* * *
SWIG’S OTHER EYE popped open once the boat passed through the sea spray. “What happened?” he said, raising his wings. “I’m as refreshed as if I’ve drunk from the sweetest waters.” He squawked and flew upward. “I feel as if I’ve been granted a new set of wings. I’m a whole new bird!”
May grinned. “I feel better too.” Her mouth and throat were no longer parched. Sensations of warmth and contentment filled the emptiness in her belly. “Ye—you missed it, Swig! The dolphins, they danced and sang. Then they drove th’—the boat through mist surrounded by rainbows.” Her iris eyes sparkled. “Is this real? Please tell me this en’t—” She cringed at having made three speech errors in a row. “That this isn’t a dream.”
Swig dipped his beak. “I hope not because that would mean the land I see up ahead is not real.”
May bounced up and down inside the hammock, unsure what else to do with the happiness bubbling inside of her.
Dolphins continued to lead the way with clicks and squeaks that played off the sounds of their splashing. The largest of the pod fell back to join its friends as the group split in two lines. Six silver crescents swam along the dory’s right side as the other half fell into position on its left. From Swig’s aerial view, the small fishing boat was a chariot ushered by creatures of the sea.
Once the boat reached the shore, the dolphins retreated into the water and swam away. May felt a pang of loss as she watched them go. “Thank ye, I mean, you,” she called out, waving after them. They’d done so much for her without expecting or asking for anything in return. They’d saved her life and Swig’s.
May climbed out of the boat and jumped to land. Her boots sank into the sand, almost up to her knees. She laughed and kicked her heels free before falling backward and stretching her limbs. “I’m happy to have a boat, but I hope not to sail again anytime soon.”
“Nor I,” said Swig, landing beside her. He looked past the beach, toward a copse that was wild and overgrown. “Something about this place feels familiar. Why would the dolphins have led us here?”
“I wish I knew. Either way, we’ll need to find shelter for the night.”
“Well done, young lady!”
May’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean? I haven’t done anything.”
“You haven’t sounded like a pirate since we touched ground.”
May blushed. It couldn’t have been the mist. She’d made four mistakes just after they’d passed through. Was it the shore? The sand? Or something she’d accomplished on her own through practice? She puffed her chest out the slightest bit. Maybe she had something to do with it. Perhaps a person’s inner magic could be just as effective as an enchanted sea spray.
She and Swig walked away from the shore in high spirits. Two-inch footprints and claw prints trailed behind them, side by side.
As they traveled, the sand become more compact until it formed a black soil covered in moss and vines. Scattered trees thickened into a copse as they wandered deeper inside. A canopy of trees blocked the sun, as well as a palace that lay ahead in the center of the island.
May shivered. She crossed her arms and squeezed each opposite limb with her fingers, trying to conserve the warmth they’d left behind at the shore. Darkness accompanied the chill of the shade.
“It’s quiet, Swig. What if no one lives here? The dolphins are gone! We don’t know whether they’ll ever come back.”
“Don’t panic, my dear. From up above, the island appeared quite large. We’re bound to bump into someone at some point.”
“And fresh water, I hope.”
“As well as a feast of nuts and seeds.”
May shot him a look.
“You, of course, are under no obligation to abide by my vegetarian diet. If need be, I’ll accompany you back to the shore. The captain’s dory is well-equipped with nets and hooks. We’d just have to find someone larger to help us reel in and cook the catch.”
“If we wander around long enough, nuts and seeds might taste good to me too.” They were her least favorite foods, bland and hard to chew with her tiny teeth. Nuts were especially bothersome. Cracking them reminded her just how easy it would be to bust open her own skull.
As they walked, the thicket of trees opened into a clearing. May’s legs ached. She’d done more walking in a day than she had living aboard the Water Lily.
The path steepened, making her miss her days of riding within the protection of Daniel’s satchel. She clenched her fists, determined to be strong without him. The more she thought about it, the more certain she became that his attentions had made her soft and useless.