The Barbarians' Lover

Chapter 14

Weeks have gone by since the news that Thomas was out of the cove, where Sawyer had left him. Willow did everything she could to keep her mind from thinking about it. But it didn't help that every night she had nightmares of him. No matter what she did she couldn't get him out of her head. She was helping the twins today clean their room. It was something that had to be done every few months. Apparently, the twins had a little issue hoarding unnecessary things. Some of those were loads of used papers, boxes that were now falling apart, and a lot of big and mice traps. This is not how she planned on spending the day.

"I don't see why the captain thinks it's a good idea for us to have our room cleaned," Doe said.

"I know, it's our room and nobody else has to do a room cleaning every few months," Joe agreed.

"Well maybe it has something to do with the smell of decay," Willow said scrunching up her nose in discus.

"I don't smell anything," Doe said.

"Yeah all I see is our things," Joe added.

"Let's just get this over with so I don't have to be in your room any longer than I have to," Willow declared.

Hours went by before they were anywhere near done. During those hours Doe and Joe were little help. They always found something new and said that they could not through it away. Willow had managed to get all the boxes and all the pest traps. She had found the cause of the smell. It was a rat that had gotten trapped and died.

"Okay I'm going to see what I need to do with this junk then be right back," Willow said to the twins," and I want you two to have filled your trash bags with junk by the time I'm back."

The twins nodded sadly as Willow left with two trash bags. She had two more in the bedroom but didn't want to try to carry all four bags and risk one ripping open. The first person she saw was Dustin. He was counting some of their supplies and muttering under his breath.

"Umm, Dustin," Willow said hesitantly.

Dustin turned to look at her and said," what, I'm kind of busy."

"Oh uh sorry, but I was wanting to know where I would put the twin's trash that I've collected," Willow said.

He turned away from her as he spoke," put them where we always put their trash."

"Okay, but where is that?" Willow asked.

She didn't get an answer. Dustin went back to counting and muttering to himself. Feeling dejected Willow made her way past him to look for someone else. Treasure was the second person she ran into. With a sigh of relief, Willow walked over to her friend.

"Hey Treasure, where should I put these?" Willow asked.

Treasure scrunched up her nose as she answered," I'm guessing those came out of the twin's room."

"Yes," Willow said.

"Well sit them up on deck, by the smell of it there's something dead in one of those bags," Treasure said.

Willow nodded and took the bags up to the deck. When she took the other two bags up to the deck the twins had managed to fill up two more bags. Which meant their room was now clean, and Willow could do what she wanted for the rest of the day. Setting the last of the trash bags down beside the others. Willow looked over and saw Sawyer sitting in his chair. He was covering his nose. Walking over to him Willow caught his eye.

"I see you were the one stuck cleaning the twin's room," Sawyer said. He sounded funny with his nose covered.

"I was, and I don't see why they are allowed all that junk," Willow said.

"They're not," Sawyer said," they are only allowed the essentials, but as you can see they bring more on the boat than essentials."

"Land ho!" Polly shouted.

Willow turned to see lush greenery. Fields of many colors could be seen. And a large town was close by.

"What is this place?" Willow asked.

"Everspire," Sawyer answered.

"It's beautiful," Willow whispered.

Once they docked once everyone grabbed a bag of trash they made their way off the boat. Everyone partnered up and went about their day. Sawyer was walking alone, so Willow ran up to join him. He just glanced at her then continued looking forward.

"Did you need something?" Sawyer asked.

"No, I was just wanting to spend time with you," Willow said her face heating a little.

"Okay them is there anything you want to do?" Sawyer asked giving her his attention.

"Never been here," Willow said," I don't know what there is to do."

"Well, how old are you?" Sawyer asked.

"Oh, I just turned 21," Willow said.

"Today?" Sawyer asked.

"Yep, today I turned 21," Willow said.

"Then I know of a place that we can stop at later," Sawyer said," but how about we get you some new clothes."

"I don't need new clothes the ones I have are good," Willow said quickly.

"Some of them have holes," Sawyer said," it's best to get some new ones now before it's too late."

Sawyer showed Willow to a clothes shop. Walking around she picked out a few shirts, pants, and two new pairs of shoes. By the time they left, they had three bags. Willow knew she had two of the bags filled with her things but the bag Sawyer had was a complete mystery. She didn't know he needed anything at the clothes shop.

"Okay, where next?" Willow asked.

"Back to the boat to drop these off," Sawyer said," then I'll take you to get something to eat."

After dropping off their bags Sawyer had taken Willow to a dinner. She got to eat something other than their usual meals, and then she was given a slice of cake by one of the waiters. She was enjoying her day with Sawyer. But he had told her there was one last place he wanted to take her. Now she was standing outside of a bar. She was unsure of what she was to do.

"Umm, pup, what are we doing here?" Willow asked.

"You're 21, you can legally drink," Sawyer said.

"Okay, but why?" Willow asked gesturing to the building.

"You at least have to have one drink," Sawyer said," it can be something light if you don't want anything strong."

"What you don't think I can handle anything strong?" Willow asked getting defensive.

"I didn't say that," Sawyer said putting his hands in the air.

"Well come on," Willow said walking into the bar," I'm going to show you that I can handle whatever drink I pick."