Burnt Sea: A Seabound Prequel (Seabound Chronicles Book 0) (20 page)

Esther wasn’t shy though.

“Are you from a battleship?” she asked Michael.

“Nope,” he said. “I worked on a destroyer. The navy doesn’t have battleships
anymore.”

“Really? Why?”

“They’re too big and old,” Michael said. “We—they—use
destroyers, cruisers, and frigates now.”

“But those are still warships, right?”

“Yes, they are,”
Michael
said. “You know a lot
about ships.”

Esther grinned gleefully and tugged on Judith’s sleeve to make sure she
had heard. Judith winced, probably at the pain, but she always had a smile for
Esther.

When everyone was mostly finished eating, Reggie came over to
their
table. He carried a large black guitar case.

“Found this down in the theater,” he said. “Want to jam, Mike? It might
help cheer people up a bit. It’s like a funeral in here.”

“Sure,” Michael said. He jumped up, glancing at Judith before following
Reggie to the center of the dining hall.

Reggie climbed onto a chair and shouted to get everyone’s attention.

“
Yo
, hope you folks don’t mind. This here is
Mikey
, and he was telling me earlier that he used to play a
bit of guitar. I happen to have a few hidden talents myself, so I thought we’d
try something out. It’s getting gloomy around here.”

Reggie climbed down to confer with Michael for a few minutes as people
turned their chairs to listen. Simon glanced at Judith and noticed she was
looking intently at Michael. She kept almost smiling and then quickly schooling
her features back to neutral.

After a moment Reggie said, “Right, here’s an oldie we both know. It
seems about right for today.”

He climbed back onto the chair, and Michael drew up another one beside
him. He took out the guitar and strummed it a few times. Then he began to play.

Simon didn’t recognize the song, but a few others around the room did.
They started tapping their feet. Michael was very good. Then Reggie sang in a
raspy, soulful baritone.

Seabird

See pretty bird

Seabird blue

Seabird

See pretty
pretty

Seabird blue

My girl is a
pretty bird

Seabird blue

The sea sings

Pretty bird

Seabird blue

Alone with
pretty bird

Seabird blue

Michael joined in, adding a bit of harmony. The young men held their
audience captive. As they played and sang, more people around the dining hall
began to smile and tap their feet. The rhythm drummed around the room like
gentle rain. On the next chorus, Willow Weathers, the lounge singer, who had
just arrived, sang along.

Seabird

See pretty bird

Seabird blue

Seabird

See pretty
pretty

Seabird blue

Blue sea is a
pretty song

Sea song blue

My girl sings

Pretty song

Seabird blue

With me sings
pretty bird

Sea song blue

Judith had stopped trying to maintain an indifferent expression. She
stared at Michael, mouth slightly open. Michael looked up at her and missed two
notes because of it. After his second mistake, Judith started to smile. Simon
grinned. They’d be all right.

Come home,
sweet pretty bird

Blue sea blue

I miss my

Pretty bird

Seabird blue

Seabird

See pretty bird

Seabird blue

Seabird

See pretty
pretty

Seabird blue

Come home,
sweet pretty bird

Seabird blue

When the song finished, Reggie took a bow and everyone in the dining
hall applauded. Willow joined them by the table, along with a handful of others.
Simon thought he heard mention of drums and maybe a violin. In addition to the
eager musicians, a group of younger women crowded around Reggie and Michael.
Reggie leaned jauntily against the table, enjoying the attention, but Michael
squeezed through and returned to their table.

Judith leapt out of her chair as if she’d received an electric shock.
“I’m going to get some air on deck,” she said.

“I can walk you,” Michael offered.

“No need. I can find my own way.”

Judith turned and walked gingerly away. She looked back at the table
before disappearing through the far door, but Michael didn’t see it. He sat
down, looking dejected.

“Young man, you’re in trouble.” Frank chuckled deeply.

“What?”

“You’re trying too hard with that girl—and not hard enough!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Michael said, bending over
his empty plate.

“Yeah, what
are
you talking
about, Frank?” Esther asked. “Why is Michael in trouble?”

Frank leaned toward her conspiratorially. “He has a crush on Judith.”

“A crush.
Ewwwww
!” Esther hopped down from
her chair. “I’m going to see if Ana will give me some more shrimp. A crush.
Gross.”

She darted away, pigtails swinging.

“So, how about it, Michael?” Simon said. He leaned his elbows on the
table, and Frank mimicked him.

Michael stared between the two older men, looking cornered.

“We know Judith’s something special,” Frank said. “If you’re man enough
for her, I’ve got a lot of respect for you, but you have to be careful with a
woman like that.”

Michael coughed theatrically. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t let her push you around,” Frank said, “but don’t try so hard to
help her all the time. Women don’t like that. She can take care of her own damn
self.”

“She was hurt,” Michael protested.

“Yes, and it’s nice for you to play knight in shining armor, but she
won’t be hurt forever. You’ve got to have more to offer.” Frank was now jabbing
his fork at Michael to emphasize each point.

“I—”

“For starters, you should be chasing after her!” Frank said. “Don’t let
her walk off by herself just because she says she doesn’t need help. Damn right
she doesn’t need help, but I bet you she wants company. If she didn’t, she’d have
gone back to her room, not mentioned something as romantic as fresh air.” Frank
jabbed the fork at Michael again. “Learn to read the hints, son, especially
when they’re written all over her face!”

Michael looked to Simon for help, but he just shrugged. Michael seemed
to take that as agreement, because he tipped back his last gulp of water and
stood.

“Thanks.”

Frank chuckled as Michael limped for the door, looking over his
shoulder as if he expected Frank to chase after him with the fork.

“They make ’
em
more clueless every year,”
Frank muttered. “You’d have followed her right away, wouldn’t you, Simon?”

“Yes,” Simon said quietly. “If she was Nina, I’d have followed her
across the world.”

Judith

It
was cold on deck. Judith walked slowly, trailing her fingers along the chilled
rail. She’d have expected it to be warmer here, even at night. They weren’t far
from the equator by their last reckoning, but it got colder every day. Maybe
the crops really would fail. She wondered if sea life would be more resilient.

The sky was dark, and she prayed for the moon to pierce the sullen
night clouds. It had been calm since the last storm, but the skies wouldn’t
clear. The water was black and still as obsidian. The deck barely moved beneath
her feet.

Uneven footfalls sounded behind her. She continued her slow walk along
the promenade.

“Judith?”

That deep Oklahoma voice sent a thrill right through the bottom of her
toes.
It’s about time!
She waited for
a few heartbeats. She didn’t want to seem
too
happy to see him.

Michael didn’t speak again until he was almost close enough to touch
her.

“Judith?” he repeated.

She kept her face turned toward the sea, but she could sense him. She
wrapped her fingers around the railing.

“Thought you might want some company,” he said.

“I’m fine,” she said briskly. She wished she could take some of the
sharpness out of her tone. Did he have to talk to her like she might break?

He was silent for a moment. The
Catalina
creaked in the darkness.

“Well, I want company,” Michael said, “
if
you
don’t mind. I’m new around here and all. It’d be nice to have someone to talk
to.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Judith said.

“Oh, I don’t know. Movies . . . the weather . . . whatever you normally
talk about when you’re getting to know someone.
Politics, religion,
the meaning of life.
You name it.”

This was silly. What was the point of getting to know anyone in these
circumstances? What did she expect to happen? She’d lose him like she’d lost
Nora, or push him away like she was doing to
Ren
if
she let this continue. Then words were tumbling out of her, harsh ones that she
couldn’t keep back.

“Why don’t we talk about how everyone we know is dead? How we can’t
find a safe harbor and our own people
have
sent us
away. How we aren’t going to last another week.”

Instead of being taken aback at her tone, Michael just nodded. “That
works,” he said. “It sucks. It’s okay to talk about how much this sucks.” He
put a hand on her shoulder. The weight of it anchored her to the deck. “With
all the shit that’s going on right now, it’s okay to be angry.”

“That’s not—”

“Yes, it is. It’s okay,” Michael said. “Hell, I’m angry too. I walked
away from my naval career on the slim chance that my family might be alive
somewhere. I swore to be loyal and to sacrifice everything for my country, but
it turns out I didn’t mean it. I couldn’t be loyal to superiors who’d give up
their honor like that.”

“So we should, what, shout about it?” Judith said. “That won’t do any
good.”

“I don’t know,” Michael said. “Maybe just acknowledge it. Say, ‘Dude,
this is the pits’ or something. I’m sure you’ve got a more sophisticated line.
I don’t want to pretend it all didn’t happen.”

Judith let out a long breath. “I’m sorry for snapping at you,” she
said. “Everything’s just catching up to me. But seriously, you say you want to
get to know me. But do you honestly think anything will come of it? Is that why
you followed me outside?”

“I don’t know, Judith. I’m going straight to the States to search for
my family first chance I get. You know that. I just thought we could be
friends, maybe be there for each other a bit.”

“I don’t need—”

“I need you just as much as you need me.”

Michael removed his hand from Judith’s shoulder and turned toward the
ocean. She felt colder immediately. She ached where his hand had been, as if
some precious lifeline had been torn away. She had to grasp it before it was
gone. She wrapped her long, thin fingers around his wrist. His pulse beat in
time to the lapping of the waves.

“I’ll tell you something about me,” she whispered. “I’m scared all the
time. I’m sad and scared, and I feel like the world will collapse the rest of
the way if I lose control for one minute. And my best friend just died. I only
knew her for a week, and she was still my best friend. Maybe I just shouldn’t
make any more friends.”

“It’s okay.” Michael took her face in his hands. He ran his thumbs over
her cheekbones, tracing their shape. Then he leaned down and kissed her,
touching his lips to hers for the briefest moment. “It’ll be okay,” he
whispered.

Judith stepped into the circle of Michael’s arms and put her head on
his chest. She still felt sad and scared, but she let herself lean into him.
His heartbeat quickened against her ear, unbearably sweet.

She pulled back. “Look, I’m not sure it’s a good idea to start
something here,” she said. “This’ll all be over soon. I don’t want you to get
any ideas.”

Michael would search for his family. She would find some way back into
the life she’d been about to start. There were no prospects for a relationship
here. To entertain the idea would be admitting that their world had truly
changed forever.