Curse of the Sea

by Joni Parker

  “You won’t believe what she just told me.” She pointed back to her office and her face turned bright crimson.

  Jeffrey smiled. “Did she tell you she was part Elf and Titan?”

  “Yes, what rubbish! Is she demented?” Pennington glared at him.

  “She’s not demented; she’s telling you the truth. I know her parents and grandparents.”

  “Seriously?” She frowned. “You’re just as mental as she is.”

  “No, I’m not. Her father was Count Dumwalt.”

  “Well, there’s no record of him in the Internet, love.” She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot.

  “He was shipwrecked on Seaward Isle like my father. It’s this island we come from. It’s very strange. I can’t explain how it happened, but it did.” Jeffrey shook his head. “Where is she?”

  “At my desk.” She pointed behind her. “I told her to stay there. Then she had the nerve to tell me she was born in 985. That’s impossible.”

  Jeffrey smiled with understanding. “That’s how they counted years on the island. It was 985 years from the time the Elves were stranded there. By the way, I wouldn’t leave her alone for too long. She can be quite curious.”

  Pennington turned pale and ran back to her desk. Alex wasn’t there. She gasped. She checked through the other cubicles, but Alex was gone. She ran back to Smith’s office.

  “Help me find her,” Pennington said to Smith. Jeffrey stood up and joined the search for Alex. They ran in two separate directions and met at the lift door. When it opened, Alex stepped out, carrying a white box. Sweat poured down the sides of her face, but her desire to eat was stronger than her fear of the lift.

  “Alex!” the three of them said at once.

  Pennington pointed her finger and narrowed her eyes. “I told you to stay at my desk.”

  The young man next to Alex raised his hand. “Pen, I took her upstairs to get her something to eat. She said she hadn’t eaten since yesterday.”

  “I expect you to do as you’re told!” Pennington pointed her finger at her again, staring at her angrily.

  Alex gritted her teeth. “I’m not your dog!”

  Pennington looked stunned. “How dare you!”

  Smith stepped between them. “Alex, why don’t you eat in our break room? Come on, I’ll show it to you.” They left Pennington behind. “Don’t worry about Detective Sergeant Pennington. She’s a little uptight. She doesn’t believe in fairy tales.” Smith laughed.

  “What fairy tale?” Alex asked.

  Jeffrey and Smith laughed, but Alex raised her eyebrows. They didn’t answer her. They went into the large room where she sat at a table to eat. Smith got some cans from a machine and gave one to each.

  “So what fairy tale are you talking about?” Alex asked again.

  “You’re serious?” Smith asked. “You don’t expect us to believe that you’re part Elf and Titan, do you? It’s just make-believe.”

  “Elves are quite real and so are Titans. Tell them, Jeffrey.” She lifted the top of the bun to examine the contents. It looked like meat. Then she took a drink from the can and choked on the bubbles, coughing hard.

  “Are you all right, Alex?” Jeffrey hit her on her back a few times.

  Alex coughed and cleared her throat. “What is this?” She was hoarse, pointing to the can.

  “It’s a soda. If you don’t like it, I’ll get you something else,” Smith said.

  “No, it’s all right. Why does it have so many bubbles? And it’s sweet.” Alex took another sip and felt the bubbles go up her nose. “It’s good.” She held up her sandwich. “What’s this?”

  “A hamburger,” he said. “An American invention.”

  “American? That’s where Colonel Penser’s from. The United States of America. It’s quite good.” Alex took a bite. “Did you eat, Jeffrey?”

  He nodded. “That’s the first thing I did.” He sipped from the can. “Detective Sergeant Smith, where is this America?”

  “Across the Atlantic Ocean. It was one of our colonies, a long time ago. Then it grew up and became the most powerful nation in the world. Good people there. I’ve met lots of them.”

  “Colonel Penser, Hamlin, and Edgar were from America and so were Olivia and Ebony.” She nodded at Jeffrey.

  “That’s right.”

  “Ebony?” Smith raised his eyebrows.

  “Her name’s Ebony Shorter. She was in a yacht race that went around the world, but she was shipwrecked on our island a few years ago.” Alex finished eating and drank the last from the can. “What do I do with this?” She pointed at the white box.

  “Put it in this bin.” Smith pointed to it. “It’s for trash.”

  “The box can be washed out and used again.”

  “True. Someone will pick it up later and send it out for recycling.”

  “Recycling?”

  “They make it into something new. We do that quite a bit now. I guess we’d better check on Pennington.” They went by her office, but she wasn’t there, so Smith took Alex to his.

  Chapter 10

  DATA COLLECTION

  Alex sat in a chair near Jeffrey as Detective Sergeant Smith asked him questions. Jeffrey answered and the man typed them into the computer. Alex watched his fingers fly over the keyboard and looked at the screen, watching letters and numbers come up as he typed. He didn’t even have to look at his fingers to pick out the right letter. Alex had seen the Japanese scientists in Nyla using the computer, but none of them were as fast as Smith. Fascinated, she leaned closer to the screen, touching it.

  Smith looked at her and asked, “Checking up on me?”

  “How are you doing that?”

  “All I’m doing is entering the information Jeffrey’s giving me, so we can build a database. I’ll save it, so whenever I need it again, I can get it back.” He hit a key with his finger and showed her the screen. “That’s Jeffrey’s information. Let me see what Pennington did on you.” He typed in some commands. “There’s nothing here. Just a minute.” He picked up the phone and touched a button. “Pen, I have Alex here. What have you done on her? I don’t see anything in the computer.” He paused to listen. “Oh, okay, love. I’ll take care of it.” He hung up the phone and turned to Alex. “She said she didn’t really get started, so I’ll do it for her.” He typed something on the computer. “All right, love. Please give me your full name, last name first.”

  Alex stared at him blankly, forgetting her name. She looked to Jeffrey for help.

  “Her last name is Dumwalt, spelled d-u-m-w-a-l-t, first name is Alexin, no middle name.” He turned and looked at her. “Do you have a middle name? I never asked.”

  “Catherine, but I never use it.”

  “Well, Alexin Catherine Dumwalt, when were you born?” Smith asked.

  “I was born on the spring solstice in the year 985, twenty years ago.”

  Smith glanced at Jeffrey and back at his desk, looking through some papers. “Let’s see…it’s called the spring equinox, not the solstice.”

  “Why?”

  “Because on that day, there are the same number of hours of daylight as there are at night, so the term equinox is used, meaning equal.”

  “But the season still changes.”

  “Yes, that’s true.”

  “I like the word solstice better.”

  “Have it your way. The spring equinox was March twentieth and twenty years ago would be 2011.”

  “2011? Is this 2031?” Alex’s eyes popped open. “Oh, that explains Hunter Dawn 2031.”

  “Exactly. And it’s July 3rd.” He typed the information into the computer. “Where were you born?”

  “In my father’s fortress on Seaward Isle.”

  “What city?”

  Alex shook her head. “There wasn’t a city there. I was born at home. I was trying to explain--”

  Jeffrey said, “Put Nyla, like you did for me. The city’s still standing.”

  “The computer won’t let me type in Seawa
rd Isle or Eledon, so I’m using S.I., U.K. That stands for Shetland Islands, United Kingdom. It’s the closest thing I can find.”

  “Where’s that?” Alex asked.

  “Some islands north of Scotland.” Smith continued to fill out the form with Jeffrey’s help. They finally finished and the man saved it. He took them to another room where they sat on a sofa where several other young men were waiting. They recognized Jeffrey.

  “The man in this office will snap your picture for your identity documents. You’ll get an identity card, a cash card, and a passport. Then, you’ll be taken in for an interview.” Smith shook hands with Jeffrey and Alex and left.

  A young man entered the room and called for Jeffrey. He left and the other men were called and led away through another door. Alex sat in the room alone, leafing through a magazine about people in strange clothes. Shortly, Jeffrey returned and sat down next to her, showing her two cards and a small red booklet.

  “They sat me in a chair and told me to look at a light. The light flashed and they had me sign my name. They gave me these cards and sent me back. It’s easy. They said this card is like money.” He held it up. “The guy told me there was a hundred pounds in it.” He smiled. “You look really nervous, Alex. Everything will be all right.”

  “I don’t feel good about this. I just want to go home.”

  “If you get this done now, you won’t have to do it the next time you come.”

  “Maybe someone else can come instead of me.”

  The young man called her name and she followed him into the office. He pointed to a chair where she sat down. “Now, Miss, your name, please?”

  “Alex.”

  “Last name?”

  “Dumwalt.”

  The young man typed her name in the computer and glanced at it. “Is this information correct? Alexin Catherine Dumwalt…born March 20, 2011 in Nyla, S.I., U.K.?”

  Alex nodded. “Yes.”

  He checked other vital information like height and weight, hair and eye color. “Good, please look over here at this light. Charming blue hair in your ears. Is that normal?”

  “Yes, among Water Elves.”

  “Smile, please.” A light flashed and Alex jumped, letting out a small scream. The young man laughed a little. “Please wait while I check the photo.” He typed something into a computer and examined her photo. “Lovely. Put your thumb on this pad.” He pointed to a small pad that he put in front of her.

  Alex put her right thumb on it and a light scanned it. “What’s that?”

  “Your thumbprint. Everyone’s print is different. Now, all you have to do is sign your name here.” He pointed to a light screen and she signed it. “Give me a few moments.” He held up his hand and turned away to another machine. A few minutes later, he handed her a card. “Careful, it’s a little warm.”

  Alex stared at the little card in her hand. At the top in large block letters, it read, “IDENTITY CARD,” and below it, had her picture, name, and signature with an image of her thumbprint. She glanced at her thumb and compared it to the image.

  “Here you go, Miss Dumwalt.” He opened a small red book. “Sign your full name here.” When she finished, he closed the book and handed it to her. “This is your passport—you’re good to travel anywhere. And courtesy of his Majesty’s government, here’s a spending card. Now there’s only a hundred pounds on it, so don’t go spending it all at once.” He chuckled. “Please sign here.” He pointed to the light screen once more. “It just means that you got the documents.

  Alex signed her name and glanced at the cards. “Thanks. Where can I travel to?”

  “Try Paris, it’s quite lovely.” He smiled and escorted her to the door. “I think you’re the last one. Have a seat for a moment and I’ll find out where you go next.”

  Alex sat in the empty waiting room—Jeffrey and everyone else were gone. The magazine beckoned her, even though she had no idea who any of the people were. A few moments later, another young man came to the room and called her name. She followed him down the hallway where he opened a door for her, waving her inside.

  Alex looked inside as the hairs on the back of her neck rose.

  Chapter 11

  INTERROGATION

  Alex bit her lip as she glanced around. The room was large, painted yellow with a thick blue carpet on the floor. A large mirror, framed in gold, hung on one wall with oil paintings in elaborate frames on the long wall in the room. At the far end was a strange, black, shiny picture, unframed and foreboding. In the middle of the room stood a mahogany table with two chairs upholstered in silk on opposite sides. On the right side of the table, a pad of yellow paper with writing on it lay perfectly aligned to the table’s edge. The overhead light was recessed into the ceiling and covered with white plastic. The nice furnishings gave it the appearance of a conference room, but it was set up like an interrogation room. She grimaced and rubbed her neck. It felt wrong.

  “Please come in.” A man waved her inside. He buttoned his suit jacket as he stood up. She assessed him quickly—he was her height, trim and fit, one who could hold his own in a fight. Above his lip was a dark, trimmed moustache. He nodded at her and extended his hand. “Lady Dumwalt? Please allow me to introduce myself—my name is Detective Inspector Graham Tyler of Scotland Yard. How do you do?” He seemed friendly.

  Alex shook his hand, noting his firm grip. “You can call me Alex. What did you say your name was again?”

  “Graham Tyler.”

  “Before that.”

  “Detective Inspector. I’m a detective with Scotland Yard.”

  “What’s Scotland Yard?”

  “The best police force in the world.”

  “Am I under arrest?” She cocked her head to the side.

  “I was sent here to investigate the unusual circumstances surrounding the return of these sailors. Please have a seat.” He pointed to the chair. After she sat down, he sat across from her and folded his hands in front of him.

  As he began to speak, Alex leaned forward, her fist propped against her cheek, wondering what it was about the return of these sailors that required the police. She stared at the man, taking time to assess him more closely. He was in excellent physical shape; his hands were hard, but not callused like a common worker; his hair was cut short for ease of care but could use a trim. His gray eyes were deep and determined—a no-nonsense sort of person. His nose would have been straight had it not been broken at one time. Alex pressed her lips together—he was the sort of man she didn’t like to fight, because he would never give up. But there was sweat on his brow—he was nervous for some reason. Her gaze settled on his mustache and she wondered what it felt like to have one. Did it itch? She licked her upper lip, her tongue searching for an imaginary mustache.

  “Do you understand, Alex?” He tapped the table with his pen and stared at her.

  Caught daydreaming, Alex squirmed uncomfortably. She blinked and realized she hadn’t heard a word he said. “Sorry, I’m a little tired. I didn’t get any sleep last night. What did you say again?”

  He cleared his throat. “What I said was, our conversation is being recorded so you must listen to this caution—you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defense if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you may later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.” He wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “Would you like a solicitor present?”

  “What for? How are you recording this? Am I under arrest?”

  “This room is set up to record conversations, both video and audio.” He pointed to the ceiling where a small camera was pointed at them.

  “What’s that black shiny picture?” The black screen seemed to pull at her soul.

  “It’s a television set, or as we call it here, a telly.”

  “What does it do?”

  “It’s not relevant to our discussion. What is important is that you know you’re being recorded and we can use any evidence we gather in court proceedings.”r />
  “Why would you take me to court if I’m not under arrest? I think it’s pretty clear what happened. We brought those sailors here.”

  “May we begin?” Tyler rubbed his mustache with his fingers and twirled it at the end without thinking. He stared at his paper and tapped his pen as he read some notes.

  Alex propped her head on her fist and stared at him, watching him closely. His mustache was intriguing her and her tongue snuck out to check her upper lip once more. She did feel hair, but it was very fine. He cleared his throat and looked up—Alex averted her eyes.

  “According to your paperwork, you claim that your father was the Count of Oltria. Can you be more specific?” he asked.

  Alex shrugged. “Well, he had brown hair--”

  “No, I mean, where is Oltria?” He chuckled.

  “On Seaward Isle.”

  “What did he do?”

  “He raised sheep. After he died, Lord Dimont sold everything. He put the money aside for us, but it’s underwater somewhere.”

  “Who’s Lord Dimont?”

  “He’s Jeffrey’s father, the King of Northeast Forest, but he’s dead, too.”

  “I see. What organization do you represent?”

  “I’m the Keeper of the Keys for the Council of Elders in Eledon.”

  “And what does that organization do?”

  “The Council is made up of twelve Elves and they issue guidance to the Elves, as well as communicate with the Mentors. I’m only a staff member, the Keeper of the Keys.”

  “Who are the Mentors?”

  “The Elf guides. They appear to us in the form of a flame.” Alex cupped her hands together. “The flame’s about this size…and they speak from it. I thought it was weird, but the Elves said it was normal.”

  Tyler scribbled some notes on the pad and Alex leaned forward to watch him. “Where is this Eledon?” He shot the question at her without looking up.

  “From here? Sorry, you’ll have to ask Ecstasy for directions. I was just a passenger. All I know is that we left yesterday and flew for a while until we got close to the moon. Then we turned toward the mortal world—it looked like a big blue sapphire.”