Page 28 of Goldilocks
Sam’s hip ached in protest as he lifted his legs to slip into the dry trousers, and there was a distincttingdown his shoulder when he contracted the muscle pulling on the shirt. The moment he had the dry clothes on, the shivering eased, and once he’d pulled out the thick sweater, his last layer, his body temperature stabilised.
Sam scooped up his wet clothes, hesitating as he realised hehadn’tdone things right. Life jacket. Its dull yellow drew his eye to the corner of his cabin. Only the smallest patch of it was visible beneath the tarp Sam had stuffed over it. He bit his cheek, internally chastising himself. When was the last time he’d worn that life jacket?Months ago. Because why would he bother? Devil was always around, so it wasn’t like Sam needed it. At least he hadn’t thought so. He hadn’t been doing things right at all.
Towelling his hair, Sam stepped outside the cabin. Devil was perched on the rail, a soggy mess of ruined textbook in his hands. He was blowing on the wet pages but quickly stopped when he noticed Sam. His gaze darted up and down Sam’s body before he met his eyes, clearly apprehensive.
Sam took in a calming breath. Released it. Approached. “It’s ruined?” Sam asked mildly. Picking a fight with a merman was definitely something Sam would list under: to be avoided. Devil let Sam take the book from him, but he already knew there was no salvaging it. The ink had bled into the white pages, and they were sticking together in clumps. Damn. At least it was one he owned and not one that he’d checked out from the library.
The wind picked up as he brought it into the cabin and stuffed tissue paper into the clumps he could separate. The corners began tearing despite Sam being careful, and he gave up trying to get tissue between all the pages. He would check on it later and hope the parts he needed dried legible. A light sprinkle wet the deck as he packed up the rest of his things, glad to see that the ‘Dad’ cup hadn’t broken when it fell. He remembered his dad being fond of it and wouldn’t want to disappoint him by breaking it. Not that Oisín would ever be on the boat to see it again.
Devil silently watched him. Was he sorry? He at least looked it. Sam wasn’t even mad. Just tired. He sat on the chest next to the cabin, not bothered by the sprinkle as he leaned his head back to rest on the cabin wall and think.
He had already re-positioned and re-baited the pots. He had made a start on the essays he had due. His dad had dinner and breakfast ready for him in the fridge, so he was sorted for the night. Sam should go home anyway, make sure that he was okay. But the thought came and went, pressing on his conscience like a sore bruise. He wouldn’t have prepared him breakfast ahead of time if he hadn’t already planned to spend the night away from the house.
A splash drew Sam’s attention. He opened his eyes – realised that he’d shut them without meaning to – and the golden sun sitting on his railing immediately caught his eye. Devil hadn’t moved an inch, and his golden eyes were fixed on Sam when he looked over.
“Are you really going to pester me for a drawing after that?” Sam asked.
Devil blinked. There was another splash. A yelp. A cackle. Sam leaned forward, turning in the opposite direction from Devil and saw his two friends cutting through the water toward them with terrifying speed. Bee’s copper scales caught and reflected the yellow-lantern light, and next to him, Dew’s paler blue tail stood out from the dark ocean so bright it almost seemed to glow from within. Behind them was Connor’s yacht on a lazy collision course with Sam’s boat. Sam eyed the yacht but saw the nose beginning to turn away.
A flash of iridescence came from behind the two smaller mermen as Adonis’s tail briefly breached the water line. Sam heard a laugh from one of the mermen swimming away at full speed; copper-tailed Bee glanced back at Adonis just before he dove beneath the water and swam under Sam’s hull. They disappeared as black shadows, and then Adonis dove too, a much bigger shadow. The boat rocked as they sped by, and Sam looked to see Devil had raised his finned tip from the water as they passed.
Sam watched until they were out of sight before he double-checked everything was secure. He debated, briefly, turning everyone down. Saying he needed to pull pots or work on assignments. He technically could. The one soaked book wasn’t the only one he had. He could start the other one…but he didn’t want to. He would do it later.
Chapter Ten
Devil stayed perched on the railing as Connor came side by side. Laurence looked down on him from the high elevation of the yacht’s deck as he unrolled a ladder. “Think he’ll catch them this time?” He sounded delighted.
“If he hasn’t managed it yet…” Sam shrugged. He caught a rung of the ladder, testing its hold before stepping out. His hip ached its protest every rung, and Sam shook out his leg on the top step, gritting his teeth to lift it over the railing. His hip flexor spasmed.
Laurence offered a hand to steady him, still leaning against the side railing facing Sam’s fishing boat. “Are you coming up, Goldilocks?” Laurence called.
Sam turned in surprise, and his surprise quelled to confusion when he saw Devil on the railing still. Devil took one last long look at Sam before he slipped off the railing and disappeared into the sea. Sam looked sideways at Laurence, curious. “Does he come up here?”
“He hasn’t,” Laurence answered as he rolled up the ladder and secured it in place with a quick-release knot. “Goldilocks never seems interested, and he doesn’t really come near me since you’re out on the water so often. Bee and Dew hang out, though.”
“Adonis lets them?”
“Never.” Laurence laughed. “But when Connor and him go and I stay behind, they’ll come over. They’re a lot of fun.”
“Huh.” Sam scanned the water as the yacht moved away from his boat to see if he could glimpse Devil. “Can they change the way Adonis can?”
“Only on the other side of The Tear. They can’t do it over here. And they can’t speak when we’re over here either. Not too well, anyway. Just a few words here and there. I hope they’ll be able to, eventually. Adonis couldn’t speak or shift at first either, but he can now.”
“It’ll only be more trouble if they can go on land,” Nick weighed in. Sam glanced over his shoulder to see him sitting on one of the loungers, a tablet balanced on his knee with an umbrella open to shield him from the light drizzle. Battery-powered eco-lanterns lit the deck in a wash of cold blue light.
Laurence rolled his eyes. “You say that about everything to do with The Tear. Adonis comes into Sally’s all the time, and he doesn’t cause any trouble.”
“Because he’s being babysat.”
Sam had to agree with Nick there. If Bee and Dew strolled into the pub, unescorted, there would definitely be trouble. Sam scanned the decking. There was a table set up with drinks, and yellow umbrellas shielded the chairs and table from the light drizzle of rain. Up a small staircase, Connor was at the wheel, with Trevor standing next to him. The wind snatched away their voices, but they both looked relaxed. Connor was gesturing to different parts of the yacht as he spoke.
“Connor’s teaching Dad how to sail,” Laurence explained. “He offered to teach Nick too, but he’s too lazy and just wants to be a passenger.”
Nick raised his eyes to stare at Laurence over the top of his tablet. The blue lights shining on Nick’s face washed out his amber-coloured eyes to an odd, pale green.
Laurence flashed Nick a mischievous grin, but his attention quickly bounced back to Sam. “Want a beer? We also have rum and coke. Connor picked some up for you before we left. I’m cooking downstairs, and snacks will be ready in just a tick. All vegetarian today. Adonis won’t let me cook any meat onboard since Connor won’t eat it, and he’s been kind of iffy about fish lately too, so Adonis won’t let me cook that either. He threw an entire salmon I’d just finished filleting overboard yesterday.”
Maybe tossing things overboard was a merman thing.