Please accept my apologies for the short chapter this week. I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle, and it's been difficult to get anything done. Lately, life seems like an endless progression of Thursdays, which I could never get the hang of.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Marv and Gw7en stood near the door of sea's office, looking at her gravely.

'She's got what looks like a grade two concussion, but the fact that she's so confused worries me. If it doesn't pass quickly, it may indicate that it's more serious. She's got to take it easy for a couple weeks,'
Gw7en whispered to Marv.

Marv closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.


'Do you have any idea how difficult that's going to be? We'd have to strap her down just to get her to stay in one place, and even then she'd be fighting until she got loose. She's not going to sit in bed all day!'

'Would you two stop acting like worried parents and let me go get Yo?'
sea was irritated, and her head was beginning to hurt.

'sea, honey, you've got a bad concussion. You don't need to be doing anything strenuous for quite some time,'
Gw7en said.

sea stood up and walked toward the door.

'Sorry, Mum, but I'm a big girl. I think I can decide for myself when I should take it easy.'

Marv got an idea.

'Albright, sea. We'll let you go.'
Gw7en shot him a dirty look. Marv winked at her.

'But only if you can tell me who is waiting for you in the den.'

sea paused. She thought for a moment. She frowned and turned to look at Marv.

'Someone's waiting for me in the den?'

Gw7en nodded.

'Red Dog, remember?'

'Never heard of him. He's not a Jehovah's Witness, is he?'

Marv and Gw7en exchanged looks, then took sea by the arms and led her to her room
to lay down.

'Redbeard was the first man I ever loved,'
Shazz began, her voice cold.

'At first I didn't know he was a trading card addict, but once I found out, I was worried. He was always spending all his extra cash at sea's shop, and it wasn't healthy. I was sure we would be able to work things out, to cure him of his obsession, but I was wrong.'

Yo watched Shazz warily. In his experience, heart-felt stories told by the kidnapper
to the kidnapped usually ended in the kidnapped person getting beaten.

Shazz continued, staring angrily off into space.

'Then one day he lost his job. He was okay for a few days, but after he had
spent all of his savings, he started to change. He was angry and mean, and he guarded his
cards like they were precious treasures. I tried to get him some help, but it didn't
work.'
Shazz paused to wipe away a tear and clear her throat.

'After a week, he tried to rob sea's shop. sea shot him herself.'
Shazz pulled out a handkerchief and wiped at her eyes. She sniffled, turned on
her heel, and walked away. Yo heard her footsteps progress across the floor to a door,
which opened and slammed behind her.

Yo frowned. Something wasn't right with Shazz's story. He knew perfectly well that
sea wasn't in the habit of shooting intruders; she much preferred to make good use of
them in her printing factory. Yo wondered what had really happened.

'sea, I mean it. Lay down and rest. Tell us where Yo is, and we'll go get him,'
Marv said sternly, pushing sea toward the bed. sea groaned and flopped face-down
on the bed.

Gw7en tucked the covers in.

'You're in no condition to be running all around England and killing people.
You'll just have to trust us. We'll find him.'

sea lay there, silently seething.

'Alright then. Where is he?'

sea told them.

Yo squinted into the blackness of the room surrounding him. He couldn't see anything.
He held absolutely still and listened for any indication that anyone else might still in the
room...

Silence.

Good, he thought. Yo climbed unsteadily to his feet and stepped out of the pool
of light, waiting for his eyes to adjust. He wriggled his wrists, trying to get the knots in
the rope to loosen.

Now, only one question remained: Where on Earth was sea?!

The Quest
Collection

sea

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