Vanessa was waiting for us, her fingers curled around a cup, when we climbed aboard, fish in hand. “The generator required repairing last night.”
“My apologies. As soon as I am dressed, I will…” Maria began.
Vanessa cut her off. “It is already done.”
“Then you are becoming more familiar with the generator. I’m surprised that you had so little trouble, but as the repairs were probably very simple…” Her words faded into silence as she took in Vanessa’s thunderous expression.
Vanessa’s words were almost as curt as human speech, despite her use of our language. “They appeared to be, but I would not know. The young human fisherman came to my assistance and restored the generator to working order. We now owe him a favour.”
I expressed my surprise. “You mean the young male human with the nice...”
I thought of the mango in our freezer. I almost removed it to tell Vanessa why we had purchased the fruit, but I was stopped dead by her tone. “You will not do anything to antagonise the young fisherman. You will not speak to him or go near him, unless it is absolutely necessary. And you will do no further repairs of the house or any part of the land camp. For this I will engage the human fisherman’s services. Now we have lobsters to pull up.”
Maria and I quickly retreated to the inside of the vessel and dressed. Vanessa followed us into the cabin, in search of something with which to restrain her hair. I offered her the pink ribbon she had rejected on sight when I had first shown it to her. She hesitated, then chose the blue elastic circles.
As I headed up the stairs, I glanced back and saw her examining the pink ribbon again. She began cutting it into short lengths with some scissors, before stuffing them into her pockets. I turned and continued up to the deck.
Maria and I hastened to untie the vessel and be under way. I wondered what kind of favour the young human fisherman would ask of her, and how much trouble it would be to provide it.