We rowed back slowly. We were rapidly becoming entrenched in darkness but after what I had just seen, it felt like anything in the world was possible. Finding our way back to Starfish in the dark no longer seemed like such a big deal.
"So... do you want to talk about what just happened?" I said, breaking the silence.
"The chaps?" came a casual reply.
I could no longer make out George's face, he was dimming into a silhouette.
"Yes, the chaps!" I exploded. "The ones who were just floating about miles out at sea."
"Well, you know about all that Crystal," said George tiresomely.
"I've heard a story about it," I said.
"Yes, from your friend Rosie."
"She told you!"
"She told me she was going to tell you."
"Oh, well she did," I sighed with exasperation and leaned back against the stern of the boat. "You people tell me all these deep dark secrets, and then you give me rations!"
"Rations?" said George, a twinkle in his eye.
"Rations!" I reiterated in a squeak. "Scraps! I need details!"
"Oh details!" exclaimed George, as though it had never occurred to him. "Well, they belong to a colony, a kingdom. And they've lived out here for many, many, many, many, years."
George rowed as he talked and I could hear that he was getting a little breathless now, but I needed more info.
"A kingdom?" I repeated. "Like with a king and stuff?"
"Well, yes," wheezed George. "It's called the Jewelled Kingdom. It is a place built with gemstones."
George stopped rowing for a moment so he could talk.
"And there's a palace. A palace made from amethyst. When the sunlight shines down through the water onto it, well, it is just the most glorious thing in the world."
I fell silent, stunned by the idea of such a place.
"Have you seen it?" I breathed.
George was silent.
"How do you know them?" I pushed.
"Okay, if I tell you a secret, you mustn't tell a soul."
I leaned closer.
"I will not tell a soul," I vowed. "But remember, if you tell me a secret I want details."
George sighed.
"Okay I'll do my best," he said.
"Deal," I agreed. "Okay, how do you know them?"
"I'm..." George stopped.
"Yessss?" I pressed. He was not getting off the hook with this one.
"I'm one of them," said George.
YOU ARE READING
A Thousand Salt Kisses (Book 1 of Salt Kiss series)
Fantasy** Formerly a Featured Wattpad Story ** Seventeen-year-old Crystal White is the new girl on Starfish Island. Dragged to the remote community by her environmental activist father, she is eager to find fun that doesn't involve touching fish guts or l...
