The Secrets of Pimsim Cove - 18. Chapter 18

“Almost there.” I softly whispered to myself. Only a few more flicks of my tail and I would be there. The small house, sitting high on the hill, was silhouetted by the dark night sky. The lights inside were still on. Even thought it was really late, it looked like someone was still awake.

Swimming was getting easier with every flick of my awesome tail. I had no problem reaching the long narrow dock and decided to climb up the wooden ladder, instead of just leaping out of the water like the guys love to do.

The task ahead was unpleasant and I was in no rush to face Sean D’Gloma.

***

Earlier when I had burst through the front door of the McLoughlin’s neat little home, I fought back tears when Rosy gasped and demanded to know what had happened to me.

I was an absolute mess. She was shocked to see me muddy, tattered, and completely disheveled. After practical raising four rambunctious boys, I was sure that Rosy has seen some of them stumble in looking much worse than I did, but right then, I really didn’t care.

I rudely blew off her frantic questions with a callous mumble, “Believe me, you don’t want to know!” before dashing up the stairs to the bathroom, leaving muddy footprints behind me. My answer was really just a result of my own personal heartbreak. Even though I knew that Rosy was hurt by my harsh bitter words, I still didn’t stop to apologize to her.

Scrubbing every inch of my skin didn’t erase the reeling in my stomach. I washed my hair twice, but when I could still smell Troll stench, I had to wash it three more times. Standing naked in front of the mirror, I looked at myself.

Not that fleeting glance we all give that shiny mirror when were heading out into the world, but I stepped closer to the girl standing there and searched deep into her emerald green eyes.

My tanned skin was now all pink and blotchy from where I had nearly scrubbed it raw. I frowned when I noticed that I had even more freckles than I had yesterday. I don’t know who I thought I was fooling. Maggen was right! I was really was a ginger. I was a pathetic plain redhead American teenager.

I was obviously in denial that I would one day inherit Mom’s beautiful blond hair. Tiny boobs and narrow hips were not the features that hott young men wanted. They wanted voluptuous sex kittens like Princess Rahuna…like I will never be!

***

“Well, I guess it’s time!” I softly spoke to the darkness. The image in the mirror back at the McLoughlin’s house hadn’t given me any words of wisdom and now that I was standing on the D’Gloma’s dock, all I wanted to do was to run away…but I couldn’t.

No matter how unpleasant it was, it was time to face Sean.

Saltwater clung to my jean shorts. I couldn’t do much for the denim material, but I was able to wring most of the water out of the soft cotton material of my tank top, so I felt a little more comfortable. Then, I quickly squeezed the rest of the water from my hair before shaking my head back and forth to separate the curls.

Alright, I knew it was a total stall tactic, but come on! I really need to stall right now!

Finally working up my nerve to walk down the narrow dock that led up to their house, I patted the front pocket of my shorts to make sure that the Ring was still sitting inside and it was.

“Good,” I muttered to myself. I hated Talbot and his stupid Ring. Nothing would have given me more pleasure than tossing the awful thing into the ocean and letting the sea swallow it up, but that wouldn’t get Dad back.

The stone steps, which led up to their house, were cool under my bare feet. I suddenly stopped, and glanced along the pathway leading to their backdoor. I took a deep breath.

My hands trembled. I bit at my lower lip. I couldn’t really go up and knock on the door and say, “Gee whiz, hi Mr. D’Gloma, is your son home, because I really want to punch him in his smurfing gut for being such a slimy heartbreaker!”

Coming here was not a good idea. Even though Sean had shattered my heart into a billion pieces, and I wanted him to hurt just as much as I did right now…I don’t think that I could do that to him.

I took a few steps away from the house and got ready to run back to the dock, when I saw a flicker of light coming from one of the upstairs windows. It was Sean, it had to be. The small bedroom window was open letting the curtains blow in the gentle summer breeze. Glancing around, I noticed an overgrown trellis spanning the tiny porch and creeping up the entire side of the little house.

The thick leaves hushed my movements as the thin lattice swayed in the ocean breeze. Reaching the top without falling and breaking my neck was exhilarating. My heart raced. Inching closer to the open window, I could just barely see inside.

The room was decorated in sports memorabilia. The bed was disheveled as if someone had been laying on it just moments before and a book was overturned on the bed. The brown leather binding pressed flat to keep the readers page instead of dog-earing the page, but Sean was nowhere to be seen. I leaned forward and poked my head through the window and when there was still no sight of Sean, I quickly slipped inside.

The room was dim. A small brass light sat on the nightstand. Its soft yellow beams struggled to reach each darkened corner of the bedroom, but before I could look for Sean, I was tackled from behind.

THUD! The wind was knocked out of me as I was thrown to the floor. UUUMMFF! Sean plopped down on top of my chest and I thought my ribs were going to pop my lungs. I struggled to breathe, but I couldn’t even gasp under his weight.

“Freaking Forest Fairies!” He grunted when I kicked and my knee connected with his back.
“Who do you think you are? Huh? You can just creep out of the stinking forest whenever you--”

“Sean…” I gasped in barely a whisper.

“Anna?”

Sean’s face was suddenly washed with harsh white light as Michael came bursting into the room. His father had obviously heard our commotion and came running to his son’s aid, but the look of surprise on Michael’s face would almost be humorous…had I not been pinned to the floor with his half naked son sprawled on top of me.

“What the hell?” Michael muttered.

Sean looked from him, back to me, and then back to his father again.

“I…can’t…breathe!” I forced out in separate little gasps.

“Oh my goodness, Anna!” Sean said as he rolled off of my chest. I wish he didn’t look so smurfing amazing wearing only a loose pair of jeans and nothing else. “I thought you were a Forest Fairy sneaking in through my window.”

My eyes burned as I gulped fresh air into my burning lungs. Sean helped me to my trembling feet, as Michael shook his head and laughed.

“I’ll give you two a few minutes of privacy.” He said. As he turned to leave his son’s bedroom, Michael called back over his shoulder, “and then, take her home!”

With another chuckle, Michael continued while walking away. “Rosy would scale both of us alive if she knew her only Granddaughter was in your bedroom…unchaperoned…so you have five minutes…and Sean…”

“Yeah Da?”

“Don’t even think about closing that door!” Michael shook his dark head as he walked back down the stairs with heavy footsteps.

I rolled my eyes at Michael’s ridiculous thought, like Sean and I were ever going to be caught in some sordid sexual tryst.

“Look, I’ll make this quick then I’ll get out of here. I just came here to say goodbye, that’s all.” I said and quickly turned back towards the window I had just crawled through.

“Goodbye?” Sean grabbed my arm, pulling me back inside.

“Yep, Goodbye!” I whirled around to face him. I didn’t want to, but I suddenly wanted to see the shock that was going to cross his handsome face when I dropped my own bombshell on him. “Now that I have the Ring, Dad and I can go back home and you can go back to Princess Rahuna--”

“You have the Ring?” He exclaimed. That’s not the part of the bombshell that I wanted him to get all worked up over.

“Yes,” I growled, “so you and Princess Rahuna can now live happily ever after, or whatever it is that you smurfing people do here…I’m outta here!” With a huff, I twisted back towards the window.

Sean wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. I could feel the heat of his chest pressed against my back as the damp material of my tank top pressed against my skin.

“Rahuna?” Sean laughed.

Angry at his heartless betrayal, I swung around with my hand raised, ready to connect it with his chiseled jaw, when his next words completely knocked the wind out of me. “Princess Rahuna is my mother.”

“Your mother?” I whispered softly. How could that be? I saw the way he was looking at her, as if he adored her, as if he was…as if he was a lost little boy looking at his mother. “I don’t understand. How can she be your mother?”

“Well,” Sean said as he ran his fingers through his disheveled black hair. “Rahuna and Da fell madly in love with each other when they were children. Of course the McLoughlin’s knew right from the start. They were worried that Da would get his heart broken or Talbot would someday find out and force him out of Pimsim City like Da’s parents had been banished from Hopewell so many years before.”

“Rosy and Stony were so scared of losing him, since they loved him like their own. My parents kept their love a secret from everyone until my mother discovered that she was pregnant. She was only a little older than I am right now and she was terrified and didn’t know what to do. She broke down and confessed to the Queen who then told Talbot.”

I gasped at the thought of a young frightened Rahuna having to face her evil father.

“Of course, Talbot was furious and demanded to know who the father was. When she refused to tell him, he had her locked away in the Palace. She could have named someone. Any of the many eligible upper-class noblemen would have been tremendously honored to have such a beautiful bride regardless of the child not being theirs. She even contemplated randomly choosing someone to keep Talbot from viciously beating her, as he did every day of her pregnancy while hidden away in the Palace.”

Sean’s eyes were guarded as he continued. “Rahuna spent every day and night praying for a healthy daughter. She was sure that a beautiful blond baby girl would dissolve Talbot’s anger. You see, with a girl…he wouldn’t have to worry about someone challenging his throne…he could just go on as if nothing had ever happened. But when the night came, when Rahuna went into labor and gave birth to me…well, my jet black hair instantly sent Talbot into an unstoppable rage! He rushed from the room, shouting throughout the entire Palace, calling for his guards…she heard him ordering them to, ‘kill the baby.’”

I didn’t realize that tears were spilling down my face until he tenderly lifted his fingers and brushed one of them away. With a lopsided grin he smiled. “Its okay, Anna. They didn’t get me. As tired and weak as she was after giving birth to me, she grabbed me and slipped out of the room a few minutes later. Talbot had been so angry that his daughter had given birth to Michael D’Gloma’s son, that in his fury, he didn’t lock the door behind him when he left, she took her only opportunity to escape.”

“Rahuna swam to the safety of the McLoughlin’s home and left me there, but she knew that she couldn’t stay, that she had to return to the Palace. Talbot ordered his guards to come onto land and to snatch me from Da’s arms, but Rahuna begged him not to hurt me. Rook, Rosy and Stony stood in front of us ready to defend me to the death if they had to, but Rahuna stopped him. She begged and pleaded for my life. My mother promised to do whatever Talbot wanted. She told him she would keep me secret and never mention me to anyone. Rahuna swore that she would never try to come and see me as long as Talbot would just let me live…that was all she asked for.”

My lip trembled as I started to speak. “Wow! Rahuna risked her life and gave up everything for you…what an amazing woman.”

Sean sheepishly smiled, “Yeah, now you know why I’ve always been so smitten with her. That’s why I got caught as a kid sneaking in to the Palace. I wanted to see her, and that’s also why she was trying to get me somewhere private so she could tell me not to let Da lose control over Talbot’s announcement at the Solstice Celebration.”

Suddenly everything made sense.

“But why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

He shook his head and gave me a weak, lopsided grin. “I don’t know. I guess I probably should have told you, but I’ve never had to come right out and tell anyone. The McLoughlin’s have always known and I’ve never had to actually say the words, ‘Princess Rahuna is my mother!’ Everyone who has ever meant anything to me already knew…at least they did until now.”

I held my breath. Does that include me? Am I important to him? When I took a step back towards the window, he suddenly took a step forward and caught me by the waist and pulled me to him. Sean’s gray eyes sparkled as his lips found mine.

His kisses were soft and warm and when his lips parted slightly, his tongue licked over my bottom lip. “Sean,” I gasped with a soft moan, but didn’t try to step out of his wonderful embrace.

A hunger grew between us as his hands slid from my sides, along my bare shoulders and wrapped around my face. He was intoxicating and I was drunk with desire for him. “I love you, Anna!” He whispered.

Warm tingles spread down my spine. “I love you too.” His gray eyes were sexy crescent moons as he leaned in and kissed me again. I would have enjoyed kissing him for hours and would have, if Michael hadn’t chosen that particular moment to knock loudly on the side of the doorframe and clear his deep voice at the same time.

“Hummmmm,” We jumped apart at the sound of Michael’s voice. “I think it’s time for you to take Anna home.”

“Yes Sir.” Sean answered Michael, but he kept his beautiful eyes focused on me.

“Take her straight home…no detours, do you hear me?”

Now he pulled his gaze away from mine and looked directly at his father. Michael’s gray eyes twinkled with laughter. Sean nodded his dark head. “Yes Da, I understand.”

“Oh smurf!” I suddenly yelped bringing both guys’ heads snapping back to where I was standing. “I got totally sidetracked! I can’t go back to the McLoughlin’s house, well not yet anyways!” Michael raised his dark eyebrows as if asking me, ‘why’ without even saying a word.

“Because, I found Talbot’s Ring!” I blurted out. The look of shock that passed over Sean and Michael’s faces was absolutely delicious. They looked so much alike it was totally uber-bizarro!

“You have the Ring of Sons?” Michael gasped. I nodded my head as he stared at me in total shock.

“I guess I got a bit distracted and forgot,” Sean muttered almost to himself.

“You have it…right now…with you?” Michael was still astonished and his hands trembled when I pulled it out of my front pocket. The light sparkled off the elaborate gold bands making the dark blue pearl appear almost black. Michael and Sean both grinned when they laid their eyes on the coveted piece of jewelry.

“Talbot will have to free Dad from his dungeon now that I have his Ring.” I smiled.

“You’re right, Anna, you are absolutely right,” Michael’s eyes suddenly seemed empty and sad as he stared at the Ring in my hand. “But unfortunately, Talbot is not going to listen to you. He ordered Rook to return his Ring for Windsong’s release. That man is not an honorable man. He’s not the kind of person who will stand by his word and release W.S. just because his property is returned to him. He would snatch the Ring from your hand and toss you out in the street.”

I never thought of that. “Well then, we have to find Uncle Rook and give the Ring to him. He’ll know what to do.”

Michael nodded his head in agreement and held out his hand. “Rook will get your father back for you, Anna, you’ll see.” I was relieved to place the Ring into Michael’s warm hand. As his long fingers closed over it, a jolt of fear skittered down my back at having it out of my possession.

I took a deep breath and told myself that it was okay, that Michael would get Uncle Rook and together they were going to save Dad. He turned on his heels and almost ran out of Sean’s bed room. A second later we heard the loud splash of Michael leaping off the dock swimming towards the City, taking the Ring back to its rightful owner.