Chapter 40
Forty
Cali stood at the top of the gangway with her knapsack over one shoulder and the rolled sketch of The Cruel Mistress tucked carefully inside it and tried to make herself move.
Thrain had no such trouble. He was already halfway down the ramp with Bramble riding the top of his pack, the raccoon’s striped tail curled around the dwarf’s forehead for balance.
“You two sure are a sight for sore eyes,” Thrain’s voice drifted up from the dock as he hurried toward two bulky figures standing beside a wagon loaded with wrapped bundles and iron-bound crates.
Even from a distance, Vorto and Klaff were unmistakable. Their bald green heads gleamed, and their clothes boasted the scorch marks and tears common for orcs who ran a blacksmith and wheelwright workshop. Klaff spotted Cali and raised one meaty hand in greeting.
“They’ve been waiting since we docked,” Seraphina said, materializing at Cali’s side and giving her a start.
Cali looked from the two orcs waiting patiently by their cart to the ship around her.
Pinkie scampered up the mast, as Gert barked instructions for loading fresh supplies.
Bonnie remained near the wheel, her dark hair lifting slightly in the harbor wind and her eye patch firmly in pace again.
She wasn’t looking at the dock or at Vorto and Klaff or at the town of Eldu laid out behind them. She was looking at Cali.
Cali found it hard to speak, so she didn’t.
Maybe it was better this way. Long goodbyes had never been her style.
She gave the captain a small smile, then she turned away before she could change her mind and trudged down the gangway.
Each step seemed heavier than the last, and when she took the last one, her chest constricted.
It took every measure of self-control not to spin around and rush back up the ramp.
Luckily, the moment she stepped onto the dock, she was snatched from the world of the pirate ship and engulfed in the bustle of exotic cargo being unloaded and fresh supplies being bartered over.
She sidestepped rolling carts and sailors heaving rope as she threaded her way to the orcs’ wagon.
Even the bracing smells of the port town—the wood smoke from chimneys, the savory smells of cooking breakfasts, and the ever-present aroma of horse dung—reminded her she was back on land.
Before she could even greet the orcs, Vorto enveloped her in a hug that lifted her feet off the ground. When he set her down, Klaff clasped her by both shoulders and looked her over as if checking for damage.
“In one piece,” he said, satisfied.
Thrain was already thrusting his pack and a curious burlap sack toward the cart. “What’s all this, then? How did you know we were coming?”
“We happened to be in Eldu picking up tools,” Vorto said, swinging Cali’s pack into the wagon bed behind Thrain’s bundles. “When we heard The Cruel Mistress would dock today, it seemed foolish to make you take the post back.”
Vorto was already helping Thrain and Bramble into the back of the wagon while Klaff hoisted her into the front. She settled onto the buckboard while Klaff gathered the reins and Vorto swung himself into the wagon bed, settling among the crates and tools with a grunt of contentment.
Thrain had already arranged himself among the bundles and was unwrapping something from his pocket that turned out to be coconut sea lime scones that he offered to everyone as the wagon rolled forward.
Klaff devoured a scone in a single bite, scattering crumbs as he declared them almost as good as Lira’s.
Cali nibbled absently on a scone as she looked over her shoulder.
The Cruel Mistress sat tall at her berth, the painted swirls of her hull muted now that they were receding.
Pinkie was a purple speck in the crow’s nest and Gert a smudge of green by the railing.
Cali faced forward again before she could spot a dark-haired figure at the wheel.
The streets of Eldu rolled by, and the smell of saltwater thinned, replaced by peat, baked bread, and salty fried pork. Cali would have traded even the mouth-watering savory scents for the tangy brine of the ship in a heartbeat.
“So,” Klaff said, eyes on the road. “What was it like to sail with notorious pirates?”
Cali thought about all of it, the back of her eyes stinging. “Not what I expected.”
“Better or worse?”
“Better.” She watched a pair of children dart in front of them, waving pudgy hands. “We tracked down Marina and her crew. They won’t be causing any more trouble.”
“There were mermaids,” Thrain bellowed from behind. “And sirens who tried to kill me.”
Klaff’s eyebrow rose. He wasn’t easily surprised, but when Cali shrugged in tactic agreement, his brows popped higher.
Behind her, Thrain held forth at considerable volume about the galley, Marvella’s rolls, and his own contributions to the ship’s cuisine. Only Bramble’s occasional chatter slowed the telling of the dwarf’s increasingly tall tales.
Klaff kept his gaze on the road until they’d left Eldu. “Everyone back home will be thrilled to see you. Sass has been fretting. She wouldn’t admit being worried, but the tavern has never been cleaner.”
Cali laughed at the image of Sass polishing every surface of The Tusk and Tail to a high shine to assuage her worries.
“And Lira’s been baking to keep herself distracted,” Vorto called out, apparently following the conversation despite the clatter of the wheels and Thrain’s continued monologue. “She’s perfected a new savory bird pie.”
“Everyone loves it,” Klaff confirmed.
“Except for Glen,” Vorto added. “He’s not a fan. Then again, he is a bird.”
Cali’s chest swelled at the recounting of the happenings in Wayside. “I could see why he might take it personally.”
She took in the road unrolling before them, grateful to be back on solid land, even if a part of her already missed The Cruel Mistress and her crew. The scent of seawater was gone entirely now, and the air smelled like early thaw and turned earth.
Klaff let the silence run for a comfortable stretch before he spoke again. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
Cali glanced at him. His eyes hadn’t left the road.
She thought about everything that had happened since she’d left. “Everything I’d been looking for and something I didn’t know I needed.”
The orc grunted his approval but asked no more questions, which was fine by Cali. The truth of what else she’d found and left behind she planned to keep to herself. A part of her hoped that part of her story wasn’t finished.