Her action was so similar to the one of Emma in the same circumstances, I wondered if their parents had taught it to them. In this case, the four of us, and him were the only people outside on the small deck. It is natural for a person to observe others, especially those with children. Most will say something pleasant—or sometimes not so pleasant, but in each case, they will address the adults.
He was not of Kondor, at least his features were not thin and tan like the four of us. He stood smaller than me but heavier, and older. His eyes were fixed on the water, but he could see us from the corner of his eye. From his tiny reactions to our conversation, there was no doubt he understood Common, the language of Dire.
As I was about to dismiss him from my thoughts, behind his head, a motion caught my attention. At first, I assumed it was a seagull, but the movement of the far-off wings was wrong for that. It was the dragon.
Without turning to look in the direction of the dragon, the man suddenly stiffened. His entire posture changed. He stood erect, and his fingers gripped the railing tightly as his head turned and his eyes searched. He found the dragon and watched.
What struck me, was that he had known it was there before turning. I was convinced of it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A nna had let go of my hand, but she had known something about the man was wrong and had quietly warned me. That was twice the girls had done it. He had known about the dragon before looking, but she had known about him before that incident. She had taken steps to make sure I knew of him, and she had done it in a way that allowed me to observe the man without warning him. Her actions displayed wisdom far beyond her years. Again, I considered that she had been trained.
He kept his back to me as he watched the dragon first catch up with us, then fly past the ship. It appeared to be flying in the same direction but would arrive long before us. I felt Kendra’s eyes on me and ignored her. While the man was near and couldn’t see me because of his turned head, I used the opportunity to examine him in minute detail.
Kendra was doing the same, and the girls remained quiet, sensing we were busy. My mind reviewed what little I knew about other passengers. Princess Elizabeth had boarded with only four guards. The man at the rail was not one of them. However, this was the third time we’d had an encounter, while most of the other passengers still remained unsighted. There was little doubt he was watching and listening to us, just as there was little doubt he somehow knew a dragon flew in the distance.
Four more people emerged from the passenger quarters to stand on the deck, while Kendra motioned for us to follow her. She went to the tiny dining room and stood aside in the passageway until a table freed up. Anna raced off to place the chamber pot back in our cabin. We found bowls and spoons in piles and nearby a vat of cold fish stew. A table held loaves of fresh bread that must have been baked in the port before we departed since there were no fires on the wooden ship.
At the table, Anna started a game of ‘what is this?’ She pointed to her bowl and Kendra responded with the name. Then Anna turned to Emma and repeated the name as if she was the teacher. Soon they were identifying a chair, table, spoon, bowl, bread, and four or five other objects. They repeated them in an almost desperate manner as if determined to learn Common as quickly as possible.
Kendra said, as if reading my mind, “Most northern countries, especially those bordering the ocean, changed their language to Common hundreds of years ago to facilitate trade. Only a few southern countries did the same, and Kondor kept its own language.”
At the mention of Kondor, both girls reacted, twitching as if flies had landed on their noses. I said, “We’re doing this wrong. The girls are learning Common, but we are sailing for Kondor.”
“Meaning you and I should learn their language?”
I didn’t bother responding. The tone of her question told me any answer would be wrong. I ate instead.
She finally said, “You’re right. It won’t hurt for us to learn a little. She turned to Anna and managed to get her intention across. The girls liked that game even more. They pointed at something, and we identified it—or they laughed at our inability to learn. Our table drew more than one scowl.
I kept a lookout for the man at the railing, or any of Princess Elizabeth’s guards and found none. After we finished, the four of us went back on deck and watched the sunset with several passengers and then headed for our cabin. Emma and I stood in the passageway with the door open while Anna and Kendra climbed into the top hammock.
Then it was our turn. Emma climbed in like an experienced traveler while I struggled to both close the cabin door and get into the hammock. I couldn’t bend over and close it, nor could I stand because then the people in the upper hammock prevented me from climbing in because of the narrow space. Besides, if I managed to get into it, I’d crush a ten-year-old girl.
I was about ready to leave the damn door open when a giggling Emma slipped out and motioned for me to get into the hammock first. I did as she directed. She pulled the door to her, and climbed into the hammock with me, while still holding the door open only a little, and then closed it.
To my surprise, the hammock was large and roomy, with plenty of room for us to lay side by side. As long as I didn’t touch the hull where water slowly seeped between the heavy planks, we would remain dry, but I wondered how well that would work during storms or heavy seas. Within moments, Emma was asleep with one arm thrown over my chest.
“How are you doing up there?” I asked.
Kendra shushed me and said, “Anna is sleeping, and I almost was. Now be quiet.”
Offended, I thought of several scathing responses, but before I settled on one, the rocking motion of the ship put me to sleep. When I did wake, Kendra was using one foot on my hip to balance herself as she climbed down. She pushed the door open, and the light of the lantern in the passageway woke me. A tiny elbow dug into my ribs every time the ship rolled. I heard footsteps on the deck above and the creaks of the hull, along with the rush of water on the outside of the hull a handspan from my head.
“We need a routine for using the chamber pot,” Kendra said. “Only one of us will fit in here at a time, and I need to use it.”
At first, I thought her joking. It was the middle of the night. But, no. The tiny size of the cabin prevented the use of the chamber pot unless two of the other three left to stand in the hall, the third remained in the top hammock. We were not alone in waiting our turn at chamber pots. There were others awake and impatiently waiting in the passageway, the stench growing more alarming with each breath. Since our cabin was below the main deck, and partly below the waterline, little fresh air ever made its way down there.
I decided to make it my highest priority to find the purser and secure at least one more cabin upon docking when hopefully a few passengers departed. Until then, we’d make do if nobody wished to share a cabin. Perhaps I could offer a reward. After using the chamber pot and taking Emma’s hand, we left the other two alone in the cabin while we watched the sunrise.
While I was eating breakfast with Emma, the purser stuck his head inside, and his eyes found me. He walked directly to our table and said, “It has been suggested that you might wish to pay for an unclaimed cabin.”
“I would!”
He smiled as if he understood, but unless he’d been ordered as punishment for committing a grievous crime to stay in our cabin, he had no idea of the hardship a single night had caused. He said, “After you are finished eating, try to locate me.”