Pirate By Blood

Chapter 13: Mother

CHAPTER 13

Mother

“Not a waste of time,” Simon insisted, when Maleen expressed her thoughts out loud, “we got something from it didn’t we?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Maleen answered sarcastically, with a hint of bitterness, “slight dizziness and a headache – not to mention the load of scars on the back of my legs!”

“I was thinking more along the lines of an adventure or...an experience,” He said; glancing down at her with a wry smile, “but yes; I guess we did earn a few scars as well.”

Maleen laughed once, “You can say that again.” She muttered.

Simon smiled wider, but didn’t say anything.

“That reminds me, how are you feeling after yesterday?” Maleen asked, “I know it seems a really long time ago now but...”

“It doesn’t seem to long ago for me,” He answered, “It was just a chaotic day, that’s all – I’ve had then many a time before.”

“Hmm,” Maleen smiled, “I’ve had a few; but nothing like yesterday.”

“Yeah,” Simon’s voice had gone quieter; almost a mutter.

“Hey, you didn’t answer my question,” Maleen remembered, “how are you feeling?”

“I think I’ve fully recovered,” He said, “just a faint scar where it bit me. I think that stuff I have helped quite a bit.”

“Yeah, I have to agree with you there,” Maleen said, glancing down at the back of her leg where her trousers had ripped slightly from when the lizards had bitten her. She could just about see the marks under the material. They didn’t look as good as Simon’s, but they were more recent and had been much deeper – so she wasn’t really surprised. Although, however much she wanted to recover and be back to her old self again, Maleen had a small desire for the scars to stay. A little part of her wanted to keep them almost as a memory – to remind herself of what had happened; however strange that sounded.

‘But,’ she thought, ‘why would I want to remember such a terrible thing? I almost died and lost the box my father gave me – and that’s not something many others would feel the need to cherish. It’s not really the cheeriest memory of all.’

It puzzled her for a moment. She thought about other reasons for why it might be possible but, for a while, couldn’t think of any. That is, until, the already familiar thought travelled back through her mind.

Almost everything she seemed to do was connected to it – that little thought. That one brain wave was so familiar to her now after the amount of times it had come back to her in the last few days, that Maleen felt she knew it was coming now.

She wondered why she hadn’t thought of it sooner.

There was more than a slight possibility that Maleen wanted to keep it for...evidence. Something to show everyone who asked about her story – where she had been, why she had gone there and what had happened. Those scars were almost proof that she was telling the truth; little marks that engraved a certain time into her, a certain moment.

And, of course, there was that little thought that had made her realise all this.

Just one name. A name she had treasured.

“Leroy Tresanillos,” Simon began, “was he a good father?”

Maleen was amazed at how he had been on a similar wave length to her, but tried her hardest not to show it. It took her a few moments to recover from the amazement; but an uncertain glance from Simon made her concentrate again.