Vanessa observed me in conversation with the human and she waited unhappily for my return to the vessel. “I asked you to avoid contact with the young human fisherman.”
I felt defensive. Had she not observed that he initiated the conversation with me?
Her eyes were still on the human, through the cabin window. “You gave him information that saddened him. I would have preferred to do this in a kinder manner than you did.”
I closed my eyes. I forced the words out, hoping that I wouldn’t have to put them into action. “It was not my intention to hurt the human. I will return and apologise to him, if you wish.”
Her voice was firm and commanding. “I do not. I would like you to avoid contact with him, particularly now. Our time here is limited, and I must make amends for your rudeness.”
Swiftly, she crossed the deck and climbed off the vessel to stand on the jetty. The human’s face lit up as she approached him. I watched them and listened to the conversation that the wind carried across the anchorage.
She greeted him with a smile. “Good morning, Joe.”
He was more abrupt. “Good morning. Your deckie said you’re leaving next week.”
“Yes, with the fishing season finishing, I’ve filled my quota. At the end of the season, it’s time to return home, until next year,” she told him gently. “Skipper plans to leave not long after I do. He’s had a good season, too.”
He seemed to have difficulty speaking. “But I thought you’d stay until the end of the season, at least until the end of next week, when I go back to the mining camps…”
“I’d like to stay longer, but I must go home,” she said softly. Her hand dropped to her stomach, which now had a slight curve to it that I had not noticed before.
Did the human food make her swell in the middle? Surely not. She did not eat a great deal.
At first, I dismissed the other possible reason. She had joined with the human only a few days ago, it was too soon for her to be changing if she were carrying the human’s child. It was far too early to tell, unless…
Unless she joined with him the night we rescued him from the rock? That night was four weeks in the past, sufficient time for her to know if she carried a child. A child would explain why she was so willing to return with us, to ensure she was in the deeps as the child grew within her until it was time to birth her at the Nursery Grounds.
“Come in and have some breakfast. The girls brought some eggs and I’ve been dying for some scrambled eggs…” Vanessa took the human’s hand and led him into her house.
Strong preferences for certain foods and strong emotional responses, both tell-tale signs of carrying a child. My suspicions grew.