes I was dry.
Then I discovered that inspite of my various stomach upsets, I was hungry. I ate heartily and felt much better. There’s nothing like the feeling of being comfortably full.
It was near nightfall outside when Daddy came back, though it was still in the middle of the afternoon by Ship time. When it started to grow dark outside, the people who’d been coming to stare all day had gone, I suppose home to dinner. When Daddy came back, there was no band playing this time.
I heard the horses and I went outside. One of the crew went by me and down the ramp. Mr. Tubman and Daddy handed their horses over to him and then turned their attention back to Mr. Gennaro, who was standing by his own horse. They didn’t see me standing near the top of the ramp.
In a very anxious voice, Mr. Gennaro said, “Now are you sure that this unfortunate business isn’t going to make any difference to our agreement?”
“I’m quite sure,” Daddy said, smiling. “You made your apology and I’m quite sure my daughter got whatever satisfaction she needed from pushing your boy into the water. Now let’s drop the whole matter. Our ship will be down for the ore you have ready next week…”
I didn’t wait to hear him finish. I just turned and went inside with a little glow warming me. He wasn’t mad at me.
“What are you smirking about?” George asked.
“Oh, nothing,” I said.
PART II: INSIDE MY WORLD
7
We took off shortly after Daddy came aboard. He and I and Mr. Tubman were sitting in the center of the downstairs lounge in easy chairs. The three crewmen were playing cards, and George Fuhonin was upstairs piloting.
I felt quietly pleased with myself. Viewed from one angle, my time on Grainau had been nothing but one long mistake. I wasn’t bothering to view it that way, even though I did realize dimly that I had made a few errors in tact and simple good sense. It wasn’t important to me, and even now I would say that it was comparatively unimportant in real terms.
I think I was deservedly elated. I was filled to the brim with the discovery that I could meet Mudeaters on their own home grounds, and if not come off best, at least draw.
Like the girl who first found out how to make fire, like the girl who invented the principle of the lever, like the girl who first had the courage to eat moldy goat cheese and found Roquefort, I had discovered something absolutely new in the world. Self-confidence, perhaps.