The Woman From the Fire Pits

Chapter 5

TAIL DESIGN

PICTURE BELONGS TO FINFOLK PRODUCTIONS

Chapter 5

(Lucy's POV)

"Land ho, captain!" Edward's firstmate called out to us.

I looked out onto the ocean and saw a moderate sized island just off to the starboard side. It was just a short swim away, but why would Edward want to go to a random island he hardly knew? Unless, he knew that island and wanted to go there for his own reasons....

"Drop anchor, helmsman!" Edward ordered, then turned to look at me. "Let's go, Lucy!"

"Where? To that island? You know I can't swim."

"We're takin' a boat, lass. No need to worry." Edward walked us over to the middle of the ship where he kept his spare boat for going ashore.

"Alright, then, uh...let's go, Edward."

As we lowered ourselves down into the boat, my heart was racing a mile a minute. I had to force myself to keep my voice level in front of Edward. I had a bad feeling that Edward was trying to find an island with a small pool to teach me to swim. I have been to that island before. There were several pools on that island, in fact. I cannot back out now. I cannot keep this a secret any longer. Sooner or later, he would have found that I am a mermaid and that my guardians actually rescued me from my ex-lover that found out my secret and tried to kill me because of it. I had my dagger strapped on my thigh and my broken battle spear in my bag. I was ready for a fight if it came to that. But Edward, a killer? No. Even if he was, he wouldn't believe me even if I did tell him....

Edward made haste and rowed to the island, pulling it onto the beach with me in it.

"C'mon, lass! Got somethin' I want show 'ya."

He took my hand and he took off running into the jungle.....

After awhile, I was getting tired of walking aimlessly through dense jungle and blindly trying to find our way through a bunch of tunnels. I knew my way around this island, but I couldn't just walk off on my own. He'd notice.

As we walked through a tunnel that was getting wider and wider, Edward slipped behind me and covered my eyes. "Edward?! What are you doing?"

"You'll see. Jus' keep walkin'. Got a surprise for us..."

"A surprise, you say?" I asked with a bit of sarcasm.

"Just for the two of us."

"Oh? And why is that?" I evened out my tone. "Isn't your cabin comfortable enough for us both?"

I heard Edward sigh. "Well, truth be told, I don't like strangers gawking at you, lass."

"They're YOUR crew. They're not strangers, you know them..."

"I meant they're strangers to you."

"Oh, I see..." Then a rushing, watery noise caught my attention and caused me to walk slower.

"Keep going, Lucy; we're almost there."

As the rushing noise of water became louder, Edward held me back slightly. Now I could feel the warmth and the harshness of the sun on my face, making me squint through my closed eyes.

"You ready for this?"

"Not really, no." I felt my knees shaking and nearly buckling from under me as he removed his hands from my eyes.

"Well, here we are...!"

It was just as I suspected. It was nearly the center of the island. A large pool of pristine seawater with a large waterfall, pouring into it. As I gasped and stared at the beauty of this hidden cave pool, Edward's hand gently glided from my shoulders to my waist. He pulled me in close to him.