Sadie opened her eyes after Frollo had read the next two chapters and hummed.
"How many chapters are in that book?"
"Ten." He cleared his throat and placed the novel back into her bag.
She then stood up with the cloth held to her cheek. "I never captained a boat before." The girl picked up her hoodie and fully zipped it. She put on her backpack before holding the cloth back onto her cheek.
He sighed. "I do not think that you need to keep holding it there Sadie." Frollo gently lifted it and pressed his lips. "It is a little swollen. But I am certain that it will ease down once we reach the new continent." "Oh. Okay." She lightly smiled and held open the lighthouse door for him.
"May I have some time alone?" "Sure."
As the door closed, the judge knelt down before his torn garment and silently prayed.
He sighed five minutes later and walked out, leaving his attire behind. Once he opened the door, Sadie held it for him. 'How do you show appreciation?' "I appreciate it Sadie."
She followed him and shut the door. "You're welcome. Well this is going to be quite an adventure for the both of us." 'Wait. Why isn't he taking his robe? It must have been a deadly reminder of his past.'
"Hm." Sadie looked at the three vehicles. "What we are looking for is something not too big and not to small. Not a ship but not a tugboat either."
"What about that one?" Claude pointed to a medium sized red and white boat.
She went over and bent down to see if it had a motor. "Ha! We're in luck!" Sadie nodded. Frollo walked over and stepped inside it. He held out a hand to help her balance. "Oh." She blushed. "Thank you." She placed her bag under the steering wheel. "Let's just hope that this works." "I don't see why it would not. This dock was just built nearly two years ago." He set the motor dial on the lowest setting to start off and pressed the on button.
Sadie took out the map from her bag and scratched her head. "The expedition will take a few days." "How many is a few?" She turned to him. "Maybe a..week." Her voice grew quiet.
"I suggest that we break the route into parts then." He directed the page with his finger. "The coast of Ireland, Iceland or Greenland, depending on where we choose to stop for the night, Canada, and finally the United States." "Sounds good to me." She nodded. "Fine then. I will be steering." "Uh. Okay then."
Frollo smirked. "I can tell that you have a sense of fear." "N..no I don't." 'Does he know that I am afraid of sharks?' "Oh yes you do." "Then what is the motive?" "Marine life. Predators." "Jeez! You know everything don't you?" "Oh not everything. Although I wish I did. This will be quite interesting." He set the map in front of him and started to steer.
Sadie sighed, trusting that he wouldn't throw her overboard. 'Clopin, Quasi, and Esmeralda will be fine. Besides, in case he and I start to bicker for whatever reason, there won't be any complaining.'
As the speed of the motor increased, the girl sighed. 'Please don't make this turn out to be like one of those corny over sea love ballads.' She watched the propeller spin against the water with a sigh. 'A little awkward silence but it's okay.' Sadie curled into a ball on the floor and shut her eyes, feeling the boat move slightly up and down. It's motion resulted in her falling asleep thirty minutes later. Realizing that she hadn't said a word, Frollo looked over and internally smiled. 'Like the daughter I have always yearned for.'
Following the approximate five hours of traveling, Sadie woke up to the rough parking of the boat. "D..did we hit something?"
"No no. That was my fault. I haven't controlled one of these before. Anyway, we are here." She jumped off and stepped onto the shore. "Great." "Yes." 'What am I supposed to say to her? She's much more sophisticated than that gypsy girl.'
Sadie blinked and started to walk around. "Why don't we do some exploring while we are here? Who knows when we might return." He simply nodded and handed over her bag. Frollo followed closely behind her. Having second thoughts, he stopped.
"I would prefer that we just stay here." "Why?" Sadie turned her head. He clenched his teeth with his mouth closed. "Do not question me. Sit." She kept walking. "Sadie!" "What?! Stop being a control freak!" He groaned but reluctantly let her wander, walking beside her. "I swear. You are inhumane."
'Oh get over yourself. By staying put you meant a so called conversation.' "Okay fine. Never mind. There's probably not a reservation for miles. I'm not desperately low on supplies anyway." She looked around before laying in the grass, letting out a quiet sigh. "Is this safe enough for you?" She flinched, not meaning to say that out loud.
The judge lay next to her on his side.
"I'm sorry." Sadie rushed out, feeling the ground lightly shake.
"I just don't want anything to happen to you."
"Of course you don't." The girl let out a mental sigh of relief as she watched the clouds slowly float across the sky. The breeze blew swiftly through her hair. "So this is life." Sadie exhaled.
"Yes. I have always been told that the best things in life are priceless." 'One of the few notable things my father had taught me.'
Sadie placed his right hand on her stomach. "I have to agree with you. It may be unpredictable and inconvenient at times, but you can reverse it."
He sighed. 'I know she answered this before, but it wasn't exactly clear.' "Sadie?" "Yes?" "What are your thoughts on morality?" "Morality?" He nodded. "As in living forever." She shrugged. "I don't find it relevant. We live and then when the time comes we pass on. I don't believe in the afterlife. Basically I don't believe in anything that I can't see or haven't experienced myself."
Frollo remain silent for a minute, allowing his hand to rise and fall as she breathed. "That is a strong mentality Sadie." She hummed. "Yeah. What time should we continue sailing? I say we should alternate between stations. You steer then I'll steer. Then you, then I, etcetera." He sighed, knowing how anxious she was. "Alright." He stood up and offered a hand to her. "Thanks." She stood up and brushed off her shorts.
"Unfortunately I don't have a pen to help pinpoint our map. Although perhaps I can find us a shortcut." The girl scratched her forehead. "Now if I.." She took a deep breath as Frollo set a hand in front of her mouth. 'Ah. It appears that my consent is actually coming through to him.'
"As mentioned before, I will not allow you to hold all the responsibilities during this. You shall be held accountable for gathering and maintaining supplies until we reach America." 'You really like to elaborate on every detail don't you?' She shrugged in agreement. "Sounds fair enough." She stepped into the boat and waited for him to do the same.
Sadie took her bag and unzipped it. "It may have been a wise idea to bring a few sheets of blank paper." She muttered and took out her sudoku book, tightly holding it so it didn't slip and get wet.
Frollo groaned as he started to boat again and the girl held her breath, secretly vowing to not say another word unless see was asked or told to. "We will stop in Iceland." He declared. "Ironically Greenland is covered with ice and Iceland is covered with grassy plains." Sadie giggled.
"Yes. I know." She stopped at his quick response and went back to her puzzle. 'I mean..' "Yes sir." He tightened his eyes as he held onto the wheel so hard that his hand turned a light red for a minute. The judge then let go and calmly sighed. 'Don't say that either damn it!' Sadie cursed herself.
"Sadie?" "Yes Claude?" "Why don't you close your eyes. It will be quite a few hours until we arrive." He briefly set the boat on autopilot and went over to her. "I'm not tired though." He rolled his eyes. "Oh yes you are. How do you explain the circles under your eyes?" 'Shoot.' He helped her undo her hoodie and covered her with it as she rested her head on the stern of the boat. "How long will it be?" She shivered as he felt her bruised cheek. "I will wake you then Sadie." "Okay." The girl whispered and closed her eyes. He took the book and pencil from her hand and put them back in her bag before returning to the bow.
The buzzing of the motor was soothing for Sadie and caused her to slowly drift off to sleep. Frollo on the other hand found it responsible for an uncomfortable flashback of a time with his father.
'"Dad! Look what I found!" Ten year old Claude Frollo ran over to a brass tambourine left in the middle of the street. "Put that demonic object down this instant Claude!" His father, Claude Frollo Sr., reprimanded. "I can do this too! Watch." He spun around in a circle and patted the instrument with his left wrist. He then smiled and took a bow. "Oh how talented! We may have a new entertainer among us!" A male gypsy approached the future minister of Paris with a smile. A small lamb lightly butted his leg. Claude smiled and gently pet it. "Oh. I'm sorry. Was this yours?" He handed it to him. "Oh! That's my sister's. She was looking everywhere for it! Thank you ever so kindly." The gypsy handed him a single gold coin. "Oh no sir. I simply can not." "Please. I insist." He smiled. Claude then took it and looked down at the imprinted name on the side of the instrument. "Melia. That's a nice name. And what is yours?" "Jesce. A rather unusual spelling." "I say it's quite unique." The boy smiled.
"Claude! Now!" His father shouted with narrowed eyes. He gulped and immediately dropped it, returning quickly to him. His father grabbed him by the back of his miniature judicial robe that looked the same as his own. "Those gypsies are Satan's warnings to us." "Why are they such bad people dad? They haven't done anything wrong." He groaned as his father grabbed his robe harder, limiting his breathing. "Thou shall not cheat and thou shall not steal. Didn't I tell you to memorize every one of God's commandments?" "They aren't stealing though! They earn their money by dancing and entertaining. Just like any career." His father clenched his teeth and shoved him into the Cathedral to partake in a family's christening. He snatched the coin from his son's hand and tossed it back into the street. "Not another word." The boy rolled his eyes and sat boringly in one of the benches with an occasional forced smile.'
The judge stiffened a little then continued to focus on navigating.
The girl shivered as she was having a disturbing flashback as well.
'Twelve year old Sadie was sitting on her bedroom floor listening to a music cd with the door closed. There was a sudden knock and she stood up to answer it. "Hi dad." She smiled. "Hi." He smiled back. "What are you up to?" "Nothing really. Going through some things in my closet. Deciding what I no longer or really want to keep." "That's neat." He slowly nodded and unexpectedly lay on her bed to watch her. While continuing what she was doing, from the corner of her eye she could tell that he was still looking at her with a smile still on his face. She gulped and tried to focus on the music.'
She hiccuped and suddenly rose her head, noticing she was inside a dark room with only a single window that reflected a quarter of the moon. Her eyes started to fill with tears and she quickly started to pant with a hand on her heart.
Frollo walked down a spiraled staircase holding a lantern lit with a match. "It is almost nine o'clock at night Sadie. I knew that you were tired." He smirked then set down the light once he saw her face. "Sadie?" Frollo asked concerned and knelt down in front of her. "Did you have a bad dream?"
She shakily nodded and buried her face in his shirt.
He sighed and looked down at her. "Do you want to talk about it?" "N..never." She sniffed. Frollo lay her head down on his right arm and rubbed her forehead with his left thumb, quietly hushing her.
"You..won't leave me right?"
"Shh. Never Sadie." She gulped, closing her eyes and letting out one last uneasy sigh. 'It is none of my concern unless she tells me.'