Chapter Four

Age six.

Ma was pregnant with Ty's baby sister. As her belly continued to grow, she couldn't go outside to do chores since swimming around might harm the baby. So Pa took Ty outside to do chores, but now they were inside the house today, sitting in the living room.

The baby was coming today. Pa paced nervously while rubbing his hands together. Their neighbours, Lars and Shurl and their three year old son Hewitt, were over. Shurl was helping deliver the baby. Ty was sitting on the couch, looking up at Pa. He was never worried about anything, but apparently this new baby was worth worrying over.

"Pa, when's the baby coming?" he asked and pulled his feet away from Hewitt who was trying to pull off his socks.

"Soon, Ty," he answered, "very soon." He sat down, hands on his knees.

Ma moaned from the other side of the room. Ty jumped off the couch and tried to run to her, but Pa stopped him before he could get very far.

"Stay here, Ty," his father said sternly.

Ty turned around the sat back on the couch. "What's happening with Ma?"

"The baby is coming. Your sister will be here soon."

"Ma sounds like she's hurting."

Pa nodded. "It does hurt. but it'll be over soon."

Ty sat down by Pa and waited with him. It was a very long time before Shurl came out.

"Your girl has a might strong pair of lungs, John," she announced with a smile on her face. Pa looked up, smiled and laughed. He jumped up from his seat and ran off to see Ma. Ty followed.

Ma was lying down on her bed. Her long dark hair was sweaty and pulled back from her face. In her arms was a bundle of blankets. The bundle squirmed. Ty jumped back.

"Ty," Ma said, sounding a little tired, "this is your baby sister, Zoe."

He took a step forward and looked down at the red and wrinkled face of his sister. She squirmed and flailed her tiny arms. Ma handed off the bundle off to Pa. She patted the bedside beside her. Ty jumped onto the bed and sat beside her.

"What do you think of your baby sister, Ty?" she asked and held his hand.

He wrinkled his nose. "Will she always be red?"

His mother laughed. It was a good sound. He loved it when Ma laughed. "No, sweety. She'll only be that red for a week or two, then she'll be the same colour as you."

He looked at the bundle that Pa was showing to Lars and Shurl. "Is she going to have to sleep in my room?"

Ma shook her head. "She'll be sleeping in our room until she's big enough to sleep in her own room. You'll still have your own room, okay?"

Ty nodded and smiled. Ma held out her arms and he leaned into her arms. "I love you so much," she whispered and kissed the top of his head.

He buried into her arms and hugged her back. "I love you too, Ma."

Ty couldn't sleep. He was having nightmares again. He hated it when they came. There was nothing he could do about them either. There was no way to stop them or prevent them from happening. He was going to have to live with them forever but that wasn't what he wanted.

Then someone screamed. At first there were quiet 'nos' and other pleas, but then it came to a full out scream. It seemed like he wasn't the only one of this sub that couldn't sleep well. When the scream subsided, two figures descended the ladder. Sending out a wave of clicks, he made them out to be Pretty and Shade. They sat at the table. Ty pretended to be sleeping.

First they sat in silence. Pretty sniffled and folded cross his arms over his chest. Shade was patient at first. He folded his hands and waited for Pretty to start talking.

"Well?" Shade asked quietly.

"Well what?" Pretty retorted, sounding like the same Pretty as usual.

"You know it helps if you just talk about it. That's how we've doing it for the past what? Three years?"

"What's your point?"

Shade sighed. "Talking about it makes the others feel better. And you never talk about it."

"What's to talk about? It's the same thing we all suffer from."

"Needles and scalpels?" he guessed.

"And him," Pretty said and began to braid his hair. "It's always him."

"Always," he agreed. Shade stretched out and sighed in content. "Is that it then?"

Pretty nodded and tossed the braid over his shoulder. "You should've killed him," he said quietly.

Shade shook his head. "I'm not a murderer. None of us are. Besides, if I had murdered him, would it have taken away the nightmares, the pain he caused us?"

"It would've given me peace of mind that he wasn't going to try anything like that again."

"I made sure he wouldn't continue. That's good enough isn't it?"

"I guess so," Pretty said. "He's still out there, though."

Shade nodded. "Yes, he is, but it's not like he's going to try and find us. He knows next time we meet up he's not going to be so fortunate. Get some sleep. We've got a busy day tomorrow." Pretty nodded and clambered up the ladder.

Shade continued to lounge on the padded bench. Ty could see him staring down at him. He turned his head away and closed his eyes, eager to get a little more sleep in.

"Do you have nightmares, Guppy?" he asked softly. Ty shrugged, but he didn't know if Shade saw him. The outlaw stepped forward and slid down against the wall where Ty was laying.

Since he knew Shade wasn't fooled by his fake sleeping, Ty sat up and tucked his knees up to his chest. "Not always," he answered softly. He wasn't in a mood to talk to Shade, but it would take his mind off his own problems.

"Sorry if we woke you," Shade apologized. "The boys still get them every now and then."

"I wasn't sleeping." He shook his left wrist to try and get some blood flowing into his hand. "What are you going to do with me?" Those words were hard enough to get out.

The outlaw turned his head, his face an unreadable mask. He shrugged. "Nothing yet. It's coming pretty close to ransom."

Ty nodded and took in a deep breath. Ransom was the best option instead of something else. Maybe he would go home soon. That was all he wanted. It wasn't like he was causing any trouble for the outlaws. All he did was sit in his corner and pretend that this was all a nightmare.

Shade didn't move. He looked deep in thought. Ty shook his hand again. The outlaw looked over at him.

"Something wrong, Guppy?" he asked.

"The rope… it's… it's too tight." Shade reached over and gripped Ty's arm. He loosened the rope surrounding his wrist. The blood flowed back into his hand with a tingling sensation that was horribly irritating. "Thanks," he mumbled and massaged his hand.

Shade nodded and rose to his feet. He walked back the ladder and disappeared into the berths.

It took a while for Ty to go back to sleep, but when he did he slept peacefully.