Heart of the Sea

Chapter 15 - Operation Bookworm

The next day once everyone had gone, Lili made a decision. She called Henry.
He came over shortly, glad to be called away from his weekend homework. He came in and watched Lili pace back and forth in front of the coffee table, hands clasped behind her.
"What's up?" She'd been rather vague over the phone.
"Lad, there's something I need help with." She was proud of herself for getting at least that out. She took a deep breath. "C-" The words got stuck in her pride. Lili'd very quickly come to the realization that she did indeed need the ability to read in order to be at least competent in this land (the point having been driven home last night), but...she'd grown up in a world where reputation was everything, thus making an enormous amount of pride mandatory. She had a very large ego, and having to ask a child for help would break it most definitely (not that last night hadn't been a terror in and of itself). She mentally growled at herself. Just get it out! "Could you t..." she pushed a frustrated breath through her nose. Why did this have to be so bloody difficult?! "teach me..how..to..rrread," she gritted. There! She'd done it. Her face and ears were burning, but she'd done it.
"Sure." He was incredibly nonchalant and nice about the whole thing, almost...eager, even.
"You must tell no one of this, lad."
"It's a secret? Okay. Well if it's gonna be a secret, then we have to have a code name for it."
"Code name?"
"Yeah, like um, Operation...Bookworm, or something."
Lili nodded after a few moments. "Bookworm sounds good t'me. You won't be telling anyone about this, will you."
Henry sensed this was not a question. "Nope! Not a word."
Lili nodded, letting out a small breath of relief.
"So, do you wanna start?"
She shrugged and nodded. "I don't see why not. Got nothing better t'do."

Henry got out a sheet of paper and scribbled down the alphabet, sitting by her on the couch. "Okay. Let's start with the basics. Do you know any of these letters?"
He'd done them in capital and lowercase.
Lili held out her hand for the pencil, concentrating. "Eeem... These I know from the Jolly Roger..." she circled the j, o, l, y, r, g, and e. "And...these two have somethin' t'do with port an' starboard." One thing to appreciate Baelfire for (well, technically two).
"Not bad! You know nine out of..twenty-six. Basically, letters make words." He spelled out port and starboard on the piece of paper. "See? Port and starboard."
One of her eyebrows rose. She noted that she had already known some of the letters in both words. Interesting. "Alright. Continue."
"Words make sentences."
I turned the Jolly Roger two notches to starboard was scribbled onto the page.
"I turned the Jolly Roger two notches to starboard," he read aloud.
"That's wonderful. Wot're the rest of these?" she asked, waving her hand at the rest of the letters.
"Oh, right." He listed the letters in order, pausing after a few moments, eyes rolling up to the ceiling as he mouthed along to something. Lili's eyebrows pulled together.
"What're you saying?"
Henry's cheeks flushed. "'The Alphabet Song.' It's how we learn the alphabet here."
"Really? Well that could be quite helpful." Things were nearly always better with music, and they were a helluva lot easier to learn.
Henry's cheeks darkened and he groaned.
"Wot, 's it embarrassing? Come on lad."
He looked at her for a few seconds and sighed. "Okay. Just..don't laugh, alright?"
She smiled encouragingly. "Alright."
"A, b, c, d, e, f, g,
H, i, j, k, l-m-n-o-p;
Q, r, s,
t, u, v,
W, x,
y and z,
Now I know my ABCs,
Next time you can sing with me." His voice had cracked on some of the higher notes, but Liliana had managed to contain herself. She cleared her throat and coughed several times. "That was beautiful, mate. Got me right here." She patted her heart.
Henry rolled his eyes as his cheeks reddened again. "Shut up."
"Alright, let's see if I've got this.
A, b, c, d, e, f, g,
H, i, j,...k, ...l"
"M-n-o-p," Henry finished for her, nodding.
They sang the rest together.
"Once more; I've almost got it."
They sang together again.
"Okay. I've got it this time." She sang it again, pretty well in tune, her voice echoing in the loft.
"Wow; you have a great voice," Henry commented.
She grinned. "Well thanks, mate."
"Okay, now you know the alphabet. That's the list of letters on the paper."
Lili picked it up and memorized the images, mouthing along the song as she looked at them, eyes flicking over the page as she matched the sound with the script.
"You got it?"
"I think so."
"Cool." He grinned. "Time to start reading." He pulled out the large storybook his grandmother had given to him and Lili's eyes went wide as saucers. "Damn that's a big book," she murmured.
"It's just the history of the Enchanted Forest and stuff; I figured it'd help in case you missed anything that happened."
"Ah; alright then."
He handed it to her and she settled the big book on her lap.
"..."
"Once-"
"Right, I knew that. Once uh-upon a tihmay, a.." Her cheeks were burning bright red.
"Time."
"Right, time." Damn it! How could she mess up such a simple word??
She opened the cover and began to read painfully slowly, Henry often helping her through phrases. They'd finished the first page when Lili heard boots on the stairs. Henry grabbed the book and pulled it into his own lap, reading. Lili examined the artwork over his shoulder and David and the others came in. "Hey guys! We're home."
"Y'don't say," Lili murmured.
Henry snorted a laugh.
"What was that?" David asked, a hint of parental command in his voice despite the small curl on his lips.
"Nothing, Dave," Lili grinned for a second.
(Killian was glad to see her in a better mood.)
"Behave, kid," Emma said, hiding a smile.
"Woooh, whadday' gonna do, lock me up?" Lili shot back, smirking.
Emma's eyebrow quirked. "I could tag on a few extra hours of community service."
Lili rolled her eyes.
"Lili, do you wanna come help me with my homework?" Henry asked, interrupting her thoughts as she tried to come up with a suitable comeback. Henry's finger tapped the book subtly.
"Yeah, sure lad. I'd be happy to be of assistance. So long as you lot don't need me f'supper."
"I've got it covered, Lili, thank you," Snow supplied.
The pirate nodded before gesturing. "Lead the way, lad."