crybaby ghost writer

Nick had sat up late the night before, studying the ivory pendant Tara had lent him and poring over all the notes and scraps of books he had on Kerelia. When Tara had given him William’s notes his suspicions had instantly increased. The notes were clearly hastily, and recently, written. But they were supposed to be a compilation of notes William had put together over time; the man had written three books on the subject after all. Yet some of the ink was still damp and Nick didn’t believe that Tara had “misplaced” the notes and had to search for them. He felt like something was off, and now he was going to test that theory.

He was seated at his desk when William and Tara entered his quarters, and both their gazes flicked to the notes spread out in front of him.

“You’ve been researching Kerelia for a long time now, considering that you wrote three books on the subject.”

“Yes,” William said, with his usual air of self-importance. Nick found that William seemed to have an ego larger than this ship and it was rather off putting. Nick leaned back slightly in his chair, keeping his tone casual.

“I just wanted to ask you about this one section of your notes. In your second book, you only briefly mentioned that you thought the Kerelian society collapsed due primarily to natural disasters wiping out their resources. But your notes seem much more extensive than what you wrote in the book. Why did you opt to leave out so much detail?”

“Well, the notes were really just ramblings. I didn’t feel that there was enough concrete proof to give it more than a mention in the book,” William explained, shrugging. “But I was hoping to expand upon that in volume four, once we visit the place in question.”

Nick arched one eyebrow, his suspicions that William was full of it were pretty much confirmed now. He glanced at Tara and saw that she had gone a bit pale and was wringing her hands nervously.

“That’s quite fascinating, William,” Nick said casually, leaning forward and resting his arms on the desk. “Because you didn’t theorize that Kerelia fell due to natural disasters at all. In your book you thought that the civilization met its end due to a combination of successors vying for power and a schism in religious beliefs.”

Nick stared at William, who for the first time seemed at a loss for words. He opened his mouth but apparently could think of nothing clever to say to cover this mistake.

“William it’s quite clear that you didn’t actually have any notes on Kerelia and you don’t even seem to know much about it, so would you care to tell me just what the hell is going on here?” Nick’s tone was hard. He didn’t appreciate being lied to and now he was wondering how extensive a grift this really was.

William let out an exasperated sigh, slumping back in his chair.

“Look, it’s really just a misunderstanding,” he began.

“Perhaps you’d like to clear it up, or you can find your way home from the next port,” Nick said, shuffling the “research notes” into a neat stack.

“Oh, just tell him,” William grumbled to Tara. Her lower lip trembled slightly and then she promptly burst into tears, startling Nick so much he almost dropped the papers he was holding.

“I-it’s true. W-Will doesn’t know about K-Kerelia,” she choked out through her sobbing. “I-I’m the one w-who wrote the b-books.”

William rolled his eyes. “Good lord, Tara, pull yourself together. You’re embarrassing us both.”

“I’m s-so s-sorry,” she hiccuped, though the apology was directed at Nick and not at her scowling brother. “I didn’t want to trick anyone but no one would take the b-books seriously if they knew I wrote them so we said Will was the author. And then you offered to let us come with you to search for Kerelia and it was such an amazing opportunity.”

She started crying so hard she couldn’t even keep talking, tears streaming down her face and falling off her chin. Nick was still alarmed by her panicked sobbing but he was also trying to process what she had said. He glanced down at the hastily scribbled notes, then back up at the Palmers.

“P-please don’t throw us off the s-ship,” Tara squeaked. Nick shook his head slightly.

“Tara, quit crying,” William said, shooting her an annoyed look. “You get all red and splotchy when you cry, it’s gross.”

“That will be quite enough,” Nick snapped at William, seeming to catch him off guard. “Mr. Palmer, since you really have nothing to contribute to the conversation, why don’t you go back to your room and apply more pomade,” he added disdainfully. William looked shocked for half a second, and then his gaze darkened a bit. He seemed ready to snap back at Nick, but apparently he wasn’t quite as dumb as he looked.

“Whatever,” he muttered, standing up and stalking from the room. Tara was still seated, her face buried in her hands. Nick reluctantly stood up and walked around the desk. He wasn’t the best in social situations, but she was clearly distraught and her brother didn’t seem at all interested in comforting her.

“Um. Listen, it’s okay. You don’t need to cry.” Nick crouched down by her chair and put a hand on her back. “I’m not kicking anyone off the ship. I promise. That was just a bluff.”

“I suppose you w-won’t want us coming on the expedition now,” she mumbled into her hands. Nick reached out to pull them away from her face. She seemed embarrassed by the state she was in, but he could tell she genuinely felt bad about the deception.

“You really wrote the books all by yourself?” he asked, and she nodded slowly.

“And you truly want to trek through the jungle to look for Kerelia?”

“Yes,” she said softly. “I’ve dreamed of doing that for years.”

Nick let out a breath, then gave her a tiny half smile to try and reassure her. “All right. Then you can still come on the expedition. I won’t make you stay behind on the ship.”

“R-really?” She looked at him hopefully with big damp eyes.

“Of course.” Nick dug around in his pockets for a handkerchief. “I’d still like to have another expert along, and clearly that’s you.”

She seemed startled when Nick reached out with the handkerchief to wipe the tears off her face.

“But I must look so pathetic to you,” she sighed. “Crying hysterically and lying to you. You must think I’m horribly embarrassing.”

“Your brother is too in your head,” Nick replied. “I admit, I’m not thrilled to have been lied to. But…I suppose I understand why you did it. And it’s quite obvious that you didn’t do it with any malice. And the books are still fascinating regardless.”

He relinquished the handkerchief to her and then went to his desk to pull out the ivory pendant. He came back and knelt next to her chair again.

“Here, you can have this back now,” he said gently. “I just wanted to study it. It seems authentic.”

“You don’t want to keep it? You are the one responsible for this search, and we tricked you.”

“It belongs to you.” Nick set the necklace in her hand. “And you can have your notes back too. They’re quite in depth, for having been scribbled down last night. You’re really quite brilliant, you know.”

“Oh.” Tara’s face went crimson and she quickly ducked her head to dab at her eyes some more with the handkerchief. “You don’t have to say that.”

“Why not? It’s just an objective observation.”

She seemed a little flustered, staring into the handkerchief for a moment. “I’m sorry I made such a scene. I should go and freshen up, I must look a complete mess.”

“No, not at all.” Nick suddenly felt a little awkward, his ears going warm. “Um. But you probably want to go to your room and rest for a bit. Perhaps though, you’d like to join me here for dinner this evening?”

“Really?”

Nick nervously adjusted his glasses. “If you want to. I am still interested in discussing Kerelia with the author of the leading books on the subject, after all. Truth be told I’m a bit relieved that it’s not William, since talking to him is about as enjoyable as a trip to the dentist.”

That got a laugh out of her, and she seemed to finally be calming down. She sniffed again and then looked at him shyly.

“I’d like to have dinner with you,” she said. “And discuss Kerelia,” she added quickly.

“Right. So then I’ll see you at six?”

She managed a watery smile and nodded. “Um. Yes. Six. I’ll be here.”