The Mermaid Prophecy (On Hiatus)

Chapter 19

Eric

"Something on your mind Eric?"

Grimsby sneaks up behind me with his usual evening cup of wine and sits down on the wooden bench. Sloshing the liquid around the tankard in a circular motion, he pauses to clink it against my own drink.

Hot cider, now cooled, stares back at me from my own untouched mug. Swirling the liquid inside as well, I create a miniature typhoon and my thoughts return to the violet-eyed female who plagues my mind.

"Grim, how long have you known me?"

Swallowing a swig of wine, he looks deep into his dark liquid as if watching the past replay itself. "I have known you since before you were born."

Gulping down the last of his drink, he bends over to place the empty container on the floor boards.

"That's exactly why I know you're hiding something from me Eric."

Muscles in my arm tense at the accusation knowing full well that I cannot tell him what I've seen. I'm already less than a step away from being carted off to an asylum as it is.

"It's about that girl isn't it, Vanessa," he continues. "What happened to her?"

Clearing my throat, I place my drink near my feet so I don't have to look into his eyes. "I already told you Grim, she has family near that port. She left."

Pulling his pipe out of his coat pocket, he lights the tobacco and waves the match to extinguish the flame. "Yes, that's what you told us all, but I'm asking what really happened to her."

After a puff on his pipe, he blows smoke clouds through the hull causing sailors to move away from the stench. 

Growing up with Grimsby by my side, I find that I don't mind and have even started to like the smell. It's the one scent of a parental figure that I remember from my childhood.

When Grim realizes I will not offer him further explanation, he puffs on his pipe a few more times.

"You know Eric, no sailor aboard this ship knows just how sick she was or how unusual her sickness was. Only you and I." 

Standing up with his empty cup in one hand and his pipe in the other, he towers over me until I meet his eyes.

"Without a shadow of a doubt, I am certain you would have gone with her if you could. Not just because of your morals or personality, of course," a wide grin splits his face in half.

Heat rises to my face and I look away but I know it's too late when he chuckles, Grim sees all.

"Perhaps  the voyage home will help to ease your mind, or maybe it won't. Just know that I'm here if you find being a recluse does not suit your needs."

Gliding over to a bottle red wine, Grimsby pours another glass for himself and exits towards the deck. Knowing the affect alcohol has on Grim, I suspect that he won't be as elegant after his second glass of wine.

***

Several long, uneventful days have passed since my conversation with Grim and my decision stands, I can't tell him.

She trusted me, she had to, and even though I know Grimsby to be nothing but loyal, she chose me. 

And even though she's no longer here, I can't break that trust.

Solitary isn't so bad, until I start answering my own thoughts and have a full conversation with myself. 

Maybe I do belong in the asylum.