The Red Rose

Chapter 9

Hunter was right, of course. There were places in the world I had never seen, and would never see. We docked on an empty island on a beautiful sunny morning. The island wasn't big, but apparently, it wasn't abandoned. There was a man there, Sylas had said, that grew his own food, had his own cattle, and lived by himself for over two decades. He had had a wife and he had two sons and one daughter, although all his sons had gone from their small piece of land and went off to live their own adventures, and his wife had passed years before. Now, Emilio lived in his small piece of Paradise with his chickens and goats and potato plantation. He grew everything he ate, brewed everything he drank, and apparently was a close friend to this crew.

The island was surrounded by a tall cliff south and a beautiful sunny beach north. The vegetation was dense around the island, and there was a giant hill. Emilio's cabin was nestled in the valley, between the jungle and the hill; I smelled before I actually saw the cattle, and sighed at the peaceful place. There wasn't much but the cabin and a barn, his smallish plantations, a lot of wild vegetation, and the smell of the sea. A tall and strong man with long hair wandered around feeding his animals, as he whistled about, apparently living his own dream.

"Living the dream" Mr. Dorsey confirmed with a chuckle, as we arrived up the road to the cabin.

"Does he actually live here by himself?" I asked, wondering how wonderful that would be like.

"For years." Mr. Dorsey replied, taking his hat off to enjoy some sun "Just too bad that this island will be empty when he dies. His sons won't take the farm, they want more than this little slice of the world."

"It can be quite suffocating." Sylas chimed in "So close to the sea and not being able to go and explore it?"

"Some people want to belong somewhere." It was the Captain who spoke this time "They yearn to have a place to call home. Not everyone has the ability to find home within themselves."

I blinked at him, surprised at his words. He pulled his brows up to his hairline, questioning my reaction, and it was such a funny and unusual response from him, that I had to giggle.

"We can stay for a couple of days, can we not?" Dorsey asked as Emilio waved up the road.

"We can." Hunter conceded, but he didn't look too happy about it; he seemed to always be running away "But no more than that. It takes us ten days to reach Hunchback, and that is with good weather."

As the men that joined us dispersed around the farm, I followed Hunter up the road to meet this lonely soul.

"Well, well!" Emilio's big grin was so genuine I had to smile in return "Welcome back, you! I assume you will have the usual."

"We'll stay for a couple of days if that's ok." Hunter responded, gripping the man's hand "My men deserve some rest, and we need to get some supplies." Hunter grabbed a little pouch with coins and tossed at Emilio "That'll do, I believe?"

"Of course, as usual." Emilio shrugged, and he opened the pouch with his dirty fingers; I could see his lips move as he checked the money, and looking satisfied he shoved it in his tunic "Well, then. You know how it is: you can camp whenever. The stable is free for the men. You're welcome to use the spare room as usual."

"The lady will have the room." Hunter explained, jerking his chin at me "Would you have a tub so she can bathe?"

"A tub?!" Emilio tossed his head back and laughed "C'mon, Perro, I always bathe in the lake."

"Lake?" I frowned up at Hunter.

"I'll show you." He assured me, but he didn't look happy about it "Do you have something to eat?"