DARK FATE (Scarlett of the wolves #1)

Chapter four

“It's me!” I yell as I get home. “What are you doing?” I ask seeing my parents hunched over the coffee table.          

“We're flipping through an old family album.”  

I walked over to kiss them and looked around the room. I didn’t see my grandmother, immediately I imagined that she had been kept in the hospital. (I panic easily.)

“Where's May?”  

“She's in the winter garden with Millie. They’re taking care of the orchids,” my father says without looking at me. “And I'd rather you call her grandma.”          

I shrug my shoulders.

“I've planned a sea trip with Jacob Brown, tomorrow morning, are you okay with that?”          

I knew my parents wouldn't refuse, but it felt right to ask for their permission.

“Jacob Brown? Hazel's brother?” my father says, raising an eyebrow. “Is that the young daredevil who drove his father's tractor without his permission?”           

“That's him, yes... He's on vacation in Wick right now. He’s here until the end of August before returning to Philadelphia.”          

“Philadelphia?” my mother asks.   

“Yes, he there for two years for his studies.”   

“No problem for me,” agrees my father. “As long as he's careful.”     

The matter was settled, now I couldn't wait.

The rest of the day passed very quickly, although I did nothing in particular. Around seven o'clock, I decided to send an email to Kaley, I was going to be killed otherwise, she was still worried about nothing.

Kaley.

Hi!

Finally on land. You can't imagine how much I hate those damn planes! Anyway, I don't have a real keyboard so I'm not going to write to you much. (Ok, I'm just lazy!)

Tomorrow I’m going out with Jacob, you know, my friend Hazel's twin brother. He offered me a sea trip. A first you realize, since I’ve been coming to Wick... As long as I'm not sick. That would be a real shame...

Okay, sorry, but I don't have much to say...

Ah, yes... of course, I nearly forgot. I had a funny meeting at Inverness airport. Actually, "meeting" is too strong a word. I fell (literally, he barely caught me before I sprawled on the floor), on the most handsome boy in the world. I haven't gotten over it yet, just to say! One of those marble-chiselled male-catalogue model types that give you goosebumps. You know, tall, brown-haired, green eyes... Crazy eyes!

Argh... there aren’t any specimens of this kind in the godforsaken corner where I am, anyway... pff!

I'll leave you, we'll have dinner soon.

Kiss,

Scarlett.

PS: You and Cyril?

She must have been glued to her screen because her answer arrived within ten minutes.

Wait! Jacob? The handsome guy I saw in the pictures last year? Well! You better take advantage of him, my dear!

Anyway... Cyril and me? Wow! If you only knew, he's so... What if ... Last night he took me to a restaurant too... wow! And he even gave me flowers, you know? (What originality!) I love him! I’m in love.

I can’t wait for this to happen to you, so you'll know what I'm talking about! And, sooner than expected, eh?

Big kisses,

Kaley.

PS: What’s the deal with the handsome brunette?

It was seven-thirty when I finished reading her email. I wasn’t going to answer her immediately, we would be here all night, otherwise! At that moment I heard a car come into the yard. I peeked out the window. Jacob was stepping out of his white pickup. "But, what..." I hurried down the stairs to meet him and opened the front door.

“Jacob! Didn't you tell me you would call?”  

“Yes,” he says, smiling, “but your father called before I did.”          

“My father?”  

I didn't understand a thing at all, what was this all about?

“Yes,” I hear behind me, “I wanted Jacob to explain to me exactly what the sea trip would be like. And how well he can navigate.”          

I turned around, mortified.

“Dad!”  

I would have liked to disappear into a big hole. He could at least have told me about it before. What did I look like? I was red with shame.

"Come in, my boy," he said, politely inviting Jacob to follow him into the living room.          

My mother sat with us and didn't miss any of Jacob' explanations. He showed us his license and told us that his father had bought an old fishing boat. Both of them had completely fixed it up into a tourist boat. Sometimes Jacob offered crossings around the islands or along the coast. A real sailor!

“But you’ve been sailing for a long time?” my father wanted to make sure.          

“Yes, sir. When I was little, I used to go fishing with my grandfather. He taught me most of what I know.”          

Jacob told us about some of the feats he had accomplished. It's crazy, he always had to make a big deal out of it! But my father seemed much more reassured. The permission to go seemed granted.

“Jacob, do you want to stay for dinner with us?” Mom suggests later in the evening.          

“No thank you, Mrs Rittel,” he apologizes. “I’m expected at home and it’s already late.”          

And indeed, it was nine o'clock. In any case, he knew how to captivate his audience, we hadn’t seen the time pass.

I walked him back to his car, my hands in my pockets, and my ears on fire, still embarrassed.

“Jacob, I'm so sorry about all of this. My father hadn't told me anything.”      

“Don't worry, Scarlett, it's normal. You’re still a kid!” He laughs, giving me a wink.        

“I didn't even get the chance to ask you what time we were supposed to meet at the harbour tomorrow morning.”

“I'll come to get you here, it’ll be better.”  

“That’s great.”   

“Three-thirty, is that good?”  

“What... what?” I croaked. “Is that a joke?”   

“No, no. You don’t want to miss the sunrise? You’ll love it.”      

My mouth remained open, I was amazed. I wasn’t sure my head was clear enough at this early hour to appreciate anything.

Perky, he climbed back into his pickup and rolled down his window.

“See you tomorrow Scarlett. Remember to take warm clothes. It’s really cold early in the morning. No more than seven or eight degrees.”      

"Okay. See you tomorrow, Jacob," I waved.   

Half-past three... No one has ever made me do this before. The trip had better be worth it!

After dinner, I decided to take a good shower and go to bed immediately. It was already eleven o'clock. I only had four hours to sleep. What a face I was going to have tomorrow...

Jacob arrived on time. It was dark, but the sky was clear. Not a single trace of tiredness on his face, when it looked like I’d aged ten years!

I hadn't taken the time to go down to the kitchen to drink even a cup of tea. I couldn't swallow anything so early. I was rarely in a good mood when I woke up, but at three in the morning, I looked like a ferocious beast! I didn't open my mouth the entire way to the harbour and I appreciated Jacob doing the same. He parked the pickup in the harbour parking lot and walked around to open the door for me.

“Come on, Sleeping Beauty! Ready for the big adventure?”    

I groaned an unconvincing little “yeah” and stepped out into the damp cold, my head buried in my hood.

He took his big backpack from the back of the car, a cooler and a rectangular box, made of brown leather.

“What is it?”   

“A surprise young lady... You’ll find out later. Maybe... I hope you have sea legs.”   

“No idea. Will the sea be rough?”  

“No, I don't think so. But you never know, you could still feel sick to your stomach. My grandmother, for example, was sick even when the boat was moored.”   

“Oh.”

I didn't want to find myself throwing up overboard. It had to be the least glamorous thing that could happen in such a situation. Anyway, considering that I wasn't sick on the crazy rides at fairgrounds in Paris, maybe the boat wouldn't bother me? Hopefully...

We walked along the quay lit by lampposts. A few boats were moored and fishermen were busy loading empty crates. And that strong smell of fish... Ugh! It was unbearable. Especially when you just got up. Fortunately, I had nothing in my stomach, otherwise, I wouldn't have had to test the boat for me to throw up.

“Is it always so lively at this hour?”  

With an almost mocking smile, he looked at my disgusted city-dweller face and explained:

“This is nothing at all. In my grandfather's time, Wick was a very famous fishing harbour. A thousand boats came and went. There was work for everyone. Today, there are less than ten die-hard fishermen who manage to bring back some fish. But they do it for fun, they usually have a side job. In Wick, the profession of fisherman wouldn’t be enough to live.    

“And why is there not so much activity?”  

“The herring schools gradually disappeared.”  

Surely the result of intensive fishing. Jacob stopped.

“Here we are. Wait for me there, I’ll put this on the bridge.”  

While he was putting away the backpack and the rest of his things, I took a closer look at the boat. It was old. Even though it was still dark, I could make out the colours Jacob and his father had chosen to restore it with. The hull was blue and the name Friendship could be read painted white on the bow. On the deck, the wooden slats were painted red and the cabin, also in wood, had kept a natural colour.

“It's a nice boat. What’s the number on the back for? Identification?”    

“Yep. It's a bit like a license plate. Can I help you?” he said, holding out his hand for me so I could climb up. 

I was now all excited to be sailing. Even though I had been coming to Wick on vacation since I was born, I didn't know much about the North Sea, other than it was cold and unwelcoming for swimming.

“Sit here while I untie the ropes and start the engine.”          

I sat down on the bench up front and watched Jacob manoeuvre. He was really in his element and had a perfect command of what he was doing. It was reassuring.

Twenty or thirty minutes later, we were already very far from the coast. We could see the light of the Noss Head Lighthouse in the distance. I felt like I was the heroine of a romantic movie. Jacob stopped the boat.

“Why are we stopping?” I ask.   

He joined me on the deck and sat down next to me.

“The sun will soon rise and to appreciate it the boat must be stationary.”          

“I must be crazy!”  

“Oh, yes? And why?”  

“I got up at three in the morning to come with you on this boat!”          

“Yes, but you'll like it...”   

And this was true. The sun rose slowly, coming out of its water casket. I found the view so magnificent it took my breath away. Jacob handed me a pair of sunglasses—my eyes ached with staring at that fiery light like this. The red and orange colours mingled and played with their reflections on the water. I was under a spell.

We stayed there for at least two hours talking about everything and nothing. When the sun was high enough in the sky, Jacob restarted the boat.

“You hungry?” he says.  

“I can eat a buffalo!” 

“So we'll have breakfast near Sinclair Castle, okay? We'll be there in a good quarter of an hour.”           

“Great! I love the place.”   

We had barely left when Jacob switched off the boat's engine again.

“Is there a problem?” I ask, a little worried.   

“Not at all. It's just the surprise I told you about earlier.”          

He left the cabin to get the small leather box. Curious, I approached to see what it was. He took out two pairs of binoculars and handed me one.

“Do you know how to use them?”  

“Yes, I think...”   

"Then, look over there," he says, pointing to something that was moving a little further out in the sea.           

I raised the binoculars to my eyes to see better. No... I couldn't believe it. A whale!

“Hey, it's a whale!” (I was all excited.)   

“We only get to see them very early in the morning on this side of the coast. You’re privileged.”           

“Wow...” (I was speechless.)  

We stayed there until the whale disappeared. I couldn't believe I was here doing this absolutely insane thing that I never expected to experience before. Jacob snapped me out of my daydream.

“Well, are we going now or do you plan to join the whale by transforming yourself into a mermaid?” he laughs.            

I smile at him. He had no idea how much being here impressed me.

We arrived sometime later at Sinclair Bay. The ruins of the castle were there, unchanged, proudly erected on the edge of the cliff, on their rocky hill. This corner was still completely wild, only a few sheep grazed here and there in the pasture. Of course, I already knew the place, having been here very often with my parents, but I had never seen the castle from this angle; from the sea. The rays of the sun seemed to make the rock glow as if it had been oiled. The water was calm. The atmosphere was wonderfully peaceful.

I was biting into an apple when I noticed a very large animal, motionless, on the stone steps next to the castle. A dog surely. I took the binoculars to take a closer look. It looked like a husky, but much taller and larger, with a longer and busier tail too. It had a light grey, almost white coat. You could have thought of a wolf... Ah, of course, because now I see them everywhere! It was so big... and peculiar. It didn't look like any breed I knew and… It was weird, I felt like it was staring at me.

“Hey, Jacob! Look at the dog on the steps.”   

I pointed at it, but the animal moved at the same time and disappeared behind the walls of the tower.

“I don't see anything.”  

“It just entered the castle! It’s very handsome, a grey-white coat, a huge tail. I don't know what breed it is.”  

Jacob laughed.

“Are you sure you’re not hiding a bottle of whiskey under your sweatshirt?”  

“No, I'm telling you I saw it!”

“Well, let’s go check it out...”   

“Yeah! But how?”   

“There’s an inflatable raft and some oars. I’ll pump it up and off we go.”  

As soon as the boat was inflated, Jacob threw it into the sea and climbed down using the ladder against the hull. He held out his hand to help me climb. He took the two oars and rowed towards a small cove naturally formed in the rock. Once on land, all we had to do was climb. But it wasn't something I was very good at, and Jacob gave me a hand. When we got to the top, I was desperately looking for the white dog. But of course, it hadn’t waited for me. It had already run away. I looked around the castle, in the pasture. Nothing. I was disappointed.

"Well, well... We at least had an excellent excursion," Jacob teased me as I pretended to sulk. “Are we going home?”     

Grumpy, I nodded.

I was about to climb over the first rock when I saw Jacob lift his head and look behind me. I imitated him and noticed about ten meters from us, a tall guy, dark, coming out from behind the towers of the castle, from where the dog had been hiding. I was surprised because I hadn't seen anyone earlier. I couldn't make him out very well, but his appearance vaguely reminded me of someone. I immediately thought of the guy at the airport. It doesn’t make sense! What probability was there that he lived in the area? A little unsettled, however, I watched him move away into the pasture, with the same relaxed and confident walk. Jacob stared, his eyes so squinting that I thought he had a real problem.

“Something wrong?” I ask.   

“No, no problem,” he says, helping me down the slope. “Come on, let's go.”          

Back at the manor, I was exhausted. Bed late the night before, got up before dawn. I absolutely had to sleep.

Jacob walked me to the door.

“Did you have a good time, Scarlett? Not too disappointed to be up so early?”          

“What? You’re joking! I loved this boat trip. I don’t think I’ve ever done something so exciting. But I'm tired! Thank you sincerely, Jacob. I won't forget today, that's for sure.”           

He stroked my cheek with the back of his hand, smiling; charmer. I shivered despite myself.

“Let’s do this again anytime, Redhead. Get some rest. I’ll see you later if you want.”           

“With pleasure, Jacob. See you soon.”  

As soon as I got through the doorway, my mother jumped on me. She looked out the window to see Jacob' car pulling away.

“But, it's barely nine o'clock! What time did you leave? What did you do? Did it go wrong? I thought you were still sleeping!”          

“Mom, I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed. Everything went very well. I promise I'll tell you all about it later!” I say, already climbing the stairs.           

“Shall I wake you up for lunch?”  

“Nah, Mom, no need, I just want to sleep.”   

I took off my shoes, threw myself on the already unmade bed and, without bothering to undress, I curled up in the sheets. I rolled over onto my stomach and covered my head with the pillow. I fell into a deep sleep.