Chapter 10

Silver hadn't been kidding about keeping the two teens busy. There days were full everything from scrapping space barnacles off the bottom of the ship too learning what knots to use on the different sails. Both of them seemed to caught on quickly. Emily was genuinely enjoying the learning experiences, but Jim always seemed distant and bored.

When they learned knot tying up in the sails, Jim used the skill to sneak away while Silver was showing Emily a rope trick. With Jim gone, Silver decided to call it a day.

Emily took the opportunity to go get her sketch book and hide away in her make shift room. She sat on her hammock to fast, making it flip her over. She landed on the ground with a thud. "Ouch!" she shrieked, more out of surprise than pain.

Jim happened to be walking by, on his way to find a hiding place of his own. Emily's shriek made him stop dead in his tracks. He cautiously cracked open her door. He saw her on the ground, looking slightly frustrated. "Hey, are you ok?"

She jumped slightly at the question, but then gave a small laugh when she saw him. "I didn't see you there! Ya, I'm fine. Not used to these hammocks yet."

"So, what's up?" he asked awkwardly.

"Nothing," she replied, picking herself off the ground.

A second of silence passed between them.

"So… Are you gonna come in or not?" she finally asked.

Jim shrugged and entered, leaving the door open. He look at the art work pinned to Emily's walls. They were full of bold lines and strange colors, but, somehow, they looked right. "So, are these your drawings?" he asked lamely.

"Um, ya," said Emily, shyly. She always got self-conscious when showing new people her art work.

"They are super cool!" Emily relaxed a bit in response to the compliment. Jim spied something in her hands. "What's that?"

"Just my sketch book."

"Can I look at it?"

"You, can." She said, handing it to him. "But I can't promise that it's all that interesting."

Jim quickly started looking through it, totally mesmerized. It was mostly full of pencil sketches with a few charcoal sketches and finished colored images. He went to go sit down on the hammock, but he was so interested in the drawings that he sat down to fast as well. A loud thumb followed his fall. Silence followed. Suddenly, both teens broke out in laughter.

"I swear, that hammock is evil!" joked Emily

"Must be!" replied Jim with a chuckle.

It wasn't long before both teens were sitting on the ground (to avoid the "evil" hammock) flipping through the book. Emily explained what the guidelines were for, and they started to look less and less intimidating to Jim.

"Is that a picture of the Benbow Inn?" said Jim, a little surprised.

"How nice of you to call it a picture," said Emily with a giggle. "It's really more of a sketch."

"What are you talking about? It's great!"

"Well, thanks!"

Jim went silent, eyes fixed on the picture. Images from the awful night when the Inn burned down raced through his mind.

"Are you ok?" asked Emily, concerned.

"Ya, just home sick," jim replied as he flipped the page. He was shocked to find it full of words. "What's this? 'I am a question to the world, not an…'"

Emilys suddenly grabbed the book and shut it. "Um, ya, don't read that. It's not done."

"What was it?"

"You couldn't tell? Man, it's worse than I thought!" said Emily, face palming.

Jim put his hand on her shoulder. "I hardly read two words of it. How can I tell from that? I bet if I read it I would be able to tell."

Emily sighed and handed him the book. Jim continued to read.

I am a question to the world,

Not an answer to be heard.

All a moment that's held in your arms.

And what do you think you'd ever say?

I won't listen anyway…

You don't know me,

And I'll never be what you want me to be.

"It's a song!" said Jim, surprised. "Do you sing?"

"Well, part of a song," said Emily, looking thoughtfully at the hand written lyrics. "I'm kind of stuck right now. And, um, ya, I do"

Just then, Silver burst through the door. Jim and Emily froze. Only then did they realize what this looked like. Emily was fairly certain that Captain Amelia wouldn't approve of her and Jim being alone together, in Emily's room of all places.

Of course, they forgot to count of the fact that this was Silver. He didn't think a thing of it. "How would you kiddos like to take on of the lifeboats out for a spin?" They couldn't say yes fast enough.