Free wrath of the Sea Queen by Cynthia Woods

pleasantly in that direction as her arm rested across her stomach .  A few minutes later, C a eli was startled by a slight tug on her hair.  A tiny , tanned hand reached out and stroked her long hair, unintentionally snagging it in the process.
    " Ow! " she whispered as she jumped slightly , reflexively reaching up to grab her hair where it had been pulled .  C a eli quickly realized that it was the young boy, now standing in the aisle beside her seat.  She did not intend to scare him with her sudden reaction, but it was too late.  He quickly pulled his hand back and dashed over to his own seat.  He placed both of his hands between his knees and pressed his legs together, then ducked his head, refusing to look up at her.
    " I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to scare you.  You just startled me . " C a eli tried to reassure the boy that she wasn't mad at him.                " Honest , you didn't hurt me.  My hair gets full of tangles sometimes. "   She tried her best smile, but it was lost on t he boy as he con tinued to stare at his knees. 
    " Well, ok then.  If you won't talk to me, I wi ll be so bored.  I suppose I wi ll fall sleep. "
    C a eli closed her eyes and leaned her head back, but th is time she listened carefully.  In a few minutes, she heard him moving .  He scooted out of his chair and worked his way forward until he managed to obtain a new location in the seat directly in front of her, which was previously unoccupied .  C a eli was good with kids and loved to play games.  Children seemed to sense her kindness and often found themselves drawn to her.  She kn e w right away that this little guy was already bored on such a long flight.  Unlike most adults , who didn't like to be bothered by someone else's kid , C a eli did n o t mind entertaining the boy for a while. 
    She opened her eyes a little bit and watched him sitting backward in the seat with his hands holding onto the top.  He was peeking over the edge with those b right , green eyes and a small smile that she could barely see.  C a eli opened her eyes suddenly and wiggled her fingers at him without making a sound.  He giggled happily and popped a little further up in the chair.
    " Hello , pretty L ady.  You're funny, " the boy said a little too loudly.
    C a eli placed her finger over her lips.
    " Shh.  Use a quiet voice.  We don't want to wake the others. "
    " No, Papa wouldn't like that.   Can you teach me how to use a secret voice like you did with your friend ?   Then nobody would hear," t he boy whispered as he looked over at the man still sleeping next to his former seat .
    Then he turned back to C a eli and tilted his head in an exaggerated extension to look over at Salma sleeping in he r seat.  The young child did not notice the stunned look on C a eli's face.  How could he possibly have heard us?  C a eli wondered to herself.  Before she could respond to his request , the boy continued with his own question.
    " She is almost as pretty as you.  Is she a Mama, too? "
    At first, C a eli was confused by the inquiry .  Then she thought she understood what the boy was incorrectly asking .
    " N o.  She is not my Mama.  She is my a unt , and s he's a doctor. "
    At this, the young boy scrunched up his face and leaned away. 
    " What 's the matter?  Don't you like doctors? "   C a eli asked.
    " No.  They always give me shots.  They say it won't hurt, but it always does.  And the doctor said he would make my Mama better, but he didn't , " the boy answered seriously.
    " Well, my Aunt Salma is a very good doctor.  She hasn't given me a shot yet that has hurt more than she said it would .  I f she tells you she is going to do something, she will do it.  You can count on it.  I think you would like doctors i f she was your doctor," C a eli explained.
    The boy seemed to think about that for a minute. 
    " Maybe ; s he is pretty. "
    " She is p retty , but that has nothing to do with it.  She is very smart and a