A Tale That Never Was [Book 1 of Selvina's Tale series]

Chapter 9: Cindy and the Sea

Cindy warmed her hands as she sat in front of the iron fireplace belowdecks, smiling comfortably. Red and Selvina sat beside her, sharing the pieces of bread and cheese Red's few copper coins could purchase. The bread was rather bland but it was filling and the cheese was good.

Sinbad poked his head through the hatch from above and narrowed his eyes at the youngest of the three girls. "Another passenger I see..."

Selvina gave him a frown. "She won't be a bother, Sinbad. Captain Hook said she could come along so don't start anything."

Sinbad gave her a wink and smirk. "I do admire that blue fire within you, Selvina." His face quickly hardened and he added, "You had best be right about her. It wouldn't be the first time I've been on a ship with an innocent-looking thief."

"She isn't a thief!"

Sinbad said nothing and disappeared, closing the hatch behind him.

Selvina shook her head in frustration. "What is with those guys?! Seriously." She looked at Cindy, who was slowly munching on a piece of bread, appearing nervous and uncertain. "Don't mind them, Cindy. You just need a good bath and maybe a change of clothes and then they'll see you as the lady that you really are!"

The young teen smiled and eyed Selvina directly. "I haven't had a nice dress in a long time. My mother would make me dresses whenever she had the time and I always loved to swirl around them and pretend a prince was watching..."

"I was never one for dresses," Red commented. "I wore one once and when I was sleeping my brother stole it. He dressed up one of his archery targets and filled it full of holes. My mother was so mad at him, as was I..."

"So you do like dresses?" Selvina asked with a small smile.

Red shrugged. "My red cloak is good enough."

"Yeah but the rest of your clothes are rags, Red."

"They serve me just fine."

"I think you'd look pretty in a dress," Cindy piped up.

Red furrowed her brow and looked at her curiously. "Me? No. I don't think so."

"She's right, you would!" Selvina exclaimed. "We should totally dress you up!"

"Don't even think about it," Red said through clenched teeth. "You've tried doing that to me on the way here and I hated every minute of it."

There were thuds and heavy pounding on the boards over their heads and then the entire ship tilted to the side, forcing the girls to grab on to something. Selvina and Cindy held on to a nearby post while Red dug her dagger into the floorboards and gripped it tightly. The ship straightened out and then began to bob up and down.

"Looks like we're back into the storm," Red noted.

"At least now I know to stay down here," Selvina said. She glanced around with steadily increasing quickness and added in a panicked voice, "Red, where's Bigbad?!"

Red, appearing completely unconcerned, pointed to a dark corner behind some large crates. "He's sleeping there. I can hear him snoring."

"What's a big bad?" Cindy asked.

"My big wolf," Red answered nonchalantly.

"A wolf?" Cindy's eyes widened and her already pale face whitened even more. "There's a wolf here?"

"He's a nice one," Selvina reassured. "You don't have to worry about him."

As if the mention of his name had stirred him from his slumber, Bigbad slowly padded toward the group of girls, emerging from the dark corner as if he had been a part of the blackness. Cindy let out a small scream but Selvina held her hand comfortingly and kept her where she was. The young woman trembled and whined lightly.