AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m not talking about him. I’m talking about this ship. It can’t be cheap to hire a boat like this for such a long trip.”
“It’s taken care of.” He takes my hand and leads me to the gangway. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m not worried. I’m feeling guilty.”
“Well, don’t do that either.”
I sigh. “Can’t help it.”
He takes my hands as we enter a spartan, white-painted hallway largely devoid of decoration or niceties. The floor is dark blue. Black stencil writing on the walls beside arrows indicates the direction to cargo areas, crew berths, stairs, engineering, and so on. Everything smells like the ocean... but with a faint hint of fresh paint.
“Not as much as you’re thinking.” He smiles down at me, continuing the conversation. “Small price to pay to prevent the darkpocalpyse.”
“Heh.” I hug him. “When you put it like that… I guess I shouldn’t feel too guilty.”
Kingsley shakes his head. “Why the heck would you feel guilty?”
“You’re paying to clean up a mess my kid created.” I fidget. “At least I think she did. Still can’t figure out if she somehow manifested it or if the unicorn decided to visit on her own.”
He gives me a nice squeeze. “You’re not even considering the possible third scenario.”
“Demons?” I grumble.
“No.” He grins. “Might have been a faerie trying to give Paxton a birthday present.”
I blink. “Where the heck did that come from?”
“Well, think about it.” Kingsley leans closer, lowering his voice. “Maple is helping us out, and we didn’t have to ask her. That rather feels like a manager attempting to smooth over a mistake one of their employees made.”
Hmm. He does have a point. There is no way I’m going to ask, though. Even if that’s exactly right, asking the question would offend Maple. If it’s not right, asking would offend her even more. None of us need to add ‘angry faerie’ to the list of problems in our lives. There wouldn’t be a cupcake big enough to make up for that faux pas.
A crewman working for Angus emerges from a hallway to the left, walks over to us, nods once, then pulls a small lever on the wall to retract the gangway. Kingsley and I give him some space so he can close this enormous, heavy door. That makes me feel better. It’s probably dumb to go out to sea with a huge opening in the side of the boat.
Here we are... on a boat with a unicorn.
Just when I thought my life couldn’t possibly get any stranger.
Chapter Seventeen
Logistical Nightmares
It’s been roughly four days since we departed from Marina Del Rey.
This ship has bedrooms, though they are not exactly passenger cabins like on a cruise ship. The arrangement is closer to bunks on a military vessel with four small beds per room, stacked two on each side. Despite the size of this ship, the cabins are a bit cramped, definitely designed for function over form.
Thankfully, my elder daughter had the presence of mind to throw some clothes in bags for everyone (except Kingsley since he doesn’t live with us). Thanks to her quick thinking, we’re not going to be stuck wearing the same stuff for however many days this trip takes.
Admittedly, I was thinking this trip would take four or five days.
Nope.
Kingsley gave me a reality check. This ship is a lot faster than a cruise liner, but it’s still going to take us about twenty days to reach the approximate location of Thelmora. Upon learning exactly what this hastily rushed into trip was going to entail, I teleported myself home to take care of some things and pack properly.
By take care of some things, I called in a small favor from Fang. He’s arranged one of his associates to keep an eye on my house and office, and also basically serve as an answering service for the PI biz. If anything super urgent happens while we’re away, I’ll be notified.
The biggest complication is having Paxton out of school for almost a whole month. I really don’t like that part. It’s not completely unheard of for some kids to miss big chunks of school like this for various eccentric reasons, like long boat trips. Not exactly common, but it has happened. Suppose the life experience balances out the ‘factory schooling’ she’s missing.
As far as Paxton is concerned, she loves going to school, which is apparently not that common among kids these days. She also doesn’t necessarily mind the vacation. If there was any other way to shield this unicorn from the forces of evil other than to have Paxton with her at all times, I’d totally have done that.
