Maeve sat alone upon the sandy beach. She was at the perfect vantage point to view the sunrise over the blissful ocean. Yet her heart was far from the peace that surrounded her.
"I never should have trusted Sinbad",she thought gloomily, for the hundredth time."What was I thinking? Without my share of the reward money, I won't be able to pay my way into the next merchant ship headed for Baghdad".
"What about Dermott?",asked a voice from within.
"Dermott",echoed Maeve. She shut her eyes once again,trying to connect in some way to her brother's presence. But she still could feel nothing. It was as if Dermott was.. was..
"He can't be dead.",said Maeve, firmly.
"But you can't feel his presence",accused the callous voice.
"He can't be dead"
"Then why are you giving up and heading for Baghdad?"
"I'm not giving up..I need to find a trading ship from the port of Baghdad that will take me on a search to find Master DimDim. If I can't find Dermott, surely he can"
"But DimDim is lost forever as well"
"I will find him! He's the only chance I've got". Maeve nodded to herself. "DimDim is the only chance I've got". Suddenly she heard a loud hollow cough right above her head. "Who's there?",she cried,scrambling up sharply, reaching for her sword. Just above Maeve's head was a low cliff. Upon this cliff, near some rocks, sat an old woman, covered from head to toe in an old gray shroud, with her steel gray hair falling unevenly over her shadowy face. She seemed like an awful apparition,looking rather unreal in the brightness of the day. "Don't mind me dear, I'm sitting here watching the sunrise, same as you..",said the old woman,in a rather strange high-pitched croak.
"I'm sorry",replied Maeve,straining to look at the woman's face, over the grass topped cliff. She gave up and slumped back down on the beach. "I thought I was alone here"
"Is something troubling you,dear?"
"Why should you say that?",snapped Maeve immediately. She frowned to herself."Does a desire to be alone by oneself strike you as being troubled, old one?"
"You forget I am alone here as well"
"You have troubles of your own?"
"Oh yes.",replied the woman in a queer faltering tone which struck Maeve as odd."But when I come here and watch the sunrise, a new hope dawns in my heart. My troubles seem to go away". The woman fell silent,listening to the rhythmic crashing of the waves and the crying of the gulls which dotted the pale blue sky. Maeve blinked back a tear which was already glistening her eyes. "I wish mine did",she muttered quietly.
"What is it,dear? Has someone done you wrong?"
Maeve did not reply at once. After a long pause, she said, "I..I was cheated out of some money which was of importance to me."
"A smart young woman like yourself being cheated out of money? Now that is very shocking indeed! How did you allow your sharp eyes to be blinded so?"
Maeve opened her mouth to reply. After a brief hesitation, she remained glum without a word.
"I see.",said the old woman,nodding vigorously to herself. She coughed violently and dabbed at her nose with her over-sized sleeve. Assuming a knowing tone,she asked, "Was he very handsome,my child?"
"I don't know what you mean",retorted Maeve hotly. She paused in reluctant admiration of the old woman's understanding."He seemed honest. ",she admitted slowly."He had an honest face. I didn't think that-"
"Aaah,yes. It's the ones with the honest, handsome faces that are the most cunning",interrupted the woman,growing more animated in her speech. Her voice carried a high grating squeak which was starting to play on Maeve's nerves."When you get to my age-"
"I'm leaving now",said Maeve, fitting her sword back in her paused. "Your voice sounds strange.."
"I've got a terrible cough..[COUGH][COUGH]",cried the woman,her voice drowned in a racking cough as if to prove her point. She scrabbled up to her feet with surprising agility."Where are you going? You didn't tell me what you need the money for-"
"I was planning on a sea voyage",called Maeve, quickly walking away.
"A pleasure trip no doubt",croaked the woman,hobbling along the cliff as well."Wait a moment. You can't expect a poor old woman to keep up with your youthful pace,do you?"
"That's the idea,old one"
"A sea voyage to where?",asked the woman,eagerly. Suddenly with a loud yell, she tumbled clumsily forward,her feet entangled in the folds of her dusty shroud and rolled off the cliff onto the beach. Maeve froze in her tracks for the yell she had heard didn't..or couldn't have belonged to the old woman or any other old woman for that matter. It most certainly belonged to a man! With dawning realization, she stomped back to the "old woman" who still lay on the sandy floor in a crumpled gray hair lay to one side and a face peeped out from beneath the shroud with an awkward expression on its face."Took you by surprise,huh?",said Sinbad,with an uneasy smile. Maeve's eyes began to glow in anger.
"This is not what it looks like",began Sinbad,trying to sound firm. Suddenly he found himself several feet in the air,being turned on his head upside down.
"I know you're angry",yelled Sinbad,hanging in mid-air upside down, his hair inches from the surface of the sea."But isn't this going a bit too far?". Maeve glared quietly as she sat on the beach, her boots beside her and her sword balanced against a jutting black rock.A quick wave slapped across Sinbad's face and neck,sending the salt water into his eyes and nose. Sinbad choked and spluttered,reaching for his shirt to dab at his face. "Actually,I have good reasons for doing what I did",continued Sinbad,peering at Maeve through bleary eyes."Heavens woman,can't you take a good-hearted joke?". Maeve remained silent, still glowering furiously at the Captain. Another stronger wave ran through drenching Sinbad from head to toe. "THIS IS NO WAY TO TREAT YOUR RESCUE-ER!"
Maeve stood up and dusted her hands. Her face remained expressionless as she prepared to leave the beach.
"Look, I was gonna bring the reward money to you",said Sinbad,earnestly."I have the purse right here"
"Throw it to me",said Maeve,perking up at once.
Sinbad reached into his shirt and brought out the soaking pouch. He threw it to Maeve, who caught it deftly in mid-air. Sinbad shrugged lightly.
Maeve opened the purse and fingered the coins. "If I remember correctly, you rescued me... and I rescued you. So, it's a good thing 'for you' that you rescued me or you wouldn't be alive right now, ...hanging upside down"
"You have my eternal gratitude",murmured Sinbad in sarcasm.
Maeve looked up with a puzzled frown. "This purse contains your share as well",she said.
"I don't want it",said Sinbad."You can take all of it. I came here to give it all to you"
"Why?"
"I think you have more immediate use for it than I do",said Sinbad, shutting his eyes as another wave lapped onto his face."Look, can you get me down from here? I think I've swallowed a shell..and that's not a good thing"
"Then why the dumb charade?",cried Maeve, pulled on her boots and slung her sword in her side. She laid her hands on her hips and tilted her head to one side as if to wait for a satisfactory explanation.
"It was not dumb!",replied Sinbad, stung. "I wanted to know where you were going and why you wanted the money so badly- You wouldn't have told me otherwise."
"Why did you want to know?"
"I wanted to know because -", Sinbad sighed."You looked like you could use a friend"
A wave of throbbing pain shot through Maeve's head, paralyzing her senses. She collapsed on the beach while Sinbad plunged headlong into the sea.
"Maeve, open your eyes.. Open your eyes"Maeve stirred with a groan and clutched at her temples. She opened her eyes in narrow slits and peered vaguely. A face was taking shape before her- Sinbad's face. Maeve sat up with a start. "What happened?",she gasped.
"I went on an ocean trip thanks to you",said Sinbad in an accusing tone. He sat next to her."A trip nearly down to the sea floor!" Maeve gazed at Sinbad. His hair and clothes were soaking wet and covered with sand,salt and broken bits of seaweed. She suppressed a sudden smile.
"I'm sorry",she said after a small pause."I got a sudden head-ache. I lost control of my powers".
"I'm just happy you didn't lose control of your powers yesterday",said Sinbad,still sore from the plunge. Yet he acquiesced,"I couldn't have defeated that monster without you"
Maeve blushed at this unexpected compliment and looked quickly away towards the sea.
"Your powers were incredible, Maeve",continued Sinbad in firm appreciation."If only Master DimDim had seen-"
"You know DimDim?",asked Maeve,startled.
"He was my teacher"
"He was mine as well"
"In the Isle of Dawn?"
"The very same",cried Maeve,happily. Then she fell downcast."But the Isle is gone now"
"What do you mean?"
"Something terrible - some kind of curse was cast upon the island- and it disappeared forever"
"It did?",echoed Sinbad.
Maeve nodded gravely. "DimDim is lost as well"
"What?",cried Sinbad in shock."It can't be.."
"It's true. I have been looking for him"
"Is that why you plan on going to Baghdad?"
"Going to Baghdad is only part of my plan. I need to find DimDim because he is the only one who can help me"
"Why do you need his help?"
Maeve did not reply. Instead she gazed silently ahead, a forlorn expression on her face.
"Maeve, why do you need Master DimDim's help?",pressed Sinbad.
When Maeve turned to face Sinbad, her eyes were shining with unshod tears. She took a deep breath as if to steady herself.
"Maeve,what's wrong?"
Maeve looked at Sinbad, noting the concern on his face. "I lost my brother",she said quietly.".. and DimDim is the only one who can find him"
Sinbad and Maeve walked side by side along the beach.
"So,how did you come to lose your brother?"
Maeve shook her head in thought."We were here, Dermott and I, on the island and we got separated.I felt his presence strongly until I remembered the word ,"Nomad", and then I had the same head-ache and fell unconscious.."
"Nomad...",mused Sinbad,frowning in thought."Sounds like the name of a ship. Tell me, why did you come to Beiud-Merra?"
"I don't remember."
"Try to remember,Maeve. It may be the key to finding Dermott"
"How?"
"Perhaps you were running away from some enemy.. Does Dermott have any likely enemies"
"Dermott is younger to me,Sinbad.",replied Maeve,looking uncomfortable under Sinbad's scrutiny. She was careful not to divulge that fact that Dermott's form was not that of a boy, but rather that of a hawk. She couldn't trust Sinbad yet. "Dermott wouldn't have enemies"
"How about-"
"I know you are trying to help but... I need to sail to Baghdad as soon as possible.I will find my way from there"
"I'll come with you"
Maeve stopped in surprise."What?"
"I'll come with you.",repeated Sinbad."DimDim was my teacher as well. Let me come to Baghdad. We will hire an able crew and set sail on our own sturdy vessel"
Maeve features softened at once. She slipped her hand into Sinbad's and squeezed it lightly. As Sinbad glanced at her, he realized that Maeve was beautiful to behold. But her beauty was different in comparison to Rumina's beauty. Maeve's eyes conveyed passion and warmth of emotions. Rumina's were devoid of love - cold as ice and sharp as a dagger's tip. Somehow Sinbad knew that Maeve needed him as a friend. He didn't know how but he knew. And he was determined to help her in anyway he could. Rumina, on the other hand, welcomed Sinbad's company and affection. She was amused by him, even interested in his life on the seas. But she didn't really need him. Sinbad shuddered inwardly. He remembered Rumina's cruelty towards the wounded hawk and the little boy,Abdul. Maeve's question stirred him back to attention. "But what about your own plans?",asked Maeve."Your voyages?"
"I think I've overstayed my welcome with my hostess"
"Hostess?"
"She knows magic as well, just like you. You should meet her."
Maeve looked thoughtfully at Sinbad.
They were far from the beach now, walking steadily up the cliff path and towards the white mansion. Maeve came to a halt where the path forked into the village road. She weighed the purse in her hand and smiled at Sinbad."This afternoon, at the seaside harbor.."
"Destination Baghdad",agreed Sinbad with a nod."I'll meet you there"
As Maeve was about to leave,she caught a glimpse of the white mansion. She nodded towards it.
"I've always wondered about living in a house like that ...by the sea"
Sinbad looked in the direction of her glance as well.
"I think that house would be perfect for me",said Maeve with a casual laugh.
"That's where I'm staying",said Sinbad,smiling as well."My friend, Asif-el-Quidar built it. He copied it from my own mansion.." He glanced at Maeve, the smile melting into warm affection."My own mansion by the sea..."
Maeve's smile faded away at once. She stepped back awkwardly. Something in Sinbad's expression was strangely familiar to her. The tenderness in his eyes, the good-natured smile, the concern and guidance - She had taken comfort in his words before. "But where?",thought Maeve, in confusion. "I'll see you later",she mumbled, walking quickly down the path. She looked back and saw Sinbad watching her from the cliff. Another person seemed to be joining alongside him. Maeve stepped quickly behind some bushes and out of sight as she gazed open-mouthed at Sinbad's black-haired friend. Her heart skipped a beat when she realizedthat it was indeed Rumina who has appeared before her very eyes!