Captivated Ch. 04

"Isle of Enchantment," Sharon said.

Charly frowned with a curious smile, watching as Sharon, in turn, looked up at Royce.

"An apropos nickname for this place, don't you agree, sweetheart? Isle of Enchantment," she repeated as she looped a possessive arm through his and arched an eyebrow up at him. He didn't respond. Then she looked at the tomboyish girl who Royce was becoming a bit too friendly with. "Isn't that what you people here call this island? Isle of Enchantment?"

"I just call it by its official name. Mount Desert," Charly said.

"So what you're saying is, you have no idea that your people here have nicknamed this island the Isle of Enchantment because of your mother...and you? I find that hard to believe."

Charly's eyebrows shot up. "I have no idea why people would nickname this place on account of my late mother or me," she said with a polite smile.

Sharon smiled; her blue eyes sharp and her smile not reaching them. "Why, indeed."

There was something in the blonde's tone that didn't sit well with her. Her gaze dropped and glanced at the bags in the blonde's hand before she smiled and raised her gaze. "The village was founded by fisherman, and I guess the love of telling tall tales is still a favorite past time."

"Miss Meeren," Royce began, "I'd like to cash in that rain-check for dinner, and hope you'll join us this evening—"

"—Gems!" Charly suddenly called out, shooting up a hand and cutting him off, and acted as if she hadn't heard him.

Royce watched just as Gems came walking by hugging his precious cargo to him. He had stopped in his tracks the moment he heard Charly's chipper voice, and then he looked jealously at the tall man she'd been standing with.

"H-H-Hey, Charly."

"Come on. I feel generous today. I'll buy you a glass of ale at Ye Olde Brits Pub," she said with a friendly smile, seeing him blink in surprise as she approached him.

"Y-You sure you wanna—with me, Charly?"

"Yea, I'm sure," she said as she stopped in front of him. Then her expression changed as she looked at him with an earnest gleam in her eyes. "You and I, Gems...we need to talk." And before he could protest, she took his arm and nearly dragged him into the direction of a nearby pub without a single look back.

Charly led Gems into the Ye Olde Brits Pub and to a very private booth at the far end of the establishment. After she motioned for him to sit, she took her seat across him, set the large envelope with photos aside, and folded her arms on the table as she smiled at his somewhat uncomfortable and distrustful face.

"Why you smilin' at me like that, Charly?" he asked with a frown as he tightened his arms around the red bundle against him.

"Just tryin' to be friendly, is all, Gems."

He narrowed suspicious eyes on her. "Whaddya really want from me?"

"Hm." She smiled as her lashes dropped for a moment before they rose to look at him now with a more stark gleam in their crystalline depths. "I should be askin' you that, Gems."

"You're the one who'd asked to buy me a drink."

"What I mean is, what is it that you want from me, Gems? Because it seems you're escalatin' your attentions on me and with those mainlanders on the isle, that can cause me all sorts of trouble." Then she returned her hand on her arm. "You know why they're here, don't you?"

He frowned. "No."

"They wanna buy the lighthouse," she told him, and watched as he looked indignantly at her. NO islander wanted her to sell the lighthouse. "It's the same people who bought westward lighthouse and nobody's been happy with that ever since all that construction's been goin' on, on the other side of the island. I'm sure you're not, either."

Gems looked down, shame-faced. "No. I don't want that." He looked apologetically at her. "I don't want that," he repeated, "cuz I knows that if you have to sell, it means you're gonna leave this place, don't it?"

Trish Bailey, a rotund, middle-aged woman stuffed in an old English serving wench frock and apron came to stand by their table, and Charly smiled as she looked up her.

"Hi, Trish."

"Hi, Charly." Then she looked at Gems who kept his head down, and barely hid her disgust. "Gems." Then she smiled as she looked back at Charly. "What'll it be today for you two?"

"Just water for me and Gems here will have his regular." She smiled. "I'm buyin' today."

Trish nodded and smiled. "Comin' right up!" And then she left to get their order.

Charly fished in her pocket and took out a small tin with pop-up lid, and set it on the table.

"There's sea salt in that, isn't there?"

"You know it is."

"Why do you have to drink sea salted water, Charly?"

"Guess," she answered.

"I don't need to. I know."

She arched an eyebrow. "Then why ask?"

Trish brought their order: a large pitcher of water, a clean glass, and a tall ice-cream spoon. For Gems, she brought a large glass of brown ale. After Charly thanked her, the woman left and Charly popped open the tin and took out some white wafers of dehydrated sea salt and added half of what was in the tin in the glass before she added water and stirred. Gems watched curiously as he took his big twenty four ounce glass of brown ale and drank thirstily.

"Gems?" she finally said, and he stopped drinking and lowered his glass as she raised her eyes and looked at him while she tapped the spoon on the glass and set it aside. "I need you to do me a favor."

He was instantly guarded. "What kinda favor?"

"A big one."

"How big?"

"I need you to lie low 'til the mainlanders leave. Can you do that?"

He frowned. "Whaddya mean by 'lie low'?"

"Don't go talkin' about Captain Steven's log books and all the stuff you're always talkin' about. Can you do that?"

"Why should I?" he said with a derisive sniff, nose up. "You know what people've been sayin' and thinkin'. Everybody thinks ol' Gems is real soft up here," he tapped a finger to his temple. "I knows I ain't always been the brightest bulb, but I knows what I'd seen. I knows it, Charly, and you knows it, too. You know I ain't crazy, but people 'round here think I am. Do you know how hard it's been on pa, havin' his son bein' laughed at as the island's idiot?"

"You're the one who made it hard on yourself, Gems." Charly looked tersely at him. "You had to go tell everyone you'd seen me that evening." She shook her head as he blinked when he heard she wasn't denying it!

"So it's true. I'd seen what I'd seen—"

"—Are we good now?" she asked, not confirming or denying.

"B-But the other people—?"

"—They know, Gems. They all know. But they're keeping it to themselves." She leaned forward as she looked him deep in the eyes. "And I need your promise that you'll lie low until the mainlanders leave. Steer clear of them. Don't let them approach you. Can you do that?"

"Yea, yea...I can do that," he said, nodding vigorously.

She smiled. "Good." Then her gaze dropped as she looked at the deep red package he was holding against him. "I need that back, Gems."

He was willing to keep his mouth shut until the mainlanders left, but under no circumstances was he willing to part ways with his most treasured find. He shook his head.

"It's mine."

"No," she said as she looked at him. "It isn't yours."

"I found it fair and square!"

"It doesn't matter. It still doesn't belong to you. Now do what's right and give it to me," she said as she stretched out the palm of her hand across the table.

"No! No!" he said, clutching the wrapped stone against his chest. "It's mine and you can't make me give it to you. You can't." He shook his head vigorously. "No. You can't have it and you can't take it from me. I knows that. I knows that!"

She remained staring at his stubborn face for a few seconds more, and saw that he wasn't going to give up the stone. Then her fingers slowly curled into a loose fist before she retracted her hand and slowly sat up.

Without taking her eyes off him, she picked up her glass and drank until it was empty before she put it back on the table and ran her sleeve slowly across her damp lips. Then she lowered her hand to her lap and slowly took in a deep breath; her eyes slowly closing.

Gems watched with a frown in confusion and curiosity, but that was short-lived.

Suddenly, her mouth dropped open and her body jerked as if she were about to vomit, but nothing came out, not even a sound. But Gems heard something all right!

His hands flew to his ears and he covered them as he winced as if in pain, and the few people in the pub did the same. He dropped the wrapped up stone, but before it could drop into his lap or on the floor, a quick palm was there to catch it, and when he belatedly remembered he was holding the stone, he quickly dropped his hands to catch it himself. Then he saw that Charly was back in her seat, holding the wrapped stone in the palm of her hand while she looked from across the table.

He swallowed big, not knowing what to do now. There was a look of fright on his face as he stared at her earnest but calm face as she looked back at him from behind the wrapped stone that she was still holding out across the table. Then, to his shock and surprise, she slowly placed the wrapped stone in front of him on the table and rose to her feet as his round eyes followed her.

She calmly took her envelope from the table and said, "You shouldn't believe everything you read in old moldy log books, Gems. If I wanted to, I can take it anytime I please."

"S-So why didn't you?"

She slowly frowned as she looked at him as if he asked a ridiculous question. "Because I want you to give it to me out of your own and because you want to give it to me. That's why." And with that, she turned and left the pub.