“I’m already thinking of some.”
I put her down on the sand and started jogging ahead, making kissing noises and calling to her.
“Come on, come on.Good girl!Come on,” I said with tones of encouragement as she came barrelling after me, the captain following with measured steps.
***
Aftermuchmorethoughtthan was strictly necessary, I named her Pearl, to keep with an ocean theme and because she’d been a wedding gift.
She was an excellent hunter of the lizards that wandered the outpost, and watching her snatch one and shake the thing back and forth, breaking its tiny neck, was something.She would start eating her prey and then lose interest halfway through, and I’d find a partly demolished corpse an hour later.Quite repugnant.
I taught her to do her business outside of our sleeping hut, and I wondered how that might work on the ship.Dinesh suggested we teach her to do her business on one of the reed mats and then take one with us when we left.They were easy to clean and her more solid business could be tossed over the rail.
By the time we were ready to leave Talamanca a week later, she was my best friend—barring the captain, of course—and already learning basic commands.She’d grown as well, and Jimena said she’d be medium-sized and wiry at adulthood.
On the day designated for our departure, a skiff arrived with Squid and Martinéz to collect us.They were suitably surprised by the presence of the puppy, and Squid, in particular, seemed delighted that she was to be a junior member of the crew.
“Rat catcher, hopefully.She’s decimated the local lizard population here in a week,” Captain Martin muttered.“Would you do me a favour and look after her for a few days when we get on board?”
“Of course.”
“Why does Squid have to look after her?”
“Oh…” Dinesh coughed and glanced my way.“Well, you and I need to go over a few important things, and I’m going to need your…uh, yourfull attention.”
Squid tried not to laugh as I bopped Dinesh on his arm.
We said farewell to Francis, Jimena, the children, and the men from the village.The children became quite upset, and Jimena looked sad.Francis struggled to keep his composure as he and Dinesh said goodbye.
“Thank you for visiting.I’ll never forget these past two weeks.I love living here, and I love my life, but…I do miss you, Dinesh.”
“I’m sure we’ll be back one day.You’ll probably have six or seven children by then.”
“I certainly hope so,” Francis said, slinging an arm around Jimena and kissing her cheek.
We pushed off, with the puppy held securely in my arms so that she didn’t try to jump overboard.She yapped at the water as the men paddled the skiff, and Dinesh rolled his eyes.
“I hope she won’t be able to see the water once she’s on board.”
“She’ll be fine and perfectly behaved, I’m sure,” I said, giving my lovely girl a kiss on her warm head and receiving a swipe of her tongue over my lips in return.
Chapter Eight
The Marriage Bed
Assoonasweclimbed out of the skiff, Captain Martin greeted the crew, then held his hands out for Pearl.
“Hand her over,” he said.
“But…I don’t know…” I said, clutching the pup tighter.
The intense and inflamed look in Dinesh’s gaze convinced me.
I passed the puppy over.I trusted Squid, after all, and I was eager for the chance to start our marriage off right, even if our union wasn’t legal in any way.Nothing we did was legal, so what did that matter?
“Here.She gets two meals a day, please get something from Guthrie for her.She likes fish,” I said, increasing the volume of my voice as Dinesh tugged me in the direction of our rooms.
“Hillier remains in charge,” Captain Martin said with volume, glancing behind us.“Do not disturb me for the next three days if you value your life’s blood.”
