Free wrath of the Sea Queen by Cynthia Woods Page A

very good doctor . "
    " You are pretty , too, L ady.   Is it time for lunch yet? "
    C a eli just shook her head, which turned out to be a bad idea as it generated a strong wave of nausea.
                  " Vin, I need to tell you soon.  I won't be able to keep this a secret much longer if this keeps up .  I didn't expect it to be this bad.  Then again, m aybe I am sick after all . "
    Of course , she was certain that Vin could not hear her at this distance.   And, i f Vin were on the plane, she would have thought that he put the kid up to this playful banter .  Vin knew she would be embarrassed at the flatter y , and he would do it just to see C a eli's face turn red.
    " No.  It is not lunchtime quite yet.  What's your name? "   C a eli asked to change the subject.
    " I'm Max , pretty Lady, and that's my Papa over there. "   The boy pulled himself as far up in the chair as he could while sitting on his knees and extended his hand over the top of the seat so that C a eli could shake it.
    She obliged him with an introductory handshake.
    " Well, Max, my name is C a eli.  If you want to continue our talk, you are going to have to use my name, ok? "
    " Ok, pretty C a eli . "
    C a eli couldn't help laughing at the innocence of the response.  Obviously, someone the boy thought was pretty, probably his mother, made quite an impression on him .  Now it seemed that was how Max assessed people.  Apparently, there would be no avoiding it.
    " So, where have you been, Max? "  
    That was all the prompting the boy needed.  Max moved around to her seat and boldly plopped himself into C a eli's lap.  He commenced a wordy tale about his trip to a big amusement park wher e he rode lots of rides, ate tons of food, and played fun games with his Papa.  Each of these things he described in lengthy and vivid detail.  Well, a t least, as vivid ly as a child can describe them.  C a eli pulled one of her energy bars out of her bag to nibble on while she listened, offering the boy a bite .  H e d eclined .  After maybe fifte en minutes, Max's adventure story was interrupted by another masculine voice.
    " Max, I think you ha ve taken up enough of this nice lady's time. "
    " Pretty C a eli; h er name is pretty C a eli, Papa.   You have to use her name if you want to talk to her, " Max repeated the instructions that he ha d been given.  
    "Leave Ms. C a eli alone then .  C ome over here to your own seat and color for a while. "   The man produced a sketch book and box of crayons and placed them on the tray for Max to use.  Max reluctantly climbed down from C a eli 's lap .
    " Can I have a picture of you, pretty C a eli?  Did you bring one with you ? "   Max asked her before leaving .
    " You want a photo o f me?  I think I have one in my bag .  Why do you want it? "  
    C a eli tugged her bag out from under the seat in front of her and rummaged through it until she found her small coin purse that also held some photos in a side compartment .  She removed one of her swim team p ictures .  In it, e veryone was wearing their white school jackets adorned with the school's mascot swimming across a large letter W for Washington.  C a eli was seated in the center of the front row, a place she had not want ed to be.  She would have much preferred to hide anonymously in t he back, but the coach insisted that his star swimmer needed to be the center of the photo.  Her protests had not change d his mind. 
    She stared at the image and smiled.  It had turned out to be one of her favorites.  Not because of the swim team, but because it always reminded her of the incident that first introduced her to Vin.  She had stayed after school to practice that Friday , which she often did.  Typically, C a eli would have the pool to herself for about an hour.  She was climbing out of the water when Vin came rushing by on an errand of his own.  H is nose was buried in the pages of a notebook as he cut through the pool area.