Chapter 5: Sailing!

In the morning, Zanna was up bright and early, ready for a day of sailing with James and Emily. She was washed and dressed early and sat on her bed, took out her diary. She quickly scrawled in what she had done with Emily and James the previous day, stopping to quickly sketch her friends too. She put the book back into her suitcase and slid down the banisters to the main hall of the manor house.

Skidding on the marble floors as she ran, Zanna came to a stop when she came to the kitchen. She knew for a fact that Nanny kept some fishing poles in the kitchen cupboards, for Nanny had shown them to her the previous day. Grabbing the fishing poles, Zanna tore out to the garden, where she knew that a hole had been dug, ready to plant a little sapling. As she expected, there were hundreds of worms slithering in the grimy hole. She took out her Father’s tobacco tin and scraped some worms into the tin, closing and pocketing it.

Satisfied that they had all the bait and equipment needed, Zanna began to return to the house. There was already a bucket in the boat, ready for the fish, so there was no worry there.

When she came back up to the bedroom, Emily was there talking with James, wondering what the day would hold in store for them. The other two were obviously washed and ready for the day, only needing to stop to eat breakfast.

They descended the slippery stairs upon towels, carrying on long after they had come to the bottom of the stairs. They slid to a halt just in front of the grand oak doors, relieved that they had broken nothing.

After having eaten a rushed breakfast, Zanna, Emily and James ran through the garden to the little boathouse where the boat waited for them. Zanna jumped in and rigged the boat, her hands dancing expertly over the boom and mast as she connected the mainsail and checked all the halyards were in place.

“All aboard who’s going aboard!” she called out as she stowed the fishing poles in the bottom of the boat and took out the oars to row them out of the boathouse. Tentatively, Emily stepped into the boat, worried that it would fall over with the smallest upset of balance. James clambered in, almost as confidently as Zanna had, but he was very careful as to what he did.

Powerfully rowing the little vessel, Zanna brought the boat out onto the lake, where a wind had already started to tug at the mainsail.

“Stow the oars, James,” she said as she shifted her position so that she was by the tiller and had the mainsail in hand. The wind became more powerful as Zanna took the boat slowly out into the lake. She pinpointed the direction of the wind and manoeuvred the boat into position. The sail and jib billowed with the wind and the vessel sped off at a tremendous speed. Zanna’s hair blew out behind her, making her lashing of ebony hair look like a black streak against the blue skies.

The group whooped and cheered and bellowed their delight, hearing their cries echo back at them as they sailed out into the vast expanse of frigid, stony water.

“Now this is sailing!” Zanna cried out to the others, beaming with sheer delight. “There’s nothing else like it in the world!”

“This is fantastic! I can’t believe that I’ve never done this!” Emily yelled, looking happier than she had been for a long time. She leaned over the side and dangled her fingers in the water, leaving v-shaped wakes behind them.

Zanna brought the boat round, doing a wide figure of eight loop to see where the best fishing spot was. She sailed out into the lake, intent on taking them to the far side of the expanse of water.

“What do you two think about going to the other shore?” she asked, pointing towards the distant shore.

“I think it would be absolutely scrummy if we went there! It looks beautiful!” came Emily’s reply. James immediately agreed with her.

“Yeah, I think we should go too!”

Zanna sailed the boat towards the shore, keeping a sharp eye out for the rocks, although, she couldn’t help but watch Emily and James. They were very funny, she thought, after all, it was so obvious that the two were already developing feelings for each other.

Zanna furled the mainsail as she came closer to the island, deciding it considerably safer for her to row the boat in, rather than risk being torn apart with a fast-moving collision on the rocks.

“I’m not too sure about these rocks, Zanna, don’t you think it would be more sensible to be out in open water?” James called over to Zanna when he saw Emily eyeing the rocks nervously.

“I don’t know. I want to see what’s up with these rocks, so that we can find a place to moor on the other side…” she trailed off as she kept her eyes glued to the water. Zanna could see a clear passage through the rocks, and was intent on going through it.

“Zanna, take us away from here. Now,” James said, growing firm. He could see that Emily was starting to get very jittery at the thought of getting wrecked so far out on the lake.

“Fine fine fine fine!” Zanna conceded with an irritated tone to her voice. “We’ll come back here a different day then,” she said as she rowed the boat back out and away from the rocks.

When they were in the middle of the lake once more, the wind had died down considerably.

“Well, chaps,” Zanna said as she took out the fishing rods. “Might as well catch a few fish.” James’ eyes darted to Emily, wondering what she thought of the idea. Emily looked completely thrilled with the idea of fishing.

“But what will we do about bait, Zanna?” James asked, challengingly. “I don’t see any.”

“Wait a second, James. I’m getting it!” Zanna said as she fumbled around, trying to find her bait tin in her pocket.

Soon enough, the little group were sat down in the boat, bait on the fishing lines, going deep into the lake.

Emily’s line was the first to be taken, her bobber going down with a plop. She had been staring at James, and not concentrating, and came back to earth with a shock as she realised that the fish was getting away.

Reeling in the line furiously, Emily heaved the line out of the water, a fish of some sort clinging on to the free meal that it had wanted from the line. Emily took it off and plopped it into the bucket whilst she was receiving congratulations from her friends.

“Jolly good show, Emily,” James said, clapping her on the back.

“I’d have been proud to have made that catch,” Zanna said, smiling but eyeing the fish with envy. Zanna cast out her line once more, after putting some fresh bait on the hook, the other piece having been stolen by some cheeky fish.

As the group chatted and waited for a fish to come along and take their bait, Zanna heard a splash from out on the lake. She whipped round to see something going under the water with ripples going out from it. Oh, probably a fish jumping, she thought to herself. The group continued fishing for many hours, laughing and joking, with Zanna even falling in at one point, due to too much laughter, which brought on more laughter from James and Emily. Dripping wet, Zanna climbed back in to their little boat, laughing good-naturedly at her clumsiness. She soon dried off in the warm Summer sun, relishing the feeling of the warmth of the sun on her face.

Emily caught several more fish, however, they were all smaller than her initial beast. James and Zanna caught their own fair share, but none as big as that of Emily. All to soon, it was time to go back for lunch.

Zanna set the little boat speeding back towards the jetty, not yet ready to put the boat away properly. She tied the mooring line to the jetty and hopped out of the boat, heaving James out first and then Emily, much to their discontent. Laughing, Zanna leaned down towards the boat in order to pick up their bucket of fish, with Emily’s prize catch on the top and gave the bucket to James. He put the bucket down by his feet and shot a sly look at Emily, his eyes twinkling with the idea of a fun joke. Emily caught on immediately and, moving as one, the two swooped down on Zanna’s feet and pushed her into the lake, once again.

Black hair plastered to her face and head, Zanna’s smiling face bobbed up on the surface of the water as she resurfaced. It was a good thing she hadn’t been wearing her shoes that day, or Nanny would have been absolutely furious!

“Ok, James, Emily, that was funny, but you two are now so DEAD!” Zanna yelled, laughing madly as she climbed the jetty’s ladder. James and Emily looked at each other and quickly grabbed the fish bucket and darted towards the house before Zanna caught up with them.

Zanna gave chase, sprinting across the neatly trimmed grass, chasing her friends back towards the house, dripping wet tip top from top to toe.

James and Emily burst into the kitchen through the back door, their fish slopping around in the bucket, running towards the table, where they took refuge behind.

Zanna, merely seconds later, burst through the door, bare feet sopping wet stil, and she skidded along the linoleum floors, coming to a stop in front of Nanny, who was obviously trying to hid her amusement.

“Er… hello, Nanny…” Zanna said, grinning sheepishly.

Nanny just laughed good-naturedly and turned to James and Emily, who were still holding the prize fish.

“Oh my!” she exclaimed. “What a big fish! Who caught it?” she asked, smiling broadly at the children.

“I did,” Emily said, blushing.

“Well,” Nanny said, picking up the fish. “I think we may just have to have this for our dinner tonight. What do you say?”

The children looked at each other and smiled. “Yes please!” they said, nodding vigorously.

“Well, you go and dry yourselves off, especially you, Zanna, and then come back down for lunch.”

The group ate a hurried lunch of marmalade sandwiches and other sorts of treats that Nanny had prepared for them and were soon rushing back down the garden to the lake and started swimming around again, not bothering to go out sailing again due to the wind having disappeared again.

Zanna, Emily and James mucked around the rest of the afternoon and didn’t realise how fast the afternoon had gone until they noticed that it was now getting dark.

“Holy Muffins! Tempus Fugit, eh?” Zanna said as she clambered out of the lake, grabbing her towel and getting changed. James, who had never learnt Latin at his old school hadn’t the foggiest idea what Tempus Fugit meant. He looked at Zanna quizzically.

“It means Time Flies, James,” Emily said as she hauled herself out to see Zanna already clambering up a tree as she waited for them to get themselves ready.

A chilly breeze swept through the garden and Emily shivered as she stood next to James. James noticed Emily’s shivering and he took off his jumper and gave it to the cold girl.

“Thanks, James,” Emily said, smiling timidly as she felt his warm arms close around her, trying to warm her up.

“Come down now, Zanna!” James called up to Zanna in the tree. “It’s getting pretty cold down here!”

Zanna deftly climbed down the tree, hand over hand and foot over foot until she was low down enough to jump from an overhanging branch.

“Race you back to the manor house!” Zanna said as she stood up and warmed herself up a bit. “1...2...3... Go!” she yelled as she sprinted off, the others following, laughing at her speediness.

Zanna laughed as she ran, full of glee at the thrill of feeling the wind in her hair. So happy was she that she wasn’t looking where she was going and she did not hear her friends calling after her to be careful. Zanna ran headfirst into a tree at full pelt. She fell backwards onto the ground, Emily and James running to her side. Stars were spinning around in Zanna’s vision.

“Crikey, trust Zanna to kill her head on a tree,” Emily said as Zanna spoke gibberish. “Zanna? Zanna? Can you hear me? How many fingers am I holding up?” Emily asked as she held up three fingers. Dazedly, Zanna tried to count the fingers in front of her eyes.

“Um… seven? No, no, six? No, wait, five and a half, that’s my final offer,” she said, her eyes crossing as she tried to focus her vision.

“Well, either she can’t count or she has double vision,” James said as he went over to her. “She’s going to have a mighty bad concussion when she wakes up in the morning. We need to get her to Nanny. She’ll know what to do,” he said as he put his arms under Zanna’s small frame and picked her up, her head lolling over his arm.

The group trudged back to the manor house in the near dark as Zanna murmured gibberish of all sorts.

Nanny was at the door to the kitchen, waiting for the group, suspecting that they had been up to some sort of mischief or other. When she saw Zanna, Nanny was both amused and shocked at what had happened to the girl. James and Emily explained what had happened to Zanna, at the same time trying not to laugh.

“Well, I know it sounds most comical,” James said. “But Zanna needs some help, I reckon she’s done her head in pretty badly.”

“My my,” Nanny said as she led the group into the sitting room where James laid Zanna onto the chaise long which she had started the soot fight from behind. James and Emily exchanged glances, laughing silently as they remembered how fun it had been when they had fought. “Well, I’ll make sure that the girl will be ok. She won’t be able to play around with you two so much as you do. She’ll have to rest for a few days. But I daresay, she’ll find some way to cause mischief,” she said, a twinkle in her eye. “Like she did with the soot, from the fire?” James and Emily paled as they realised that Nanny knew. “Oh yes, my dears, I know of your ‘soot fight’ that you had yesterday. It is alright, the master told me. Now, James, go get a moist cloth to put on her forehead. Emily, please make sure she doesn’t try to get up and do something rash, like normal.”

Nanny and James cared for Zanna and made sure she was ok. On her forehead was a massive bump and bruise that was sure to be painful. Zanna was sleeping peacefully, her head bandaged.

“I must say, she looks a dreadful sight, Nanny. Are you sure she will be ok?” Emily asked, worried for her friend.

“She’ll be fine, Emily. She will just need some rest,” Nanny said as she came bustling in with some cups of tea for Emily and James. “Now, I’m going to go and take the master his dinner. If you two would stay down here and look after Zanna, I’d be most grateful.” Nanny said smiling lightly. The woman who had been so scary upon their arrival looked much softer now that she was being kind to them. Emily had noticed a distinct change in behaviour towards them from Nanny.

Nanny left the room and Emily and James were left chatting by the fire as Zanna slept on.

“What do you think we’ll get up to without our little monkey to cause mischief and mayhem?” Emily asked as she sipped her tea, the fire’s flames dancing, casting a soft glow on her small face. James couldn’t help but notice that she looked very beautiful in this light.

“Well, I reckon that we’ll have to do without our personal jester for a few days until she can be a pest again,” James said, laughing as he stirred his tea absent-mindedly.

Zanna moved in her sleep, shifting her position a bit as she slept. Emily and James watched her, wondering what she was dreaming about.

“Funny,” James said as he got up and stoked the fire. “You would never have thought that she was such a pest if you looked at her when she was this peaceful. But, when she has her catapult and any form of ammo, wow. You would have to watch out all the time!” he said, laughing as he thought about all the mischief that Zanna had caused in the last few days.

“You’re right. She can be a right pain in the neck, but that’s why we love her,” Emily said as she, too, laughed at the thought of Zanna’s mischief. “But, James,” Emily said, putting her cup down on the side table and walking slowly over to her friend. “What are we going to do without Zanna? She’s always been the one who thinks of something to do. Without her, we’ll have to think of something to do that won’t get us into trouble…” James laughed at the thought of Zanna being the only one who could think of anything to do.

“Hey, I know things that we can do around here! Zanna’s not the only one capable of getting up to some sort of mischief or other!” James said, laughing at the thought of the two actually having to think. “You’re just scared to try and do a Zanna!” he said, laughing.

James and Emily sat down again on the armchair, chatting about things that they could do the next day. It was very warm in the sitting room, and the heavy curtains had been drawn, sealing in the warmth from the fire. Emily was sat on James’ lap, although he knew if his Father, the General, were to find out, he would be in trouble, but, to be honest, he really didn’t care. His arms around Emily, the two chatted for a long time in the warmth of the room. Emily became incredibly drowsy as she sat on James’ lap as they chatted. Crikey it’s warm in here, she thought to herself, sleepily. Her eyes slowly drooped and she fell asleep in James’ lap, her head leaning against his shoulder.

James smiled to himself as Emily fell asleep in his arms. The dim light of the fire threw her features into beautiful relief, and the light danced over her face, showing how peaceful she looked asleep. James mentally took a picture of the moment, cherishing the image in his mind as he looked at Emily. Leaning his head lightly on top of hers, James fell asleep with Emily. At this moment, Zanna stirred and woke up from her deep sleep to find that she was in the chaise long with her head in bandages. Her eyes had trouble focusing on anything and every quiet crackle of the fire sounded like a bomb exploding in an air raid. Her vision returning more, Zanna became more away of the immense pain in her head. That was when she remembered the crash into the tree. Laughing slightly at her stupidity, Zanna looked around, trying, with difficulty, to see if Emily and James were in the room. Her sharp hearing picked up the soft breathing of the two asleep in the armchair by the fireplace. Zanna smiled to herself as she saw the two looking so peaceful. If she had been the normal Zanna, she would have done something mischievous, but her head hurt so much that she really couldn’t be bothered to ruin the moment. Snuggling back up on the chaise long and pulling a blanket over herself, Zanna fell back into a deep sleep.

George Meredith, the master of the manor, was taking a stroll around his house, trying to remember a time when he had been happier. George Meredith had served in the first world war and he was getting on in years. His wife had passed away a decade ago and his children had all left to go travelling and discover the world and make their fortune. He sighed to himself, sick of being lonely in his huge manor house. George walked quietly down the corridor, his mind in deep thought as he contemplated his life and the meaning thereof. Walking into the sitting room, Mr. Meredith discovered the little scene of the two children asleep in one of the armchairs and another with a bandage around her head. He had met James a long time ago when he had first come to the house with his mother. She had been a very beautiful girl, that one, Mr. Meredith thought to himself. I remember her growing up here. She was the most adorable little tyke I had ever met. Her son looks so much like her. Nothing like that brute of a General who calls himself his Father.

Mr. Meredith turned his gaze to Emily, who was still sleeping on top of James. She seems sweet, that one. I wonder what she’ll turn out to be like whilst she stays here… He then turned to face Zanna. Aah, Zanna Blackett. The stories I’ve heard about her from her Mother! She seems like a mischievous little monkey, that one. He saw her ebony hair poking out from under the bandages on her head. I wonder what she’s done to herself. She’s so like her Mother. Dear Louisa was always so clumsy when she was that age. How time has flown! It seems only like yesterday when I was little older than Zanna, holding my baby sister in my arms, wondering what she would be like. Mr. Meredith left the room, tears in his eyes after having thought about his sister after having seen his niece. Of course, he wouldn’t tell her that he was her uncle. He needn’t do that. Not yet, at least.

As Mr. Meredith strolled out of the room and on his way to the kitchen to go and see if there were any biscuits in the pantry, he bumped into Nanny who was walking around the corridors, checking that the maids had done the right jobs.

“Ah, hello Agatha,” he said, smiling, his eyes twinkling. “I’ve just seen James. I was quite shocked to see how much he has grown!”

“Yes, he has, hasn’t he?” Nanny said, smiling to herself. “He’s looking so much more like his Father now. It’s quite saddening really. I never really approved of my daughter marrying that brute of a man. Now… well, now I won’t see her again…” Nanny trailed off, her eyes filling with tears.

“Yes, I heard about that. Aggie, I am so sorry. I’m sure she’s in a better place now. It must be a lot worse for James. He’s terrified of his Father and this was the only place he could get away with his Mother.” Mr. Meredith placed a comforting hand on Nanny’s shoulder. “I know he’ll be ok with you around, Aggie.”

“Thank you, sir,” Nanny said, smiling, still teary-eyed.