that they had ignored her for
her sister.
“How could she stand it?” Ava’s
seasickness would not have been helped by body odor or extreme
close-ups of someone else’s chewed food.
Jocelyn’s voice was grim when she
answered. “She didn’t. Oh Ava puts on a fine show, she’s able to
act with the best of them. She gave no indication that she was
close to losing her mind with those two gentlemen, but when it
comes to me, her sister, she had no reservations losing her dinner
all over me.”
He glanced at her again and tried to
hide the fact that he sidled away, but she caught on and grinned,
eyes twinkling with a mixture of exasperation and
amusement.
“She only got it on my shoes and I’ve
changed my stockings long since.” She threatened him with one
wiggling, stockinged foot as if to prove her point. “You don’t have
to worry about getting any of Ava’s food on you.”
He sighed, not bothering to hide his
relief and even exaggerating on it. He was rewarded with another
giggle and they settled back into their places.
“So what of the Captain?”
She shrugged, lazy and comfortable.
“What of him? He’s a sweet man. Very … loud. He reminds me of
daddy.”
Damon snorted and took one last pull of
his pipe before he set it aside. “Does he laugh at his own
jokes?”
She turned to him in shock. “How did
you know?”
“John used to do the same thing. Asking
why six was afraid of seven and then laughing himself sick when he
told us the answer. There were worse ones but I won’t burn your
ears with your father’s dirty mouth. Suffice it to say that when
you’re huddled in a trench with that man cackling beside you it
drives you to distraction. I was nearly tempted to throw myself in
the middle of the battlefield and take my chances with the
Orissa.”
She clapped her hands, delighted to
have found a fellow sufferer. “Yes. Yes. It was exactly like that.
Only he did it to Ava and I while we were in the middle of our
lessons. The teacher would be saying something and he would call us
over to where he sat writing his letters by the window and he would
sit us on his knee. Then leaning very close he’d whisper something
atrocious to us and laugh and laugh.” She grimaced and Damon found
an unconscious smile on his own face as he watched her. “If Daddy
hadn’t paid our tutor so well Ava and I would still be counting on
our hands and toes.”
She fell silent for a moment before
turning to him. Her face was shadowed but there was a softness to
it, a gentle wonder.
“That’s the first time since he died
that I’ve thought of him that way.”
“Remembering when things were good
rather than when he was no longer there you mean?” He understood.
Stretching, he looked back over the ocean and away from her. “Those
moments are slow to come soon after but soon … soon they’ll be all
you have, and everything else? Well if it doesn’t disappear then it
loses some of its bite.”
Beside him she was brooding, silent.
Finally in a low voice she whispered, “Thank you.”
He shrugged. Then looking up, he
pointed at the round disk of the moon floating above them in its
own dark ocean.
“What does the moon look like to
you?”
Thinking for moment she finally
replied, “A hole?”
“What?”
“It reminds me of a giant hole in the
sky. As if the entire world is in some sort of bag or case and
that’s the only opening out of it. One day I imagine that a giant
cork will come and plug it up like a drain. We’ll be shaken around
and poured upside down and out of the hole, falling into the mouth
of whatever creature whose flask we happen to be living
in.”
This speech was nothing short of
stunning and he stared at her with his mouth open.
She frowned, “What?” Then flushing she
looked around as if afraid that someone else had heard her musings.
“Is that not right?”
He laughed then. Longer and harder than
he had in long, long while. When he could finally catch his breath
he looked into
her sister.
“How could she stand it?” Ava’s
seasickness would not have been helped by body odor or extreme
close-ups of someone else’s chewed food.
Jocelyn’s voice was grim when she
answered. “She didn’t. Oh Ava puts on a fine show, she’s able to
act with the best of them. She gave no indication that she was
close to losing her mind with those two gentlemen, but when it
comes to me, her sister, she had no reservations losing her dinner
all over me.”
He glanced at her again and tried to
hide the fact that he sidled away, but she caught on and grinned,
eyes twinkling with a mixture of exasperation and
amusement.
“She only got it on my shoes and I’ve
changed my stockings long since.” She threatened him with one
wiggling, stockinged foot as if to prove her point. “You don’t have
to worry about getting any of Ava’s food on you.”
He sighed, not bothering to hide his
relief and even exaggerating on it. He was rewarded with another
giggle and they settled back into their places.
“So what of the Captain?”
She shrugged, lazy and comfortable.
“What of him? He’s a sweet man. Very … loud. He reminds me of
daddy.”
Damon snorted and took one last pull of
his pipe before he set it aside. “Does he laugh at his own
jokes?”
She turned to him in shock. “How did
you know?”
“John used to do the same thing. Asking
why six was afraid of seven and then laughing himself sick when he
told us the answer. There were worse ones but I won’t burn your
ears with your father’s dirty mouth. Suffice it to say that when
you’re huddled in a trench with that man cackling beside you it
drives you to distraction. I was nearly tempted to throw myself in
the middle of the battlefield and take my chances with the
Orissa.”
She clapped her hands, delighted to
have found a fellow sufferer. “Yes. Yes. It was exactly like that.
Only he did it to Ava and I while we were in the middle of our
lessons. The teacher would be saying something and he would call us
over to where he sat writing his letters by the window and he would
sit us on his knee. Then leaning very close he’d whisper something
atrocious to us and laugh and laugh.” She grimaced and Damon found
an unconscious smile on his own face as he watched her. “If Daddy
hadn’t paid our tutor so well Ava and I would still be counting on
our hands and toes.”
She fell silent for a moment before
turning to him. Her face was shadowed but there was a softness to
it, a gentle wonder.
“That’s the first time since he died
that I’ve thought of him that way.”
“Remembering when things were good
rather than when he was no longer there you mean?” He understood.
Stretching, he looked back over the ocean and away from her. “Those
moments are slow to come soon after but soon … soon they’ll be all
you have, and everything else? Well if it doesn’t disappear then it
loses some of its bite.”
Beside him she was brooding, silent.
Finally in a low voice she whispered, “Thank you.”
He shrugged. Then looking up, he
pointed at the round disk of the moon floating above them in its
own dark ocean.
“What does the moon look like to
you?”
Thinking for moment she finally
replied, “A hole?”
“What?”
“It reminds me of a giant hole in the
sky. As if the entire world is in some sort of bag or case and
that’s the only opening out of it. One day I imagine that a giant
cork will come and plug it up like a drain. We’ll be shaken around
and poured upside down and out of the hole, falling into the mouth
of whatever creature whose flask we happen to be living
in.”
This speech was nothing short of
stunning and he stared at her with his mouth open.
She frowned, “What?” Then flushing she
looked around as if afraid that someone else had heard her musings.
“Is that not right?”
He laughed then. Longer and harder than
he had in long, long while. When he could finally catch his breath
he looked into
Similar Books
