Page 39 of Astrid at Sea

“Hammond and Latham,” Jerrik told me. “But we’re just awaiting one more person…there he is now.”

I twisted my neck to see who it was. When my eyes landed on Crosby, walking toward us with a nervous smile and playing awkwardly with his fingers, my eyebrows shot up in surprise.

I turned back to face Jerrik. “Crosby?” I gaped.

“Don’t ask me how,” he groaned. “I turned him down several times, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Sighing, I pursed my lips and waited for Crosby to join us in the small rowboat.

True to Jerrik’s word, Hammond and Latham wandered over to turn the mechanic wheel that Chip had installed. It controlled the chains that the little rowboat was attached to. Once welanded in the water, we pulled on the chains to indicate they could stop turning the wheel.

“Go get us some fish!” Latham grinned, leaning over the railing to unclip the rowboat from the chains to set us free. To keep them from getting damaged, Latham and Hammond turned the wheel the other way to retrieve them. They would drop the chains once again when we returned, hopefully with some fish.

I smiled and waved at them before tightening my grip around my oar. Crosby and I followed Jerrik’s lead as he rowed us away from the ship, further east, in search of some fish.

Jerrik usually went swimming, but as there were three of us today–and the fact that I was a poor swimmer and would no doubt drown myself in these deep waters–we had opted for the rowboat.

“What happened to cleaning with Roscoe and Manny?” I asked curiously, throwing the question over my shoulder at Crosby as we rowed.

“They said they didn’t need my help,” he told me, but I didn’t quite believe him.

Roscoe and Manny definitely needed help. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have bothered bringing it up during the meeting after lunch. Something told me the three of them had had a little falling out.

“Besides, I know that I played a pretty big part in the food shortage we’re experiencing, so I thought I’d help with the fishing.” Jerrik snorted at that, and I felt Crosby shift uncomfortably behind me. “I also wanted to go fishing because I heard that you offered to help as well, Astrid.” It was now my turn to shift uncomfortably in my seat. “You’re the only one that’s nice to me, Astrid. Everyone else mostly ignores me. Sometimes, it’s like I don’t exist.”

“They’re just upset,” I tell him, hoping to brush the issue under the rug. “I’m sure all of this will blow over in time.” That was a full-blown lie from me. Not for a second did I believe that this would blow over soon, and it was only confirmed when Jerrik snorted again.

“I hope so,” Crosby murmured, sounding forlorn, but I struggled to bring myself to feel bad for him.

When we arrived at a spot Jerrik was finally satisfied with, my arms ached from all the rowing, and we switched the oars for spears.

“First rule: don’t point the spear at me. Second rule: don’t point the spear at yourself or each other. Third point: always, always,alwayspoint the spear at the water.”

I nodded and did as instructed, immediately pointing the sharp edge of the spear toward the water.

“When you see a fish, pierce it with the sharp end of the spear. Killing it isn’t your objective, but it’s not a problem if you do.”

Jerrik wasn’t finished speaking, but Crosby got too excited and threw his spear into the water. I couldn’t see the fish he had spotted, but the water splashed where the spear landed. Instead of reaching for it, he watched in horror as it floated away from us.

Jerrik winced as he reached to retrieve the spear before it was lost to the waves. “Not quite like that, but good attempt, I guess.”

I turned my head to stare at The Serpent. We were close enough that I could still see it, but they wouldn’t be able to hear us even if we screamed at the top of our lungs and vice versa.

This was going to be a long day.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Iwas proud to say that I caught our first fish. It wasn’t particularly big or meaty, but it was our only one at the moment, and the slight smile on Jerrik’s face when I presented it to him, pierced on the sharp end of my spear, told me that he was proud of me. And that meant a lot to me.

A long stretch of time passed before Jerrik caught our next fish, and then it felt like we were on a roll. Jerrik caught four more fish, all larger than mine, before I caught my second. Crosby hadn’t caught any yet.

The seven fish meant that we were doing better than we had these past few days, but it still wasn’t much. It was just about enough to last for today and tomorrow.

“I’m going to get into the water,” Jerrik said. “This spot is good, but the boat might be scaring off the bigger fish. Will you two be okay here without me?”

“We will,” I assured him.

When Jerrik leapt into the water, he splashed us. I playfully threw a handful of water at him in retaliation, and he swam away, laughing to himself.

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