Uncharted Waters

“So they will bind their feet so tightly, the bones break and are healed in a different form. With shoes on, it makes their feet appear as if the size of a child’s, which is considered a sign of beauty for women in some areas of China.”

Link listened, fascinated as Ben Griffith told him about Chinese foot binding while flipping through a chapter in a book about it. The two had been discussing different aspects of Chinese culture for hours, and were surrounded by books. Link flipped through the book as Ben picked up a box, setting it down in front of him. He opened up the box and pushed it over to Link. His eyes widened slightly, gently picking up the old, ornate plate.

“I picked this one up while I was in China,” Ben told him. “It’s one of my many prizes from my travels. This would have been a piece belonging to noble families in the-”

“Tang dynasty,” Link finished, fascinated.

“That’s right,” Ben grinned. “Good. That was good.”

Link was a little uncomfortable after the shocking scene of Gigi beating the hell out of some thieves the night before, but he quickly forgot about it after all of the fascinating things he was learning from Ben. And the more time he spent with Gigi’s father, the more Gigi’s behavior made sense to him. Clearly, she’d inherited her fire from him. There were several other traits of hers that hadn’t come from her father, which must have come from her mother. Link didn’t often see Mrs. Griffith, but if the traits in question did come from her, Link wondered what sort of a person she was behind her cool and collected appearance.

Gigi waltzed into the room a few minutes later, kissing her father on the cheek and sitting on the arm of his chair to read over his shoulder. Benji followed her in, excitedly coming up by Link. He got a little shy, suddenly, setting his journal down and sliding it to Link.

“A little while ago I was showing you my notes on the crabs,” he said. “You told me it was good, and I should keep it up. So I just wanted to show you, and see if it’s any good.”

“You know, I’m really in no position to critique your work,” Link told him. “I’m only learning myself.”

“But you’ve learned much more than I have,” Benji protested. “You don’t have to read it all tonight. Just promise you’ll read it, okay?”

“I promise,” Link said, tucking the journal into his bag with a smile.

Benji beamed at this, bowing his head to everyone slightly before hurrying out the door. Gigi looked like she was trying not to laugh at his behavior, but Ben looked quite impressed.

“He’s a very bright boy,” Ben said, once he was gone. “Very eager, very ambitious.”

“Like his namesake,” Gigi grinned.

“His namesake?” Link asked.

“Benji is a nickname for Benjamin,” Gigi explained. “He’s named after my father. And Madi is named after-”

Gigi stopped when Ben gently touched her arm, signaling that whatever she was about to say was something he didn’t want discussed. Link pretended not to notice, though he couldn’t help but be a little curious as to who Madi was named after.

“Well, he indeed takes after his namesake, then,” Link agreed. “One day, I hope you’ll tell me about that big adventure, Mr. Griffith.”

“The big adventure,” Ben repeated, leaning back in his seat with a deep sigh. “We’ll have to see about that. I don’t think you’re quite ready, yet.”

Gigi seemed a little disappointed, giving Link an apologetic smile, but he just nodded in understanding. He didn’t expect Ben to spill his guts to him right away anyways, but he definitely knew now that there were many details of his travels that he wasn’t confessing quite yet.

“Well, I think that will be enough for today,” Ben said, closing the book. “I will see you tomorrow morning, Link.”

“I’ll walk him home,” Gigi said quickly.

Ben nodded as they left the room together, with Gigi carrying some of Link’s books. He tried to take them, but she insisted she was happy to carry them, walking a little quicker to keep up with Link’s long strides.

“You know, I can walk myself home,” he told her. “I’m a grown man.”

“You don’t want to spend time with me?” Gigi teased.

“No!” Link stammered. “I mean, yes. Erm, no. Well, uh, I mean, I like spending time with you.”

Gigi giggled, though Link wasn’t sure what that meant. She stopped and her smile wavered when she saw someone up ahead, and Link followed her gaze to a handsome man leaning back against a wall and speaking to another. He noticed Gigi and gave her a dazzling smile, waving his friend away as he approached. He didn’t seem to have even noticed Link yet, dipping into a deep bow before Gigi and placing a kiss on her knuckles. When he spoke, Link noticed a thick Spanish accent.

“Gigi, mi corazon, I have not seen you in town,” he said. “I was beginning to fear you had already left, but your beautiful friend, Madeline, was kind enough to tell me you have been quite busy.”

“Busy indeed,” Gigi said, quickly grabbing Link and yanking him over, clinging to his arm. “This is Link. He’s a new friend of mine. Link, this is Julio.”

Link recognized that name from the man who’d sent Gigi flowers before. Julio just seemed to notice Link, his smile not quite as friendly as he firmly shook Link’s hand. Gigi wouldn’t let go of Link, and this time, she was the one giving him a dazzling smile.

“Link is studying as my father’s apprentice,” Gigi said.

“Well, I’m not-”

“My father loves him,” Gigi said, cutting Link off. “He thinks Link is a wonderful man. Who wouldn’t agree?”

“I am sure he is wonderful,” Julio said, his tone flat and his expression extremely unimpressed. “Well, I am afraid I must be off. However, I will be having a little ‘gathering’ at my home tomorrow evening. I would be happy for you both to attend. Ah, if you can dance, that is.”

Link was a little insulted by the last comment, narrowing his eyes and Julio and nodding. “Of course I can dance. I’ll be there.”

“I will see you both, then,” Julio smiled, nodding to Gigi and patting Link a little too hard on the shoulder, making him wince.

Gigi nodded back to him and lead him away from Julio, still not letting go of his arm. Link was a little bit less aware and uncomfortable with it now, and she took that as an opportunity to move a little bit closer to him.

“Can you dance?” she asked him, once Julio was out of earshot.

“Is that really so hard to believe?” Link asked, surprised.

“Well, you got defensive about it,” she laughed. “I suppose I can’t judge a book by its cover. My Uncle Percy is a big, tough man. He’s usually agile in most senses, but when he’s dragged onto the dance floor, he’s just a big mess. He gets dizzy after one turn, but we all make him dance anyways. I’m sure you’ll be fine. And judging from that determined look in your eye, I’m sure you’ll be twice as good as Julio.”

Link felt himself turn red, not having realized how obvious it was that he wasn’t very happy about Julio questioning what he could or couldn’t do. People had been stepping all over Link his entire life. He didn’t need one more.