Chapter Five
She sighed, frustrated, as she caught herself against the edge of the counter. Annoyed she asked "What?" bitingly.
Jimmy didn't notice-he was far too worried.
"Are your hands shaking?"
"I-No-Chef," his voice appeared to be quivering, he was speaking more urgently than usual and his eyes were darting about the room.
"What is it, Jimmy?"
"I did something bad," she looked straight at her. His eyes appeared to be slightly dilated.
"What did you do Jimmy?" he looked away again, and then back to her, she put a hand on his forearm in an attempt to calm him.
"Mr Denham-Briefcase-Didn't mean to-opened it, but-but-I shouldn't have opened it! Why did I open it!"
"What was in the briefcase, Jimmy?" she asked him gently, and he looked at her, horror in his eyes.
"Bad. Stuff."
"What kind of bad stuff?"
He was leaning against her, holding onto her arms and breathing heavily "Island. Things from the island."
She shook him as his eyes glazed over and rolled shut "Jimmy! Jimmy, what island? Don't-Jimmy!"
He collapsed against her, slumped against her slightly smaller form, and she realised that the boy was actually quite heavy. Like a gigantic bag of warm flour or something.
After looking around for a place to put him, she dragged the boy into the main room with some difficulty and lumped him onto the table. He was limp, and his skin was clammy, but he was alive.
She looked at him, sighed and took his hat off for him, placing it on the table beside the boy.
Having rushed up to the bridge, she related the story to Scruffy, who hurried back down to the galley with her, and called another, bulkier man to come and lift the boy to his quarters.
Once the aggravating noise of Scruffy telling the bulkier man exactly how to set the boy down and what to do if he woke up or died as if he were his mother had dissipated, Chef picked up Jimmy's hat and put it on a hook on the wall, before proceeding almost defiantly into her kitchen.
Taking up a knife she felt annoyed at herself for thinking there was some 'ghost' or another creeping around and sticking knives in walls.
Suspicious as it was, ghosts didn't exist.
Unfortunately, she was completely unaware that someone begged to differ with her on that point.
-------------------
wolfling: I apologise profusely for the fact that it took me so long to update. I also apologise for the fact that, hell, this is a boringly cheesychapter. Next one's more fun though : P
