Chapter Seven #2
They huffed and bantered but moved toward the packed skiffs, boarding them in a flurry of activity and mutterings.
“Please tell my beloved ship that I miss her,” Captain Martin said, waving them off.
“Dinesh?” I asked, as we stood on the beach and watched them gain enough distance that they wouldn’t hear our conversation over the noise of the waves and the slap of their oars.
“Yes?”
“Don’t you worry that they’ll, oh I don’t know, abandon us here and steal the ship?”
He looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
“Why on earth would they do that?”
“Well,” I said. “They don’t actually need either of us, do they?”
Captain Martin frowned. “Look, I think you’re underestimating—”
“Hillier does all the practical managing. And Guthrie the cooking. The rest of them do all the work.”
“Wait a moment…”
“I’m just saying.”
“Now look here, I—” he started to protest my logic and then must have seen the glint in my eye and the humour in my expression.
“You bugger. How dare you question my importance to the Arrow and her crew?”
“The comment was worth the look on your face as you realized I was right.”
“Now, now, stop this teasing, or you won’t get your wedding gift.”
“I already got the pebble.”
“That’s not your wedding gift.”
“What?”
“Well, I’m waiting on Jimena’s brother…”
“Beg pardon?” I had thought that perhaps he was making a gamahuching reference, but I would hope that that would not involve Jimena’s sibling.
Dinesh held up his hand. “Patience. Your present should be here by lunchtime.”
I blinked, completely flummoxed. “But…but…where on earth is it coming from?”
Dinesh only smiled and wouldn’t tell me anything more.
A bit later, after we’d had some coffee and breakfast, he told me he was going with Francis on a foray into the jungle to see a tree that was thousands of years old.
He asked if I wanted to come too, but I said that I preferred to sit on the beach and do nothing.
I was tired from the festivities of the night before, and the idea of trudging through the thick jungle did not appeal.
“Very well. Perhaps you can help Jimena entertain the children.”
“Me?”
“Why not?”
“Well…ain’t that women’s business?”
“Haven’t you seen Francis with them all the time? He doesn’t leave their care entirely to Jimena.”
“Aye, that’s true.”
“In the Bribri culture, it is quite common for the men to participate in the care of the children. Which I do find very refreshing.”
“I suppose…” I said, glancing at where Jimena was wading in the shallow water at the edge of the ocean, her babe in a cloth wrap at her hip and the youngster skipping along at her side.
“Whatever you decide, be sure to enjoy yourself, and I’ll be back very soon.”
“All right. And you’d better be.”
He waved and nodded as he trudged up the sand to where Jimena’s brother, José waited with another young man from the tribe. I sighed, curious about Dinesh’s reference to a wedding gift but put the idea out of my mind and determined to enjoy the peace of the tropical morning.
With the crew back on the ship there wasn’t as much going on, which suited me fine after such an eventful day.
I felt renewed and full of optimism for my future.
No doubt the nightmares were the result of my inner turmoil over the deaths my powers had brought about, even in the name of keeping us all safe.
That was something I’d probably struggle with to the end of my days, but I felt like the great Sibu might understand and absolve me.
I hoped the frightening dreams were a thing of the past.
I took the captain’s hint and helped Jimena with the children, then, when she’d taken them under the canopy for a snack, I took a walk alone on the quiet beach.
The feel of the wet sand between my bare toes gave me a sense of connection to the place—this idyllic utopia where there was a society where women were at least equal, if not considered superior, to men and where children were valued as the crucial continuation of a threatened people.
And where two fellows, or two lasses even, could marry each other if they wanted to.
I wondered why England, and in alliance, the settlements of Jamaica, had got everything so wrong.
Why couldn’t people live with more fairness and an equal distribution of whatever wealth was available?
As I turned and began to walk back to the outpost along the sand, I saw a person in the distance walking toward me.
I soon recognized Dinesh, and noticed that he had something tucked under his arm.
I wondered what he’d managed to get me as a wedding gift in this strange but stunning place.
If the offering turned out to be a bloody coconut with our initials carved into the rind, I’d have to stifle my disappointment.
As we got closer, he stopped and brought his other hand to whatever he had tucked away and lowered the item to the sand. The thing wriggled and yapped and took a few steps toward the waves, then dodged back to avoid the water.
I stopped dead, staring at what appeared to be a tiny brown dog.
“What the fuck?” I said, staring as the creature ran at the edges of the water, yapping at the shrinking and advancing surf as if prepared to defend itself from an approaching threat. “That’s a dog!”
Captain Martin crossed his arms and smiled, watching the wee thing with smug amusement. “A pup, actually. She’s only ten weeks old. She’s for you.”
“For me? Truly?”
“As a thank you for agreeing to be my husband.”
I cocked my head, wanting to pick her up but wary, because I couldn’t quite believe the animal was real.
“You know you may come to regret this.”
“The puppy or being your husband?”
I laughed, full of wonder and disbelief.
“Perhaps both.” I nodded at the puppy who now was growling at the water and charging back and forth. “She seems to be as much of an arse as I am.”
“Oh, I do hope so,” Dinesh said, the timbre of his voice filled with affection.
I crouched down and made kissing noises, rubbing my fingers together.
The puppy lifted her wee head and barked, then galloped toward me, her tail wagging with excitement.
“Oh, hello there,” I said, gathering her up in my arms and trying to contain her wiggling body against my chest. I looked at the captain. “Wherever did you get her?”
He came close and put out his hand for the pup to sniff and lick.
“Jimena was saying that a dog in the village had had a litter several weeks ago. Eight pups in all, and I asked Francis if there was any way I could buy one and have the creature brought to the outpost to give to you. He spoke to Jimena, who said that her brother would fetch the pup, but that she wouldn’t take any payment.
The dog would be her gift to both of us. ”
The puppy nosed my chin and licked me, her pink tongue soft and warm against my skin.
“Do you like her?” Dinesh asked. “Is she a good present?”
I snuggled the pup in my arms, feeling joy and gladness at the captain’s thoughtfulness. I’d had a dog growing up on Jamaica, but the poor thing had met an untimely end before I’d turned seven and I’d never had another.
“She’s a wonderful present. Thank you. But how will she manage on the ship?”
“Quite well, I expect. Francis said that the dogs in the village are excellent at hunting small rodents. Perhaps she can help with the rats.”
“Rats! There aren’t any rats on the Arrow,” I said, with a grin. “How dare you say such a thing.”
“I assure you, there are rats, but we haven’t been quite overrun as of yet. I’m hoping this little creature will be an asset. But I expect she’ll be a friend most of all.”
“Aye. She will. I’m sure of that.”
“You’ll need to come up with a name for her.”
“I’m already thinking of some.”
I put her down on the sand and started jogging ahead, making kissing noises and calling to her.
“Come on, come on. Good girl! Come on,” I said with tones of encouragement as she came barrelling after me, the captain following with measured steps.
***
After much more thought than was strictly necessary, I named her Pearl, to keep with an ocean theme and because she’d been a wedding gift.
She was an excellent hunter of the lizards that wandered the outpost, and watching her snatch one and shake the thing back and forth, breaking its tiny neck, was something.
She would start eating her prey and then lose interest halfway through, and I’d find a partly demolished corpse an hour later. Quite repugnant.
I taught her to do her business outside of our sleeping hut, and I wondered how that might work on the ship.
Dinesh suggested we teach her to do her business on one of the reed mats and then take one with us when we left.
They were easy to clean and her more solid business could be tossed over the rail.
By the time we were ready to leave Talamanca a week later, she was my best friend—barring the captain, of course—and already learning basic commands. She’d grown as well, and Jimena said she’d be medium-sized and wiry at adulthood.
On the day designated for our departure, a skiff arrived with Squid and Martinéz to collect us. They were suitably surprised by the presence of the puppy, and Squid, in particular, seemed delighted that she was to be a junior member of the crew.
“Rat catcher, hopefully. She’s decimated the local lizard population here in a week,” Captain Martin muttered. “Would you do me a favour and look after her for a few days when we get on board?”
“Of course.”
“Why does Squid have to look after her?”
“Oh…” Dinesh coughed and glanced my way. “Well, you and I need to go over a few important things, and I’m going to need your…uh, your full attention.”
Squid tried not to laugh as I bopped Dinesh on his arm.
We said farewell to Francis, Jimena, the children, and the men from the village. The children became quite upset, and Jimena looked sad. Francis struggled to keep his composure as he and Dinesh said goodbye.
“Thank you for visiting. I’ll never forget these past two weeks. I love living here, and I love my life, but…I do miss you, Dinesh.”
“I’m sure we’ll be back one day. You’ll probably have six or seven children by then.”
“I certainly hope so,” Francis said, slinging an arm around Jimena and kissing her cheek.
We pushed off, with the puppy held securely in my arms so that she didn’t try to jump overboard. She yapped at the water as the men paddled the skiff, and Dinesh rolled his eyes.
“I hope she won’t be able to see the water once she’s on board.”
“She’ll be fine and perfectly behaved, I’m sure,” I said, giving my lovely girl a kiss on her warm head and receiving a swipe of her tongue over my lips in return.