Read Online Happenstance Found (Books of Umber #1) by P. W. Catanese - Free Book Online
Authors: P. W. Catanese
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frightens me.” She stared at what might be the distant shore.
“Why are you afraid of the land?” Hap asked.
“I don’t belong there,” was all she said. Hap glanced at her sideways. She fascinated him. There were things he wanted to know but was too shy to ask. Who was her mother? Were there others like her? Did she need the sea to live? Did her webbed fingers draw the same stares as his green eyes, and was that why she was not at ease on firm ground?
There was a long silence, broken again by her. “So the thing Lord Umber sought in Alzumar turned out to be you.”
“I guess. I don’t know.”
“Consider yourself fortunate to be in his company. Lord Umber is an exceptional man.”
Hap looked back at the open hatch, thankful again that he hadn’t been caught stealing a glance at the note. “I don’t know anything about him. Who is he?”
She leaned back and held one of her knees between clasped hands. “Who is Umber? I suppose he won’t mind me telling you. Umber is the first citizen of Kurahaven, the Lord of the Aerie, and perhaps the most powerful man in his kingdom after the king and the three princes. He is a merchant, wealthy beyond imagination. An architect. Inventor. Explorer. Patron of the arts. Enemy of the wicked and the greatest friend the common man ever knew. But his greatest joy is to explore the world and chronicle all things strange and magical. He writes about them in his books: The Books of Umber .”
Hap wondered if that was how Umber saw him: one of his strange and magical discoveries. “How do you know Lord Umber, Captain?”
“Umber has been a faithful friend to the Merinots—shipbuilders and sailors, every one of us. Years ago, the improvements he suggested to the sails and rudders of my family’s ships made them the fastest and finest in the world. And so we Merinots are sworn to serve him.” Nima stretched and yawned. “Are you tired now, Hap?”
“Not really,” Hap said. He wondered how that could be. The others were exhausted at the day’s end. Shouldn’t his limbs ache like theirs? Shouldn’t his head nod, and his eyelids droop?
“I have kept watch so far, but now I need sleep,” Nima said. “That brute Oates has the next turn. Would you wake him for me? He says things that make me want to strike him when I speak to him.”
“I’m not tired. I can watch,” Hap said.
Nima smiled. “You seem like a fine boy, Happenstance. But you are still a stranger to me, and new to Umber’s company. You have not yet earned the right to stand guard by yourself. No matter how gifted your eyes may be.”
After he prodded Oates out of sleep and the enormous man went grumbling to the top deck, Hap stayed behind on his cot, wondering about all the ominous things the note had said. He could recall nearly all of it, word for word, as if it had been seared into his brain. I just wish I’d seen the rest.
He was still awake when Oates returned a few hours later and sent Balfour to take a shift. He was still awake when Balfour rapped on the door to Nima’s cabin and she went topside, and Boroon started to swim again. And he was still awake when the sun came up, and the door to Umber’s cabin burst open, and Umber bounded out with a wide smile on his face, crying, “Omelets! I have a craving for omelets, and toasted cheese!”
“You didn’t sleep at all? Not even a minute?” Umber asked through a mouth full of egg. “And you don’t feel tired. No aching muscles, no sand in your eyes, no urge to yawn?”
Again and again, Hap shook his head. Umber tapped his plate with his spoon. “You’re probably overexcited after yesterday’s adventures. Well, we still have some hours before we reach Kurahaven. Take a nap if the mood strikes.”
“I will,” Hap said, though he doubted it would happen.
“Have any memories come back to you?”
“No,” Hap said, under a wrinkled brow. “Nothing before I woke up in that room. When I try to remember more, it just … stops. As
“Why are you afraid of the land?” Hap asked.
“I don’t belong there,” was all she said. Hap glanced at her sideways. She fascinated him. There were things he wanted to know but was too shy to ask. Who was her mother? Were there others like her? Did she need the sea to live? Did her webbed fingers draw the same stares as his green eyes, and was that why she was not at ease on firm ground?
There was a long silence, broken again by her. “So the thing Lord Umber sought in Alzumar turned out to be you.”
“I guess. I don’t know.”
“Consider yourself fortunate to be in his company. Lord Umber is an exceptional man.”
Hap looked back at the open hatch, thankful again that he hadn’t been caught stealing a glance at the note. “I don’t know anything about him. Who is he?”
She leaned back and held one of her knees between clasped hands. “Who is Umber? I suppose he won’t mind me telling you. Umber is the first citizen of Kurahaven, the Lord of the Aerie, and perhaps the most powerful man in his kingdom after the king and the three princes. He is a merchant, wealthy beyond imagination. An architect. Inventor. Explorer. Patron of the arts. Enemy of the wicked and the greatest friend the common man ever knew. But his greatest joy is to explore the world and chronicle all things strange and magical. He writes about them in his books: The Books of Umber .”
Hap wondered if that was how Umber saw him: one of his strange and magical discoveries. “How do you know Lord Umber, Captain?”
“Umber has been a faithful friend to the Merinots—shipbuilders and sailors, every one of us. Years ago, the improvements he suggested to the sails and rudders of my family’s ships made them the fastest and finest in the world. And so we Merinots are sworn to serve him.” Nima stretched and yawned. “Are you tired now, Hap?”
“Not really,” Hap said. He wondered how that could be. The others were exhausted at the day’s end. Shouldn’t his limbs ache like theirs? Shouldn’t his head nod, and his eyelids droop?
“I have kept watch so far, but now I need sleep,” Nima said. “That brute Oates has the next turn. Would you wake him for me? He says things that make me want to strike him when I speak to him.”
“I’m not tired. I can watch,” Hap said.
Nima smiled. “You seem like a fine boy, Happenstance. But you are still a stranger to me, and new to Umber’s company. You have not yet earned the right to stand guard by yourself. No matter how gifted your eyes may be.”
After he prodded Oates out of sleep and the enormous man went grumbling to the top deck, Hap stayed behind on his cot, wondering about all the ominous things the note had said. He could recall nearly all of it, word for word, as if it had been seared into his brain. I just wish I’d seen the rest.
He was still awake when Oates returned a few hours later and sent Balfour to take a shift. He was still awake when Balfour rapped on the door to Nima’s cabin and she went topside, and Boroon started to swim again. And he was still awake when the sun came up, and the door to Umber’s cabin burst open, and Umber bounded out with a wide smile on his face, crying, “Omelets! I have a craving for omelets, and toasted cheese!”
“You didn’t sleep at all? Not even a minute?” Umber asked through a mouth full of egg. “And you don’t feel tired. No aching muscles, no sand in your eyes, no urge to yawn?”
Again and again, Hap shook his head. Umber tapped his plate with his spoon. “You’re probably overexcited after yesterday’s adventures. Well, we still have some hours before we reach Kurahaven. Take a nap if the mood strikes.”
“I will,” Hap said, though he doubted it would happen.
“Have any memories come back to you?”
“No,” Hap said, under a wrinkled brow. “Nothing before I woke up in that room. When I try to remember more, it just … stops. As
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