Chapter 4 - Mischief

"Mama, when is Papa comin' home?"

The woman's gaze stayed fixed in the direction of the window. She smiled sadly, "Soon, my dear."

The toddler beamed, "Good! Papa promised when he comes back he'll take me to see big boats!"

"Boats?" The woman chuckled softly, "And why exactly would he say that, little one?"

The girl pouted her bottom lip, "Papa said we could sail across the ocean! He promised!"

The woman laughed somewhat louder this time, reaching down and scooping up her daughter and placing her on her lap.

"And where do you plan on running away to?" She teased lightly, eyeing her daughter suspiciously with a slight smile placed on her pale face.

The young girl look thoughtfully at her mother, not exactly sure what to say, suddenly a bright smile appeared, "All over the world! Mama, Papa and May! On adventures!"

The woman's smile was replaced with a look of remorse; tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. She broke out into a loud sob, unable to hold it back.

"Mama? Mama what's wrong?" The girl looked frightened by her mothers reaction, "Don't worry, Papa will be home soon."

The woman grabbed her daughter and pulled her into a tight embrace.

Clutched in her right hand was a piece of paper.

Mrs. Marie Beaulieu,

We deeply regret to inform you, Franklin Beaulieu was officially reported killed in action June, 6th 1918.

"You gonna' finish that?"

May looked down to her bowl, which miraculously was not filled with bubbling goo. She was enjoying her plain, chicken broth. She turned to face Peter, her eyes squinted suspiciously, "Yes, now will you stop bothering me, I'm savoring it."

"It's just soup," He grunted, looking down to his empty bowl, "You've been at it for an hour now."

"Have not!" May retorted angrily.

"Now, now children," Lumpy scolded, lowering his blade, as he began to shave one of the crewmen's beard, "Behave."

May stuck out her tongue playfully to Peter as she held the bowl up to her mouth and drank the rest of the soup.

Peter muttered something quickly about needing to go back to work, and got up and exited the galley.

She laughed triumphantly as she set her empty bowl back onto the table. She had enjoyed her first somewhat tasty meal aboard the steamer.

Thomas raised his eyebrow from across the table, "I really can't believe you just finished eating now, most of the crew has already gone to bed."

Herb laughed gently and began to shuffle a deck of cards, passing them out between him and Thomas, "Let the girl do what she wants."

"Why thank you Herb," May sent a gracious smile in his direction, she really did love the old man.

Many nights had passed since May had been on the rusty ship, nothing too interesting had occurred. She had gotten to know many of the ships crew members, actually discovering that they were great fun, and had many stories of their lives and adventures out at sea.

Most of the mornings and evenings were spent working on the film. Carl was as annoying as ever, he really did get into his movies. Oh well, maybe it was just a director thing. The rest of the film crew were extremely nice to her. Jack was a sort of big-brother figure to her, so it was only right to tease him when she had walked in on Ann and him kissing passionately in Ann's room. She truly was happy for him, but she would never let him live that down.

Although May spent her free time learning how to work the ship; with the eager and sometimes perverted sea men, and taking photographs of random happenings aboard the bustling ship, the one thing she truly desired each and every day was to spend time with Jimmy.

He was like the best friend she never had; he shared the same interests and seemed to enjoy the same things as her. It had all began one afternoon, a few days into their voyage.

Snap.

A perfect shot. May beamed with delight, watching the men dance around the blond beauty. Ann had become particularly popular on the Venture, although May was convinced it was only because they were hoping they would get lucky.

In the centre was Jimmy, failing his arms around Ann, who was dancing gracefully, a wide smile placed on her face. The men began to stomp their feet and clap their hands.

May laughed softly as the men glared at the lucky boy dancing with Ann. She aimed her Camera at the scene, hoping to get a shot of them dancing. Her fingers pressed down on the button, just before a soft clicking noise could be heard, Jimmy looked directly into the camera lens, a crooked smile on his face.

May found herself blushing as his gazed turned to her, his bright sky blue eyes looking into hers.

Jimmy chuckled wickedly, and broke apart from the group, running swiftly and sitting beside May on the heavy crate. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped only to catch his breath.

"What are you doing sitting here all by yourself?" He asked, his eyes fixed into hers, a clever smirk on his face.

"Seizing the opportunity at great photos," She explained innocently, "By the way, I think I managed to get a few good ones of you dancing, if that's what you call it."

He feigned a hurt expression, "Why don't you show me how it's done then?"

She rolled her eyes with a grin, and opened her mouth to refuse, but before she knew it she was pulled to her feet, and Jimmy's arms were around her petite waist.

"Jimmy! I can't dance!" She argued as the men around them began to clap and cheer once more.

He smiled devilishly, "Then I'll show you how," He whispered softly into her ear, as he began to move her along to the beat, spinning her around clumsily.

May giggled loudly as the men around her cheered and howled with laughter.

The whole time, Jimmy's gentle gaze, never left hers.

She blushed ever so slightly when she recalled the pleasant memory.

Lumpy gave her a concerning look, "Everything alright ma chere?"

May shook from her thoughts, "Um, yes... ah, anymore soup?" She smiled innocently to Lumpy.

Lumpy sighed, as he finished removing every trace of stubble from a man's face, "Don't push your luck."

May gave him the saddest eyes she could conjure, but Lumpy only shook his head, "Won't work on me, love, mon coeur is black as coal." He boomed with laughter and the man he finished shaving laughed along with him.

"So cruel," She sighed, resting her head on the cool table and playing with her spoon.

"How's that movie of yours coming along?" Lumpy asked, ignoring her last statement, "Choy was very excited to see all the crew filming yesterday, thinks he's gonna be a movie star or something, eh?" They laughed loudly once more. Choy, who was helping the cook clean the dishes also laughed heartily, May knew that him and Lumpy were very good friends, "Told him if there's any shots of him at all, it only be a rear view, they won't want any shots of his ugly mug."

"Men are gross," May mumbled, getting up from the table, "I'm going to go for a walk." She announced quickly, heading for the door.

"You won't get very far!" She heard Lumpy call as she left the room, leaving the room of cackling men behind.

She walked slowly down the hall, attempting not to trip, which she was currently succeeding at, until, well she collided with something as she turned the corner. Which turned out to be a person, she discovered, as she fell directly on top of them.

May closed her eyes, scared of who it might have been, not all the crew aboard were as friendly as Peter or Lumpy.

"Trying to kill me, eh?"

May eyes opened quickly, she recognized that playful voice.

"Jimmy! Oh, I'm sorry!" She said unconsciously, until she realized her face was less than a few inches from his and her hands were resting on his soft chest.

Her cheeks turned a deep shade of red, as she jumped off of him. Jimmy burst into laughter as she fell with a small thud back onto the floor. He got up steadily and held his hand out to help her.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" He asked with a crooked grin.

May kept her head down, her face still felt hot, "No thanks! I'm quite capable of standing on my own thank you very much!"

She rested her hand on the wall, pushing herself up, only to trip over her own foot. Luckily Jimmy was still standing in front of her; he reached out and grabbed her before she fell, her head landing on his shoulder.

"Oh really?" He laughed, before pulling back, looking at her face with a somewhat concerned look, "You alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine!" She said a little too quickly, "Why wouldn't I be?"

His look became a little more concerned, "If you say so," He said slowly, "Say, how's your face by the way, I noticed the the scar was beginning to fade a little already."

"Hardly," May groaned, the gash was still visible on her face, she was hoping that when it actually started to go away, it would go away for good, "It's healing though."

"That's good," He assured her with a chuckle, "Anyways, I came down here to find you! I want to show you something!" Jimmy exclaimed enthusiastically.

She tilted her head and gave him a curious glance, she opened to mouth to say something, but was cut off when he grabbed her hand and ran towards the door going outside.

"Jimmy? What is it?" May asked, attempting to keep up with him without falling down again.

"You'll see!" He said, turning his head towards her and giving her a playful smile.

Once they were outside, he ran over to the side of the ship, pointing into the water. May was slightly frightened by his frantic behavior, until she looked at what he was pointing at. In the water were about five dolphins, all trying their hardest to keep up with the old ship.

May stared in awe at the creatures; she had only seen dolphins in paintings and a few photographs. But seeing them in person what such a different experience.

"They're...beautiful..." She stated in a small whisper, unaware that her fingers were still interlocked with Jimmy's.

Jimmy watched her closely as she looked down to the squealing dolphins. He smiled deeply, "I knew you would love them."

Suddenly one of the dolphins flipped into the air, sending a mist of cool ocean water over them both. Jimmy held onto his cap, laughing whole-heartily as May's entire face became drenched. He unconsciously wrapped him arm around her shoulder, protecting her from the spray of water.

"I don't think they like us very much!" May giggled, as another dolphin squealed loudly.

"I think their just happy to see you!" Jimmy explained with a crooked smile, as her gaze returned to his. She looked into his eyes, they reminded her so much of the morning sky. She wondered curiously what he was thinking as he stared into her eyes.

She was interrupted by a cocky voice that she sadly recognized, "Hey sweetie, you know where Carl is?"

May sighed and turned to face Bruce Baxter, "I think he's in the galley with Thomas and Mike, and how many times do I have to tell you my name is May?"

He winked at her, smiling cheekily all the while, "Thanks cutie, I'll see you kids around." He turned around and walked away once more.

"That guy is so full of it," May mumbled miserably.

Jimmy looked thoughtfully down at May, before a very mischievous smile began to creep upon his face. "Hey, I know something fun we could do."

She looked up to him, slightly frightened by his expression, "Hm? What?"

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small black pen that she instantly knew was Jack's editing pen. "You shouldn't steal from people Jimmy," She scolded quietly.

Jimmy's face became very serious, "Fine, then I guess you don't have to come with me!"

"Fine, fine!" May gave in, smiling all the while, "What are we doing exactly?"

"You'll see," He said as the evil smile re-appeared on his face.