20
When Gregor woke up, the boat was back in the water. He must not have been asleep long, because his hair was still damp. He looked around the boat, which was rather crowded now, and saw Luxa asleep near the front. He breathed a sigh of relief. Then someone smacked the back of his head.
"Ow!"
"Baka!" He looked next to him where Wynnora sat lecturing him. He had no idea what she was saying, but he was pretty happy to see her. He made her calm down, and explain again.
"Don't. Jump. Off. Boats." She wrapped him in a hug. "I'm too old for this, Gregor. You're going give me an ulcer with all these stunts you pull." Gregor laughed.
"I'm sure you'll survive. You found Howard?"
"Nike went after him, that's why Aurora couldn't go for Luxa." Gregor nodded, he already figured that. "Sorry, I didn't pull the rope right away. You know I'm not very useful when things go crazy like that."
"You did fine, Wynn. I'm just glad you thought to tie off the rope," he said with a smile.
"Probably to the only smart thing I did do. It was the crawlers who started pulling you in. Then Lapblood and I got you back in the boat," she explained.
"I think I love crawlers," Gregor said. "They always save my butt."
Wynnora explained that they had no idea how they got off course, but Howard and Lapblood thought it best not to start pointing fingers while they were all stuck on the same boat. No one was seriously hurt, so they could discuss it later. The whole ordeal, though, had them thrown so far off course that Howard now had them on a route to return to Regalia through the Fount.
"He's really excited for you to see his home," Wynnora said.
"Oh yeah? Then why isn't he over here telling me about it." Howard was keeping busy over by Luxa.
"Well," Wynnora said, biting her lip. "You sort of fell asleep holding Luxa's hand, and you know. He took it the wrong way." Gregor felt his stomach twist. "I tried to explain. He's not mad or anything, just uh. Well I don't really know. People confuse me," she said with a nervous laugh.
Howard saw Luxa as his sister, and Gregor had two sisters of his own. He knew what Howard was thinking. Not to mention Luxa was the queen, and he was an Overlander. Gregor did not want to think of the trouble he could have caused with the silly accident.
"We don't really need to talk about this, Wynn."
"Oh thank goodness."
Gregor felt bad about upsetting Howard, but he quickly forgot about it. The boats had been set off course and broken. That could not have been an accident. The queen almost died. Why would Howard and Lapblood just ignore this? Maye it would avoid any conflict while they were all packed on one boat, but Gregor thought everyone should be trying to figure out what happened now. He wanted to ask Wynnora what she thought, but there was no privacy on the boat.
Wynnora was clearly uncomfortable with the situation. Gregor was not sure what she was thinking, but he could tell she was trying to work out what happened. She leaned back against the side of the boat, and though her face was still set in thought, she started humming.
"Is that 'You are my Sunshine'?" Gregor asked.
"Yeah."
"You understand the irony of singing that in the Underland, right?"
"Of course," she replied with a weak smile. "But it reminds me of home."
Gregor thought about home. About his family. Did they ever come to the Underland for a visit? What were they doing right now? He really missed them, and was suddenly hit with a wave a home sickness.
"Do you think the sun is out today?" he asked his cousin.
"I don't know. I bet it's raining."
"Why raining?" His cousin just shrugged.
"I guess I just like the rain, so I hope it's raining." Howard walked over, and asked what rain was. Gregor enjoyed being able to talk about something Overland related. He explained weather and storms, and even though it had nothing to do with his family, he felt better.
Then he thought of how he wanted to keep visiting the Underland. How would that work? He would miss his home too much during the visits. Not to mention he would never be able to tell any of his friends from the Overland about the Underland like he was able to tell the Regalians about the Overland. Also, he was about to start college soon. He may not even have time to visit. There was no way he would be able to live in both worlds. He would have to pick, and there was no way he could leave his family.
Gregor suddenly did not want to talk anymore. He said he was tired, and his cousin told him to try to sleep more. Gregor pretended to sleep, but really lay awake thinking. He was going to have to say goodbye sooner or later. After a while, thinking became too much for Gregor. He was so exhausted with thoughts about the possible sabotage, losing Luxa and the Underlanders, his family, and plans for the future that he fell into a fitful sleep.