crybaby ghost writer

Tara was wringing her hands nervously as she watched the crew unloading supplies from the ship to the boats taking them to shore. They arrived at the coast early that morning, and had woken up to a view of a menacing looking jungle. It was so thick and unexplored that Tara was afraid it would just swallow them all.

She was toying with the macaw pendant around her neck, and suddenly she panicked at the thought that everything she had written was off and her theory about the macaw was stupid. She only broke her gaze from the jungle when Captain Montanez strolled up to stand next to her.

"We'll be taking the next boat to shore," he told her. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, thank you," she said, patting the pack on her shoulder. "Did Will-?"

"He's already ashore," he said. "Nick is waiting for you, though."

"Oh," Tara sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to slow us down. I guess I'm just a little scared. Is that stupid?"

"Not at all," he told her. "Any rational human would be scared to venture into unexplored jungle. You can rest assured we'll keep you safe, though. I don't think Nick will let anything happen to you, anyways."

"He won't?"

"Of course not," Captain Montanez chuckled. "Besides, we have to protect our subject expert, don't we?"

"You'd survive without me," Tara grumbled, before turning pale at the realization of what he had just said. "Wait, did you just- You knew?"

"I put the pieces together," he said with a sly grin. "Don't worry, your secret isn't mine to share. But I do have the utmost respect for you and your patience. Anyways, shall we?"

Tara smiled back and nodded as she followed him to where Nick was waiting by the boat. Captain Montanez was the second person to find out the truth, and it was starting to feel normal to Tara. The recognition felt nice. Not to mention, she was treated with far more respect than she expected. Maybe the mass population wouldn't see it the same way, but she could realistically do quite well with Nick's support. Not only that, but she was feeling empowered to stand up against William. Nick was right. Tara didn't deserve the way William treated her, no matter what she had been told while she was growing up.

As they started to walk into the jungle, Tara stayed close to Nick. For appearance's sake, William and his new friends walked up front with them, but he and Nick pointedly ignored each other. Every now and again she noticed one of Will's friends look at them and whisper, or caught her brother staring down how close she and Nick seemed to be.

Nick, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered in the least. He was cutting down the thick fauna with a machete, which would have been incredibly distracting if Tara wasn't so terrified of accidentally stepping on a snake or waking up a panther. She kept her balance as best she could, but she managed to trip and nearly fall on her face, had Nick not caught her.

"What did you do before you met me?" Nick teased. "Did you just faceplant?"

"I guess I did," she said with a sigh.

Even in trousers and heavy-duty boots, she managed to stumble around like she was wearing heels. The humidity made them all feel like they were sitting in a furnace, and while they could hear various birds and animals among them, they couldn't see any of them.

"Fuck, it's hot here," William panted. "Any clue where we are? Or do you have us sweating in circles, professor."

Nick shot him an annoyed glare before looking back down at his map and compass.

"We're going the right way," he said. "But we're not moving as quickly as I had hoped. We've barely made half of what I had anticipated for today."

"Perfect," William said sarcastically, using a handkercheif to wipe sweat off his neck. "So at what point in this journey does this start to become worth it, like you had promised? Because thus far, I think we can all agree we're miserable."

"Then maybe you can shut up and help a little," Nick suggested. "Instead of trudging around and whining. I'll leave you behind, I don't care."

"You cant do that," William reminded him. "You need me. Don't you remember?"

"I'm starting to think I don't need you," Nick snapped, a threatening tone to his voice.

The two of them were about to get in each others' faces, but Tara gently took Nick's hand and gave it a light squeeze to calm him down. She knew they had to keep the romance a secret, but maybe no one would notice. Either way, she wasn't going to let the two of them get in a fight when they were all overheating and exhausted.

Captain Montanez stepped between the two of them and roughly shoved both of them away from each other like they were children. William scoffed and Nick looked a little stunned by the gesture, but Captain Montanez wasn't about to let them go at it either.

"That's enough, boys," he grunted. "I can't call you gentlemen when you're acting like little boys. Now quit arguing. We'll set up camp here for the night and reasses the rest of this expedition. We've come too far to tear each other apart now. William, you set up on the far right. Nick, you're on the far left. I don't want to see you two so much as look at each other for the rest of the night. Miss Palmer has been plenty helpul as a messenger so far, so I think she can keep the peace a little longer. Isn't that right?"

"Huh?" Tara said, a little dazed. "O-oh. Yes. Of course."

"Thank you for being mature," Captain Montanez said. "The rest of you, what are you gawking at? Get to setting up camp."

Nick looked a little put out at being scolded by Captain Montanez, but it seemed the two of them went back far enough that he didn't take it personally. He was more irritated by William than anything else.

He didn't bother coming out of his tent for supper, so Tara fixed him a plate and took it to him. He glanced up at her and forced a smile. She could tell he was concerned about how things were getting a little off track, even if he wasn't letting it show.

"You should eat something," Tara said, setting the plate down beside him. "It doesn't look so good, but it tastes fine. I think it's some kind of mashed beans? I don't know, it came out of a can."

"Thank you," Nick said. "It looks... well, it looks edible."

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"There has to be an easier way," he sighed. "The way I mapped it shouldn't be taking us this long, even with thick jungle to move through. Maybe I miscalculated it. Or maybe we're missing some kind of path. I don't know."

"We'll find a way," she promised. "I wasn't really talking about the expedition, though."

"Oh," Nick said dully, removing his glasses to rub his eyes. "I was tired. He got on my nerves. Frankly, he was asking to be hit."

"He was," Tara agreed, "But the crew can't see a rift between you two. They'll start to take sides. That could be bad."

"You're probably right."

He was clearly too tired to focus on what he was doing, so Tara gently took the maps out of his hands and rolled them up to put them away. As she moved the journals, the drawing her did for her slipped out of the back of hers. He picked it up and cracked a smile.

"You kept it?" he asked.

"Oh," she blushed. "Well, yes. Of course I did. I think it's wonderful. And you know... you drew it. So it's special to me."

When he handed Tara the drawing again, he pulled her in to kiss her.

"Listen, it's not just the journey on my mind," he said. "I've been thinking more about you. And your situation."

"Seems like Captain Montanez has me figured out," she said. "I'm not too worried about him, but I'm sure rumors might be floating around."

"I think you should move to Pinehurst."

"What?" Tara asked, startled.

"Move to Pinehurst," he repeated. "I'll help you take credit for your writings, and we can set you up to be taken seriously by educated society. They'll have you talking at universities. And we can do more exploring together."

"Together?" she said breathlessly. "Really?"

"Yes," he insisted. "I can't let you go back to your previous life. Not in good conscience. I have the means to help you get started and there's more than enough room in my house-"

"Your house?"

"Uh," he went a bit red, "Well, to start. If you're comfortable. And then once you're on your feet, I suppose you can leave. If you want."

"What about William?" Tara asked quietly.

"You've been accomodating for him his entire life," Nick said. "For once, let him figure it out. If you really want to let him off easy, we can say he served as a partner in your work and he's choosing to retire back home. But we both know that it's too good of a deal for him."

Tara felt like she was floating. After so many years of being treated like an annoying loose thread, she was feeling like she was the one being offered too good of a deal. She grabbed Nick a little suddenly and kissed him fiercly, confirming she was on board with the idea. It was a little hard to move apart, but they couldn't be getting too reckless with the entire crew just outside.

"We'll talk about it more after we find this lost city," she said, laying her forehead against his with a smile. "For now, forget the maps and eat your weird mashed beans. I'm going to get you some water. You can't be getting dehydrated."

She ducked out of the tent and felt like she was walking on clouds as she went to fill Nick's water canteen, but frowned when she saw William on her way. He still seemed vexed as he watched Tara from his spot leaning against a tree.

"What are you doing here?" Tara huffed. "You heard the captain. You and Nick are supposed to be staying away from each other."

"Relax, I'm not causing trouble," William shrugged. "Are you, little sister?"

"What?" she asked with a frown.

"I'm just asking if you're causing trouble," he repeated with an eerie calmness. "Or are you sticking to the tried and true plan we've always had? The one that put money in our pockets?"

Tara pursed her lips into a tight line to avoid snapping at him and waking the crew up with a scene.

"Go to bed, Will," she said. "It's hard to breathe in this humidity. I don't have the energy for this conversation."

"I knew you wouldn't."

She wasn't sure what he meant by that, but he pushed away from the tree and strolled back to his own bedroll. He may not have picked a fight now, but she still didn't feel too good about his attitude.