By the time I made my way back to the ship, the sun had already begun to set. When I reached the deck I noticed that the ship was ready to sail, and all they were waiting for was for their leader to come and give orders. I walked up to the tip of the boat, starring down at the island which was now mine. I have to say, the island looked even more glorious with the wonderful pinks and oranges caressing the landscape.
"Big Brother!" I turned to see Amys skipping towards me, a smile plastered to her lips. "What took you so long?" She questioned happily.
"Uh, sorry little one, I got distracted while I was walking around." I bluffed as I smiled at her. She nodded her head as if she understood what I had meant.
"While you were gone, William showed me your whole ship! I have to say, I've never seen something so.. so.. so big! Not even Jason's ship was as grand as this one!" she exclaimed.
"Well, she is my pride and joy." I chuckled, caressing the wood of the deck. After a few moments of hesitation, she looked up at me with a blush on her cheeks.
"Mr. England, sir. The place where we are going…" she mumbled, trailing off at the end.
"Where we are going is an island, much like this one! But it is by far not as beautiful as you." I smiled, ruffling her hair. This seemed to have embarrassed her even more, for her face turned a bright shade of crimson.
"D-do you think people will accept me there?" she questioned softly.
"Why, of course!" I said shocked. "You are my little sister now! Why wouldn't they accept you?!" I assured her. This seemed to make her very happy as she giggled with excitement.
"If you say so!" she laughed, making me chuckle as well.
"Mr. England, we are ready to sail." called William as he walked up to us.
"Very well, set our course for home." I demanded calmly. He nodded and instructed a crew member to tell the Captain on the course to take.
"We also have prepared quarters for the young girl." William informed me.
"Where exactly are her quarters?" I asked. I vaguely remember the fact that all of our cabins were filled with crew and soldiers, and none of which were suitable for a young lady.
"Because of the tight fit, we found it best to keep the girl in your quarters." He explained nervously. I glared at William then stole a glance at Amys.
"And where the bloody hell am I supposed to sleep?" I demanded anxiously.
"Why, we would never deprive Mr. England of his quarters!" he remarked. "We were just suggesting that the girl stay with you." I was about to argue when Amys butted in.
"Really?! I really get to stay with Big Brother?!" she called happily. "I've never had a Big Brother before, let alone ride on a ship!" she giggled. "I am so very happy!" she gave me a tight hug and I kind of just stood there, too shocked to say anything.
"Then let me show you where you will be staying." William chuckled, winking at me before he left.
I sighed as I trailed behind them. My mind was already jumbled up with just speaking to the girl, now I am going to have to live with her for the next three days?! I guess it's not entirely a bad thing. This gives me time to get to know her better, as well as teach her proper English etiquette. We rounded the corner and entered my cabin; I heard Amys gasp in surprise.
"It's so big!" she giggled, prancing around the room. "What's this?" she asked as she jumped upon my bed.
"That is where you will be sleeping." I informed her as I took a seat at the edge of the bed.
"Woah! It's so soft and comfortable! This is waaay better then the bundle of hay I've been sleeping on!" she giggled, stretching her whole body in the middle of the bed. Then all of a sudden, she sat straight up. "On my island, people have their own bundle of hay to sleep on, unless they are mates. Is it different for you?" she asked, looking around trying to find the other bed.
"Um, no. it is the same in my country as well, but due to certain circumstances, we will be sharing a bed." I explained awkwardly. She nodded her head and tried to seem cool about it, but the blush on her cheeks gave away her true feelings. "If it really bothers you too much, I can always bunk with William." I bargained, seeing as her face continued to redden. At the sound of that, she instantly began to shake her head.
"I don't mind at all, Big Brother." She mumbled softly, making both me and William chuckle.
"Now that that is settled, how about we go get some dinner?" I winked at her. She starred up at me as I stuck my hand out. She smiled and grabbed my hand tightly, never letting go once as we made our way to the dinning room.
Dinner was absolutely fascinating! Although Amys' table manners were atrocious, she made up with it with the stories of her people. She told us of her culture and her beliefs. She also told us about the fun she had when Jason had washed upon the island, his broken ship in tow. It was marvelous, really. She had seemed to be enjoying herself too, although it seemed like she was eating only the fruit that we scavenged from her island. I guess her taste buds haven't accustomed to the English food yet. The night was fantastic; it was only when we had to go off to bed when things took a dramatic turn.
"Here are some clothes that you can put on to sleep in. I'm sorry there is no shower, you'll have to wait until we get to England for that." I explained, placing a set of woman pajamas on the bed. She nodded and grabbed the clothes, taking it to the other side of the bed. "Don't worry! I won't peek!" I assured her as I turned around and faced the wall. After a few moments of awkward silence, I heard a small whimper.
"Um, Mr. England…" she called.
"Yes, what is it my love?" I called after her.
"I seem to be having trouble putting on this shirt…" she explained awkwardly. I sighed, of course this would happen.
"Yes, yes, ok. I'm turning around now, ok?" I didn't hear anything so I assumed she nodded. I turned around slowly, opening my eyes little by little. She was hiding behind a long mirror, only her face was peeking out.
"Come Amys, let me help you so we can be off to bed." I sighed. She nodded as she mumbled something, stepping out from behind the mirror. I've never seen such a tangled up shirt in my life! I tried my best to hold in my amusement, but not much to my prevail. I chuckled as I untangled her from the tangles of cloth. It took only a few moments to straighten out her shirt and have it on properly.
"Thank you." She said bowing in embarrassment.
"No problem!" I assured her, ruffling her hair. "It's not like it's the first time I've done this." I chuckled. I saw her glance up at me, her head cocked to the side like before.
"What do you mean?" she asked. It was only then that I realized what I had said.
"Oh, it's nothing my darling!" I reassured her, hugging her softly. "just a slip of the tongue." I felt her nodding her head against my chest and chuckled.
"Now time for bed!" I called, picking her up and placing her on the bed. She giggled as she crawled under the covers. I myself crawled underneath the covers, tickling her when she got to close for comfort. This worked against what I was planning, because she continued to do so. Eventually I just let her nuzzle next to me, sleep barely letting me open my eyes. I turned to blow out the candle, the warmth of someone next to me giving me awkward chills. I was just about to doze off when I heard her say something.
"I'm glad I got to meet you Big Brother." mumbled Amys as she trailed off to sleep. With that simple sentence, my mind was thrown into frenzy. Memories of the past to the present, all the way to the known future came rushing to my mind. "You used to be so big…" I sighed. It was going to be a long night.
For the next two nights it was exactly the same. She would cuddle next to me in a half-circle, her hands delicately placed against my chest. It was weird for me to have such a young one next to me again. These two nights kept my mind revolving around the other wanker I used to take care of. Needless to say, I didn't get very much sleep those nights.
I had initially thought of taking a nap during the day, but the days were so lively. Amys is a very ambitious girl. By now I'm pretty sure she's been everywhere on my ship, trying to do anything that she could. She's helped the cook with dinner, Rocko (crew mate) with swabbing the deck, and she's even barged into a sword fight between me and William. It was amusing to see such a little girl trying various tasks.
The only task she disliked doing was standing on deck and taking etiquette lessons. She refuses to wear corsets and hates the thought of heels completely. Her table manners were beginning to look somewhat decent and just her manners in general increased a lot. I was in the middle of teaching her how to sit properly when a small drizzle flushed the deck.
"We're almost home!" cheered Rocko happily. He was easily the biggest man on ship and his booming voice could be heard throughout the ship. Men began to cheer happily, the thought of seeing their families again making them twice as enthusiastic. Amys was cheering as well, her face showing both enthusiasm and nervousness.
"We shouldn't be having drizzle when we can't even see the shoreline." William pointed out softly behind me. I glanced at him and back to the ocean. He was right. I walked calmly to the point of the ship and took out my spyglass. Sure enough, dark clouds began to engulf the skies. I walked back to Amys just as calmly I had left and nodded to William who instantly began to take action.
"Mr. England, what's happening?" Amys asked nervously as I ushered her down to my cabin.
"Just a few rainstorms passing by. The deck is going to be very busy, so stay clear okay?" she nodded her head, clenching my hand tightly. As soon as I sat her down on the bed, I told her that I had to go back on deck to give orders. Her face completely fell and tears sprung to her eyes.
"Please, stay here with me Big Brother!" she pleaded, shaking her head vigorously. I looked at her then back at the door. Just then a large clap of thunder filled the room. Amys instantly ran and hid under the covers. Ahhh, I understand now. She was afraid of thunder. I sighed as I walked up to the bed and the small shivering figure underneath the blankets. I was trying my best to comfort her when William barged into the room.
"Mr. England, we need you on deck!" he exclaimed as soon as he walked in.
"William, I trust you can give the orders in my place." I sad flatly. He took one hard look at me and finally assessed the problem. He nodded then left the room, closing the door softly behind him.
"Come, my love. There's nothing to be afraid of." I said soothingly as I went beneath the covers with her. As soon as I got close to her another clap of thunder sounded off in the room. I was shocked into stillness when Amys grasped me tightly, her arms tight around my waist and her head against my chest. I tried to comfort her as much as I could, but I could do nothing to stop her bad shakes. I held her tightly, ignoring the spots of tears that coated my shirt.
She told me thunderstorms used to attack her island, leaving her people in chaos. She was alone on the island, and no one was there to comfort her. When she was a lot younger, before they thought of bundles of hay to sleep on, she would sleep under a large oak tree. Supposedly the winds were so bad that the tree was uprooted and nearly smashed her to death. I sighed as I held her tighter. This had obviously traumatized her.
I tried everything I could think of; telling fairytales, speaking of England and its beauty, as well as just trying to comfort her with silly words. At a last resort I decided to sing a song that was passed down from generation to generation in my country. To my surprise, Amys began to sing along, her sound muffled between my chest and the blanket. It took me quiet a few moments to realize that our words weren't matching up, even though the melodies were. She was speaking in her people's tongues and it was the most marvelous thing ever. After a few verses, her shakes began to settle down as well as the rocking of the boat. The sea had finally seemed to settle and Amys' grip began to loosen. Another ten minutes later, William walked into the room explaining that all had gone well and that we would reach the port at London in a couple hours. I nodded and was about to tell Amys of the good news, but she was fast asleep. I would have woken her up but she looked so peaceful I couldn't bring myself to do it. I sighed. There was no way I could leave without her waking up as well. So I laid there with her, her arms still pulled tightly around me. For the first time in three days, I slept peacefully and happily; not one thought of America protruding my thoughts.
