Page 89 of Tiger's Voyage

I laughed. “Okay, Dix, Mr. Kadam had me bring up dinner because you didn’t get a chance to eat tonight.”

He smiled and glanced at me briefly, then returned his gaze to the window. “Jus’ set it down right dere if ya would, den, miss.”

I set down his tray, leaned my hip against the console, and quietly watched him work.

He peered at me out of the corner of his eye. “You’re lookin’ more at ease dan I’ve seen you in a while, if I may say so.”

I nodded. “I’ve been doing better. Kishan takes good care of me, and we finally got rid of the sea hag.”

“And happy was de hour she stepped off of me boat too.”

I laughed. “I heard you locked her out of the wheelhouse.”

“She was coming to bodder me all times of de day and night. She be complaining dat she was seasick and all manner of rubbish.” He set a few instruments and picked up his dinner tray. “Would ja be keepin’ an old sea dog comp’ny while he eats his dinner, den?”

“Sure.”

He sank into the captain’s chair and sighed. “Every time I settle me old bones in a chair it gets a little harder to coax meself out of it.”

I sat in the chair next to him. “A good chair is worth its weight in gold, my mom always used to say.”

He laughed heartily. “Dat’s right. Many an old man would radder sink himself into a comfy old chair dan be rich.”

“So how long until our next stop?”

He chewed and swallowed. “I’m hopin’ we won’ be makin’ any more stops. At least not ta pick up any passengers. My plan is ta head straight to de Shore Temple. We should be on de ocean for a week or so.”

We chatted casually until he set down his dinner tray. He checked the instruments and said, “Would ja be wantin’ another yarn of de sea today, Miss Kelsey?”

“Have you another one ready?”

“De day dis captain run outta stories is de day I turn in ma cap.”

I grinned and crossed my legs, getting comfortable. “Go on, then. I’m ready.”

He pushed back his hat and scratched his forehead. “Do ya ever watch de seabirds as dey fly out over de ocean?”

“Sometimes.”

“If yer watchin’ real close, ya can see dem carryin’ twigs and branches and sometimes stones. Dey drop ’em in de water.”

“Why do they do that?”

“Listen, and ye will learn. Once der was a beautiful maiden named Jingwei who loved de ocean. She ’ad a little boat, and she spent many hours on de water. She’d row out in de morning and would’n return ’til dusk. For many years de sea accepted her, but dere was a charming sea captain, a good lookin’ man, almost as handsome as meself.”

He waggled his eyebrows, making me giggle.

“Jingwei fell in love wid de captain and wanted ta ride de waves wid him. But he wanted her ta stay home and raise a family. ‘De water is no place for a wooman,’ he said.”

“What did she do?” I asked.

“She told him dat if she can’t be on de water, den neither could he. Dey settled down near de beach, but both of dem longed for de sea. One day Jingwei tell him dat she gonna have a child. Dey were both happy for a while. But when neither of dem was lookin’, dey both stared at de water. De captain, he tink his wife bein’ with child will keep her home. So he go fishin’ early one mornin’. But de ocean, she been waiting for dis. You see, de sea, she’s a jealous mistress and was very angry wit dem.

“De ocean rise up and swallowed de ship. Jingwei, heavy with child waited for her man all day, but he never return. Later she heard he drowned. She took her little boat and rowed offshore. Den she shook her fist at de sea and ask why did she take her man?”

“Then what happened?”

“De sea, she laughed and told Jingwei all de handsome captains belong ta her. She can’t steal dem away.”