I'm on a roll! We're almost done, and, we're gonna go meet Mattie (eventually), they're getting off the island today!
Another several months passed and Alfred turned six. Arthur was beginning to get restless. One day, as he paced the beach, and I sat and watched him and turned to me and said, "We have got to get off this island."
"Why?"
"There is nothing here! I cannot do anything, and Alfred is not getting the education he requires, and you have barely anything."
"I have you and Alfred. That is more than enough."
He sighed and knelt on the sand in front of me. "Not for me, Amelia. I want to be able to give you the life that you would have had if I had not come into your life."
I laughed bitterly. "I would not want that over you ever! It was dry and boring. You are everything I could have ever wished for, and Alfred is my world. Arthur, it is fine."
He sighed. "I am not content here. I want someone who speaks English! I want someone who knows how to wear shoes!"
I laughed. "You are tired of this island. It is too small for you."
He smiled and sat down next to me. "You know me too well, Amelia."
I smiled and leaned against him. "I am your wife."
He turned his head and tilted my chin up with his hand. He kissed me gently and I kissed back. I suddenly heard yelling. I broke away from Arthur and stood up. He grabbed my wrist and stood up. He wrapped his arms around my waist and breathed gently into my ear. "It's alright, Amelia. I am here."
I leaned against him. I then heard an all-too-familiar voice. "Mommy! Daddy! There's a ship! There's a ship!"
Fear clenched in my heart and I stiffened. Arthur squeezed me tightly. "It is alright, Amelia. It is highly unlikely that it is Maleki. Shh, love, I am right here. Nothing is going to happen."
I was unable to respond and stood, frozen in Arthur's arms.
"Alfred," Arthur said. "What does the ship look like?"
"It's really big and it's flying a blue and red and white flag."
"How big?"
"I dunno. It's really far away, but the villagers seem really excited."
"Did they say anything?"
"They said, 'It's the traders, get the coconuts.'"
Arthur nodded. "Thank you, Alfred. Why don't you go figure out who is on the boat, please?" I flinched and he began rubbing circles into my hip. Alfred ran off, and I tried to go after him. Arthur held onto me and kept murmuring soothing words into my ear. "It is alright, Amelia. I am here. It is just some traders that probably stop by every few years. After all, coconuts are very popular. Alfred will be fine. The natives will protect him if something happens."
I turned around in his arms and buried my face in his chest, begin to cry. He rubbed my back gently, his soft voice slowly calming my fears.
I turned back around when I heard Alfred yelling again. "Mommy! Daddy! The traders speak English! And one of them has really big eyebrows like Daddy!"
I raised an eyebrow and felt Arthur stiffen behind me. "Alfred, did he have red hair?"
Alfred nodded. "Yeah. He was really tall and had something on fire in his mouth! It smelled icky."
I turned to Arthur smiling. "It is Alistair, Arthur. We can get off this island."
Arthur sighed. "I suppose we can. And this is probably the only chance we will get."
"Mommy, Daddy? Who's the red-haired eyebrow man?"
I pulled away from Arthur and bent down to Alfred's level. "He is your uncle Alistair."
Alfred's eyes widened. "Is he Daddy's brother?"
I nodded. "Yes, that is why they have the same eyebrows."
Alfred giggled. "Like caterpillars."
I smiled as I heard Arthur gasp in mock pain behind me. "Come on, then, let us go meet him." I stood up and Alfred grabbed my hand. I reached my hand behind me for Arthur, and he took hold of it and we followed Alfred's eager feet to a different side of the island where we could see a large merchant anchored offshore and a large dinghy was pulled up on shore. A tall redhead, whom I recognized as Alistair, was surrounded by other white men and was talking with the villagers. Evidently, an agreement had been reached and a huge load of coconuts was placed in the dinghy and one of the white men unloaded a large barrel and placed it next to the main negotiator from the island, someone I did not recognize.
Alistair shook the negotiator's hand, turned to go, saw us, and froze. He said something to the white men and strode over to us. "Weel, if it isn't Arthur an' his lady friend."
"Hello, Alistair," Arthur said stiffly.
"What are ye doin' on this lil island?"
"It is a long story," Arthur said quietly. "Can you get us off?"
"Did ye marry 'im lassie?"
I looked at him in surprise. "What?"
"Did ye marry Arthur?"
"I did."
"Weel, since yer part of the fam'ly, s'pose ah could do ye a favor, since yer cute."
Arthur growled at him. I squeezed his hand. Alistair laughed. "An' who's this wee laddie?" he asked, bending down to look Alfred in the eye.
"His name is Alfred Kirkland. He is our son," I said.
Alistair straightened. "'E looks like Alfred, yer old mate. Where's 'e, Artie?"
I stiffened. Arthur squeezed my hand. "He looks like Alfred because his mother, my wife, is Alfred's younger sister."
"Oooh. So 'e was the brother ye rescued, lassie. Where's 'e now?"
I felt the pain beginning to surface, I squeezed Arthur's hand, trying to bury the emotions. Alistair must have noticed my tension though and frowned. "Arthur, 'ow did ye end up on this wee island?"
Arthur sighed. "I will tell you later, if you get us off. It's a sensitive topic."
"Aye, ah can see that. Weel, like ah said, since yer part of the fam'ly now, ah can give ye a weddin' present. Come along, then, we're leavin'."
I tugged on Alfred's hand. "Come along, Alfred. Is there anyone you want to say goodbye to?"
He looked at me with wide eyes. "Mommy, are we leaving forever?"
I nodded, a sad smile on my lips. "Yes, we are."
"Why?"
"Because Daddy does not like it here, and Mommy wants somewhere far away from here."
"Why Mommy?"
"Because even though it is a magic island that no bad guy can get to, magic fades with time, and eventually, bad guys would be able to get here and hurt you and Daddy and all the villagers, and I do not want that ever happening."
"Okay, Mommy."
"Thank you, Alfred." I kissed his forehead and led him into the dinghy. Arthur was already in and helped me in. Alfred clambered in and looked around excitedly. He waved to the villagers that were still on the beach. "Bye! I am going to be the Hero of the World!"
The villagers laughed and waved. One of the men with Alistair pushed the boat off and climbed in, rowing it back to his ship."
"Since when were you in the shipping business, Alistair?"
"Fer a while now, Artie." He took a pull of his pipe and said, "Tis not jest me. All us are in on it."
"Everyone?"
"All yer brothers, Artie. In one place."
Arthur groaned and Alistair chuckled. "So, why did ye marry 'im lassie?"
"I love him."
"Is that all?"
I looked away. There was one other reason, but I was unwilling to acknowledge it, because if I did, it would awaken all the memories I had buried away for the past six years.
Alistair leaned forward and said, "Lassie, what 'appened to ya? Yer quiet, yer fire is gone."
I stiffened and shied away. Arthur wrapped an arm around me and glared at Alistair. "Like I said, Alistair. I will explain later. It is an extremely sensitive subject."
Alistair frowned. "Didya do sometin' to 'er?"
Arthur's arm tightened around me. "Shh, it's alright, love. It's alright," he whispered. I leaned into him, trying to drown the memories in his scent, his warmth, his everything.
"Alistair, you are upsetting my wife. I will ask you one last time to stop. If you will not drop your questioning, I will be forced to make you stop."
Alistair narrowed his eyes and leaned back. "Very weel."
Suddenly we heard a yelp and my head snapped toward the sound, seeing Alfred being held by one of the other men, dripping wet, over the side of the boat. I lunged forward, but Arthur caught me. "Amelia, he is fine."
Alistair laughed. "Weel, laddie. Ye think ye'll sit steel now?"
The man set Alfred back into the boat and Alfred nodded, subdued and soaking. Alistair chuckled and ruffled his hair. "Yer a wee ball of energy."
Alfred grumbled and smacked his hand away. We soon reached the ship and they lifted the boat up with a winch. Alfred jumped out and quickly began exploring the ship. Arthur helped me out of the dinghy and I looked around, amazed that we were on a ship again, after all these years. It was much larger than the Midnight Siren had been and was typical of a merchant ship.
Alistair smiled. "Welcome aboard the Golden Lady."
Arthur snorted.
Alistair ignored him and said, "Since the crew can take care ah this, let's go an meet the rest of the fam'ly."
"Alfred!" I called and he hurried over. "We are going to meet the rest of your uncles."
"Are they mean like Uncle Alistair?"
I chuckled. "No, they are all very nice. Alistair just likes to tease you."
Alfred pouted. "Fine."
I took his hand and Arthur took mine and we followed Alistair below-deck. He took us to a door and opened the door. "Guess who ah found on the island!"
Three men and a boy looked up. "Who?"
"Lil Artie!"
There were shouts of surprise and the boy muttered something that sounded like "Jerkbrows."
Alistair ushered the three of us into the room and we were instantly surrounded by Arthur's five brothers. I was instantly tense, and my breathing began to accelerate. Whatever they might have been saying was lost to me and I started to panic, searching desperately for an escape route.
My panic was interrupted by Arthur's warm arms around me, and I buried my face in his chest, shaking.
"Lassie, ye alright?"
I heard a smack and Arthur said, "Don't touch her. That's why she is frightened."
I heard another voice, speaking in an Irish accent. "Arthur, who's she?"
Then, another voice, almost identical to the second continued. "What happened?"
A third voice, with an accent that I could not place, asked, "Arthur, what did you do to her?"
"You got married, Jerkbrows?" the boy asked.
Arthur's hold on me tightened. "Peter, why don't you take Alfred and go show him the ship."
"Alfred, go with your uncle Peter."
Alfred released my hand and I heard the door close. "Is there someplace we can stay?"
"Ain't there somethin' ya need ta tell us, Artie?" asked Alistair.
Arthur sighed. "I will, but let me take Amelia to bed first."
Alistair grumbled and said, "This way."
"Amelia, love, we're leaving."
I clung to him, refusing to move. He sighed and lifted up my legs, holding me in his arms. I buried my face in the crook of his neck and moved my arms to his neck. He carried me for a while then stepped through another doorway. "Thank you, Alistair. I will be there in a moment."
The door shut and Arthur set me down on a bed. "Amelia, you are safe."
I refused to release him and began to cry. He got onto the bed and lay down, pulling me with him. He stroked my hair, holding me while I cried, murmuring softly in my ear. I drifted off to sleep, finally burying the memories in a dark dungeon once more.
I hope I didn't overdo Scottie, and I have NO idea how to write a Welsh, or Irish accent. If you guys have any suggestions, please let me know.
Also, any suggestions for names for Wales, N. Ireland, and Ireland would be appreciated.
Hope you enjoy it!
