Chapter 4

"Handy? Hefty?" Papa Smurf said. "Is the boat ready?"

"Yes Papa Smurf," the two smurfs replied. The five smurfs going on the journey stood on the deck of one of the sailing boats, under the watchful eye of the rest of the smurfs; they had gradually gathered on the side of the river. Not wanting to seem cowardly, Handy looked over at them once Papa Smurf finished talking to Hefty and himself, returning their stares with one of his own. At the same time, he tried not to look hostile—he didn't want them to fear him anymore than they already did.

Papa Smurf turned to Grandpa and Smurfette. "We have all the necessary supplies?" he asked them. "The cloak? The violet?"

"Yes, Papa Smurf," Smurfette replied. "I brought a bunch of violets, just in case."

"And my cloak is ready to smurf too," Grandpa said. "Here Handy—try it on for size." Handy took the weathered brown garment and carefully fastened it around his neck. Instantly he started to sweat—the cloak was relatively light, but it was a hot, humid day. Well, better smurf used to it, I suppose, Handy thought.

"Perfect fit!" Grandpa said in approval. "The pocket is sewn on the inside, on the left—it's plenty big enough to fit a flower and a pearl." Handy accepted a violet from Smurfette and put it in the pocket. The outfit wouldn't conceal the light until he had the pearl, but he wanted to get used to it.

Finally Papa Smurf turned to one more current occupant of the boat—Tailor Smurf. "Tailor, you're in charge until we return," Papa Smurf said. "We'll be back soon to drop off the boat, and then we will be gone for several days on foot. Listen to Tailor while we're gone, my little smurfs, and we'll see you all again soon!!" he added, raising his voice so that the others could hear him. In the front of the crowd, Handy could see that Brainy was sulking—he had, as always, wanted to be the leader. The others looked as though they approved of Tailor being in charge though—they were nodding.

"Well," Papa Smurf said. "We'll see you soon Tailor."

"Sure thing Papa Smurf," Tailor replied. He hugged Papa smurf, clasped the hands of Grandpa and Hefty, and accepted a kiss from Smurfette. Finally he stood before Handy. Tailor hesitated for a moment, then—much to the astonishment of everysmurf – clasped his hand too.

"Good—good luck Handy," Tailor told him. "I'm sorry for ever listening to Brainy."

"That's alright Tailor," Handy replied shakily. Tailor nodded and stepped carefully off the boat and onto the shore of the river. Then, at a nod from Papa Smurf, he untied the rope that held the boat. The smurfs on the boat all headed to their various posts—Hefty managing the oars, Smurfette the sails, Papa Smurf and Grandpa navigating.

Handy was at the tiller. When they were a ways down the river, he glanced back at the gathering of smurfs, to find that they were waving at him. He turned back to the front with a smile. Seemed there was hope for them—and him-- yet.

Two hours later:

The boat was approaching Marina's home, and the closer they got, the more moony-eyed Handy became. He was still a little nervous of what she might think of this unsmurfy Gift, but he couldn't wait to see her again nevertheless. Hefty finally took over the tiller after Handy nearly steered the boat into rocks twice.

"Smurf a grip, Handy!" he said sharply, before turning to steer the boat away from near-death. "We'll never get to Marina's home if you crash the boat!"

"Sorry," Handy said sheepishly. He tried to ignore the grins on the faces of Smurfette, Papa and Grandpa and turned to stare out at the sea.

Instead he found himself looking into a pair of beautiful, dark eyes. He gasped as he realized just who the owner of those eyes was.

"Marina?!" he cried.

"Oh, Handy, it is you!" the mermaid replied happily. "Ajax and Hercules told me they thought they'd spotted you, but they weren't sure because you were—er—glowing."

Handy sighed in relief. She didn't seem terribly concerned about the glow. "It's a long story Marina," he replied. "But don't worry, the Gift is relatively harmless."

"The Gift?" she asked, sounding worried. "How in the name of Neptune did you get the Gift?"

"You know about the Gift, Marina?" Papa Smurf said, coming over to stand beside Handy.

"Oh, hello Papa Smurf!" Marina said. "Hello everyone! Yes, one of the families with the Gift is a family of mermaids—the Coral Plateau family, on the other side of the ocean. They're old family friends. I didn't think that smurfs could have the Gift though."

"I remember the book listing at least two families that were not humans," Papa Smurf said. "But it didn't specify. I had no idea mermaids could have the gift either."

"This Gift is not exactly mine," Handy told Marina. With some contributions from the other smurfs, he told her the short version of how he ended up with the Elm Peak Gift. Marina listened intently until they had finished, then winced and took Handy's hand.

"Oh Handy," she said. "You a Carrier...I wish you didn't have to but—," she leaned forward and up suddenly and kissed him. "If anyone can manage it, you can."

Still ignoring the grins on the other's faces, Handy smiled and kissed her back. "I hope you're right, my love," he whispered. Then he remembered why they had come out here in the first place. "Marina," he said, looking in her eyes. " It's smurfy to see you, but I'm afraid I'm not just here to visit. I need your help. I need a perfectly formed pearl."

"A pearl?" Marina asked, confused. "I can get one with no problem, but...why?"

"I need to hide this glow, and I need a violet and a pearl," Handy explained. "That's why I'm wearing this cloak. Otherwise Yoric--,"

"YORIC?!" Marina cried. "Yoric of Abyss Rock? He's carrying the Gift? Oh Handy!" Handy was taken aback. He never had mentioned the name of the man who had killed Esa, nor had he mentioned their family name. How did she know them?

"You've heard of him?" Smurfette asked, looking concerned.

"Yes—he--," Marina stopped and took in a deep breath. When she continued, it was in a voice shaky with tears. "There's something I didn't tell you. My family -- used to be Gifted."

There was a shocked silence.

"Then--," Papa Smurf said. "The two non-human families were both families of mermaids. What happened to your family's Gift Marina?"

"Werene of Abyss Rock, Yoric's Grandmother," Marina explained in a voice that was eerily void of any emotion. Her eyes were bright with tears. "I don't know what we did to offend her, but she had a grudge against us. She wanted revenge, and she also wanted to demonstrate her power to Yoric, who was only a child then, since she believed that he would one day carry the Gift.

"Werene attacked Pisces, my uncle, who was the one who carried the Gift," Marina continued. "She killed him. His Gift was released in the form of a giant hurricane that killed everyone in my family except for my father, two of my cousins, who now live at Coral Plateau, and me. We had been visiting our friends at the Coral Plateau when we were brought word of it. When we arrived back home..." She stopped, tears now falling freely from her eyes.

"Oh, Marina," Handy said. I'm so sorry..."

"Werene attacked your family because she was offended?!" Hefty said. "Is that entire family out of their smurf?"

"I don't know," Marina replied. "But I suspect that Yoric is just as volatile as his grandmother. When we got back home, Werene and Yoric were still there, both of them laughing—horrible, cold laughs." The memory seemed to harden Marina's delicate features into an angry mask. "I'll get you that pearl—I'll be back soon!" she abruptly turned and dove beneath the water.

"Poor Marina," Handy said softly. "This must be why she and her father never like to talk about their family." His sadness for Marina's family was mixed with a sudden, deep hatred of Yoric and the entire Abyss Rock family. It made him shiver; it was not a feeling he was familiar with. He didn't even hate Gargamel, Balthazar or any of the smurfs usual foes as much as he felt he hated Yoric right now. Well, why not? He thought. He killed the family of the love of my life, and Esa, and smurf knows who else. He's also apparently trying to find me and either smurfnap or murder me. It makes sense that I'd feel so angry.

No matter how he tried to justify it though, it still scared him a little. Shaking his head to clear it, Handy looked up to see the other smurfs looking worriedly at him. Boy oh smurf, is this getting old, he thought.

Thankfully, Marina returned at that moment. "Here you are Handy," she said. Handy examined the pearl she handed him. It was perfectly smooth and seemed to shine in the sunlight. He glanced at the others. They nodded at him, and he put up the hood of the cloak and slipped the pearl into the pocket with the violet.

Immediately the glow disappeared. No, not disappeared—Handy could still sense its presence. But it was no longer so obvious. Experimentally, Handy put the hood down. The glow returned. He grinned and put the hood back up again. "Thanks, Marina," he said.

"You're welcome Handy," she replied, smiling at him. "And please—get to Elm Peak, and then get back home. Promise me you will not go near Yoric if you can help it!"

Smurfs above, she read my mind! Handy thought. Pushing aside his uncharacteristically vengeful thoughts, he said, "Alright Marina. I promise." Then he leaned forward and kissed her again. "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too, my dear Handy," Marina said, kissing him back. "Good luck!"

She waved as they turned the boat back in the direction they had come from, and kept waving until they could not see her anymore.

Meanwhile:

Yoric was furious. He had been tracking Esa's Carrier by way of a spell that allowed him to sense Gift-light. He had been urging his flame-steeds on towards the signal, confident that he had the little creature, when Handy had simply vanished from his magical sight.

"Horrid little blue rat!" Yoric growled. The sycophents nearest him flinched as his Gift screamed and stirred up miniature whirlwinds. Yoric gritted his teeth and pulled it back in before it could topple his carriage. Then he waved a hand and impatiently tapped his right ear and his mouth. Instantly he heard Carmena say, as though she was right next to him, "Yes, my lord?"

"Carmena, the smurf's Gift-light has vanished!" he yelled.

Carmena was as calm as ever. "That is unusual, my lord," she said evenly. "But there are ways to conceal it. Somehow he must have found out how to hide the Elm Peak Gift."

"How could he have?" Yoric argued. "Only someone with control over the Gift can hide the light! He is only a Carrier."

"You forget, my lord," Carmena replied. "Every family has an alternate way of hiding their Gift, should their control fail. Perhaps the Gift itself told him. It would be unusual—no Carrier has ever been able to communicate with a Gift—but I see no reason it could not happen. The Elm Peak Gift is familiar with you by now, so I am sure it would see fit to try and protect the one who carries it."

"Well--," Yoric started to reply, but stopped as one of his sycophents pointed at the ocean below, babbling excitedly. Yoric was about to tell him to shut up when he saw what the hideous creature was pointing at.

It was a little boat, little enough that he could have held it in his hands. Four little blue creatures and one cloaked figure were onboard.

"M-master!" the sycophant said. "I recognize two of those creatures! They were w-with Handy smurf! The yellow haired one and the one with the hearts on his arms!"

At that moment, the boat had to abruptly steer away from a rock. The cloaked figure lunged to keep something from falling off the boat. In the process, the hood of the cloak fell back, revealing a little blue creature that glowed with a violet light. Almost immediately the creature pulled the hood back up, but Yoric knew what he had seen.

"Never mind Carmena," he said softly, smiling. "It seems my quarry has run straight into my clutches. I shall soon return."

Back on the boat:

"Something the matter, Handy?" Grandpa said. Handy jumped and looked up at him. After saving one of the packs from falling off the boat, he had returned to staring off into the distance, trying to calm his racing mind and failing miserably. The carpenter smurf sighed and rubbed the mark on his hand.

"Yes," he admitted to the older smurf. "I'm thinking about my promise to Marina. I don't know what it is, but something keeps making me think I should break it. I...I wish I could do something to avenge her family, and Esa, and everyone else Yoric killed."

Grandpa sighed. "I understand how you feel, whippersmurfer," he told him. "But you just have to remember that revenge doesn't bring back the dead. Besides, I'm sure that Yoric will eventually get what's coming to him. The humans call it 'karma'."

"Karma?" Handy asked.

"Yes, it's the idea that everything you do, good or bad, will eventually come back to you," Grandpa explained. "Do good things for people, and you'll eventually be rewarded. Do bad things...well, you'll regret it."

"That's a smurfy idea," Handy said thoughtfully. Then he grinned. "So does that mean that Brainy is going to be talked to death by someone else one day?"

Grandpa laughed. "Well, maybe. But do you see what I mean, Handy? Everything Yoric and the rest of his family have done will one day come back to haunt them. And they'll do it without you betraying your own good nature to help them along."

Handy liked that thought. "Thanks Grandpa!" he said. "That really—"

He never finished that sentence. Almost too fast for Grandpa's eyes to follow, a hawk that seemed to be entirely composed of red light had swooped down from the sky and seized Handy in one of its talons. It then proceeded to use its other talon to create a gigantic gash in the sail of the boat before flying away, carrying a stunned Handy with it.