Disturbed waters swayed the Quagmire from side to side. The small wooden ship creaked with every passing wave. Josh laid over the storage compartment at the back end of the ship while leaving his foot to dangle in the water. Clouds rolled overhead, but the sun broke through often and not a drop fell from the sky.

  As the clouds opened, Josh closed his eyes and let the sunlight pour down upon his sun-block greased skin. The bike laid in the middle of the boat; its front wheel turned upward so that it spun back-and-forth with the boat’s rocking. The clouds rolled over again. Josh opened his eyes to contemplate the spinning wheel of Nadia’s bike. It made him dizzy; he fell sound asleep and started snoring.

  A bump against the lid of the storage compartment startled him awake and he looked around. Darrell sat to the left trying with his arms wrapped over his knees. He heaved as he pressed his mouth shut. His forehead was sweaty and pale. Dew leaned against the door of the interior cabin so no one could disturb Nadia’s rest. Josh tried to go back to sleep. Something shifted inside the storage again, but as he closed his eyes, he figured it was just the boat rocking. With a light sigh, he fell back to sleep. The next bump failed to wake him even though it reverberated against his back.

  Then the lid lifted enough to roll him towards the water. Josh rose quickly to avoid falling in the ocean and sat on the lid. As he scratched his head, he heard three successive knocks against the inner wall of the container. The sound of its contents shifting alerted him. Josh knelt inside the boat and threw open the lid of the storage compartment.

  The provisions were more disheveled than what could be explained by the boat’s rocking. He pulled Nadia’s bag to the side, and organized the food and water so it was less likely to shift. The beef jerky smelt delicious, as the whole compartment was filled with the aroma of salted dried meat slathered in herbs. Josh knew where everything was, for he had taken mental inventory. A canvas that once held nine pounds worth of jerky between strips of salted waxed paper, now only contained a few crumbs.

  “Who ate an entire pack of jerky in one night?” Josh yelled, “Admit it now and I might spare your life.”

  “Not me,” Darrell moaned as he rolled on his back, “I don’t even want to talk about food.”

  Darrell held his mouth shut tightly before sitting up and leaning over the water. His lunch went back down for the third time. As he braced against the bottom of the bench, he turned a pale shade of green.

  “We haven’t been out a full day,” Darrell whined, “Why do I feel so sick?”

  Dew checked his compass, a heavy device with a reflective case of black quartz. It pointed steadily toward the south pole, as Pozalm’s magnetic pole was in the south. It was a gift from Mardela. The maps of the Southern Ocean Deagle gave him were in the cabin where Nadia slept, but he didn’t need to check them. Dew opened the stowage compartment and checked the empty beef paper in Josh’s hand.

  “If you’re hungry, feel free to eat, but please remember, we’ll have to make these rations last through our journeys into the Tramen wilderness.”

  “I haven’t eaten a thing on this boat yet! And neither as he.” Josh pointed at Darrell.

  “But he has!” Dew said, unzipping Nadia’s bag and pulling Vestor out by the red and white fur of his long elegant tail. A half-eaten apple fell from the boy’s hand and rolled underneath Nadia’s bicycle. Vestor squirmed, but couldn’t free himself.

  “Hey, lemme’ go! That hurts, you big oaf.”

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  “First, answer me this fox child. What do you think you’re doing here?”

  Vestor smiled. Perfect teeth with incisors slightly longer, sharper, and more defined than those of a normal adult glimmered in the sunlight. The child bit his lower lip in a way that left the right incisor exposed, giving him a somewhat impish grin. The tip of his left ear folded sideways by the weight of his knit cap as his cheeks glowed.

  “I thought it would be fun to go with you,” Vestor played fisticuffs with the air while biting his lower lip. “I’m going to make sure none of you take advantage of Nadia.”

  “And how would we do that?” Josh asked.

  “I don’t know? You might use her as bait if the food runs out. Pirates do that all the time to pretty girls. I’d never forgive you.”

  Josh put his hand over Vestor’s mouth; the child had every opportunity to bite him, but didn’t.

  “Do we look like pirates, kid?” Josh removed his hand.

  “No, guess not… but it would be so cool if you were!”

  “No, it wouldn’t,” Darrell moaned.

  “Why not? Tell me why not.”

  “Because we’d make you walk the plank for being a stowaway, kid,” Josh looked at Dew, “Anyway, what are we going to do about him? His parents are probably worried sick.”

  “Parent. I don’t have a dad.”

  “Your mother then?”

  “We can’t turn back now,” Dew said, “He’ll have to come along.”

  “And who’s going to tell Nadia?” Darrell asked.

  “She’ll find out soon enough,” Josh said, “better let her rest.”

  “Right,” Dew nodded, “Perhaps my sister can make herself useful and watch over him?”

  “Nadia!” Vestor screamed, “Nadia! I want to say hi to Nadia!”

  “Nadia’s sleeping. She’ll be mostly sleeping through this journey because her powers need to recover. No worries, I’m sure she’ll scold you when she’s awake.”

  “You might not like what she’ll have say,” Josh smirked as he grabbed the remains of Vestor’s apple and throwing it back to him.

  “There you go. Finish that apple and take a rest. And no more raiding the food bin without permission, that stuff’ll have to last. So, are you in love with the lady of the voyage?”

  The apple hit between Josh’s eyes as Vestor turned bright red, “What kind of sicko, stupid, pervert, question is that? She’s a good friend of my mother, that’s all.”

  “Really? Is that why you’re redder then a monkey’s-”

  “Josh! Stop tormenting the child.”

  “Yah! Stop tormenting me you big ugly fish slime cleaner. Wait, I’m not a child! I’m ten.”

  Josh made a fist; Vestor ran for cover behind Dew’s legs.

  “You’d strike a little babe? How pitiful.”

  “Yah! Hey! I’m no babe! I’m ten!”

  Vestor bit Dew’s calf to demonstrate his adulthood, which Dew endured with a mild tense of his back because the nip drew little blood. Vestor scrambled to the stern.

  “Don’t call me a babe ever again.”

  “How do you like the brat now?” Josh asked.

  “If he ever bites me again. He won’t need to worry about anyone liking him.”

  Vestor gulped before sinking under a rafter. Josh threw the apple back toward him for the second time. It rolled far enough for Vestor to grasp it without coming out of his hiding spot.

  “Great,” Darrel sighed, “Now on top of everything else, we have to babysit.”

  “I’m ten!”

  In the cabin, Nadia slept soundly under a white kimono draped over her as a blanket. An old sweater covered a small rough pillow. She muttered something about losing time, and her pendant began to glow. A dry breeze from the northern continent developed without warning, propelling the Quaqmire southeast. Robes hung on the wall to receive the flowing air. Long black hair flowed under Awlena as she laid sprawled off her mat.

  The lanky young woman wore plain white underclothes, shorts and a sleeveless cotton shirt. She rolled against Nadia. A slender arm fell against a breeze cooled shoulder as chest pressed into back. Neither of them woke, even as Awlena rolled on her back and hung her right leg over Nadia’s hip. They breathed calmly, deeply, as the ship rocked.

  Daylight filtered into the Quagmire’s cabin through narrow rectangular windows with fitted glass panes. The waterproofing of the seals remained to be tested. Two sleeping mats were tacked securely to the floor at the center of the cabin. Nadia rolled off her mat and rested with her head in the middle of Awleena’s chest. This barely woke the other woman. She blinked, smiled, then cradled Nadia in her slender arms. Her left leg replaced the right over Nadia’s thigh. A breeze from an open port hole above cooled them. As she slept, old memories returned. The power she had used to defeat Bradox opened her subconscious. Deep sleep passed. Nightmares returned. Soft whimpering woke Awlena further. A slender hand gently combed through Nadia’s hair.

  “There, there, it’s okay. The battle is over. I’m with you now. We’re going to have a nice easy journey.” she yawned.