"There you go. Sydney. Will you be able to find everything you need there?"
We had sailed quickly from world's end. The return journey….was interesting to say the least. (DO NOT ASK about upside down ships!) Remembering his promise, Will had sailed as fast as the ship could go to the nearest big city with a port. Which turned out to be Sydney.
Yeah.
SYDNEY, Australia!
The place to have a trip-of-a-lifetime.
And I get to come here to go shopping, for free!
I love my life at the moment.
The view was beautiful, really breath-taking. The sunlight sparkled off the opera house and the millions of buildings and hose spread as far as I could see. We were quite far out of course, and I watched whales come up around the side of the ship, squirting fountains of water from their blowholes. One of them got me and I burst out laughing.
"Emily? EMILY!" I snapped back round to him, after momentarily forgetting where I was.
"What?"
"Will you be able to buy everything you need in Sydney?"
"Oh sure of course! Hang on, money! I haven't got any!" I patted my pockets hopefully, but pulled out a ruined receipt from Waterstones and five assorted coppers. Will sighed and pulled out a cloth drawstring bag from a pocket in his jacket. He pulled out three chunky gold coins and dropped them one by one into my hand. They were cold and damp. I looked at them carefully. George IV era. Cool.
"Will that be enough?"
"Wow, shiny….hmm? Oh yeah sure. Course it will."
"Then your boat awaits." He pointed to a little rowing boat. I stared at it, then at him, then at the boat again.
"Do I have to row that all by myself?"
"Well, as I can only go on land once every ten years…."
"Bloody pirates!" I yelled back at the ship. I was rowing into Sydney marina all by myself. Considering I had never rowed before in my life, I did pretty well. But seriously….it's well painful! I'm gonna have massive He-Man muscles if I do it too often.
Not attractive in the slightest.
Eugh shudder Female muscle men just creep me out.
I docked my rowing boat, feeling well embarrassed at everyone's stares. One man came up to me.
"Where did yew come from?"
"The big boat over there…" I pointed at The Flying Dutchman. The man peered at it, before turning round three times and spitting on the dock.
"My fartha allways told mae to dou thet if I saw The Flyaing Dutchman!" He looked at me warily before running away. I swore and pulled desperately at the mooring rope. I could not for the life of me tie the damn boat up.
"Curse you bloody sailors and your fucking myths!"
"Where did you get these?" The shop assistant looked at me with beady eyes over a pair of those little half-moon glasses. I'd gone to an antiques shop to see if I could sell the coins Will had given me. I mean, I couldn't exactly use them could I?
"Erm……I found them? On Bondi beach?" I tapped my fingers on the counter nervously. I mean, what could I say? 'My meant-to-be-dead cute ancestor gave me them so I could go on a shopping spree'? Huh, yeah. Believable.
"Really?" The shop assistant sounded like she was practically having an org, the way she sounded. She pulled out one of them little magnifying monocle things and examined one of the coins carefully. "These are part of a very rare set of commemoration coins minted for George IV's coronation. There were only fifty minted and none have ever been found. Until now!" She gave a little dance, practically flying into the air.
"Well, we don't want them. How much will you buy them for?" I asked, desperate to start hitting the shops. She thought carefully, counting on her fingers.
"Oh I don't know….will $50,000 be enough?"
$50,000?
Enough?
I think I might just faint. Seriously.
Argh……..
I'm hyperventilating!
Now to buy designer sunglasses.
"Ow!" My dolly shoe had come off and I'd trodden in some gravel. I was pushing a trolley with an Ikea bed, wardrobe, bedside table, beanbag chair, desk and one of then tube things with separate compartments. I was carrying about fifty bags from just about every big shop I could find. I was SO out of breath. I was also carrying in the trolley about ten massive shopping bag stuffed with good, decent food. Love shopping, hate walking back. I didn't even know how I was gonna get it back to the ship. No way was it all gonna fit on my piddling row boat.
I was on the point of despair when I saw some of the crew were rowing over. One of them reached the dock just by my feet. The guy rowing it took a double take when he saw how much I had.
"Well, you can carry them bags. I'm not carrying all that!"
I was sat in my cabin, trying in vain to put together my new bed. I hate these do-it-yourself kits. I can never do them.
Brain to Emily: They why did you buy them then?
Emily to brain: I don't know. Do you want to spend another night on the floor?
Brain to Emily: NO! Splinters everywhere! But how will we do this then miss smarty-pants?
Emily to brain: Exactly. How WILL we do this?
Brain to Emily: Ahhhhhh…..got ya!
Brain and Emily: "W-ILL!"
Lol
I love it when my brain and I are on the same page.
It happens less than you think.
5
4
3
2
1
"What's the matter Emily?" Will opened the door. I jumped up and did a sort of skipping-run to him.
"I can't put my stuff together can you help me?" I even did the little-Emily-pout for which I'm famous in Portsmouth. It actually amazed me sometimes how much time Will spent being with me or doing things for me. I mean, he has a ship to run, right? But I suppose he has like, first mates and stuff to do the real work for him. Except last night….the night before we arrived outside Sydney he had The Job to do.
The noise outside woke me. The screams of wind, sea….and people. Running out, whilst still putting my shoes on, I looked out over the railings. There was a ship out there, in the blackness of the night….I peered out but I couldn't see anything. I ran hurriedly up to the platform where the ship's wheel was. I squinted through the telescope attached to the side of the ship. And aimed it on the ship's deck. It had struck something and was ever so slowly sinking beneath the water. A group of the crew were stood on the deck, holding torches, the flickering light illuminating the deck. And Will's face. He was crouched down, talking to someone. It was a man, blood pouring down his face. The man looked so scared, terrified, but Will was comforting him. He then turned to someone else, a woman who had only half of her face. I shuddered, retching but stayed watching. Will was talking to her too. I desperately wished to know what was being said, but for some reason it felt wrong for me to be looking on at this. Like spying on something secret, forbidden….suddenly Will looked out to the ship. I jumped back from the telescope. He was looking straight at me. He knew I was looking.
Gah!
I walked hurriedly back to my cabin, just in case he arrived back at the ship to yell at me. It did feel like I'd watched something I wasn't supposed to, found something that was supposed to stay hidden. Trampled all over something that was purely his business, not mine.
In the morning, we said nothing about what the other had seen.
But we both knew we were right.
"How do these work?" Will held up the left side of the bed and a bed post. I held up the little bag of screws triumphantly.
"With these." He looked at them, then back to me, eyebrow raised. I held up the little screwdriver-thing that all Ikea items come with. He took it from me and looked at it, confused. I nodded and held up the instructions.
"I'll read the instructions shall I?"
The afternoon turned out to be quite fun actually. We had such a massive argument over the desk and I went into a mardy and opened a tube of Pringles. (Remember my ten shopping bags of food?) I ate about twenty. Will came over and grabbed the tube from me.
"What are these?"
"Pringles. Once ya pop ya just can't stop!"
"So I eat them?" I nodded. He stuck his arm uncertainly in the tube and pulled out two. He slowly put one in his mouth and chewed. He looked worried for a moment then his expression cleared.
"They're good aint they? Now give me some." Instead of giving me the tube, he held onto it. I slapped his arms but he ran off laughing.
I ended up chasing him round half the ship for the Pringles. Then I remembered I had another tube of them so I went back to my cabin and ate them instead. Will came back, laughing. I ignored it, sticking my tongue out.
After we finished the desk and the bed, and Will was now working on the wardrobe, I turned on my now fixed mobile phone. No messages. I guess everyone thought I was dead. Oh great. I pulled out my new iPod stereo (which I had got with solar power attachment lol!) and put it on, as I was bored now. McFly's Baby's coming back started blasting out. Will jumped a little at the noise.
"iPod stereo." I said as way of explanation, sitting down next to him and holding up the next side for him to screw onto the base.
"Eye pod? Is it similar to a musical box?"
"Er….yes."
Not willing to go into electrics with him.
Far too hard to explain and I have no explaining energy left in me.
Anyway, we slowly but surely put the furniture together whilst listening to my iPod. Sometimes Will would burst out laughing to them, or he'd look so confused I just really wanted to smack him to make him understand or in some cases he'd even whistle along. That made me laugh
"One, two, three, four baby scream if you want some more! Watch me work it I'm perfect." I was singing to my iPod now, given up doing what I was meant to. Will was just finishing the bedside table. He looked up at me quizzically, as I did half dance routines in my socks.
"What do you call that?"
"Dancing."
"That is not dancing. That is just moving your arms, like that last type of dance you did."
"F-ine Monsieur Smarty-Pants. You show me how to dance properly." I drawled as sarcastic as possible.
"Erm….right. You'll have to put on a slower song though." I picked up my iPod and started scrolling through it. Room on the third floor by McFly. That's slowish, right? It'll have to do, it's the slowest song I have on my iPod.
"No, that's not slow enough."
Grrr.
"Will, it's the slowest song on there. I don't regularly listen to Beethoven or whojaflip…Mozart that's the one! I listen to normal music. Not boring old classical! It'll have to do, right? End of." He frowned at this but what else could he say?
Lol
"Right….now stand here." He pushed me in front of himself gently. "Put your hand here." He moved my hand to his shoulder. He put his hand on my waist. "Then we hold hands like this." He grabbed my hand and I jumped a little in surprise. "Sorry! Rough hands."
"What? Oh no I wasn't jumping at that. So what do I do next?"
"Move your feet like this…no put your foot here…"
Over the next hour or so, I slowly learnt how to do a waltz. It was a process that involved much treading on Will's toes, him asking me how come I was so good at one type of dance and not another, me really really wanting to scream out loud and hit him with something heavy like a frying pan.
(But alas no frying pans in sight….just praise me for not screaming out loud. )
(I feel your praise vibes!)
(LOL!)
We'd been doing this so long that to my surprise the next song on was I bet you look good on the dance floor by one of my favourite bands EVER, the Artic Monkeys.
"Stop making the eyes at me, I'll stop making the eyes at you, And what it is that surprises me is that I don't really want you to"
"Come on, let's dance fast now!"
"And your shoulders are frozen (cold as the night), Oh, but you're an explosion (you're dynamite)"
"What? How?"
"Your name isn't Rio, but I don't care for sand, And lighting the fuse might result in a bang, b-b-bang, go!"
"Just go wit the flow Will! Try and copy me!"
"I bet that you look good on the dance floor
I don't know if you're looking for romance or
I don't know what you're looking for
I said, I bet that you look good on the dance floor
Dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984
From 1984!
I wish you'd stop ignoring me, because it's sending me to despair
Without a sound, yeah, you're calling me, and I don't think it's very fair
That your shoulders are frozen (cold as the night)
Oh, but you're an explosion (you're dynamite)
Your name isn't Rio, but I don't care for sand
Lighting the fuse might result in a bang, b-b-bang, go!
I bet that you look good on the dance floor
I don't know if you're looking for romance or
I don't know what you're looking for
I said, I bet that you look good on the dance floor
Dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984
From 1984!
Oh, there ain't no love, no Montagues or Capulets
Are just banging tunes and DJ sets and...
Dirty dance floors, and dreams of naughtiness!
Well, I bet that you look good on the dance floor
I don't know if you're looking for romance or
I don't know what you're looking for
I said, I bet that you look good on the dance floor
Dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984
From 1984!"
I had such fun dancing with Will. He is such a goof at dancing but for the first time since I've been on ship I've had fun. I felt happy. It felt like I was back in Portsmouth with my mates, not on a pirate ship crewed by the undead. I'd just seen him over the past few days as a bit of a boring ole sod really, but over the last few days he'd really shown that he was a genuinely nice person. Heroic even….
Suddenly a bell rang above deck. The sign of another sunken boat. Will broke away, ran to the door then remembered me and stopped.
"I've got to go Emily. Do not follow me."
Aha!
So he did see me!
Hang on.
Bad thing.
Oops.
"I won't. Erm…see ya around yah?" Then he was gone. I sat on my new bed heavily. If he wasn't coming back tonight then I could at least do what I was planning to do without any fuss.
As if to mock me, the next song on my iPod was Umbrella by Rihanna.
"When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella…."
I stuck my head out the door of my cabin cautiously. There was no-one around. Good. I was only in my brand new Betty Boop pyjamas and a pair of fluffy socks. It doesn't sound bad I know, but the bottoms were only a pair of tiny spotty shorts so….anyway, I grabbed the package hidden next to the door and ran as fast as I could upstairs, sliding a bit in my fluffy socks. I lent over the rail, turning it over and over in my hands.
When I was in Sydney, I'd logged onto my myspace and printed off a photo. It was the last one of my dad and me. I was hugging him at Christmas last year. I'd had it backed onto MDF, and I'd haphazardly stuck white flowers around it. I planned to throw it out into the sea, as a sort of memorial service. I knew no-one would care back home about my dad at all. But I did.
I turned the photo-wreath in my hands and started to cry.
I thought of my SEVEN uncles who were all out at sea at this very moment. They could all just be gone in s second.
I started to cry harder.
I didn't even notice someone walking behind me.
I jumped a mile when they reached for my shoulder. I swung round ready to deck them one, when I saw it was Will. Before, he could say anything I jumped on him. I buried my head into his shoulder, crying.
"There, there?" He hazarded. Man, did he seem really uncomfortable around me crying. I smiled through the tears. He picked up the photo-wreath which I'd dropped.
"Is this your father?"
"Yeah. Last Christmas. I was gonna like throw it out to sea or something. Daft I know…."
"I don't think it's silly. Or 'daft'. It's suitable." I smiled, thankful for the support. I moved to the rail and leant on it, dangling my hands over the side. Will was still holding the wreath.
"Do you want me to leave?"
"No, I need someone here. Support." I held out my hand for the wreath. He put it there gently. I turned back to the water and pictured my dad standing there.
"Dad…I guess this is another goodbye. Last time you went without saying goodbye properly. I suppose you're worried about me, Y'know being stuck with mum and 'uncle' Eddie but I'm fine. Another year and I can leave for good. And until then, I'm with someone who's never in a mardy with me or a total spack. I should have spent more time with you I guess. I mean I barely knew you, how could I know you. You were never at home. You were always on a boat somewhere, and all I'd get was a postcard from Germany. For the first two years of my life I thought the photo on the mantelpiece was my dad! You remember when you first came home? You came in and said 'Emily! Daddy's home!' and I ran to that fucking photo and said 'No, that's my daddy. Not you old man!'" I wiped some tears away. But I wasn't crying any more. I was furious now. My dad had never really tried to be a father to me. I was just a girl. At home back in England.
"Then you went again and all I'd get once a month was a stupid phone call. All you'd say was 'Oh I'm sorry I missed another one of your performances I'll be there for the next one'. But you never were. You never even tried. The one time you could have done you went to bed. You couldn't get yourself up to see your own daughter 's ballet performance! My uncles did! They're in the same fucking boat as you so that's not an excuse! They gave up their one night on leave to come see me in the Nutcracker. Why wouldn't you? At least now you have a good excuse why you don't care! You're dead now…and...and I'm….GLAD!" I screamed the last word as loud as I could. I was shaking with anger now. My dad had cared but when you're a teenager does it matter?
I threw the wreath in the water as hard as I could. I watched it float away slowly. I started pounding on the rail as hard as I could. It hurt but I didn't care. Pound…..pound…..pound…..suddenly, I hit my little finger and I gasped in pain.
"Let me see…." Will came over. He'd been standing quietly throughout my outburst, letting me scream all my anger out. He looked at my little finger. "Does it hurt if I do this?" He pinched it.
"OW Yes!"
"Sorry….and if I move it like this?"
"No, that's fine."
"It's not broken then. You'll be fine." He waggled it. I laughed. I was calmer now.
Urge to kill…..decreasing.
"But Emily I have to say that you should not think too harshly about your father."
Urge to kill……rising.
"My son did not get to see me for the first ten years of his life, and only once every ten years after that. He learnt to cope with it."
Yes but…..
God how do I come back to that?
Grr.
"Yes but Will I had all the men in my family away at sea. I had no male figures in my life at all! I had to live with my mother, who would slap me if I so much as opened my mouth or even dared try to tell dad that she was cheating on him. But when you were with your son I bet you did everything you could with him. My dad never bothered to do anything with me. I was just Emily. Nothing important to anyone."
"You're important to me."
AWH!
No one in my family had ever really considered me that important before.
I smiled at Will.
He was such a nice guy to me.
"Your father obviously didn't appreciate that he had a lovely little girl at home with many talents and is really nice."
"You really think that?"
"Yes. You're a sweet girl Emily."
"Thanks Will. That's the best thing anyone I know has said to me in a looong time. Can I ask you something?"
"Yes."
"Are my uncles be safe out there? I'm worried now. I didn't think anything could happen to people on boats anymore but obviously it can." We were both leaning on the rail now. Will looked thoughtful now, absent mindedly scratching the side of his face.
"I rarely get called out to do my duty anymore….less and less people are dying at sea. Sometimes days pass without there being one incidence. I think they'll be safe. They've gone this far haven't they? They must be good sailors to get this far. I think that they'll live a long time safely before even thinking about seeing The Flying Dutchman."
"Good. And how did you know I was going to jump the other night?"
That one had been bugging me for days.
He hadn't seen me start to jump.
So how had he known?
"When I first came out here I was with my wife. Her father had died and was in one of those boats just like yours. She tried to jump to save him. Since you two are similar I thought that you would try and do the same. I was right and saved you."
"You think that me and Elizabeth are similar??"
No way was I anything like her.
She sounded so cool.
She did things I couldn't even dream of.
"Yes. Can't you see it? You're both brave and sweet. You look like her too, in your own way."
Jaw drop moment.
Jaw drops
I had no idea that Will even liked me.
I thought that he thought that I was just an annoying kid.
We stayed leaning on that railing for ages. Talking mainly. I told him everything. How angry I was at my mother, how I felt trapped at home….all the stuff I just tell Ants about normally. He certainly gave better advice than her. He seemed to care which I liked.
He was very rapidly becoming one of the best parental figures I've ever had.
Suddenly I yawned. I didn't realise how late it was. The sun was turning the sea pink and purple in the far distance, and lighting up a vast green island.
"Where's that?" I asked pointing, and stifling another yawn.
"That's New Zealand."
Wow.
Totally Kaiser Chiefs moment.
OMG I can't believe it, I've never been this far away from home…..Lol ya get the idea. I yawned again. Will saw this time.
"Emily go to sleep."
"I'm not tired. This is just a sun-is-rising yawn." I pointed at the sun and unhelpfully yawned again.
"You're practically dead on your feet. Get to sleep now."
God damnit.
No escape.
Fine then.
"Night then." I walked back to the ladder that led downstairs.
"Aren't you cold?" Called Will. I stopped and turned.
"What in the name of zeppelins are you on about Will?" I snapped.
What?
Being tired makes me grumpy.
"Your night clothes. They're……small. Aren't you cold?"
"What? Oh!" My shorts! That's what he's blabbering on about! "Oh no Will, I'm not cold. They're just in fashion is all."
"I don't want to see you walking about in them again. Some of the men on this ship might get the wrong idea."
"Okay. I'll just wear them in my room then." He nodded at this, then turned back round, looking off into the distance. I walked back to my cabin slowly.
My head was a-weighing me down.
It was full of thoughts.
Thoughts of something I shouldn't really be thinking about.
Thoughts of Will. I'll just go to bed.
A song had just finished on my iPod and I realised I'd left it on. Whoops. Ah well. I'll listen to music to send me to sleep. I clambered into my new bed complete with squishy mattress (Squishy mattress bliss!) and dug under the duvet waiting for the next song to come on.
It was Don't stand so close to me by The Police.
"Young teacher, the subject, Of schoolgirl fantasy, She wants him so badly, Knows what she wants to be, Inside her there's longing, This girl's an open page, Book marking - she's so close now, This girl is half his age
Don't stand, don't stand so, Don't stand so close to me
Her friends are so jealous, You know how bad girls get, Sometimes it's not so easy, To be the teacher's pet, Temptation, frustration, So bad it makes him cry, Wet bus stop, she's waiting, His car is warm and dry
Don't stand, don't stand so, Don't stand so close to me
Loose talk in the classroom, To hurt they try and try, Strong words in the staff room. The accusations fly, It's no use, he sees her, He starts to shake and cough, Just like the old man in, That book by Nabakov
Don't stand, don't stand so, Don't stand so close to me
Don't stand, don't stand so, Don't stand so close to me"
Okay okay
Now I'm confused.
All throughout that song I thought about Will.
I mean, I don't like Will.
He's just family….
…………………….right?
Sorry about how long it took to get this up. To those who read the A/N before I removed it (THANK YOU SO MUCH FUNNESS THIS CHAPPIE IS HALF DEDICATED TO YEW!!) I had severe writers block for this and I still don't think it flows as well as the others but I did it for all you lovely people! And thank you Anne Herbold- the other half dedication is for yew. Thank yew for the ideas I hope they come through in this chapter.
NEWAYS…
Whilst I had my writer's block I thought to myself that I didn't really have that much background on Emily. I don't really understand her that much myself to be honest and I made her! So I made a bebo profile for her…..call me sad if you will, but it helped me understand her as a person and now you can all go on said profile and have a look at how I think Emily is okay?
Cheers me dears the link is on my profile
ya wanna add me on bebo btw im jess c on ther
sign the guestbook please!
ty