Chapter 36 #2
“Perfect,” he says as I approach. A crate slams into the deck behind me, vibrating the boards under my feet.
I can’t keep the smirk off my lips, knowing Weston must have already noticed, and he feels some sort of way about it.
Jorn looks over my shoulder, confused, but shakes his head quickly and brings his attention back to me.
“Why do I need a belt to climb the mast?” I ask.
He holds up the end of a rope in front of me. “Because, even though it’s fun to do risky things, I still don’t want you to fall and break your neck. Captain probably wouldn’t be too happy with me if that happened.”
“Don’t worry about him,” I say firmly. “I’d convince him to leave you alone.”
More like order him.
“Can’t convince him if you’re dead,” Jorn jokes with a wink.
I roll my eyes but can’t hide the smile he brings out.
During my time here, I’ve grown to really like Jorn.
His lighthearted nature, his outlook on life, even the never-ending life on Dawnlin, is so refreshing, and I wish I was more like him.
I don’t want to think about how hurt I would be if the friendship between Jorn and I wasn’t real, because I don’t know how much Sig has told him.
Jorn reaches out and grabs my belt, looping the rope through it, then tying it off in an intricate knot, his fingers flowing like it is second nature.
“You’re on one end, and I’ll be on the other. That way, if you fall or slip, my weight will support you.” He ties the other end of the rope around his waist and belt in a similar fashion.
“But what if you fall?” I ask, looking him up and down. “I have a feeling I will not be able to support you.”
He shoots me a look, and I laugh. “Alright, alright, you aren’t going to fall.”
“No, I will not.” He looks around us, eyes scanning the nearby deck before he reaches up to scratch his chin. “You, uh, might struggle to reach the first beam to get up. Normally I would say just use a crate or barrel, but I take it you don’t want to go over and ask Captain for one.”
“I applaud you on your observation skills.”
He laughs at my poor attempt at humor, but then his cheeks tinge with pink, and his enormous grin turns sheepish.
“I can lift you up, but only if you’re alright with it.”
“As long as you don’t drop me,” I say and turn to face the mast.
“You’re safe with me, Little Lennox.” He looks over my head again, and I know exactly where he’s looking, rather, at who.
He gives me instruction on how to place my feet when he lifts, so I can get the feel for climbing up the pole.
I listen carefully, visualizing the moves he tells me before I’m ready to go.
He comes around behind me, standing close and places his hands on my hips.
“Alright Little Lennox, up you go.”
Jorn hoists me up over his head, and I grab onto the mast, following his exact instructions to clamber to the crossbeam.
Once I reach a certain height, his hands clamp onto my thighs, just under my backside, and push me up farther, enough that I can wrap my arms around the beam and swing a leg over.
Jorn’s hands on me do not have the same effect as Weston’s. There’s no tingling of my skin or pounding of my heart, no desire to get closer or a feeling of loss when he’s no longer touching me. I don’t want to think about what that means. It’s more important that I focus on not falling to my death.
Once I’m sitting on the crossbeam, I lean over slightly to peer down at Jorn, who meets me with a huge smile and two thumbs up.
Returning his smile, I sit up straight, gripping the wood underneath me, and look out over the deck.
The world looks so different from here, and I soak in this new perspective.
Despite being confined to the ship, being up on the mast like this makes me feel a little more free.
My gaze roams over the waves rolling into the cove, and the empty beach, before coming back to the ship. Weston’s eyes find mine, and I look away quickly, but not before I notice the scowl on his face and the tension in his crossed arms.
Take that, Captain.
Jorn pulls himself up onto the crossbeam, standing casually next to me as if he was born to climb.
“Ready?” he says, and I nod enthusiastically.
We spend the next hour on the mast, Jorn giving me careful instruction and demonstrating every move for me before I do it. He is patient and encouraging, and I can tell that this is something he truly loves and takes pride in.
Weston and his confusing actions couldn’t be farther from my mind as Jorn and I climb.
Focusing on staying stable and keeping my balance despite my shaking limbs proves to be just the distraction I need.
It isn’t until we are underneath the crow’s nest that I look down and remember just how high up we are.
My fingers grip the ropes tighter as a wave of unease washes over me, but as I look down and see what I just accomplished, it isn’t just nerves I feel.
It’s satisfaction. Thrill.
I’m proud I did something that terrified me, that I’d never thought I could do. I’m glad I took a risk and proved to myself that I am capable.
I’m also proud that I probably will be returning to an angry captain, who I know is down there worried about my every move with his over protective nature, knowing there’s not a thing he can do about it except watch and wait.
Jorn reaches down and grasps my forearm to help me into the crow’s nest. I’m speechless as I look out across the island.
I thought the view from the platform when we landed was amazing, but this takes my breath away.
We stand in silence together, looking out over the island, and I can see why Jorn finds happiness up here.
While being confined to the ship can feel a little like being confined to the castle in Blackwood, looking out over the island like this feels like the world is open to me, that I’m not trapped or hidden away. It’s amazing, and I’m so grateful he taught me how to climb it safely.
The helio is perched on the back of the platform, facing the island. Jorn gives me a quick rundown of how it works. I can see how something like this would be useful if you lived in a kingdom that ever saw the sun.
We sit down, feet hanging over the edge, and just talk.
Jorn talks about home, and his twin brother, the person he came here for.
He entertains me for a while with stories from over the years, including ones he says should make Weston seem like less of an asshole.
I find myself laughing at their interactions, the exasperated way he describes Weston scolding him after he does something stupid.
Weston seems like he’s the same with me as with all of them, but maybe Jorn is right.
Maybe I just interpret things differently because of my history and my position.
My heart swells the longer I’m up here with him, because yet again, the Castaways have proven that everything Dane told me, everything he is convincing all the Voyagers of, is all lies.
Everyone on this ship used to be a Voyager, and now they are all just looking for a way home after dealing with the same failure and loss I have accepted.
There are no ulterior motives, no secret plans, just a group of people who are making the best out of the eternal life they’ve been handed.
Silence falls between us as we gaze out over the land, the thick grey clouds brightening as midday approaches. I’m so glad I came up with Jorn today. After the morning we’ve spent together, my doubts and worries that his friendship wasn’t real disappears.
I sit and watch as the waves beat on the shore with a soft smile on my face, my thoughts reeling as I process everything that has happened since I stepped foot on this ship.
The moment Weston carried me onto this beach, how full of hatred I was, and how badly I wanted to escape these people as quickly as I could.
Now, everything has changed.
I can’t fathom feeling like I want to escape again, not to go back to a place full of lies and treachery. The only way I want to leave is if we all get to go home, every last one of us.
Sig’s plan comes barreling back into my mind. She wanted to send me back, to get close enough to Dane to take the dust and get at least some of us home.
Could I do it? Could I follow through with her plan and actually take the dust? Even if I did, who would we choose to send back? Or would taking the dust be futile, since the Guardian is the one who uses it?
Questions swim through my head as my vision blurs, my focus no longer on the views before me.
I’ve gotten so close to them now, learned so much about why they are here and how long they’ve been holding onto hope for a way home.
I owe it to them to try, because Sig is right; I’m the only one who can get close enough to Dane to do it.
I don’t know how I would manage it, or how I’d convince Weston to let me go, but Sig spoke the truth. They’ve been searching for years, and time is running out. I’m the best shot they have, and I just need to figure out how to make that happen.
“Here we go!”
Jorn’s excitement breaks my trance and I look over to find him jumping up onto his feet.
“What? What happened?” I ask, following suit.
He points out in the distance and I follow the direction.
“See that light right there? The purple color above the trees?”
“Yes,” I say, squinting to make it out.
“That’s our signal,” he says with a smile.
“What does purple mean?”
“It means we have to get ready.” He lowers himself down to the beam underneath the crow’s nest.
“Ready for what?” I say as I peer down through the hole in the platform.
“Get ready to go to the beach, Little Lennox.” He grins up at me, reaching out to take my hand. “Someone found the waters.”