Escapade - Larry Stylinson (Re-write)

XXXV - Blue

*

"The world looks very blue." Louis said from the deck of the Queen Anne, "The sea is blue. The sky is blue. The land is so far away that it's blue. Blue, blue, blue."

"Do you like blue?"
"Yes."
"Mn, so do I. I've decided that it's my favourite colour."

Louis cracked his knuckles and looked at Harry with the eyes that justified the man's decision. The sun above them was so warm that they'd both taken their shirts off, and now sat in their vests under the little shade from the brims of their hats. Lilly was asleep a few feet away under the much larger patch of shade cast by the cabin.

Harry was on the floor with his back against the bench surrounding the border of the deck, smoking a cigarette that he occasionally tapped into an ashtray by his side.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"With what?" Louis asked back, "I'm just sitting here."

"Manner of speech, my Darling. What are you staring for? Are you uncomfortable?"

Louis shook his head, but continued to stare. Harry inhaled deeply, tapping the ashes into the ashtray, before laying the cigarette there to rest. He blew the smoke away, and stood up, putting a hand down to Louis. Louis took it.

They sat on the bench together and Harry pointed out to sea.

"Can you see that line over there?" he asked, and Louis nodded, "That's where the water from the cove meets the water from the sea. See how it's still on this side, and rippling on the other? People call it Poseidon's Snare." He bit his lip piercings back into place before adding, "The waves have been like that for millions of years, exactly at that point. In a storm, waves crash there as well as on the beach. The water's shallow up until that point, and beyond that is an ocean trench. People have been said to have drowned out there. They get caught in Poseidon's snare and never come back up."

"Is that true?" Louis asked, and Harry nodded.

"Of course. Look in a library for a book on Bramble Cove; it'll tell you how many people are lost in these waters."

Louis and Harry looked at each other. Harry's eyebrows furrowed as if expecting something, before the corner of his mouth raised.

"Tell me why you keep looking at me like that. What do you want to ask?"
"I want to know more about your childhood. It interests me."
"What would you like to know?"
"Ah—" Louis said, tapping his cheek, "Start with this place. With your grandad."

Harry smiled from a surge of fond memories. His eyes drifted to the water in attempt to dig up those memories for Louis.

"Well.. my Grandpa's name was John; he had a wife called Georgina who died from pneumonia. When she passed, Grandpa spent a lot of time at Rosewood Gardens with us. He was a rational man, caring and always knew what he wanted. He seemed to be the guardian we never really had. While everyone loved the Golden Child, he paid no attention to her. He chose the other children: Diana, me, and Jack."

"Jack?" Louis asked with a frown.

"Mn." Harry said, "Our grandpa wasn't oblivious to our cruelty, naturally; in fact, he saw the worst of it. He saw us all fight one another to the point of broken bones; he saw Jack slaughter animals; and he found out that Jack murdered his teacher. He knew the whole lot."

"And he still loved him?"
"With his whole damn heart."

Louis chewed on his teddybear necklace for a moment,
"Why?" he asked.

Harry smiled. "He refused to neglect a child. At first, we all despised him. He invaded our privacy and asked too many questions like most adults do. But unlike everyone else, he never stopped. He got rejected, hit, punched; Jack even tried to stab him with a kitchen knife. He kept coming back to us with the same smile he'd always had. He had a great amount of patience and compliancy. Eventually, we warmed up to him enough to go where he told us to. He brought us to Bramble Cove, on this boat, and sailed right here; where you and I are now."