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Chapter 7: Madison

Chris slipped inside the Elbow Room that evening. She was waiting for her sister, Madison, to arrive. Danni had offered for Madison to stay in the upstairs room of the tavern where she lived and Chris wanted to tell Danni how grateful she was for the offer.

As soon as she walked in the building, she saw Griffin sitting at the bar and talking to Danni. He looked upset and distressed as he talked urgently to Danni.

"I just don't get it," he said as he ran a hand through his blonde hair, "I mean…I wasn't trying to upset them. I just…I don't know, I don't even know."

Danni frowned in concern but looked up when she heard the floor boards creaking. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Chris? Hey what are you doing here this late?"

Griffin's head shot up when he heard Danni say Chris' name. He whirled around, his troubled eyes softening the second he made eye-contact with the young, female captain.

"Chris…" he breathed as he watched her walk over to them.

Chris smiled at him and sat down on the barstool next to him. She sighed and glanced over at Danni.

"I'm just waiting for my sister," she said as she leaned on the counter, "As if I didn't have enough things to worry about, now I got my sister coming over to work in Dutch Harbor."

Griffin raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Your sister? I didn't know you had a sister."

Chris sighed again, "Yeah…she's older than me. She should be here soon."

Chris glanced over at Griffin and saw the sad, confused look in his eyes. She frowned slightly and narrowed her eyes in curiosity.

"What's going on?" she asked him quietly, "You okay?"

Griffin looked away as anger flashed in his eyes.

"I'm just frustrated," he muttered, "No one wants to talk about what happened with Jake…and they know I was on your boat last night."

Chris' eyes shot open with horror.

"Are you serious?" she hissed as she ran a hand through her long dark hair.

Griffin nodded, "Yeah…Edgar and my dad heard me come in and we kind of got into a bad argument about it…and Jake. It didn't end well. I said some things I probably shouldn't have said and Dad got upset and Edgar got really mad."

Chris shook her head and shot Danni a disbelieving look. Danni's expression mirrored Chris'. She looked equally shocked, upset, and confused.



"So…Sig's still upset about you hanging out with Chris?" asked Danni.

Griffin nodded angrily and glanced away.

Danni sighed, "I wish there was something I could do…I'm sorry to hear you guys are going through so much."

Chris frowned, "Maybe we shouldn't hang out for a while," she said reluctantly, "Maybe hanging out with me is just making everything worse?"

Chris hated saying those words as much as Griffin hated hearing them. It wasn't fair and it wasn't right, but Chris knew that deep down she didn't want to make things any harder for the crew of the Northwestern.

Griffin's eyes flashed with a mixture of panic and sadness.

"What? No…no you're not making it worse," he said urgently, "You're helping me."

Chris sighed sadly, "I know…but I'm not doing anything to help your crew. If they don't like me, then maybe I need to just stay away for awhile."

Chris could have kicked herself when she saw the look on Griffin's face. He looked deeply upset at hearing this and glanced away sharply.

"Maybe you should listen to her."

Chris, Danni, and Griffin all jumped and turned around to see who had said that. Chris' eyes widened in fear and panic when she recognized Sig Hansen. Danni looked nervous and retreated a little from Griffin. Griffin, meanwhile, looked infuriated and shot his dad an angry glare.

"Captain Hansen," said Chris, trying to keep her cool, "I was just…"

"I know what you were just doing!" snapped Sig, "And you're lucky I don't…."

"Sig!" shouted a woman's voice from behind him.

Sig turned around and came face to face with Jack Hansen, his youngest brother's wife and Northwestern deckhand.

"Knock it off, would you?" she snapped angrily.

"What the hell are you doing here?" asked Sig, angry about being challenged by one of his deckhands in front of a group of people.

"I came to talk to Danni for awhile," retorted Jack, "Is that okay or am I not allowed to talk to her either?"

Chris' eyes grew wide with surprise to hear the challenging words from the smaller woman. The fire in her eyes as she glared up at her captain was also rather surprising. Apparently they had butted heads before.

"Go back to the boat," said Sig in a low voice that left no room for questions.

But Jack did not break her hard stare for another full minute. She glanced over at Chris and Griffin and then shot her captain one last glare before she walked around him. She sat down on the barstool next to Chris and held out a hand for her to shake.

Chris shot her a terrified look as she shook her hand.



"Nice to see you again," said Jack in a kind voice.

"What are you doing?" whispered Chris in a fearful voice.

Jack just rolled her eyes and turned to look back at Sig. He looked like he was going to go after all of them in a second.

"Why don't you join us?" asked Jack as she shot Sig a hard stare, "Come on…what'll it hurt to have a round of drinks together?"

Sig looked at Jack like she had just grown another head. He narrowed his eyes at her in disbelief. She only rolled her eyes in reply and patted the barstool next to her.

"Aw, come on captain…my treat!"

Sig hesitated, shooting a glare in Griffin and Chris' direction. Chris looked shell-shocked and Griffin was still shooting his dad threatening and uncertain looks. Sig was still contemplating his decision when the front door was flung open and a young woman with dark brown hair and hazel eyes ran inside excitedly. Sig shot the girl a confused look while Chris jumped up in surprise and made her way over to her.

"Sis!" exclaimed the woman when she saw Chris.

"Um, hey Madison," said Chris as she gave her older sister a hug.

"Well don't act all happy or excited or anything," said Madison, giving her sister a confused look, "What's wrong?"

Chris turned around and glanced back at Sig. He looked even angrier now than before. She swallowed nervously and turned to look back at her sister.

"I think the real question is…what isn't wrong?"

PLEASE REVIEW!!

sigh this didn't work out too well for some reason….hmmm….stupid muses aren't cooperating. Perhaps they'll shape up for the next chapter…

Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing!!