A Weather Eye on the Horizon

A Weather Eye on the Horizon (22)

yello, y'all. So I'm in the process of writing another book cuz i have like 3 entries left on this one... oh i mean, on my computer. I haven't uploaded a lot of it still, don't worry. But yeah, thank you all for reading!!! love all you guys!

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Two Days Later

 Dear little book,

I can hardly believe where I am sitting! So much has happened in the last few hours, I hardly know where to begin. But let me try.

It was raining this afternoon, making it uncommonly dark and foggy. The weather conditions weren’t very good, but Calico Jack kept his promise anyway and anchored us near the little beach that was my home. I stood on the William, hardly daring to move and not sure if I could. Calico Jack stood near the tiller and he grinned toothily. “It’s been a pleasure, lassie,” he said to me. “And I apologize for kidnapping ye.” He winked at me and I couldn’t help smiling back at him. It hadn’t been that bad, really, life on a pirate’s ship. And it would be something to talk about.

Then Mary walked up to me and gave me a big hug, which might have looked rather odd, since she was supposed to be a man. “Take care, lass,” she whispered, smiling at me. Then I turned to Anne and David, who were standing side by side. I looked at them. Anne said, “We’re taking you to the beach in the rowboat.”

I walked over to them, and turned to take one last look at the ship. My heart in my throat, I followed Anne into the rowboat, feeling David behind me, steadying the rocking motion of the small craft. I sank down, reaching for the oars, but David took them from me. The fog was so dense we could hardly see, and the hairs on the back of my neck went up. I concentrated on David in front of me, watching him as he flipped his hair out of his eyes. Anything to keep my mind off the ghostly fog.

There was a bump and then I slid forward in the rowboat. We had hit shore.

I stepped out shakily, David grabbing my arm as I wobbled on the sand. “Getting your land legs back, are ye, mate?” he said mockingly. I straightened up and looked around.

“I’m home.” I couldn’t believe it myself. Anne smiled at me.

“Yes, lass,” she said. “Ye are.”

I looked at the two of them, standing there, green eyes sparkling… and something about the way they both were smiling… “Are you two related?” I blurted out.

Anne’s grin grew wider as she looked at David. “Aye, lass. Second cousins once removed or something mighty complicated as that.”

I smiled. How had I not known? Anne stepped forward and engulfed me in a mighty hug. I hugged her back, feeling a lump rise in my throat. Then she stepped back and sat down in the rowboat. I looked at David.

“I’ll walk you down the beach,” he said quietly, and took my hand. We walked a little ways, to the edge of the beach and the beginning of the cliff staircase. Then he stopped and turned to face me. The rain fell on his face, making him look older.

“I’ll miss you,” he said.

“I know,” I whispered. It felt like the wrong thing to say, but my tongue was heavy and my eyes were stinging. I felt the first tears falling down my face. David gently wiped them away, his finger moving slowly under my eyelid.

“I’ll see you sometime,” he promised. “Don’t worry.”

I nodded, ducking my head to hide my tears. The rain fell on my face, mixing with the tears and blurring my vision. He put a hand under my chin and lifted my face up to look at him. His green eyes were serious, and filled with an emotion I couldn’t read. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. “Keep a weather eye on the horizon, mate,” he whispered, just like he had in the rigging all those days ago, and then he kissed me softly on the forehead, turned and disappeared into the fog.

I don’t know how long I stood there, staring after him long after he’d gone, the rain falling steadily on me, but I didn’t feel it. My heart was aching and I wondered whether I had made the right choice in going home. But as I began to ascend the stone steps I knew that I had.

My heart was in my throat as I gazed upon our house. It didn’t seem possible that it could still be there. After all that had happened… had my family simply forgotten me? My feet were heavy as I walked up the path, almost afraid to enter the house. I stopped at the door, and then pushed it open.

No one was in the hall. I paused, and then walked carefully into the dining room area. It connects to the kitchen, and that is where I found them.

Mama – oh, how familiar she was! – looked up from her washing, her lips forming words that never escaped her. Her eyes went round and a scream escaped her instead. Then she was coming forward, and I stumbled into her arms, crying and saying “Mama, Mama,” over and over again. She was hugging me and I poured out all my homesickness on her shoulder.

Luke came running from another room, and Father, and Grace. All of them stood stock still when they saw me, as if they didn’t recognize me. Then Luke said, “Annie?” in a very low voice, and then Father was next to me, hugging me and kissing my hair.

I think then that I almost passed out from sheer exhaustion and Father caught me. He said, “You can tell us everything later,” and took me upstairs.

My room looked foreign. I could only marvel at the size of it, wondering how on earth I had ever slept in so large and comfortable-looking a bed. I collapsed on it, and Father slowly left the room. I ran a hand over the pillow. How soft it was! Then I reached into my pocket – the pocket of my breeches that I was still wearing – and pulled out you, dear little book. You have been through so much with me, and my whole story is in you. My mind was in such a whirl that I could hardly think. And so I did the only thing I could think of.

I opened this diary, and began to write.

Next Day

Dear little book,

My house does not feel like my home. I do not know how I feel: empty, somehow, scared…

I woke up this morning, shaking, my old nightmare coming back to me, except this time instead of my family I saw different faces: Anne, Mary, and especially David, their ship swamped and their lifeless bodies thrashing in the waves, and then lying deathly still. When I awoke, I found myself on the floor.

I laid there a while, struggling to control my swirling mind, running my fingers through the lush carpet. I thought about my life on the William, living in a tiny cabin barely a fourth of the size of this room. Tiny wooden bed with a thin mattress and thin blanket, no pillow. I sat up and looked at the massive bed I shared with Grace – or had shared with Grace. It seemed quite vast, with soft sheets and plump pillows – upon one of which Grace laid her blond head. She was still asleep and looked quite at peace with the world. I don’t recall her coming in last night; I supposed Mama told her to wait until I was asleep. I don’t even remember falling asleep at all… it’s all a blur to me.

Everything feels so… foreign. I don’t know how I ever lived here. Just today, at breakfast, I was amazed at the foods set out. I was used to a piece of hardtack and salt pork and occasionally something else. My stomach must have shrunk because I could hardly eat anything.

Everyone was staring at me, when they thought I wasn’t noticing. Luke’s blue eyes are avoiding me when I look at him, and Grace and Davy merely stare at me like they don’t know me. Today I sat next to Joanie at breakfast and she bolted up so fast you would have thought I’d pinched her. She hid behind Mama and my heart twisted. My little Joanie no longer knows me. Mama tried to look sympathetically at me, but I simply sat there, staring at my plate.

I feel like a stranger.

I have found something horrible. Today I asked Mama where Grandma was; did not she want to see me? She told me the awful news: Grandma is deceased.

I couldn’t believe what my ears were hearing. I still can’t. Grandma, who always believed in me? Mama says she died not three weeks after I had gone. My heart nearly stopped, and I could only stand there.

I feel as though it were my fault that she died. I wish I had been there with her… Mama says she died in her sleep. I hope it was painless.