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“All right. Clemo, will ye start us off?”
The middle-aged man sitting near Mother hummed the starting note, then the men began to sing, Trevik included.
The sun has departed, the stars are alight.
The rigging is set. I sail tonight.
The sea, she’s calling, and I must depart.
Though, how can I leave ye—
my maiden, my life, my heart?
As the men ended, the attention was once again directed at Miss Hollow. Her eyes remained focused on the fire, as if she was unaware that all of Tristwick watched her. The wind softly blew her blonde whisps of hair against her cheeks as she sang the chorus.
And she says, “I’ll watch for ye, darling,
I’ll keep me eye on the sea.
I’ll do what it takes, and I’ll wait for ye.
My love is fast, my heart will not roam,
’twill wait, steadfast, for ye to come home.”
The haunting lyrics had always affected Trevik, stirring respect for the men at sea who’d left behind their loved ones, but when Miss Hollow sang the words, the purity of her voice coupled with the emotion with which she sang, his chest tightened.
“She sings beautifully,” Mary whispered beside him.
He could only nod.
The chorus ended, and Miss Hollow sat in silence, the firelight flickering in her eyes. Most of the men missed the beginning of the next verse, apparently captured by her voice, as well.
Trevik, though, if only to prove to himself that he could, continued with the lyrics without a glance in her direction.
The days pass slowly, and me memories remain
of the maiden I left for the sea and the strain.
I hear her words now, her voice on a wave,
a gentle whisper I cannot help but crave.
When Miss Hollow’s turn to sing the chorus came back again, Trevik was determined to look elsewhere. After all, he had the inkling that her decision to sing was yet another tool in her arsenal to convince all those of Tristwick that she was, in fact, a mermaid. But why? Was she simply wishing to seek revenge on him for capturing her in his net?
He glanced around the group, wary expressions—including from the Cardys—contrasting with the beauty of her voice.
Finally, the last verse was sung by the men.
Well, I did me best, maiden. I kept safe for so long.
But the blast of the cannon was simply too strong.
’Tis time for ye to find a new love,
though I’ll remember ye always, watching ye from above.
If Trevik didn’t know any better, he would have been on the Cardys’ side, believing that Miss Hollow was a mermaid. Everything pointed to the fact that she was different than the others. Her smooth skin, her blonde locks shining golden in the waning light of the sun. Her soft voice not overly done with trills and lilts. Simply…pure.
