The Ocean's Daughter (Sequel to Sirene)

Chapter 22 (part 2)

"Tell me again, what was it that kept Miss Patterson from coming?” Admiral Chesterton asked Oceana as he, Wesley, Oceana and a Mrs. Venora (who had agreed to act as Oceana's chaperon) boarded the steam boat that was to take them and the other passengers on a tour of the Thames River.

 “Miss Patterson cannot quite stomach anything that has to do with a boat,” Oceana explained.

 “Ah yes, I forgot about the fact that the dear woman gets sea sick,” Admiral Chesterton nodded his head, “poor lady, can't stomach even the thought of a rocking boat. I guess that is one of the many reasons why we never married, though many people hoped we would, none so much as her mother.”

 “Did you actually consider marrying Miss Patterson?” Wesley was interested about this part of the Admiral's past he had never heard of before.

 “Well, yes and no. I sort of fancied that if I ever married I would like to marry a woman like her, but at the same time the navy was my life and I spent almost all my time aboard my ship and I knew I would never be a good family man, you of all people know how true that is, Wesley my boy, so at one point I decided I wouldn't marry at all.”

 “Because you were married to your ship and your first love was the sea,” Oceana said with a mysterious smile.

 “That is a very poetic way of putting it, my dear,” Admiral Chesterton pointed out, “I like the way it sounds, married to my ship and the first love being the sea, yes, it sounds very poetic indeed.”

 “Thank you, Admiral, only I didn't make it up, it is what Chandler always said.”

 “Ah, so that is how it is, your Chandler smuggler fellow never married either, did he?”

 “No sir, though...” Oceana paused for a moment then lowered her voice, “he was very fond of woman, if you understand what I mean?”

 “Something of the Don Juan, eh?” A twinkle appeared in Admiral Chesterton's eyes.

 “I guess you could say something like that,” Oceana giggled a littl.

 Wesley inhaled loudly, he didn't want to be too obvious, but he was a little annoyed at how Admiral Chesterton was dominating the conversation with Oceana when he really wanted to have her full attention. Admiral Chesterton looked over at him and shook his head.

 “It is a pity that Miss Patterson was not able to come over, for now I shall be very bored indeed. You young people will just talk to two of you and what shall I do?”

 “Talk to Mrs. Venora?” Wesley suggested.

 “You can always be counted on, Wesley my boy, to help matters,” Admiral Chesterton joked.

 “I don't see why the three of us cannot speak together,” Oceana said.

 “Ah, my dear, I may be old, but I can yet see and I know when two people want to speak together without drawing too much attention from the local gossip. I know I am here as a distraction, go on the two of you, I shall find plenty with which to occupy myself. However, in return for my sacrifice, I demand that you sing a song for me, Oceana.”

 “It would be my pleasure, Admiral,” Oceana's smile got all the wider. If there as one thing she loved, it was performing in public.

 “What, out here?” Wesley questioned.

 “Why not, I'm sure the rest of the passengers will not mind. I have in on good authority that people never mind when I get it into my head to sing. Trust me, even the guards at the border would get so entertained with my singing that Callum and Chandler would be able to sneak cargo right past them.”

 “So, you were a little smuggler along with them?” Admiral Chesterton asked.

 “Guilty as charged, Admiral,” Oceana laughed, “speaking of smugglers, that puts into mind just the right song to sing.”

 Oceana cleared her throat and hummed softly to herself to catch the tune and then taking a deep breath began her song. A hush fell over all the passengers as they listened to the pretty young girl in the dark green dress and summer jacket who stood on the star side of the boat singing in a lovely clear and enchanting voice.

 O come list a while, and you shall hear,

By the rolling sea lived a maiden fair.

Her father had followed the smuggling trade,

Like a war-like hero.

Like a warlike hero that never was afraid.

Now, in sailor's clothing young Jane did go,

Dressed like a sailor from top to toe

Her aged father was the only care

O this female smuggler.

Of this female smuggler who never did despair.

With her pistols loaded she went aboard.

And by her side hung a glittering sword,

In her belt two daggers; well armed for war

Was this female smuggler,

Was this female smuggler, who never feared a scar.

Now they had not sail-ed far from the land,

When a strange sail brought them to a stand.

'These are sea robbers,' this maid did cry,

'But the female smuggler,

But the female smuggler will conquer or will die.

Alongside, then, this strange vessel came.

Cheer up,' cried Jane, 'we will board the same;

We'll run all chances to rise or fall,'

Cried this female smuggler,

Cried this female smuggler, who never feared a ball.

Now they killed those pirates and took their store,

And soon returned to old Eng-a-land's shore.

With a keg of brandy she walked along,

Did this female smuggler,

Did this female smuggler, and sweetly sang a song.

Now they were followed by the blockade,

Who in irons strong did put this fair maid.

But when they brought her for to be ter-ied,

This young female smuggler,

This young female smuggler stood dress-ed like a bride.

Their commodore against her appeared,

And for her life she did greatly fear.

When he did find to his great surprise

'Twas a female smuggler,

'Twas a female smuggler had fought him in disguise.

He to the judge and the jury said,

'I cannot prosecute this maid,

Pardon for her on my knees I crave,

For this female smuggler,

For this female smuggler so valiant and so brave.'

Then this commodore to her father went,

To gain her hand he asked his consent.

His consent he gained, so the commodore

And the female smuggler,

And the female smuggler are one for evermore.

Oceana finished her song and a roar of applause followed.

 “Who is this young beauty with the equally lovely voice?” A gentleman asked, coming up to where she stood.

 “Just another passenger, sir,” Oceana said with a little bow.

 “Well, you have entertained us all, Miss,” The gentleman also bowed to her. Wesley began to fear that his moments with Oceana would be filled with admiring people who would come asking questions and giving complements. Thankfully, most of the people just kept on minding their own business once the song had finished. Admiral Chesterton and Mrs. Venroa stood closely by, discussing some sort of new book that had come out, which left Wesley free to take full charge of Oceana's attention. She had turned and was watching as the streets of London passed them by. Wesley also turned and leaned his arms on the railing of the boat.

 “You must be careful when you sing, Miss Oceana, it seems as soon as you open you mouth you have everyone hypnotized.”

 Oceana giggled softly at his statement, but didn't answer him. Her thoughts were filled up with the fact that she was leaving in four days. Maybe Wesley could come and visit her at the village, though of course the gossip would spread like wildfire across the entire village and what would Callum say? Oceana knew he wasn't too fond with the idea of suitors.

 “You are not very talkative today, are you?” Wesley asked after a few moments of silence. “Usually you can never cease to speak.”

 “I'm sorry, I am just lost in thought.”

 “Oh, may I inquire what about?”

 Oceana turned from gazing at the water to look at Wesley. “It is just that Beth and Robert have returned and that means that I will be leaving soon.”

 “Where too?” Wesley was not at all inspired with the thought of Oceana going anywhere.

 “Back home of course. I am a visitor to London, and actually, I don't even like the city very much.”

 “Oh,” Wesley nodded his head and it was his turn to gaze thoughtfully to the water. “Do you want to go?” He asked.

 Oceana shrugged her shoulders, “I don't know,” she confessed, “I'm a little torn and confused at the moment.”

 “Are you?” Wesley tried to suppress his smile but only partially succeeded. He guessed Oceana must be torn and confused because of him and that was something of a pleasant thought to him.

 Silence once more hung over the two of them. All at once Oceana was struck with a thought. “Lt. Chesterton, may I ask you something?”

 Wesley turned his attention back to Oceana, “you may.”

 “Admiral Chesterton mentioned earlier that he was not much of a family man and he said that you of all people would know, what did he mean by that?”

 A hint of a smile appeared on Wesley's face. “I told you I was raised by the Admiral and that is true, he is the only family I have, but because he was away at sea more often then he was on land I spent most of my childhood in a boarding school.”

 “Oh,” Oceana nodded sympathetically, “it must have been terrible.”

 “It was alright, I mean, it all could have been a lot worse.”

 Oceana shrugged. She remembered the time she had spent in the orphanage and how terrible it had been for her. A boarding school was just about the same as an orphan asylum, was it not?

 “I am actually from very humble beginnings you know,” Wesley found himself confessing to her. “I don't talk about it much, especially when in society, but my parents were simple people with no name or family to speak of.”

 “Not like it matters to me,” Oceana kindly replied, “after all I am nothing more than a humble village school teacher. So it is not like name or family is something of importance.”

Wesley's eyes lit up, at last she was saying something about herself, something other than the mermaid story. “You are a school teacher? So when you are not singing sailors to their deaths you are teaching their children? Is that not something of a contradiction?”

Oceana laughed, it never ceased to amaze her just how much Wesley understood her kind of humor and was even able to use it on her.

“I don't actually sing men to their deaths, I just told you that because I needed to tell you something I knew you wouldn't believe.”

“But you do sit on the rocks and sing, I myself am a witness of that, and if you do not sing ships, then was McDuff right when he said you sing to the sun to make it rise and set?”

“Well, how else do you think the sun rises?” Oceana giggled.

“Speaking scientifically the sun rises because the earth rotates around it, but we're being mythical here, so I'll pretend I believe you. What about when you leave the shore? How does it rise and set then?”

“I have little fairies do it for me, but they don't perform favors forever, that is why I need to get back.”

Wesley shook his head, “The things you come up with.”

“It is not just me, McDuff and his crew helped out with this one,” Oceana pointed out. “How was it again that you met them?”

“I was in the village and they offered to tell me a story.”

“Since when have I become one of his stories that he tells stranger, usually he entertains them with tales of pirates.”

“I asked about mermaids because I had only just seen you before, sitting on the rocks.”

“Ah, yes, that is right,” Oceana nodded her head.

“Maybe you could tell me now where it was you disappeared to?”

“I did what any mermaid would do, I jumped into the water.”

“You actually dove into the water, in your clothes?”

Oceana laughed from the expression on Wesley's face. “Don't look so shocked, Wesley, the ocean is my second home. And I wasn't wearing any shoes, so swimming was so hard, though of course the dress did weigh me down a bit.”

“You just called me by my name, my Christian name,” Wesley pointed out.

“Oh, I did, I am so sorry, sometimes I forget about the proper way of addressing people,” Oceana felt the blush rising to her face, though she couldn't understand why\it was coming. So she had called Wesley by his Christian name, what was the big deal?

“That is alright,” Wesley reassured, “you may called me Wesley if you wish. Actually, I would prefer if you called me Wesley, Lt. Chesterton is rather long and droll. Speaking of my name, perhaps I should point out that I wasn't named after John Wesley, my parents weren't Methodists, they were Presbyterian.”

Oceana was puzzled for a moment, then remembered the conversation she had had with Wesley about names on her last visit to London two years ago. “Well, I didn't know anything about your parents,” she said with a soft laugh, “I don't even know their names, much less anything about their religious views. You never speak of your parents.”

Wesley slowly turned his head and looked off into the distance, “What orphan would want to speak of his parents? Talking about them just bring back all the pain of losing them.”

“Not all orphans are like that,” Oceana kept her voice gentle while still bringing up her argument, “at the orphan asylum there were plenty of girls who spoke about their parents quite regularly, in fact it was all Matilda could ever talk about. It got to the pointed where everyone in the orphanage could no longer stand to hear about them.”

“Orphan asylum?” Wesley turned to Oceana in bewilderment, “you were in an orphan asylum?”

“Yes, I lived there for about two years, but then I ran away,” Oceana said, “I hated it there and was only too happy to get away from it.”

“Why?”

“I'm afraid I don't do well in cages, and that was what the orphanage, and London for that matter, were to me. A big giant cage. I need wide spaces, and I must live near the sea. Part of me longs for the sea, Chandler always said that I had salt water in my veins instead of blood, like the sea people of my mother.”

“Yes, about your sea heritage,” Wesley looked earnestly at Oceana, “do you really, really believe that you are..well...half mermaid?”

“I really, really do,” Oceana gazed at him frankly, her large seaweed colored eyes swallowing him up. He found that whenever she caught his gaze, there was really little else he could do but stare right into her eyes.

“But isn't it, a little, well, far-fetched? I mean, I would understand if you just said it in jest, but to actually believe it. Can it possibly be true?”

Oceana pondered for a moment before answering. “I suppose that would all depend on whether or not you believe in mermaids. Do you? Believe in mermaids?”

Wesley looked at her, the wind blowing the loose strands of hair in all directions, the green eyes, the pale skin, and he slowly drew a deep breath. “I think I'm starting too,” he confessed in a low voice. He would have leaned over and placed a kiss on those ruby red lips, but caught himself just in time. This was certainly not the right time or place.

Oceana's face had grown hot from his words and the voice in which he had spoken them. She bit her lip and looked down, those dark brown eyes, peering so intently at her where enough to make her heart stop beating. “I think we are nearing land, and it is time to leave the boat,” she mumbled. Wesley looked over and realized Oceana was right. The boat was already at the dock, the ride was over and the passengers were beginning to leave the vessel and return to dry land. He offered Oceana his arm and she took it without looking at him. The too disembarked from the boat, being followed by Mrs. Venora and Admiral Chesterton, who seemed to still be deeply engrossed in some sort of conversation. Wesley seeing that Mrs. Venora was still occupied, decided to grab his chance, while the moment was still right. He turned to Oceana and spoke in a half whisper to keep from being heard by the rest of the world. The words he had to say were for Oceana alone.

“I don't want you to leave London, Oceana, not yet. Actually, if I had my way I would have you never leave it.”

Oceana raised her eyebrows a little from his words, but Wesley didn't give her a chance to say anything and kept right on speaking. “You see, Oceana, I'm in love with you.”

Oceana's eyes went wide from his confession, and she stared at him, blinking with surprise.

“Oh, I think I fell in love with you long ago,” Wesley went on, his words moving a long a little faster, he needed it to get it all out before Mrs. Venora decided it was time to go. “I fell for you back then when we first met, but then I left for so long and I felt I needed to ground the love on something more than a beautiful memory. I often thought about you when I was in India and about whether or not I will see you again. You knew as well as I that all of the Admiral's visits were really just so I could see you without giving Miss Patterson that wrong idea. But I think now, now I am ready to well, to, see you for you...if that even makes sense.” Here Wesley ran out of words and stood waiting for Oceana's reply. Oceana stood looking at him, blushing and hoping her heart would calm down just a little, it was beating at an alarmingly fast rate.

“Well...” Wesley prodded.

Oceana's hand lifted and she played nervously with a strand of hair, her eyes lowering to the ground. “I'm afraid I can't give you my heart, Wesley,” she softly said, “because you see, you have it already. What is more, you have had it for quite awhile, but then don't be too surprised that you didn't realize it, I myself just discovered the fact recently.” With these words she dared to lift her shining eyes and look at Wesley's beaming face. She vaguely heard Mrs. Venora saying something about the time and how they must be off. She didn't quite understand what the Admiral said to her, she didn't even notice her own words of farewell, the only thing on her mind were the dark brown eyes and handsome face of Wesley. And as she walked away with Mrs. Venora he was the only thing on her mind.

Wesley himself hardly noticed what was going on around him and was only brought back to reality by a punch in the shoulder from the Admiral.

“Owww,” he grumbled as he gave himself a little shake. He then looked over at the Admiral and the smile of victory spread across his face.

“I see you've made up your mind about her then?” The Admiral asked.

“She's smart, she's pretty, she loves everything that has to do with the sea and ships, she has a great love for adventure and and I know she will put her life on the line to help someone who is dear to her. On top of it all, she is true to her word and feircly loyal to the people she loves, tell me, can a man in the navy ask for anything more? We are lucky if we can find at least one of these qualities in a woman, to get them all together is nearly impossible. Oh, and she isn't one of those stuffed up snobs of society, but practical and can earn her own living if need be.” Wesley gave a contented sigh as he looked over in the direction Oceana had just rode off in.

“I guess this means we can officially go and tell Miss Patterson that you wish to court her.”

“And we had better hurry, it seems she is leaving in a few days.”

“Leaving where?”

“Back to Scotland. She lives in my old village, teaches in the school there/”

“Ah,” for a second the Admiral's face turned a little grave, but he masked it with a smile before Wesley had time to notice. “Well, perhaps you could convince her to prolong her visit, lovers usually have this strange effect on each other and can make them do seemingly random or unpredictable things,” The Admiral chuckled at his own statement. “A few well placed words, Wesley, and you can keep her here long enough to convince her that marrying you is a good idea.”

“I don't think she will need much convincing for the latter part,” Wesley said with an air of confidence. “Come, Admiral, let us go home and pull out a bottle of your good wine, I think we can toast to this victory and to the next.”

***

Oceana floated back to Miss Patterson's home. She didn't feel the ground underneath her feet as she walked out of the carriage and through the front door.

“Ah, Oceana, you are back,” Beth greeted her. “Dinner will be ready in about half an hour, Miss Patterson will return by then.”

“Good, good,” Oceana lazily replied. Beth and Robert exchanged glances at Oceana's obvious euphoric behavior.

“Oceana,” Beth tentatively asked. “did he kiss you?”

“Mmmm?” Oceana glanced over at the pair of them, “Mmmm Mmmm,” she shook her head, “he didn't have too,” she added as an afterthought.

“You do remember...”

“Yes, yes, I know, we're sailing for Scotland in three days, don't worry I haven't forgotten about that. I remember everything, you know. Now, I should go change for dinner. I'll see you within the hour, Beth and Bobby Love,” Oceana giggled and waltzed upstairs to her room. Beth slowly turned to face her husband.

“Did she just say we were sailing for Scotland?”

“Did she just call me Bobby Love?”

Beth and Robert both burst into a quiet laugh from the two questions.

“Oh my,” Beth shook her head, “I think we can officially say Oceana is in love."

“Aye.”

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I'm sorry it took me so long to update this, but I hope you will find this chapter well worth the wait :D

NaNoWriMo is over (and I won :D finished with 55.000 words) and that means I have the time to give this story it's proper attention :) I'm already working on the next chapter, and if everything goes as it should (which doesn't always happen) I should have it up around Friday or Saturday.

The song that Oceana sings is a traditional English sailor song called The Female Smuggler. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a recorded version on it on youtube.

Picture to your right>> (or above^^) is 'The Thames Below Westminister' by Claude-Oscar Monet