The walk back to the Dilligaf turned out to be utterly uneventful except for a few more sightings of the antelope-creatures and two more squirrel monkeys that joined the first in following the family at a distance. Dinah kept a close eye on them as they moved, but to the best of her reckoning they demonstrated neither hostility nor signs of intelligence, so she was content to just let them be. It was probably just simple animal curiosity. She'd seen lots of that back on hunting trips back home. Some critters would just tag along for hours, wondering what the heck you were doing, right until you blew the nadgers offa a deer or something at the end.

They usually ran away after that.

It didn't take them real long to reach the Dilligaf, even at the almost leisurely pace they had been setting. The yacht still rested where it had fallen in the middle of its clearing. The lines Mr. Albright had wrapped around it were still secure, keeping it from tipping over or re-settling in an awkward position. Its white hull stood out starkly in contrast to the colorful foliage around it.

Dinah had to keep a snortle from escaping when she saw the name of the boat again. Dilligaf. Why in the heck would someone name their boat that? She'd never had the courage to ask. But she saw a look pass back and forth between Mr. and Mrs. Albright, so she figgered it was probably some kinda inside joke or something.

But she was also trying to distract herself. Because what Olivia's sister had said was still rattling around in her noggin like pebbles in a tin can.

They won't care.

Once she'd explained herself, her words had hit Dinah like a truck. They'd set her head to reeling, and worse, had shattered the Zone into like a billion pieces. No one had been able to do that in years. Not Ma–not mom–when she demanded Dinah learn how to talk proper, not the mean girls at school when they teased her about her favorite sneakers, not even Jake Berkowicz after he'd tried to kiss her behind the bleachers.

They won't care.

Dinah swallowed and tried her best to get back into the Zone, but it was a fragile, fractured thing, with her own emotions zinging around and rebounding off the walls–and in some cases, she knew, blasting right through. She'd seen Mr. Albright giving her some funny looks on the trek back, but he'd never once asked her about anything. And Mrs. Albright… Well, she kinda knew everything. So she'd probably figgered out something was up too. But they were giving her space. Just like Isabel had done too, after the talk. It was… Weird.

Nice, but weird.

"Okay gang!" Mr. Albright clapped his hands together, making her jump and drawing her attention back to the here and now. "Food and water first. Isabel, take Dinah and Liv to the galley. Grab whatever looks good to you and bring it out into the open. Luc, you're with me. We're gonna make something to get what we need back to the clearing. Allie? How does sentry duty sound to you?"

"It sounds appropriate, mi corazon," Mrs. Albright said with one of the little grins she'd been getting more and more of lately. "But I will take Dinah with me. A good sentry needs a second pair of eyes, just in case."

Mr. Albright nodded. "Fair enough. You good with that, Di?"

Dinah jerked at being addressed and touched the rifle over her shoulder to steady herself before answering.

"S-sure," she said, and for the first time in years she had to fight to keep her real voice accent from coming through. "I can do that. Where do you want to set up?" The last question was directed at Mrs. Albright.

"Topside will probably give you your best field of view," Mr. Albright said as they all started towards the boat. "The deck is stable enough to walk on, and we're all going to be nearby anyway."

"Sounds about right," Mrs. Albright said with a nod. "Come on," she beckoned Dinah. "Let's get up top."

"Wait, what about the boons?" Olivia said before anyone else could move. "Aren't we gonna figure out what we should get?"

"Food first," said Isabel, Mr. Albright, and Mrs. Albright all at the same time. It was so funny Dinah snorted.

"You all suck," Liv said, crossing her arms and pouting. "I want my fireball staff."

"Okay Harry," Lucas said to his big green hairy elephant. "You gotta stay here, okay? You're not gonna fit inside the boat–Ack! Hey, it's okay!"

The alien pachyderm nuzzled up against Lucas with its forehead, which was just about enough to knock the boy flat on his butt.

"I'll be right here, I promise! You just gotta wait for us outside, okay?"

The elephant gave a soft, sad trumped, but waggled its head in what Dinah was absolutely certain was a nod. She blinked and peered at the creature. It was just a mite more intelligent than she'd thought when it'd first come trompin' out of the forest, weren't it.

The family all headed into the boat's interior through a big hole in the hull. The hole led right into the smushed-up media room, where just a few days before she'd been happily playing Mario kart with her friends and looking forward to a free Hawaiian vacation and time away from Mom and her new boyfriend. They were even gonna go hunting. Lord it had been years since she'd gotten to shoot something!

And now… things was different.

Real different.

"Watch your step," Mr. Albright said as they started climbing over piles of wreckage. "It gets easier to navigate further in. But this is pretty messed up in here."

"Awww, is that my Nintendo?" Lucas said, bending down and picking up a mangled lump of plastic from the floor. "Man, I saved for three months for this!"

"What were you gonna do with it on a desert island, dummy?" Olivia asked without any real heat in her voice.

"I mean, if Dad could get the solar working…? Maybe we could haul the TV back to Billy and–Oh."

Everyone turned to look, and saw that the TV was now apparently laminated to the side of the wall by whatever had made the big hole in the hull.

"Maybe we can still save it?" Lucas said hopefully.

"Maybe we focus on things other than the boob tube while we try to survive on a desert island that's trying to kill us," Isabel said, arching an eyebrow.

"I know, I know," Lucas said, crossing his arms stubbornly. "I meant, like, after."

Dinah chuckled softly. She liked the Albrights when they were like this. It reminded her of sitting around the fire with her cousins back home, listening to them bicker with each other about whatever the newest subject of the day was. There was never any heat in it, it was just… Fun. Sport. A fun way to pass the time. That's what it felt like here. People who knew each other and were okay poking each other because they knew there wouldn't be any heat behind it–

Movement.

Dinah spun, brought her rifle up to her shoulder, and fired before she even knew what was happening. The sound of the gunshot was loud in the little space, and made everyone jump in surprise. The bullet splintered into the wood paneling of the deformed media room, narrowly missing…

"Aw fer cryin' out loud!" Dinah's real voice rang out in a moment of unguarded annoyance as she laid eyes on another squirrel-monkey–or maybe it was the same one?--as it screeched in terror and fled back out the hole in the Dilligaf's hull.

"Jeez Dinah," Olivia said, waggling a finger in her ear. "Give a girl some warning next time!"

"I'm sorry!" her cheeks were red, she was sure of it. "I thought–"

"It was good instincts," Mrs. Albright said gently, and the hand she placed on Dinah's shoulder was warm and comforting. She almost leaned into it. "And nobody was hurt."

"Wasted a bullet though," Lucas said. "Hey, how much ammo do we have left anyway? We kinda used up a bunch fighting off the bugs, didn't we?"

"We'll collect the rest and do a count when we're back at Billy," Mrs. Albright said decisively. "For now, we all know what we need to be doing. So scoot. Food first."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Yes mom," said the rest of the kids, and Dinah said "Yes Mrs. Albright."

The family split up, with half of them heading towards the galley and Dinah and Mrs. Albright heading up the stairs to the deck. It was kinda surreal, walking through the corridors of the Dilligaf after everything that had happened. Like coming back home after a long hunting trip and remembering that oh yeah, light switches and beds that had real sheets were actually a thing.

They reached the deck without incident, and Mrs. Albright unslung her really cool rifle and started walking back and forth, her head on a swivel, watching out for danger. Dinah watched her for a second, then took a breath and started doing the same, glancing out the corner of her eye from time to to time to make sure she was doing it right.

Downstairs, Mr. Albright emerged from the hole with a big ol' toolchest. She watched for a second as he dropped it next to the hull and started pulling battery-operated power tools from it.

"Eyes up, Dinah," Mrs. Albright's voice was gentle, but it still shot through her like live current. She jerked upright, cheeks blazing, and stuttered out a "Y-yes ma'am!" before forcing her eyes back up to the horizon.

"'Alejandra' is fine," Mrs. Albright said, coming up to stand next to her. She had a gentle smile on her face, just like Pa used to. "I know you're probably not ready to call me 'mom' yet."

Dinah swallowed and shook her head. No, she was definitely not ready to go that far. "Th-thanks Mrs. Albright."

The older woman nodded and raised her eyes back to the horizon. The jungle was quiet, but when she turned to look towards the beach she noticed a couple flashes of color in the ocean. Giant crabs, maybe? She lifted a finger to point, and Mrs. Albright nodded.

"I see them. As long as they stay in the water, we won't bother them."

A sudden mechanical whirring rose into the air, and Dinah glanced down to see Mr. Albright powering up a circular saw. Was he… A harsh buzz confirmed her guess as the older man started cutting into the side of the Dilligaf.

"I've been meaning to say," Mrs. Albright said after a moment. "You were amazing back in the fight. I saw you holding your ground against the bugs. It was some of the best shooting I've seen in a long time. Where did you learn that?"

A riot of emotions shot through Dinah's chest, and the Zone barely held together. Flashes of memory. Her and Paw huddled together in a deer blind on a cold morning. Tracking a ten-point buck through the Mississippi forests. The sweet feel of the rifle butt bucking against her shoulder, and the elation that came from knowing she'd hit her mark before she even checked to make sure.

"M-my dad taught me," she said, and she had to fight hard to keep her real voice from coming through. "Back home."

There was a long quiet where Dinah didn't dare look away from the horizon. The colors of the crabs under the water shifted with the rippling of the waves, but they didn't come closer. Below them, Mr. Albright started another cut.

"You miss him." Mrs. Albright wasn't asking a question, just stating a fact. Dinah still nodded, not trusting her voice.

"I miss mi padre too," the older woman said quietly. And this time there was something in her voice that made Dinah look over at her.

"He was a colonel in the army in Guatemala," Mrs. Albright continued, and her hispanic accent seemed to get thicker as she spoke. "A good man. It is not easy to be a good man in the army in Guatemala, but mi papa managed. Somehow. He was a small man, but strong. And he had this magnificent moustache that tickled so when he kissed me."

Dinah found herself smiling. "My dad… He had a big ol' beard. It felt like a bush when he hugged me. Like a rabbit might pop out of it at any minute."

The silence that came next was not like the silence before. It was gentler, easier. Below them Mr. Albright started another cut. Was he trying to cut the whole hull off or something?

"Do you think your dad misses you?" Dinah asked after a bit.

Mrs. Albright got a sad smile on her face. "I am sure he does, but not in the way you think. He is in heaven, looking down on me and waiting for the day when we will be reunited again."

Dinah winced, but there was no censure in Mrs. Albright's voice. Just a kind of wistfulness that kinda sounded like old pain paved over. "I'm sorry."

Mrs. Albnright shrugged. "As I said, it is not easy to be a good man in the Fuerzas Armadas de Guatemala. It is… Well, it was shot through with corruption. And mi papa tried to fight against it. In some ways he succeeded. In others…"

Mrs. Albright sucked in a deep breath. "I… still do not know who sent the men to our house. And I do not remember much of that night. I just remember mi papa shouting at mi mama. And I remember the gunshots. And I remember running."

The smile turned brittle, and Dinah thought she saw tears gathering in the woman's eyes. "We ran to America. Mi mama and me. It took a long time. It took a longer time to get in. It was part of the reason I joined the army, to get my citizenship sooner. And because I wanted mi papa to be proud of me, watching me from heaven."

It wasn't a complete story, but it was raw and real and Dinah felt her heart catch in her chest at the simple descriptions of a girl forced from her home, fleeing thousands of miles to a new country.

Her next words came almost as an accident.

"My m-mom took me away from my paw," she said, and she froze when she realized she'd said it in her real voice. She flinched and waited for… Something. Ridicule, or reproach, or something.

All that happened was Mrs. Albright put a hand on her shoulder.

And that was all it took.

"I m-miss him so much," she choked out as the tears started. "I miss my home, I miss huntin' and fishin' in the cricks, and I miss talkin' right and I miss Paw an' his big fuzzy beard and…" She sniffed down a nose-load of snot and swallowed. "She was a city woman. She hated livin' with us in the country. Hated how Paw talked, an' how he took me huntin', an' how we was always talkin' about guns and stuff. And when they busted up, she took me with her. I think she did it just to hurt Paw. And she made me 'talk proper', and go to school with a bunch of kids who talked about guns the same way you'd talk about a snake in your pisser, and…"

The flood stopped as the Zone slammed back into place, and with it came the fear and the desperation and all the other stuff it was supposed to protect her from. She flinched away from Mrs. Albright. She knew what was coming. She was gonna get bitched out now, just like Mom used to do when she tried to explain just how much she hated her new school–

Two strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her against a body that was hard with muscle and soft with support. She stiffened for a split second, and then she was clinging to Mrs. Albright, her tears spilling out and onto the other woman's shirt, her sobs muffled by her breast. She clung hard and fierce, like Mrs. Albright was a rock in the middle of a ragin' river. And a thousand years worth of ugly poured out of Dinah's soul through her eyes and splashed onto Mrs. Albright's chest.

She didn't know how long they stood there like that… Couldn't have been more than a few seconds though, 'cause Mr. Albright was still cuttin' stuff and nothing had attacked them yet. But it felt like a million years. And when she finally pulled away she felt like an old woman, drained of strength and just a withered ol' husk.

But she felt good, too.

"Sorry," she muttered, sniffing and wiping her nose on the sleeve of her borrowed shirt. "Didn't mean to get all 'motional."

"You have nothing to apologize for, mija," Mrs. Albright said with a quiet smile. "We all have our demons. We all have things that haunt us. To face them takes courage. But no one says we have to face them alone." She paused and made a face. "My second therapist told me that, right before I punched her."

Dinah blinked. "You hit your therapist? Wait, you had a therapist?"

Mrs. Albright chuckled. "I did say everyone has their demons, no? It… Took a lot, for me to understand that I didn't have to face them alone. And I am still fighting that battle. But," she added, glancing over the side with a fond smile, "I have family who loves me. And who want to help me. In spite of everything I have put them through."

"And so do you," she said next, looking right back at Dinah like she could see right through her. "Here, now, on this island. You have friends and family, and we will help you if you let us. You do not need to hide from us."

Dinah sighed. "Isabel said the same thing. Said you wouldn't care about what I was tryin' to hide."

"She is a smart girl, mi nina. And she is right. But," Mrs. Albright added with a smile, "you do not need to force it either. We are here. Come to us when you are comfortable."

Dinah searched for words and couldn't find any. Fortunately, she was saved by the bell. Well, by the crash. There came a loud discordant buzz from down below, followed by a heavy crash of something hitting the ground and a spate of cussin' like when her Paw hammered his thumb. Only this cussin' came from Mr. Albright.

Alejandra chuckled and leaned over the busted railing. "Are you alright Matty?" She called, smiling.

"Peachy," came the grumbled response. "Hey Toraline, I don't suppose steel-toe boots are part of the boons are they?"

"There are several items of footwear that may be selected, however I do not believe 'steel-toe' is a modification any of them have."

"As soon as we get settled in, I'm inventing OSHA."

Mrs. Albright chuckled again and stepped back from the railing. "We will leave him to his fun. Come, let us resume our watch. Make sure those crabs do not decide to come and see what all the fuss is about."

They resumed their watch, with a hundred different thoughts swirling around in Dinah's head. And one in particular stuck out.

Maybe this ain't gonna be so bad after all.

==========================

The Record of Consul Dinah May Costigan, Custos Naturae

Thou hast not yet unlocked thy calling.

Thou art a Dead-Eye of the 1st Rank

Thou hast not yet chosen a Profession

Thy Condition is: Healthy

Thy overall rank is: Peasant

The Arts available to thee are:

- The Final Shot (Dead-Eye)

- Pierce The Armour (Dead-Eye)

- Arrow To The Knee (Dead-Eye)

The Skills available to thee are:

- Unerring Accuracy (Dead-Eye)

- Gunslinger's Stare (Dead-Eye)

The Powers available to you as Consul are:

Rich Harvest

Revelator's Eye

Ally Of Nature

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