Page 18 of Dauntless
Eddie kept one hand clasped tightly in mine, and the other on the handrail that surrounded the catwalk.
“Keep your eyes on the horizon,” I said.
Eddie took a deep breath and stared out at the horizon.The wind whipped his scruffy dark hair in a thousand different directions at once, and I could feel it doing the same to mine.
I held Eddie’s hand while he slowly relaxed.His shoulders lost their stiffness, and his death grip on the handrail—and on my hand—loosened at last.
“Okay.”Eddie turned to look at me.“You’ve convinced me.Heights aren’t so scary as long as I’ve got you to hold onto.”
It happened before I even knew what I was doing.I leaned in toward him, lost in his wide, dark gaze, and then we were kissing.I thought for a brief, crazy second that my heart was going to beat right out of my chest.Then the kiss was ending, and I felt a stab of panic because what if I’d messed it up?But Eddie was gripping my hips tightly and laughing softly against my throat, his breath hot against my prickling skin.
“I’ll bet you show all the boys your lighthouse, huh?”
I laughed too and drew him back into the lantern room.
* * *
In the afternoon, clouds drew in, but they were white and distant and brought no promise of another storm.The temperature dropped a few degrees though, and I loaned Eddie a scarf as we walked back down the hill into the village.
Hiccup joined us.
The second we reached the village, chaos erupted.Well, chaos on a Dauntless scale.There was a flurry of feathery movement in the street behind the harbour wall, and a squawking herd of chickens came racing out to meet us, pursued by a yellow dog.
“Oi!”I yelled at the dog—one of Elias Dinsmore’s, probably—and Hiccup barked in agreement.The yellow dog turned tail and ran.A moment later Tall Tom Finch hobbled around the corner on his cane.Tall Tom was about six hundred years old, and definitely outpaced by the chickens.
He waved his cane in my direction.“Bloody dog!”he called out.“It’s chased me chooks off, Red Joe!”
“Sit down before you fall down, Tom,” I said.“We’ll get ’em back for you.”
Most of the residents of Dauntless Island worked the boats, but Tall Tom’s shout brought a few people out.Buzzy Pete lunged after a brown hen, his orange high-vis vest flapping in the wind.Verity Barnes and her boy, little Lost John, came out of their cottage to help.And so did Agnes Dinsmore with Susan Harper.Susan smiled and called me by my name; she was having a good day.Most of them weren’t, and she was usually, as her son Nipper Will said, off with the fairies.
It didn’t take too long to round up the chooks.They were happy to head back towards Tom’s place once the dog had gone.They were distrustful of Hiccup, but she was more interested in chasing bugs than chickens.Despite her breed, birds had never interested her much.I blamed it on a fight she lost with a seagull when she was a pup.She’d tried to retrieve the seagull, and it had objected strenuously.
Lost John, a hen tucked under his arm, led our little procession to Tall Tom’s house.
“I’ll put the kettle on,” Tall Tom said, and tottered inside his cottage while the rest of us counted the chooks into the sagging wire pen in his garden.
“Good for you,” I said, nodding at Eddie.He was holding a hen warily.“You got one.”
He held it out to me, flinching back as though he thought it might attack.“I didn’t catch it.That little kid shoved it at me while he went for another one.I had to take it.I didn’t know what else to do!”
“You did good,” I said, setting the chook down.
He blinked and showed me a pleased grin that warmed me more than it should have, given that I’d only known him a few days.But it felt right.
“Joe,” Agnes Dinsmore said, her curious gaze falling on Eddie.“You two coming for a cuppa?”
“No,” I said.“We’ve got to see Short Clarry.”
The women and Lost John waved us off.
Short Clarry Finch lived in a cottage in the street that ran alongside the curve of the harbour wall.He was the head of the Dauntless Island Tourist Board in addition to his mayoral duties.There were no other members yet, but Short Clarry was nothing if not optimistic.
“Red Joe!”he said, meeting us on his front path.“And you must be Mr.Hawthorne.How fascinating.”
Eddie held out his hand hesitantly.“Nice to meet you.”
Short Clarry shook it with enthusiasm.“Come in, come in.I’ve got the kettle on.Tea?Coffee?”He was already leading the way inside.“What would your great-great-great-grandfathers say if they could see you two right now, hmm?”
