Another shorter chapter... Don't kill me, please! I promise, the length will return soon!
Hugs and plushies for HumanAlien, SunnySweetRose, and DragonStar35232. Thanks so much!
When Abigail awoke, she was greeted not by roar of a lion, but by the roar of thunder. The warm feeling from her dream was fading rapidly. More rain? This cannot possibly be natural. She propped herself up on her elbows, letting her head tip back with a groan.
"Good morning," Lucy called from the table. "Gael and I have already finished eating – you slept in, and I…thought it would be good to let you." That vague hint was all the reference to their talk that she made all day. She seemed to know that when Abigail wanted to talk about it, she would. In the meantime, she was giving Abigail space to think.
Lucy attempted several tries at ephemeral conversation, but Abigail couldn't seem to concentrate. She gave yet another absent smile to something Lucy said, her mind unable to settle on one topic. Lucy regarded her carefully, seeming as if she were going to say something, but then closed her mouth. "I'm going to go see what Gael's up to. We'll be back soon." Abigail nodded, hardly noticing when Lucy went out the door.
Why am I so distracted today? She rubbed her face with her palms stiffly. She wandered around for a second, but soon sank into a chair when her knees suddenly felt weak. She contemplated picking up her sewing, but she couldn't quite make herself pick up the needle. She tried to re-braid her hair to give her hands something to do, but the task soon proved futile; her hair was thick at the best of times, but with all the moisture in the air, it was curly and frizzy, making it impossible to work with.
She wrestled with it for a few minutes, and then threw down her hands, frustrated, dropping her leather tie in the process. She blew out an annoyed breath and dropped to her knees to search for it. This is ridiculous. I should be feeling happy – Aslan answered last night. He did… then why do I feel as awful as I did the first time I had that dream?
The floor was murky with a sickly haze. Despite its weakness in the daylight, it had to keep a grip on the girl. That was not an easy task – not only was the horrid light beginning to break through the clouds, it had been given the scare of its life when confronted by the Lion last night. It was best not to dwell on that, though; it needed all its concentration for the girl. She wasn't naturally cynical, but that was merely a small wrinkle. She had enough doubts – those it could woke with.
Abigail still couldn't find the tie. She ran her fingers over the deeper crevices in the floor, hoping to find it there. This is going to be one of those days… She bit her lip, trying not to let herself get too irritated. It was just a hair tie, after all.
A knock sounded at the door. Abigail jumped, cracking the side of her head against the bed. She yelped, clutching at her temple.
"It's open," she snapped, thinking it was Lucy, or perhaps Gael. Why they would be bothered to knock, she didn't know. The door creaked open slowly.
"I'm sorry – did I startle you?" That's not Lucy. Caspian stood, concerned, at the door.
Abigail hurriedly tried to right herself to a somewhat dignified pose. Not an easy thing to do when one is sprawled on the floor… "I'm okay," she said unpersuasively. "You didn't startle me." You're a terrible liar.
"I see…" He, not surprisingly, didn't sound convinced. "May I ask what you're doing on the floor?"
Abigail hastily stood. "I dropped my leather hair tie. I was trying to find it," she explained.
He bent down, picking something up. He turned her palm upwards, and dropped the thin strap into it. "You mean this?" She nodded, flushing at his touch on her hand.
"Yes. Thank you." She gave him a smile. Her unpleasant mood was putting up a fight, but a small ray of sunshine was starting to break through. She was pretty sure that ray was named Caspian… She poked the inside of her hand with her nail. Stop that, she chided herself. "Oh – did you need something?"
"No; I just came down to let you know that the storm is passing."
"Really?" She sounded like a child who had just been offered a cookie. If that wasn't a ray of sun, she didn't know what was.
He laughed. "Yes, really. The clouds are thinning, and the rain is letting up. I thought I'd let you know. I know you're getting tired of living out your days down here." She could feel the smile in his words.
"Thank you!" Granted, he wasn't the one who had changed the weather, but nevertheless, she felt like throwing her arms around him. I just might. "When do you think I – we would be able to come up?"
"Well, you'll know when the rain stops, but it'll be pretty wet on deck for a while…"
"I don't care – sun is sun," she said eagerly. This is exactly what I need.
Caspian smiled at her bright face. Who needed the sun when you had that smile to light up the room?
They exchanged a few more words before Caspian reluctantly admitted he had to go; he and Drinian had wanted to regroup now that the storm was showing signs of passing. "I'll see you later today, then?"
"Absolutely. Nothing could keep me away," she added with a grin.
She's not talking about me. I know that. He shook his head slightly, only because he knew she couldn't see it. He'd better leave now. "Well," he started. "I should get back up there…" He started to hedge towards the door when something on the table caught his eye. It was just a piece of cloth – probably extra sail material – but there was a striking design sewn into the center, the thread catching the light.
He paused, picking it up. "This is yours?" he asked, tapping it. She nodded shyly. Intrigued, he looked closer; there were such subtle intricacies he could scarcely believe she had sewn it with the coarse materials the ship provided, much less when she couldn't see it. He glanced back up at her face, which was turned towards the floor diffidently. "It's beautiful," he said softly. He wasn't really talking about the fabric anymore.
Abigail blushed, and rolled her lips to keep away the smile. His tone sent shivers down her back, but at the same time gave her a warm feeling around her heart.
Suddenly, he dropped the fabric on the table and hastily said goodbye. The door closed behind him before she could say anything. She was left there, just listening to the faint taps of his retreating footsteps. Why does he do that? It seemed to be becoming a habit, although only lately. She absentmindedly walked to the table and picked up the discarded embroidery. Is it me? She fiddled with it for a moment, then set it back down and sighed. I wish I knew.
Caspian walked at a brisk pace through the hall, feeling like a coward. He had just been talking… it hadn't been this way in the beginning… he was being rude…
All these thoughts rolled around in his head, more tumultuous than any of the waves. He couldn't keep doing this – being around her, and then making a hasty retreat whenever he got too close… to what? To Abigail? He stopped and had to sit down. He rested his arms on his knees and his head in his hands. Aslan, what do I do?
That afternoon, Abigail suddenly stopped what she was doing and listened. It's… it's not raining anymore! The sea had calmed considerably, but there had still been an annoyingly steady drizzle of rain. Until now, that is.
"Lucy – Gael!" She exclaimed. "It's stopped raining!" Lucy looked up from her book and listened for a moment.
"You're right," she said excitedly. She quickly took Gael's hand and stood up. "Come on, let's go up." She was already halfway to the door.
Abigail laughed. "Wait for me!" She hurried after them.
Once on deck, Abigail felt she could cry – it felt so good to have the fresh air swirling around her and the watery sun on her face. Aslan… if this is by Your doing, I don't know how to thank You. She tipped her head back and breathed in a deep breath. Everything was wet and slippery, as Caspian had predicted, but it didn't bother Abigail one bit.
Caspian… She kept hoping to find him up there, but he didn't appear. She felt oddly disenchanted, but told herself it was probably for the better; he seemed to be trying to avoid her – who was she to wish for the opposite?
Abigail reluctantly closed the door to their room. She and the other girls had stayed out as long as they could, but once it got dark it had gotten too cold to stay out any longer. Even here in the cabin it was chilly.
She slowly began to ready herself for bed, hoping tomorrow would be rain-free. The violent storm was gone, but the clouds still remained highly suspect.
She let her hair down, smiling faintly as her fingers touched the leather tie. The entire time she was up on deck, she kept expecting Caspian's voice to surprise her from behind. It never did. She knew he had mentioned that he and the captain were planning to "regroup" (whatever that meant), but he had gone out of his way to speak to her before… Well, apparently things have changed. I don't know what the new rules are, but you need to stop expecting anything from him. It will make it easier when you have to leave, anyway.
Abigail tried not to think about leaving, but there were times when the topic was unavoidable. She determined that now would not be one of those times; her day had been wonderful – for the most part – and she wouldn't ruin it now by thinking of the day when it would all have to end.
I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but... *gets to my knees* Please review, I beg of you! Seriously, even if you just drop a two word note, it lets me know that this is worth someone's time besides mine.