Sirene (Wattys 2014 Entrant)

Chapter 19

Oceana woke up the next morning with the morning light streaming through her window. Sitting up she rubbed her eyes, hopped out of bed and ran over to the window. There was a mist over the sea and the air was salty and fresh.

“And to think people want to live in the city.” Oceana shook her head in bewilderment. There was a bowl filled with water on the table by her bed and a rough linen towel next to it. “Callum must have brought it over.” Oceana concluded to herself as she washed her face and dried it. “How early does that fellow rise? It’s eight in the morning and he’s already up.”

Dressing as quickly as she could, Oceana stepped out of the little room she had slept in and walked over to where she could see Callum setting a table for two.

“Up already?” He whispered, noticing her coming up to him. He motioned with his head to the couch where Chandler was still sleeping and Oceana understood she was to keep quiet.

“Is he going to sleep all day and all night?” She asked, sitting down at the table.

“No, of coorse not, but th' longer he sleeps th' more peace we’ll hae. Ye know' how cranky Chandler gits if someain wakes him up.”

Oceana covered her mouth in an effort to stop the giggle. “Callum, you want to explain to me what Chandler is doing here? How did he get out of the prison? Did he run like I did and you met him at the train station.”

“God forbid, no. th' last thin' I would want is fur it to go aroond 'at I am hidin' an escaped prisoner! Gab abit gettin' on th' wrong side ay th' law. no, chandler has bin released on parole.

“Impossible! Chandler, Chandler released on parole, you and I know him better than that.”

“Och, but it’s true, lassie. Chandler has behaved as a model inmate fur th' past one an' a half years.”

“But still, they wouldn’t just release him like that.”

“True, true, yoo’re a smart one ye are, Chandler had ootwith help.”

“Outside help? From who? The only people he knows are me and you and neither of us is the sort of person who could get him out of prison.”

“Ah,” Callum winked at Oceana, “It was th' prison doctur who was instrumental in gettin' chandler out of there.”

“Dr. Wilkens?” Oceana asked in shock, forgetting she had to be quiet.

“Shhh, keep it down.” Callum shushed her. “Aye, it was nane other than Dr. wilkens. he pointed it 'at Chandler was dyin' as it was an' somehaw he managed to pressure them to decidin' 'at releasin' him would be th' best thing to do.”

“How long has he been out of the prison?”

“I’d say two weeks, mebbe a wee more. Dr. Wilkens wrote me an' said he had talked tae th' right folk an' gotten Chandler released on parole an' asked if I would come an' pick him up.”

“Since when have you been in correspondence with the doctor?”

“Chandler got th' two of us in tooch. In reality, it was abit me gettin' ye it of th' orphanage, I wasnae coontin' on gettin' Chandler out as well. I’m supposn’ th' doctur took pity on Chandler an' wanted him to spend his lest days wi' ye an' not in that rotten place. Honestly, I canna ken how he managed to do it, but somehaw he did an' now Chandler is here.He can’t leave anywhaur though. If he tries to run anywhere, e'en in a ten mile radius of this town he’ll be in serioos trooble.”

“Funny, I would have thought that this would give him more than a good reason to try and take off. You know how Chandler is. If you tell him not to do something, you can be sure he is going to do it, just because you told him not to.”

“I heard that.” Chandler’s voice called out.

Callum and Oceana turned to see Chandler sitting up in the bed, his long hair all over his face in a rather bedraggled manner.

“If I dina ken better, I’d say ye have a hangowre.” Callum stated with a smirk, “Ye should tak' a swatch at yerself.”

“A swatch at myself? Callum, I swear your accent has gotten worse. I can’t understand half of the things you are saying.” Chandler shook her head in annoyance.

“Oh Chandler!” Oceana got up and running to the couch flung herself in his arms. The sudden realization that she was losing him for good suddenly hit her and the little girl burst into tears. Chandler shot Callum a puzzled glance. Callum softly replied,

“She knows.”

  Chandler frowned at him and turned his attention to the weeping girl. “Oceana, you’re getting me wet,” he stated in a soothing voice. “Come on, dry the tears, they won’t do any good, stop crying and I’ll get up and eat breakfast with you, though I can see that Callum conveniently forgot to set a place for me at the tiny table of his. Oh, Oceana don’t cry, you know I can’t bear to be you crying.” It took a while for Oceana to settle down, but at last she gave a long, long sigh and wiped her eyes.

“Now I’m bedraggled and damp.” Chandler complained. Oceana couldn’t hide the smile and even let out a soft giggle.

“Go an’ gie cleaned up.” Callum ordered.

“And you set me a place at the table.” Chandler shot back. “If you think I’m going to play bedridden then you are seriously mistaken.”

“Ah dina think 'at, I jist dina ken when ye would wake up. Yesterday ye slept till midday.”

“That was yesterday.”

“Well, forgife me, I am not informed of yer schedule an' don’t ken whit days ye plan to gie up early an' whit days ye plan to sleep in.”

 “The two of you,” Oceana broke in with a laugh, “do you ever change?”

Chandler waved his finger in Callum’s direction and slowly got out of bed and went to try and make himself look more presentable. Oceana went back to the table.

“He is very pale,” she said in a sad voice, “how long do you think he has?”

“Stoaner to say, lassie, e'en tae doctur can’t guess how long. Nobody knows whit is th' matter wi' him. Isn’t ‘at so like Chandler? He has to be a mystery in everythin', he e'en has to go an' gie sick wi' somethin' nobody knows anythin' abit.”

“I heard that too.” Chandler called.

“I’m glad ye did.” Callum replied.

Presently Chandler came to the table, he walked a lot slower and his breathing was a little difficult, but apart from that and the paleness he was still very much the same Chandler as he had been before.

“The cuisine here is very bland.” He complained as he sat at the table.

“A thoosain apologies, monsieur Frenchman, I wasn’t able to order any French scran fer ye. I’m afraid yoo’ll jist have to learn to like whit th' highlander sets at his table.” Callum stated.

“French scran?” Chandler shook his head. “I don’t know how these Scots managed to come up with their interesting form of speaking. To think he called *la cuisinedemon pays ‘French scran’.” Callum glared at Chandler for this statement.

“Oceana, I suppose Callum didn’t tell you anything about this little house did he?” Chandler turned to Oceana.

Oceana shook her head. “I’m still wondering if I am dreaming. Just two days ago I got out of the orphanage, and bumped into Callum at the station. And now suddenly we are up here and this house appears out of nowhere and to be honest I don’t know what to think of everything.”

“Callum isn’t good at explaining, is he?”

“No, he isn’t.”

“If th' two of ye keep on like this I’m throwin' th' baith ye out of my hoose!”Callum stated.

“Is it your house?” Oceana asked.

“Yes, believe it or not, Oceana, this is Callum’s home. He grew up here and he raised his family here and then he left it for a long time. I didn’t even know he had a snug little home overlooking the sea. And they all say I am a man filled with secrets.” Chandler smirked.

“Is that why Callum disappeared for such a long time? Did he come here?”

“Yes, he did. You see, when things were starting to get out of hand in London, he comes up to me and says ‘I’ve got this house up in Scotland, but it hasn’t been lived in for a long time and is probably more run down than standing up. Why don’t I go there and put it back together.? This will give me enough time to be forgotten back at the orphanage and people will think I no longer care for Oceana. Once it’s finished, I’ll get Oceana out of the orphanage and we will live there till you get out.’ Mind you, I thought he was going to come and get you, but Callum, after being a smuggler for half his life, suddenly wants to do everything on the right side of the law, and is all paranoid he might get accused for kidnapping. So the two of us come up with a plan on how to make it all look like an accident, pretty genius, don’t you think? And then, out of the blue, I come to live here too, so now we all get to see this little glimpse into Callum’s dark and mysterious past.”

“So long ago, this was your home, Callum?”

“Aye, lassie, it was.”

“Why did you leave?”

Callum got a faraway look in his eyes. “To git away from memories.”

Oceana was going to question further but a firm headshake from Chandler made her swallow the questions and turn her attention back to her breakfast.

After breakfast Callum said he had business and left, leaving Oceana in charge Chandler and the house. “Make sure he stays out of trooble.” He stated with a wink.

“Easier said than done,” Oceana called after him.

Oceana tidied up in the house then sat bringing over a stool, sat down next to the couch on which Chandler had lay down.

“Why can’t I ask Callum about his past?”

Chandler didn’t answer right away. “There is a lot of pain in that past, Oceana, and if you ask too much a dark cloud comes over him. To find out about it, you must go a little at a time. I never bothered him about it, seeing as I never told anyone my past so I figured there was no reason to try and get his out of him. You, on the other hand, maybe you will be the person to help him get over the past, but it’s something that you can’t rush, Oceana, one little step at a time.”

“Chandler, what about you? Why don’t you tell anyone your past?”

“Because I don’t think people need to know it. Who I was doesn’t really matter. I burned that past and what is burned cannot be brought back.”

“Chandler, you are going to die, are you not?”

“Aren’t we all, Oceana? Someday everyone is going to make the final journey.”

“Where will your final destination be?” Oceana finally brought up the subject that was bothering her.

Chandler was silent for a few moments then sighed. “Alright, fine I give in, I give in.”

Oceana gave Chandler a questioning look.

“You converted me, Oceana, you converted me a while back actually, still in the prison. Or more like the combined effort of you and that Dr. Wilkens. Before I knew it was reevaluating me life and wondering where it had brought me and where it will continue to take me. I think I fully made up my mind when you and I were reading through the book of Isaiah.”

“You decided to believe in God after all?” Oceana wasn’t sure if she was hearing right.

“I know, it’s insane, but what could I do when the truth was right there in front of me and I couldn’t fight it anymore?”

“How come you didn’t tell me and kept on making this annoyed deal out of it.”

Chandler chuckled. “I’m a proud man, Oceana, I hate being proven wrong. You and Dr. Wilkens may have proved me wrong but I wasn’t about to give you the full pleasure of it. I didn’t want to show anyone that I had given in, it really, really hurt my pride. But there, now I have confessed it all to you.”

“Oh Chandler, you stubborn, stubborn man.” Oceana felt as though a great weight had been lifted off her soul and she could fly. “So, have you actually accepted Jesus as your Savior?”

“Isn’t that what I’ve been telling you all this time?”

Oceana put her arms around Chandler’s neck and hugged him so hard he began gasping for breath. “Oceana, let me go, this poor sailor is suffocating in the arms of the mermaid.”

Oceana laughed and released her hold on him. “By the way, what happened to my necklace?”

“Confiscated by the police.”

“Ugh.”

“There’s a reason I never liked them.”

“Yeah well, not all men are good Chandler, and not all governments are good either, but there are good people in this world and God is good and one day He will put all wrongs to right. So now that you are turning over a new leaf, I’m guessing that’s why you have agreed to stay back and not run off.”

“Seriously, Oceana, where would I go? I’ve got a house and food here and anyway, it’s about time I retired and take it easy. All pirates retire some day.”

“Only you were never a pirate.”

“You get the point.”

“Chandler, does Callum believe in God?”

“I’m not sure, I think somewhere in that heart Callum knows that God is there, but there is some sort of issue between the two of them that I don’t know about and which I don’t feel comfortable prying into.”

“I wonder what it could be?”

“You can ask him sometime if you want, just try to approach it delicately, anything that has to do with the life Callum led before he and I started smuggling together is extremely painful for him to talk about.”

***

“Did Oceana cook supper or shall I have to do it?” Callum asked as he walked in to the house.

“I’ve got it all taken care of, Callum,” Oceana called, “I haven’t been able to keep Chandler in bed though.”

“Let him donner around if he wants too, as long as he stays out of trooble.”

“I am not your little child and I don’t need a nanny.” Chandler complained, making Callum and Oceana laugh.

“So, where were you all day?” Oceana asked.

“Had some important business to tak' care of, will have to go again tomorrow an' th' day efter, but hopefully it will all be settled soon.”

“So, what is going to happen to me now?” Oceana presented the question as they sat down to eat. “Are we going out to sea again?

“Even if we wanted too, we can’t because the ship has been confiscated.” Chandler replied. “Callum does have an old fishing boat, but it’s not something you want to take out into the deep waters of the ocean, I’ll be surprised if he risks taking it on the water at all.”

“Th' boat has bin repaired an' thoough it is not th' vessel to travel high waters in, it will do jist braw for fishin', which is whit I plan to use it fer.”

“You’re going to be fishing?”

“We’ve got to live off of somethin’, lassie.”

“Ooh, we’ll go fishing everyday together?”

“Yoo’ll ne'er gie Chandler intae 'at boat,” Callum laughed, “An' as fer ye, lassie, come September an' ye will be gonnae school.”

“What school?”

“Th' village school of coorse. Th' town is right nearby, it’s a merely ten minute donner to gie to it.”

“You want to send me to a village school?” Oceana raised her eyebrows.

“An' there’s nothin' wrong wi' that, lassie. We raised ye Chandler’s way for th' first ten years of yer life, now we are gonnae raise ye my way fur th' next ten.”

“Hey, she didn’t come out all that bad with the way I raised her.” Chandler put in.

“No, I’m not sayin' she came out bad, but I think one decade of yer type of raisin' is enough for any child.Oceana will go to school in th' fall; I think it will be good fer 'er ti mix wi' children 'er own age. Children need children too.”

“But what about fishing? I should dearly like to try my hand at it.” Oceana argued

“An' so ye shall, lassie. I’m not sayin' I won’t tak' ye with me. Mebbe yoo’ll e'en manage to get Chandler to try his hand at such a lowly trade.”

“Very funny.” Chandler’s voice was sarcastic but there was a smile on his face.

“I’ve talked wi' th' school teacher, an' explained that ye are somewhat different frae other children.Miss McDuff is a good lady an' said as long as ye were obedient an' didn’t disrupt th' class she will be glad to have ye.”

“Is the school very much like the orphan asylum?”

“No, lassie, it’s all very different. Life here in th' village isn’t as sophisticated as in th' city. Ask chandler an' he’ll say it is all very simple, but there is beauty in a simple life, an' I think it one that ye will greatly enjoy.”

“I also think I shall,” Oceana nodded her head. “And you know what, Callum, I think even Chandler enjoys it, he’s just too proud to admit it.”

“Yoo’ve got a point there, Oceana,” Callum grinned and winked at Chandler. “French pride.”

“Chandler pride, being French has nothing to do with it!” Chandler pointed out with a shake of his head. “Don’t allude everything I do to being French.”

Oceana chuckled. “Some things are just made in stone."

*************************************************************

*la cuisinedemon pay -- the cuisine of my country

Not very much happens in this chapter, but it does explain some important stuff. So far everything is going okay, but will Miss Patterson find Oceana now? And what of Dr. Wilkens and Stephanie and Beth?

We are nearing the end of the story, but there is still much to find out, so keep your eyes open for the next chapter :)

votes and comments are greatly appreciated :)