"He has a pipe?"
"The one he smokes all day," he said. "Although few people have ever seen him in the flesh, those who did confirmed the pipe. You can smell its tobacco looming like a ghost around the ship sometimes."
"You think he is a descendant of the Piper because he smokes a pipe?" The eye-patched man almost laughed at the silver-toothed man.
"No," the silver-toothed man growled. "The pipe isn't a pipe."
"The pipe isn't a pipe?" The young boy's eyes bulged.
"It's a flute," the silver-toothed man whispered. "The flute that may once have belonged to the Piper."
"He has a flute?" I asked.
"An enchanted one, they say," the smoking boy offered, although he had just questioned it. Whatever he smoked seemed to mess with his head. "They say it plays a rare melody that the Piper used to play centuries ago when he lured the children out of Hamlin. Captain Ahab uses it to lure the whales."
"Whales?" I knew the ship hunted whales, but I said it anyway.
"What do you think this ship does?" the silver-toothed man snarled. "Why do you think it accepts misfits like us on it? Because it's the only ship in the Seven Seas that hunts whales."
I wanted to ask about the whales again but held back, discouraged by the silver-toothed man.
"They say there is a treasure inside one of the whales," the second man offered. "It can make you the richest lad in the world."
"There is no treasure inside the whale, you fool," the silver-toothed man said. "The treasure you're talking about is in Treasure Island. A land that no one has found yet in the Seven Seas."
"Nah," the young puffing boy said. "You're not getting it, old man. Treasure Island is on the back of a whale that Ahab is chasing. That's why no one has never found the island."
"An island on the back of a whale? Sounds like a myth," the silver-toothed man said, and gulped on some drink that looked like it was made of the dirty water we used to clean the ship's floor. "There is only one thing Captain Ahab is after inside the whale: a beautiful mermaid!" He rubbed his round belly.
"I would sell my soul to Him if there is a mermaid inside a whale." The boy dragged from his pipe.
"Are there such things as mermaids?" I asked. The conversation had piqued my curiosity, although Angel looked annoyed by it.
"You tell me." The silver-toothed man rolled his eyes. "Aren't you a girl? Shouldn't you know about mermaids?"
"They are real." The eye-patched man grinned. Was that seaweed between his teeth? "Mermaids are real. I swear I saw them while on the last ship I was on." He seemed afraid of them. "Oh, man. They look so beautiful. Beautiful bodies and lovely breasts. But beware, for they are devious."
"How devious?" asked the puffing boy.
The man knelt down, looked to his sides, and then whispered, "They surround ships and lure men with their looks, then they start to sing a song—some say it's the same tune the Piper played. That song weakens men and makes them vulnerable. That's when the mermaids turn into octopuses and monsters and eat the flesh of men, which is how they survive."
"I heard they turn into whales when they are fed enough," someone suggested.
"Nonsense," the silver-toothed man said. "Get me a mermaid and I will show you how beautiful they are." He gulped.
"If you want one, go sell your soul to Captain Ahab," the other man said, leaving me confused by the mysteries of the Seven Seas.
I raised my head and glanced at Angel. He nodded slightly with a barrel on his back, assuring me everything would be all right. Although I trusted him dearly, I didn't share the feeling. We were on a ship with a dark captain, and sooner or later we'd be hunting whales. Who hunted whales? Then there was the matter of us being practically lost at sea. We needed to start asking how to find the Tower of Tales, but we just didn't trust anyone on the ship so far. Those men I was talking to weren't reliable, and Angel stopped me from asking them. I really wished we knew what we were doing. All we benefited from this voyage was escaping the Karnsteins and the Sorrows. But here we were, about to face whales, a man who bought sailor's souls to look for treasures, and the possibility of monster mermaids.
The many thoughts reminded me of the sack I had been given by Cinder. I couldn't lose it, and those workers weren't trustworthy. Having it tucked under my bed every night wasn't the best way to hide it.
That night I briefly met Angel in the shades on the deck and handed it to him. He said he'd hide it in one of the barrels. After all, he was the one responsible for them and would know how to track it.
"Do you think we better open the sack?" I said. "There is no rule against it."
"Why would we do that, Carmilla?" Angel said.
"In case we lose it. At least we'd know what was inside and can tell Lady Shallot when we meet her. Maybe she'd forgive us then."