The Fisherman's Tale (On Hiatus)

Chapter 13: For Enkora, For Freedom

Chapter 13: For Enkora, For Freedom

Chuck woke up early that morning, earlier than usual. He swung his legs out, over the side of the bed and onto the floor before stretching his arms out and moving his head round and round in an attempt to loosen up his shoulders. He rose to his feet, heading towards the door. Before he went through the doorway, though, he looked behind him at Polly, who was beginning to stir.

He had missed her and the children while he was in Enkora. When he had returned it had been one of the best moments of his life. Of course, he had told Polly and their children that he had simply been at see for a long while to clear his head, and even though Polly seemed slightly suspicious she didn't have a clue what other possibilities there could be and so had just gone with his explanation.

He'd knocked on the door, not knowing how he would be received, and was astonished at how Polly was happy to see him. She had welcomed him in with open arms, and she although she was happy to have him back she was concerned enough to interrogate him as soon as they sat down in the living room.

Brett had smiled at his father and had asked him why he had been away for so long, but on the other hand Robyn had just sat in the corner of the room looking at him with watchful eyes. She didn't seem to want to ask any of her own questions, and was just letting her mother and brother as all of the questions. He wasn't surprised at her reaction.

He was just concerned that he barely knew his daughter.

He cut a slice of bread from the loaf that Polly had made the day before, and held it in one of his hands as he stumbled out of the door, still half-asleep.

He took one deep breath, taking another bite out of the bread and savouring its taste. While chewing on his next bite, he walked around the side of the house to check on Missy, the family mare. His eyes stayed on the ground, following the worn away path around the side of the house.

He stopped as his eyes snapped up to see the boat. His boat. He was puzzled, wondering how his boat could have been returned to him. He was sure that it had been smashed up when he first went to Enkora.

He leapt over the edge of the boat, and looked over it properly. Everything looked as it was before. The painting was blue, but as he looked at it more closely he realised that it wasn't the same colour. He looked around the boat, suddenly noticing the differences between this boat and the boat he had before. Only he would have noticed such differences because he had crafted the boat himself with his uncle, and he knew every single imperfection of his old boat seeing as he was the only person to have ever sailed it.

He ducked his head under the wooden door, which he noted was fractionally smaller than his old boat, and looked around the living quarters.

He noticed some improvements, such as cupboards that were larger and didn't have faulty hinges. Also, there were more of them, and they were filled with new things. The only thing missing was a fishing rod, but Chuck knew how to make the most effective one around.

One top of the surface was a folded piece of yellow-tinged paper, and Chuck took hold of it cautiously and opened it, reading what it said carefully.

After he had finished reading what was written on the piece of paper, he crumpled it in his hand, squeezing it tightly. He knew that the time had come to act, and he was more than willing to help now. They couldn't play cat and mouse anymore, and Chuck was never one to run from things. He wanted the situation to be resolved as much as those who lived in Enkora after he had been there and seen everything that happened there for himself.