Chapter 19 – Arbordale

	His fur smelled like cedar smoke from our campfire, leather and gunpowder.  My paws were buried in it, moving down his neck to his shoulders, fingers digging beneath his coat lapels, wanting more purchase on him.  His scarf was in the way- why did he have to wear one of those all the time?  It was tugged free easily enough, baring his clavicle to my muzzle as I dropped it from his mouth to his throat.  He gave a stuttering moan when I bit at him gently.
	His mouth had tasted like cinnamon from a strong tea we’d shared earlier with our last meal in port, and I decided I preferred the taste when it was on his tongue.  I would probably prefer just about anything on his tongue.
	“N-uhh. . . .” he exhaled, leaning his body into mine all he could.  He couldn’t touch me, though.  He was still manacled.  Instead he bared his throat to my assault and let me press him back against the wooden hull, his legs shifting against one another where they were flung over my knees.  I could feel his body through every layer of his clothing, struggling against the restraints even though he must have known it was pointless.
	We didn’t have a choice.  I didn’t have the key, and we’d discovered through a few earlier fumbles that the manacles didn’t really stay on well unless they were locked.  Odina was up on deck, it was the first moment Finnegan and I had alone in weeks, and damned if we weren’t going to make the most of it.  Our aft section in the crew quarters was mostly private with the aid of a cloth hung up to separate our area, (that was their way of separating ‘bunks’, as they called them, and there were many such dividers).  It wasn’t as effective as a door, and it did nothing for sound. 
	It was risky to be sure.  I’d checked to confirm our neighbors were out, they were.  But they could return at any time and barely a curtain separated them from our secrets.  So we’d agreed- just kissing.  For now.
	The fact that we were failing to hold to our lofty ideals was entirely on me.  Finn was literally at my mercy.
	Not that he was complaining.
	He was sitting against the wall, the both of us kneeling on our thin mattresses, which I’d removed and put on the floor.  I wasn’t quite sure the flimsy frames would hold my weight.  As my free paw began to unbutton his vest, he crumpled down into the tangle of our blankets, lying prone before me.  He couldn’t gesture or beckon at me, but the beguiling way he smiled and kept his eyes raptly-focused on mine as he sunk down was all the invitation I needed.
	“How long do you think we have?”  I asked him as I leaned down over him, balancing my weight on my hands.
	“I don’t really care,” was his breathless response.  
	I kissed him again, inhaling sharply through my nose, eager to fill my nostrils with his scent once more.  Maybe for a bit, I’d forget where we were.  That would be alright for a little while, wouldn’t it?
	“I wish I could at least unbind you,” I lamented as I finally got his vest open.
	“I don’t mind it,” he insisted with an impish smirk.
	“You’re so strange,” I shook my head.
	He began to say something else, but at that point one of my paws had found its way up between his legs, cupping him through his clothing.  His jaw fell open, tongue lolling out slightly.  “Uhhhhh. . .” he blinked slowly as I lazily stroked the shape of him through his britches.  “God damn, Tulimak,” he uttered, “I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted so badly for someone to just f-“
	The stairs down to this level of the ship were blessedly loud, so we had ample warning- if you want to call it that- when we were rudely interrupted.  I bolted upright and Finn scrambled to a sitting position, the both of us putting a few good feet between one another, as if that would have made a difference if someone saw us in this state.
	Whoever was coming down here, they were taking their time on the steps.  Almost like they were trying to avoid making noise.  After the initial seconds of panic had passed and Finn and I were both catching our breath and taking stock, I saw that he realized it, too.  
	I looked at him uncertainly and he simply shrugged back.  There were only six other passengers on this ship besides us and all of them obviously had a reason to come back down here to their bunks.  But then, why would they be doing so in such a quiet manner?
	Another footstep, this time off the stairs.  That one was definitely done hesitantly, especially since it wasn’t soon followed by another.  Someone had stopped at the foot of the staircase.
	Finn’s expression got deadly serious, and I took that as a cue to get one of our pistols.  While I dug in my bag for the longest-barreled one, Finn’s personal dueling pistol, I watched the wolfdog perform a feat that would have been completely impossible for someone of my bulk.  He tucked his legs up against his chest and looped his arms around and under his feet, bringing his hands around to his front.
	I looked at him incredulously.  He could have done that the whole time?  Then why. . . .
	Never mind.  More important things.
	I grabbed my axe, standing slowly, the boards beneath my feet creaking as I did so.  The footsteps near the staircase went silent.  So yes, definitely someone snooping around.  I checked to make sure Finn was behind me and armed, awkwardly at best with his hands still manacled, but still.  Then I pushed aside the curtain and-
	“First Mate Anderson?”  I heard Finnegan speak, from behind me.  And just as quickly, subtly toss his pistol back onto one of our soft rucksacks.  Hopefully Anderson hadn’t even seen him with it.
	The skunk was across the cramped crew quarters, frozen in place in one of the other passenger alcoves, the one nearest to the steps.  He was half stooped-over, like he’d been previously kneeling, and looked like a child caught rummaging for snacks.
	“I-yes,” I stammered, standing and fussing with the edges of his vest, which looked like it had fit him better before he’d gotten a bit of a belly.  “I’m sorry,” he said nervously, “I’d thought-“
	“No one was rotting away down here on a beautiful, sunny day, when there’s better scenery to be had above-decks?”  Finnegan ventured.  “Yeah.  Well.”  He lifted his arms, showing off the manacles.
	“Quite so,” the skunk cleared his throat.  
	“Just me and my ever-present warden, I’m afraid,” Finn muttered, glancing at me.  I saw him hold my gaze for a moment meaningfully, and I remembered what we’d talked about in the city.
	So when I spoke, I did so in Nontawlik.  And just in case Anderson spoke it, I kept the conversation neutral.  “What do you suppose he’s looking for?”  I asked Finn.
	The wolfdog shrugged in response, either because he earnestly had no idea, or he couldn’t yet understand what I’d asked.  Probably the latter.
	“Ka ikin ahota,” Finn said to me, one of the expressions he knew well enough by now.  It meant ‘smells like bad fish’, when you used it on food the meaning was ‘spoiled’.  But on people it more meant ‘suspicious’.
	“Oh,” Anderson seemed surprised, “you speak their language?”
	“Not well,” Finnegan admitted.  “But when you spend enough time with someone, you know, you pick a few things up.”
	“Ah, I-I’d imagine,” the skunk nodded, still fidgeting nervously.  He stood there afterwards in silence for a few extremely awkward moments, seeming indecisive.
	“So. . . .”  Finn snuffed out a chuckle, “You going to explain why you’re poking around down here?  I mean it’s hardly my business.  But the big guy might be a tad curious,” he said, poking an elbow in my direction.
	I did my best to look intimidating.  I have no idea if it worked.
	The skunk sighed.  “I’m, I’m sorry,” he said.  “This is obviously not permissible behavior, violating our paying customer’s private area, and I’ll understand if you feel you need to report me to the Captain-“
	“Yeah I’m a real believer in strict adherence to authority,” Finnegan said wryly.
	“I’m looking for my bird,” the skunk blurted out.
	Silence followed.
	“Alright, I don’t know what to do with that one,” Finn admitted.
	“It’s the truth,” the skunk slumped.  “There’s a speckled pigeon, I’ve called her ‘Dolly’, who roosts somewhere on the ship.  I’ve never found her nest, but she’s always about and I’ve grown very fond of her over the last few months.  She’ll even eat out of my hand.”  He said it with such earnest affection, I couldn’t doubt his story.  “I saw her fly down here earlier when the passengers were boarding,” he continued, “and I couldn’t stop her or step away from my duties then to look for her.  But I know she came down here.  If one of the passengers finds her first-“
	“Roast squab,” Finn was full on snorting in laughter now.  “Alright, I get it.  We’ll help you find your bird.”
	“Really?”  The skunk’s expression brightened.  But then a moment later, he seemed guarded.  “You’ll forgive me, but. . . why?”
	Finn shook his head.  “You think I’m some cold-hearted son of a bitch?”
	“Well,” Anderson stammered, “y-you are a. . . .”
	“Murderer?”  Finn leveled back.  “I’m a duelist, sir.  They can call me whatever they like, but a soldier doesn’t get tried for killing during a war.”  He sighed.  “Look, never mind.  You’re not going to believe my story, so I won’t bother trying.  Let’s just find your bird.”
	So, we looked.  And it turned out the skunk was telling the truth.  After poking about in most of the nooks and crannies, Finn sniffed her out, hiding tucked away in the nook of one of the cross-beams along the ceiling.  She was as described, a little puffed-up, grey spotted bird who looked pretty terrified.
	“God, she’s up high,” Finn muttered.  Then looked sidelong at me.  “Tulimak?”
	I looked up towards the small animal.  I was absolutely certain if I just reached for her, she’d fly away.  If I grabbed for her, I could crush her.  While I was deciding what to do, I heard Anderson asking Finnegan, “What does that mean?”  in a low voice.
	“It’s his name,” he replied.  
	“Uh-ah. . . Tu-li-mak?” the skunk sounded my name out carefully and gingerly tapped on my arm.  When I looked down, he was holding something up to me.  A little biscuit, small and flat, the dry kinds Otherwolves ate for rations.  “She likes these,” he explained in Amurescan, then pointed up at the bird.
	I took it from him, putting it in my palm and slowly lifting my hand towards the bird, trying not to frighten her.  It actually didn’t take long.  She poked her head down, seeming to hesitate for only a moment, before fluttering down and pecking at the biscuit.  
	I lowered my palm down slowly so that the skunk could take her, which he did with the utmost care, looking thoroughly relieved.  “Thank you, thank you,” he said, stroking her back while she continued to eat.  “These voyages are so droll.  Dolly is a little bit of daily joy for me.  I was so worried. . . .”
	Honestly, I could have been bitter, comparing this man’s minor trauma to the troubles we’d all been experiencing this winter.  But I was just glad to see the two odd companions reunited.  Finn seemed amused, too.
	It felt good to smile again, whatever the reason.
	“Ummm, listen,” Anderson said suddenly, still stroking his bird’s back.  He was looking at Finnegan.  “I don’t know if what you were telling me was true, and. . . I don’t feel I’m in a place to judge your crimes one way or another.  But, if you need help- legal help. . . I know someone you can call on when you’re in Arbordale.”
	“Yeah?”  Finn seemed interested.
	“You’ll forgive my saying so, but you’re clearly from across the sea,” the skunk continued, “so I doubt you have a Solicitor here.  My sister’s husband has a lot of experience in the Arbordale Courts.  Perhaps he could help you.  I could give you his address.”
	“I don’t see how it could hurt,” Finn agreed, and Anderson offered to send down a slip of paper later with the ‘pertinent information’ on it.  Whatever that meant.
	The brief melodrama over, Anderson went back above decks to release his bird and Finnegan and I settled back down in our makeshift bunk, not quite knowing what to think about the odd turn of events.  At length though, he just started chuckling, and I eventually did, too.
	“I’m not sure how we can make use of a Solicitor,” he said, “but it’s our first contact in Arbordale, and no connections are bad.  You never know.”  He leaned back against the wall, unbuttoning his vest again.  “Alright.  Where were we?”