Five Sisters (11 page)

But the thing Gail noticed the most was the way his hands would shake. If he ever chose to pick up a marble in the center of the board, surrounded by many more, his white, trembling fingers would almost always knock some of the others marbles out of their positions and Gail would have to re-place them from memory. She became quite used to studying the board before he took each of his moves, just in case. Once, even, his hand shook so much that he dropped the marble and it went rolling across the floor and beneath his bed. Gail had to get down on hands and knees to find it again.

Despite the many interruptions, they played the game contently and when Gail heard Mary's voice calling her to set the table, she actually felt rather sad that she had to leave Nathaniel. She promised him she'd be back after dinner.

That evening, she chose not to tell her sisters about the simple, yet sweet, day she'd spent playing Chinese checkers with Nathaniel West. She didn't want them to get their hopes up that she and Nathaniel had now become friends.

And because she wasn't talking about it, and she tried not to let her mind dwell on it too long for fear her sisters may notice and pry, Nathaniel ended up disappearing from her memory all together by the end of the meal.

She was having such a wonderful time listening to Jess tell her, Nora, and Sawyer about how he'd slipped a slimy bit of seaweed beneath Cary's pillow during the night and how Cary had woken yelping like a little girl, exclaiming that a fish had climbed into his bed. Gail was so busy laughing and listening, she forgot all about her promise to Nathaniel.

When she finally did remember, it was well past nine o'clock.

With a deck of cards in her hand, hoping that maybe they could play a little Rummy instead, she entered Nathaniel's room.
He was holding the sack of marbles she'd left behind. Sitting up with his knees bent, he made a little slide with his blanket and set the marbles on his knees so that they'd slide down to his stomach. Seeing him so lonely and playing such a pitiful little game, Gail felt terrible about forgetting him.

"I'm horribly sorry, Nathaniel," she said, "I just got a bit caught up in things, is all. But would you like to play Rummy? I brought some cards and I . . ."

"You forgot me, didn't you?" he asked without looking up from his silly game.

"I didn't mean to, I just . . ."

"It's not so hard to forget about stupid ol' Nathaniel West, is it? I don't make much of an impression, do I?" He slipped the marbles back into the sack and looked up at her. His gray eyes were ablaze with a fiery she recognized from their previous meetings. "When you're talking and laughing and having a merry old time with loads of handsome sailors, it's not hard to forget about poor Nathaniel, is it!"

"Please don't be angry," Gail pleaded, "I didn't forget you I just . . ."

"You didn't forget me? If there's one thing I hate Gail St. James, it's a liar! And you've lied twice to me today! You told me you'd come back after dinner, but you lied! You told me you didn't forget, but you're lying now, aren't you? Tell the truth! Who wants a friend that's going to lie to them! I certainly don't! So take back your stupid marbles!" He threw the sack at Gail, hitting her square in the chest.

Gail didn't know what to say. If she'd known that what she'd done would hurt him so much, she would have made sure she remembered. But alas, it was too late for that now.

"I'm sorry," Gail murmured, "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You haven't hurt me. You've forgotten me. Now get out of my room this instant and leave me be!"

Gail backed out of the room, closed the door, and ran straight to her bed. She buried her face beneath the covers and just lied there, motionless, but thinking. For a few moments the room was silent, but then Gail heard footsteps on the stairs. They stopped at the bottom, and then began to walk into the girls' bedroom. Gail knew from the soft, almost inaudible, humming, it must be Emy.

"Are you alright, Gail?" she asked slowly, peering up at her sister who was now looking like an ostrich with its head beneath the surface.

Gail removed the blankets, leaving her head a mass of messy, tangled auburn locks.

"He hates me," she whimpered, "I thought everything was going so well, but I've ruined it. He hates me again."

Emy climbed up ladder opposite to Nora's bed and sat with her feet hanging over the edge, "What's happened? Who hates you? You're not talking about Nathaniel, are you?"

Gail nodded and told Emy all that had happened in one long breath. Once she was through, Gail lied back on the bed and buried her face in her pillow.

Emy thought the situation over a second before asking wearily, "Well you can't really blame him, can you?"

"What do you mean?"
came
Gail's muffled voice.

"Oh, I don't know . . ." Emy began, "It's just that if I'd been through all he's been through I wouldn't want to be forgotten either. His parents don't even think about him; they go off to parties and social events, dancing and laughing and never once thinking about their poor son. Just imagine if you'd been born with whatever disease he has. Mother and father would have been at your side every instant of the day, worrying about your health, taking you to every doctor they could find, and making sure you never felt terribly dismal or bored. They would never, ever, not in a million years, forget you.

"Nathaniel thought you were very nice, I suppose, after you came to play checkers with him and he was hoping very much to see you again. He never once imagined that you'd be like his parents and forget him so easily just because you'd found some enjoyment in listening to the sailors tell some silly little jokes."

Gail rolled over and faced the ceiling. Strands of red hair covered her face.

Emy sighed, "I don't know what you can do about it know though. He seems rather stubborn and it'll be hard to gain his trust again. I suppose you could try to get him to play a game again, if he seemed to like it. But I'd wait until tomorrow, when's he's not so angry."

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Gail agreed, "I'll go back tomorrow."

CHAPTER 10

A Troubled and Doubtful Mary

"Would you like something to drink, Mary?" asked Cary, kneeling down beside her chair.

"That would be lovely," she replied, fanning her dark eyelashes coquettishly, "Lemonade, please."

Cary rushed off, but Mary still found herself surrounded by three other sailors, each of them eager to dote upon the young beauty. Sara had warned Mary against leading the men on when she couldn't ever pursue anything with them, but Mary quickly dismissed her sister's concerns, saying she wasn't truly doing anything wrong.

"Such a horrible day," Mary pouted, "Wherever has the sun gone?"

"'Spect a storm's coming soon," examined Dick Cohen, "S'about time."

"How bad are the storms out here on the ocean?" Mary asked, a bit of uncertainty in her voice, "We're not going to, you know . . . tip over or anything, are we?"

Buddy Ross laughed, "Don't you worry your pretty little head about such things, Mary. We'll be fine. You and your sisters can sit downstairs and let us men take care of all the hard stuff."

"Well that's a relief," Mary grinned, "But I should never have been worried with such big, strong sailors around.
How silly of me!"

The men laughed, hanging on her every word, as Cary returned with the lemonade. Mary thanked him and sipped the cool drink daintily.

"Are you really getting married soon?" Dick asked sadly.

"Yes," Mary nodded, "But he's a wonderful man I'm sure you'd all like him very much. His name is Ethan Lindsey."

"What does he do?" Noah questioned.

"He's studying to be a doctor," replied Mary, "But he's still got a few years of schooling left to go."

"But you don't want a schoolboy, do you, Mary?" Buddy stuck his chest out, "You want a strong
sailor, that
can protect you."

Mary giggled, "And whatever do I need protecting from?"

"From everything.
From storms and from burglars."

"From escaped convicts and psychos."

"From bears and lions."

Mary flashed a bright smile, "What imaginations you do have!"

"Does this Lindsey know how lucky he is, to have a girl like you, Mary?" Cary asked, taking her hand.

"Would he care very much if you didn't get off at Brighton?" his brother Noah pondered, "Would he care if you came along on another voyage with us?"

"Of course he would!" Mary laughed.

"We wish you could stay with us, Mary," Buddy said, his eyes wide and earnest, "You're always welcome to come back on Ol' Vi with us if things with this Lindsey man don't work out."

"You're all very sweet," Mary sighed, with a smile, "But I can't stay with you. I could never live on a ship forever. I need a home."

"But if this Lindsey turns out to be some sort of creep, do you promise you'll come back?"

"He's not a creep, Cary!" Mary laughed, "And he's never going to be a creep."

"But if he does . . ."

"If he does, then I'll make up my mind when it happens. But I can assure you that I won't forget your offer," Mary said, "But by that time you probably won't even want me anymore! You'll all have wives and children of your own."

"No, we'll wait for you, Mary," Dick replied, "And besides, most of us probably won't even be getting married anyway. We'll just stay on this ship like hermits and never have a family, like Charlie."

"It's not such bad life really," Noah agreed, "If you think about it."

"We can just stay on here and travel around till the day we die," Cary nodded.

"Sounds good to me," Buddy affirmed.

"But that's a terrible life!" Mary argued, "Don't you ever want to fall in love and have a family and a house?"

"We've already got a family," Dick replied, "We're all like brothers and Charlie's the kind uncle who lets us live with him. And we've got a house too. Violet's the only home I've got. And love . . . Well, I suppose it'd be nice to fall in love, but it's not so easy when you rarely have the chance to meet women. You and your sisters are the first girls we've lived near in years."

Mary smiled softly, "Maybe it's not such a bad life after all. Sometimes, I must admit, it does sound rather appealing to stay here with you boys and never have the responsibilities of being a wife and a mother."

"That's the spirit!" Cary whooped.

Mary continued, "And sometimes I think that perhaps Ethan isn't the man for me. Perhaps we're rushing into things."

"But I thought you said you loved him," Buddy replied.

"I . . . . I do," Mary nodded, but her voice was hesitant.

A strong gust of wind
billowed
the white sails and blew Emy's light brown waves behind her as she looked out over the front of the ship. Dark, angry clouds hung overhead and the ocean was dark with mysterious waves.

Emy had been sulking around the ship for days, and today was no different.

She'd known for some time now that she was in love with him. It didn't come as a surprise, for she'd known since the first day they met. But suddenly she felt as though she was simply a silly girl caught up in a case of unrequited love.

She'd never felt so foolish and naïve in her entire life. How could she have ever thought that someday he might possibly love her back? Besides the fact that he was several years older than her and quite a bit more handsome, she'd also barely spoken more than a few words to him. He thought she was just a silly young girl, quite and reserved, and Emy knew he would never love her as she'd once hoped.