Dear Readers,
Back at Pilchard Bay, the lady at the entrance told me my dad and the other fishermen came back with the pilchard harvest. Yay! The music changed to the festive atmospheric one.
I visited my neighbours. The fisherman that lived there was fast asleep in bed. His wife and son were very happy to see him back. His parents were very happy with the pilchard harvest. His mother said I should be at home spending time with my father and enjoying my mother's cooking. His father said not even his wife's cooking could spoil fish that tasted this good, but not to tell her.
At the church, the Priest was thankful for the harvest. The nun said I seemed shifty and restless lately and that I needed a stern paternal word while my dad was away. :(
There was a castle guard here. He said King Donald will be pleased with the harvest because he loves his pilchards and that he'll be too busy eating to be upset by Prince Kiefer's antics.
The cats seemed quite pleased with the fishing harvest too!
The fisherman in the square was delighted they caught so many fish, even though he wasn't sure about sailing north where it gets choppy. He was just happy that it all went well.
The lady and the man looking at the fish haul were amazed and were tempted to eat them right there and then.
The shopkeeper talked about my friendship with Kiefer and about his relationship with his wife and how funny it was that different people get along so well.
I went to Maribel's house, where she was sitting at the dining room table. She was cross with me because I was the one who ruined her chance to go sailing with the fishermen. She expressed frustration at being a mayor's daughter and not a swashbuckling sailor.
Her maid said she was a real handful and unladylike, but asked me to keep it under my hat. Not to worry :) I know how you feel! True though, she is a beautiful girl and it's sad that her mother worries.
Her parents were upstairs. Her dad was fast asleep, muttering about watching out for waves. Her mother asked me to keep it down and was happy that the harvest was a resounding success.
The fisherman on the jetty said my dad was already gone home and that they caught something besides fish. The fisherman on deck said he never gets tired of going out to sea because it changes all the time. He describes the different kinds of moods the sea has very nicely :) There was no one else on board.
I went home. My mother, father and Uncle Pike were all there. She said I missed lunch, and that Uncle Pike ate all the sardines she had set aside for me. He was fast asleep in bed. She thought the bottle of something fancy he brought was a present, but he drank it all himself.
My dad welcomed me home, even though I came to welcome him home! He was sitting at the table with a tasty looking fish meal in front of him. Well, as tasty looking as a fish meal could be I suppose! He said he knew from the tides that they would have a good haul, but not one this good. He also said it hadn't been this good since the year I was born, which was an even better year. He joked about how my birth stole his thunder and then he got all sentimental about meeting baby me for the first time. Aw :) he changed the subject back to fish, and offered me a sardine cordial. (seriously, what the heck).
I asked him about anything else he might have fished up and he gave me the yellow stone fragment I was looking for! Yay! He said he was going to take it to the castle scholars but he was really tired right now. He then said I could go do it instead and even show it to Kiefer. Lucky!
He said he missed my mother's cooking and that the sardine stew was a real winner. He's got a big cooked pilchard to go through now!
Uncle Pike was muttering about getting more to drink in his sleep.
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