A Journey of Words

The Whaler’s Dues-5

“There’s no returning, Riff. You’re stuck in an endless loop of traveling from island to island. My suggestion, pick one. Find one that speaks to you, hunker down, and accept your fate. Think of it as an eternal vacation to the overcast tropics.”

“I loved her,” Big Riff mumbled.

“Don’t feel too betrayed. She’s not human, remember?”

“Wait a minute. Who were the girls?”

“What girls?”

“The last island I visited had a young girl with a balloon and an older girl with a torn dress. She was supposed to get on the boat with me, but she disappeared. Then the young girl reappeared again…” Big Riff fell silent.

“Girls? Out here? Impossible. That doesn’t make any sense.”

Big Riff remained silent, staring a thousand miles away.

“Riff, you okay? Hello?”

“I need to return to that island. I think Mary was trying to tell me something.”

“If that’s true, you should be very afraid. It’s gotta be a trick or, even worse, a trap of some kind.”

“If I uncover anything, I’ll come back and let you know.”

Big Riff ran toward the jagged rocks, ending the palaver.

The man watched through the bars as Big Riff reached the beach. “Can you forgive me?” the man yelled as loud as he could.

In the distance he barely deciphered Big Riff ’s answer.

“No.”

Big Riff jumped over the side of the whaleboat the moment the rudders scraped along the sand. He moved as fast as his legs could carry him through the knee-deep salt water.

“Hello?” he called as he reached the beach. “Are you still here?”

The red balloon hopped directly toward him from the forest, and he exploded in a full sprint. Reaching the tree line, he bent and picked up the balloon. It was real, tangible; a part of him thought the balloon might vanish when he touched it. He gripped the balloon as he entered the forest.

“Hello?”

Silence.

“I have your balloon. If you want it back, please say something.”

The next sound was deafening. Big Riff dropped the balloon and frantically stuck his index fingers into his ears to help muffle the unbearable noise and to stop the pain. He closed his eyes tightly and curled into the fetal position. Then, just as abruptly as it started, everything went silent.

Big Riff slowly opened his eyes and removed his fingers from his ears. Standing in front of him was a young boy with an electric guitar and a stereo.

“Why are you here?” the boy asked.

Big Riff rose to his feet. “I’m looking for two girls. One with a torn dress and the other lost her balloon. I found it and wanted to give it back to her.”

“Mary didn’t lose her balloon. She never loses her balloon.”

“Mary? Oh, this just keeps getting better. Yes, she did. I have it right—” Big Riff looked behind him but couldn’t locate the balloon.

“Mary has her balloon. She always has her balloon,” the boy repeated.

Big Riff watched him walk away, guitar slung around his back, stereo in one hand. Then he flinched when something touched his hand. Little Mary had intertwined her fingers with his and in her other hand was the red balloon.

“Mary?”

“Hi, Riff.”

“Is it really…you?”

“Come on. She wants to see you.”

They walked hand in hand through the forest, the beach farther behind them with each step. Big Riff tried to clear his throat, but the sudden onset of fear made it difficult.

The sound of a thunderous voice booming at the little girl startled Big Riff. “Mary, where’s my dinner?”

“It’s coming, Grandpapa,” the little girl said to an old man sitting on a fallen tree stump.

“Humph. Always late with my food.” He stroked his white beard with dirty fingers. “Kelpie, where’s my whiskey?” he yelled in a different direction.

“Right here, Grandpapa,” a female voice answered.

The older girl with the torn red dress stepped from behind a tree, holding a chalice. She handed the drink to the old man. He tossed the alcohol into his open mouth, drops of liquid spilling on his beard. He threw the glass on the forest floor, slapped both knees with his palms, and stood—revealing his full ten-foot height.

“Come here, lad.”

Big Riff ’s knees buckled, and his stomach tightened. He had to will his body to take a handful of steps toward the giant old man. Big Riff glanced at little Mary. She nodded and smiled in reassurance.

“Grandpapa, stop it. You’re frightening him,” Kelpie said.

“There’s no reason to be afraid.” The old man never removed his stare from Big Riff.

The boy with the guitar stepped from behind a tree. “Grandpapa, do you want me to call Biggles?”

“Yes, son. I’m calling all my children home.”

The boy turned on his stereo and readjusted the guitar from around his back to the front of his body. He strummed the strings only once but with such force Big Riff thought his hearing would never recover. The sound traveled across the vast mystical ocean, and, within moments, Big Riff heard a horn in the distance.

“Here he comes,” the boy said.

“Biggles? But you said he’s the one who ripped your dress,” Big Riff said, summoning enough courage to speak to the teenage girl.

Kelpie walked straight for Big Riff, grabbed a fistful of his shirt, and pressed her lips firmly against his.

“Welcome to the family,” the old man said and began to laugh.

Kelpie released her kiss and took a step backward. “You’re taking Biggles’s place now.”

“Excuse me?”

“Kelpie has always spared the one who loves her most, and you’ve proved, without a doubt, that your feelings for my granddaughter runs the deepest,” the old man answered. “And that includes more so than Biggles.”

The Rosa Lynn was anchored just offshore as her captain traipsed through the forest. Biggles’s eyes grew wide when he saw Big Riff standing with the rest of them.

“Oh, shit.”

Realization of why he’d been summoned filled his veins with ice-cold fear. The only time Biggles had ever visited here was when he had been the one patiently waiting for the previous captain to arrive so Biggles could take the poor guy’s place.

Biggles turned so hastily to escape that he tripped on a tree root.

“Oh, you poor mortal,” the old man said, chuckling. “Look how scared you are now. Not the big tough guy who thought he could manhandle my Kelpie anymore. Go back to the beach. You’ll find your new boat waiting for you.”

Biggles didn’t move.

“Go!” the old man yelled so loudly the leaves shuddered, a handful floating to the ground. “You’ve been relieved of your duties. You’ve been replaced.”

Biggles scampered for a few yards then darted for the beach. Two identical boats were now on the shoreline. He dove headfirst into the water, forever relinquishing his special privileges as captain to the original Rosa Lynn.

Biggles disappeared into the mist, piloting his new whaleboat into the vast darkness of unending purgatory.

“Ready?” she asked Big Riff and released her gentle hold of his hand.

“Do I have a choice?” He laughed and anchored the Rosa Lynn. “So, when I was chatting with—”

“Shh. Don’t ever speak his name.”

“Okay…when we were talking, he said you can’t ever enter the islands. I remember when the bisect happened. How Biggles had to get you to safety, and you were in a panic. How were you able to be on that island where I found you?”

“It isn’t part of the perdition. It’s my home. Only the purest of hearts can reach it.”

“But I didn’t recognize you until your name was spoken.”

“Don’t you even remember what my name means?” she answered with a riddle and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

Big Riff intertwined his fingers with the frayed slits of her red dress.

“Biggles didn’t hurt me. It was boat propellers. I was careless while swimming.”

“Why did you say it was him?”

“Biggles had loved me for so long that I didn’t think Grandpapa would let me replace him unless I gave them the impression that he had hurt me. C’mon, we’re going to be late. We’re wasting time.”

“Yeah, because we only have eternity together,” he replied sarcastically.

“Not unless another version of you loves me even more one day,” she said and playfully winked.

Big Riff realized, if Biggles could be relieved of his post that swiftly by a fabricated story, obviously no one was her captain forever.

They left the Rosa Lynn and walked along the pier toward the roadway. The afternoon sun wasn’t adding any warmth to the winter air. They turned the corner to Main Street, and Big Riff stumbled over the legs of a man sleeping on the sidewalk.

“I’m terribly sorry,” he said.

The man stirred, and an empty wine bottle rolled off the curb and lodged itself in the gutter. The inside of his jacket was lined with the Money section of the local newspaper for added insulation and warmth.

Big Riff gasped when the man brushed his long scraggly hair from his face and fell back asleep.

“Willie?”

The man opened one eye.

“Riff? Kelpie?” he grunted, trying to sit. “Look at you. You’re so…young. How do you guys look the same as you did when you both disappeared? What—twenty years ago now?”

Big Riff looked suspiciously at Kelpie while he nervously played with his gold wedding ring. She shrugged her shoulders at him as if to answer, What do you want me to say? Time works differently now.

“Do you need anything?” she asked. “It’ll make both of us feel better if you had some money.”

“I don’t need your cash.” Then Willie laughed. “They’d probably be my dollar bills anyway. And you, Riff, you look all spiffy.”

“You like the new style?” he replied, sticking out his gold-tipped boots and spinning around to model his black jacket and tie.

Kelpie giggled and lovingly stroked his elbow. “Here’s our ride, babe.”

A black stretch limousine stopped in front of them, and the rear door opened by itself.

Willie crawled to the gutter and retrieved his empty wine bottle. “That figures. I’m going back to sleep,” he muttered.

As Kelpie and Big Riff got comfortable in the back of the limousine, the divider glass lowered slowly, and the driver twisted his body to speak. “It’s really good to have you here with me, Mary.”

Big Riff shot the driver a menacing stare, firing invisible daggers. He knew that look; he knew that tone of voice. It reminded him too much of how he used to look and talk to Kelpie himself. If this man was in love with her, he jeopardized Big Riff ’s mere existence and job security.

“I’m glad you called, Mary. It’s been a while. I thought you’d forgotten about me.”

“How could I ever forget you and your hospitality? Plus, I thought Riff and I should arrive in style this time.”

“Well, you’ll certainly look like one of the nobles tonight. I made sure she was washed and waxed.”

“You’re too sweet.”

“Nothing’s too good for my Mary.”

Big Riff wanted to either vomit all over the interior of the vehicle or punch this loser in the throat.

After what felt like a much longer ride than it should’ve been, the limousine stopped in front of the opera house. The driver pushed a button in his center console, and the rear door opened slowly. Big Riff slid his wallet from his back pocket and covertly guided it to the car’s floorboard with the back of his boot.

“I’ll be waiting in the limo parking area,” the driver said.

“We’ll find you,” Kelpie replied.

She and Big Riff climbed the stairs to the sprawling marble theatre. The limousine maneuvered into traffic and disappeared around the corner.

“Oh, s**t,” Big Riff exclaimed.

“What?”

“I left my wallet in the limo.”

“All right, I’ll wait for you at the box office.”

“Thanks, sweetie.” He gave her a peck on the lips. “I’ll be quick.”

Big Riff ran down the stairs, skipping three at a time, and never slowed his pace when he hit the sidewalk. He spotted the limousine in the designated parking lot and slowed his breathing to a more normal rate. When he composed himself, he knocked on the driver’s side window.

The moment the top of the glass cleared the driver’s shoulders, Big Riff reached in and grabbed the driver’s neck. He squirmed and fought, grabbing Big Riff ’s wrists, struggling for air.

“You can’t have her,” Big Riff whispered, thrusting his thumbs straight into the driver’s trachea. “And you won’t take my job from me.”

Within moments the driver stopped twitching and was lifeless. Big Riff leaned across his body and pressed the Door Release button. Retrieving his wallet, he jogged toward the opera house.

The crowd bottlenecked as he got closer to the front of the building. He shuffled along at their pace, shoulder to shoulder with men in expensive suits and women in elegant evening dresses. He saw Kelpie waiting at the top of the stairs, looking for him. When she spotted Big Riff in the crowd, she waved enthusiastically.

Just as he raised his arm to wave back, a small hand grabbed his elbow and pulled it back down. He turned his head to see little Mary’s red balloon skipping along with the crowd, dancing as it got kicked to and fro by the theatregoer’s shoes with each step they took. He looked around frantically to find his wife’s little sister in the crowd.

“I know what you just did,” Mary whispered in his ear, but he couldn’t see her anywhere.

“I can’t lose her. I can’t sail forever on those seas.”

“You killed one of her pets. You robbed her of administering her punishment. You took away her ability to avenge our parents’ death.”

“It was just one person. She has thousands of others. I was protecting myself. What do you want from me?”

“I’ve always wanted you for myself,” she whispered. “I just needed you to betray her first. You’re my toy now. I own you. And I’m going to do things to you to make you wish you had been condemned to only sailing those seas for eternity. It’s been far too long since I had a servant to play with. Are you ever lonely, just like me?”

Big Riff shoved his fingers into his ears to muffle the piercing blast of the guitar as his skin tingled and became electrified. Before he processed another thought, he felt as if his limbs were being ripped from his torso.

And then everything went black.

Kelpie stopped waving when she saw Big Riff put his fingers in his ears and vanish from the sidewalk. She sighed and let her chin drop to her chest. She shook her head in disgust and disappointment.

“Mary, damn you for stealing another one from me,” she whispered to herself.

Kelpie headed toward the limousine parking area to tell the driver the good news—he was next in line to take Big Riff ’s place.