Gift of Gold (The Year of Churning Bloods) (72 page)

“Oh...” I mumbled, not sure how to respond to this.

“Yeah, it’s surprising isn’t it? After today, I’m now the lowest of the Storm Striders and a complete joke who should’ve run off to the circus long ago. At least I’d have a shot with a name like Button,” he said, sinking even further in his seat.

              “Don’t think like that!” I urged, lightly prodding him in the shoulder. A fine layer of dirt smudged onto the two fingers that made contact. “So you’ve had a bad moment! Big deal, I’m sure your time will come around.”

              “Don’t be so sure,” Button whimpered, pitifully looking around for something to drink. “I’ve been a member of the crew for longer than both the first and second mate combined.” Button shifted in his seat grumpily and closed his eyes.

              “I know it won’t make you feel any better, but I’m an orphan too you know,” I said in a quiet voice. “All the Grimlar trainees are,”

              “Is that right?” Button asked, although I could tell he was too tired to care. Within minutes, the pirate was asleep.

              I quietly left the room and made my way outside. A warm breeze fluttered my uncut hair just as the clouds parted and a ray of sunlight struck my face. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I finally did look around again, I realized that someone was standing beside me.

              “Captain... um... Rimu?” I asked as politely as I could.

She nodded and stepped forward. I noticed that she had unbraided her hair. “Can we talk?” she asked, sounding rather deflated.

              I nodded and followed her onto an isolated area by the stern.

“You never told me how you met Totara,” she said, crossing her long arms and bending down to look me in the eyes. “I want to know.”

I paused, scratched the back of my head uncomfortably and slowly began to tell her everything.

Rimu gaped accordingly and asked a few questions here and there, most of which I couldn’t answer. I told her about the miracle powder and how Totara had grown his own sailboat to try and search for her. When I briefly mentioned Totara being abducted by pirates she stopped me.

              “Sorry to interrupt but did Totara say anything about these pirates?” Rimu asked carefully.

I cocked my head as if to somehow channel my memories better. “Yeah... Yeah he said he was abducted by a group of people called-” The sudden realization jostled my stomach as if I had suddenly been punched. “A group of people called the Storm-Striders,” I concluded uncertainly.

Rimu nodded. “If it was about a month after I left then that was when I first joined the Storm-Striders. I would have been there when Totara was abducted.” A single tear traced her tanned cheek. She scrubbed at it with her thin fingers and glared at the salty droplet, as if appalled at herself for crying.

              “He managed to escape,” I assured Rimu but she didn’t seem to be listening. “He’s been in the Charlie-horse woods ever since, working as a lumberjack to earn some money and travel home.”

Rimu wiped her eyes. “So you found him there?”

              “Yeah. We got caught in a blizzard and tried to break in,” I said, laughing at the memory

              “Well... Thank you,” Rimu said, awkwardly pulled me into a tight hug. After a moment, she spasmed and quickly brought her arms back to her side, before scratching her nose self-consciously “That never happened,” she clarified, staring at me with a look that didn’t make me think otherwise.

              “So are you ready to see Totara again?” I asked.

Rimu sighed and stared down at her shoes in deep focus. “I don’t know. We’re different people now and after all this time he’s spent looking for me he’s going to be furious.”

              “Is that actually what you think?” I asked in disbelief.

Rimu nodded.

“Look, you’ve got nothing to worry about,” I assured her quietly. “You were the reason he left the clan to begin with. He
loves
you Rimu.”

“That’s what I was worried about,” she mumbled under her breath.

“What do you mean?” I asked heatedly.

She turned to face me, her expression as cold as steel. “The reason why I left in the first place was because I felt restricted. I don’t want to be tied down to other people.” She shook her head quickly and began to stammer. “I should have never told him I was leaving. He wasted seven years looking for me and... It’s all my fault.” Unable to contain herself any longer, Rimu burst into tears and fell against the handrail like a frail old woman.

I coughed uncomfortably and turned my attention elsewhere, pretending not to notice. “Those seven years weren’t wasted,” I said after about a minute. “Totara built himself a hut. He cut down hundreds of trees. Even though he never found you, he made a life for himself.”

Rimu sniffed, nodded and straightened herself up. Although her eyes were staunch and strong, she was trembling from head to toe. “I never wanted to hurt him,” she said quietly. “He’s been kind to me. He knows how I felt.” She looked out to the shoreline aimlessly and sighed. “We’ll be returning shortly. Feel free to do what you want until then. I have some thinking to do.” Rimu forced a smile and strode away before I had time to say goodbye.

***

Eventually, we arrived on the shores of Euphradis. Out on the docks I watched in fascination as Rimu’s mood swung up and down like a pendulum

One moment, she was singing shanties with her crew, the next, shouting down a pirate who’d asked if she was hungry. Hiding back in the shadows, she tried throwing pebbles at a small man ranting  on about taxes but after awhile, got bored and started imitating bird calls.

To be honest, I felt like I was watching I was watching a very energetic child, much less the leader of a criminal organization.

Rimu pointed at something off in the distance, diverting the attention of a merchant long enough for her to swipe an apple or two. Waltzing into the plaza area, Rimu smiled charmingly and shook hands with everyone she met before smugly walking off.

It didn’t take me long to notice that Rimu was wearing a number of rings and bangles I hadn’t noticed before. “Where did you get-” but before I could finish my sentence, she had already dashed off again.

As we approached the outskirts of the Charlie-horse woods, it seemed like Rimu was at a loss for what to do. She looked around, twiddled her thumbs and even climbed a nearby tree. Her hands fiddled with her hair and quickly formed a complex looking braid. Apparently unsatisfied with this, Rimu undid it and kept trying until it became an unworkable mess.

“How do you know we’re going the right way?” she asked, rubbing her arms quickly.

I turned back to look at her and saw that she was trembling again, rather like a dried up leaf caught in a thick storm. “You see that strange looking red thing just up there? No, right there,” I said, redirecting her attention with an extended finger. “That’s the flag that Totara uses to call in the wood merchants. His hut’s just under that.”

Rimu nodded and continued to frantically rub her arms. Four pirates offered her a coat yet she refused them all and claimed she was fine. Surprisingly enough, all of the pirates had decided to follow their captain even though she’d told them it was unnecessary.

After a long couple of hours, we eventually came to the familiar clearing littered with stumps and melting snow. Realizing we’d arrived, Rimu paled and hid behind a tree.

“C’mon,” I said, extending an arm.

“I’m not holding your hand,” she pouted, looking back the way we came.

“And I’m not going to let you run away. It’s been long enough.”

“I don’t want to go,” Rimu insisted fiercely.

“Then why did you come?” I asked. “Why did you agree to our deal?”

Rimu went quiet. She gripped the bark on the tree so tight I thought for a moment she might rip it off.

“Look,” I began in a quiet voice. “You can leave now if you want, but you should know what would happen to him. Totara would spend his entire life looking for you. Even if you don’t love him, you shouldn’t abandon him like this.”

Rimu glared down at me, completely disgusted.

“I love that man more than you could ever imagine,” she said, glaring at me with pure spite. “Who are you to tell me what to do or how to feel?”

I took a step back and felt my face burn red. “I’m sorry.” I said quietly. “I just want to see him happy. He’s my friend you know.”

Rimu sighed and let go of the tree, finger by finger. “Walk with me,” she ordered, marching stiffly towards the hut.

I nodded and awkwardly plodded alongside her while Gregor and the pirates lingered back in the forest like shadows hiding from the sun. I stepped on the porch and gently knocked on the door. It opened.

Totara stared at me blankly before craning his neck to look at the woman behind me.

“Rimu,” he said, as if he was answering a very simple question. Totara floated out of his house like a ghost and held up a trembling hand to his mouth.

“Totara,” she echoed, no longer shaking, no longer looking scared.

They moved forward and hugged each other so quickly I thought for sure they’d hit their heads.

“You’d better come in,” he said awkwardly holding the door open.

I nodded and tried to walk in but Totara stopped me.

“I erm... I meant Rimu,” he explained awkwardly. “It’s nothing personal it’s just-”

“It’s just what?” I repeated, suddenly feeling very small.

“He’s right you know,” Rimu said with a rye smile. “Go, see what the rest of the group is up to.”

Before I could think about protesting, the door to the house had already been shut. I sighed and sulked all the way over to Gregor who was, strangely enough, sitting beside Button.

“They wouldn’t let me stay,” I grumbled.

Both Gregor and Button looked at eachother and raised their eyebrows.

“You wanted to stay?” Gregor asked in disbelief

“What’s wrong with that?” I asked angrily.

“They err... Probably need alone time,” Button said, filling in for Gregor. “I mean... Seven years is a long time to go without company.”

“I’m good company,”

“Not in the way that we’re thinking.” Gregor said, snorting with laughter.

“I wouldn’t have been long,” I mumbled weakly to myself.

“Neither would he have,” Button added which caused them to start laughing like maniacs.

“What’s so funny?” I demanded sternly.

“Ah you’ll find out about it one day lad.” Button said, giving me a forceful pat on the back. Based on his rancid smell and good humor, I could tell he’d already begun to drink again. “I’m just saying though, if they’re in there for longer than ten minutes, you can expect a kid.”

“Oh,” I said uncertainly. “
Oh,
” I repeated, now fully aware of everything.

“It’s a part of life Sunshine,” Gregor admitted, patting me on the back. “You gotta get used to it.”

“You mean,
that’s
what’s going on right now?” I asked, feeling my insides twist up.

“Well who knows?” Gregor said, stretching his powerful arms from side to side.

“Aye look!” Button commanded, gesturing out towards the hut. All the pirates turned and saw two people on the front porch. Rimu and Totara were standing there, just holding hands and looking out towards the sun. Ignoring the army behind him, Totara leaned in and lightly kissed Rimu on the lips. It was the single most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.