Clue and the Sea Dragon (The Clue Taylor Series Book 2)

by Wendie Nordgren

  “I can’t fight the current!” Cosmo yelled from up in the wheelhouse.

  Snappy made a “chuffing” sound. I heard Gregory’s dive shoes squeaking against the deck moments before he dropped down beside me and helped me into a floatation vest. Then, protectively, he placed his arms around me. The Sea Harpy’s spins slowed, but she tilted to the side. My weight shifted pushing me into Snappy and Gregory into me. Then, suddenly, the boat evened out and darted forward.

  “Are you alright?” Cosmo asked with a pale face.

  I stared up at him with large eyes and an open mouth. Gregory stood and pulled me to my feet. I swayed dizzily. Snappy chortled, ambled on his three working legs with his claws scraping the deck over to the side of the boat, and slid noiselessly into the water.

  “Snappy!” I yelled as I ran to the side. I saw only a slight swirl in the water. Gregory and Cosmo were to either side of me. “Where did he go?”

  “Perhaps, Cosmo’s sailing made him feel his chances were better alone,” Gregory answered sardonically.

  I heard Cosmo grinding his teeth. I rested my head on my hands against the rail. “There he is. He’s got something in his mouth,” Cosmo said.

  Lifting my head, I watched as Snappy swam snake-like through the water and clambered onto the deck while dragging a fishing net. He dropped his hold on the net right in front of Cosmo, looked up at him with large amber eyes, and thudded his tail against the deck. Cosmo, Gregory, and I looked back and forth at each other. Snappy snorted and nudged the net closer to Cosmo.

  “What have you got there, boy?” Cosmo asked as he bent down to untangle the net.

  It looked like it was full of rocks. Cosmo pulled out amber colored rocks, some weird brownish globs of crystals, and some rocks that looked like they were covered in the foil restaurants used to bake potatoes. Cosmo looked agape at Snappy, who darted his tongue out to touch Cosmo’s nose. Then, Snappy hobbled over to his tarp covered nest to lay down and close his eyes.

  “What is all of that?” I asked.

  Holding up one of the foil covered looking rocks, Cosmo said, “This is raw silver.” He held up one of the amber ones. “This here is copper. I think these crystalized ones are zinc. Snappy has a nice way of saying thank you. Now, let’s get home.”

  Cosmo gathered up the rocks, gave Gregory an equal share, and stowed his own in the cabin. A few short hours later, Gregory and Cosmo were securing the Sea Harpy in her berth at the marina.

  “What are we going to do with him?” Gregory asked in his calm deep voice as he pointed with his chin down at Snappy.

  “Oh, shit. It’s the Harbor Master. We can’t get caught with a Sea Dragon in the marina! We’ll get fined or worse for endangering the ships and their owner’s livelihoods,” Cosmo gritted out in an anxious whisper.

  “Help me push him over the edge!” Gregory said.

  While Cosmo and Gregory struggled with the fourteen-foot reptile, Snappy just groaned at them and rolled over onto his back blinking up at them in a playful way. I laughed. The Harbor Master’s footsteps tromped closer. Cosmo and Gregory looked frantic. I stepped over to them, placed my hand against Snappy’s neck, and slipped. The whomp of sound, lifting, and falling, and disappearance of sound and color gave way to the sensation of being pulled by my stomach. Until suddenly, it stopped.

  Opening my eyes, I saw my messy room devoid of color and a fourteen-foot reptile at my feet. Snappy was awash in sparkling sapphire blue scales and amber eyes that seemed ancient and knowing for a baby sea dragon. I let the spirit realm lift away.

  Once again in my own reality at 888 Honjo Street, I exhaled a sigh of relief. “Well, Snappy, this is my room. I’ll take you back to the Sea Harpy when it’s safe.” Snappy blinked at me. Then, he began ambling around on three legs familiarizing himself with my room. His claws clicked against the floor, and the end of his tail moved the corner of the blankets covering my bed as he walked over dirty clothes and went to give my closet an investigative sniff. Giving myself a sniff, I decided on a bath and some clothes that fit. After washing my hair, I surged up. “Oh, shit! Mr. Tavora! I’ve got to go to work!” Hurrying to dry off and dress, I said, “Don’t worry, Snappy. Cosmo will be home soon.”

  I drained the tub, but then refilled it in case my sea dragon got thirsty. Then, I ran down the stairs, grabbed a sweet tea from the kitchen, and chugged it on my way to the front door. Leaving the bottle where my hover board and helmet had been, I hopped on my board and sped all of the way to Tavora Shipping.

  Cora sat at her desk silently crying. Mr. Tavora was so annoyed that his ash-colored hair seemed to rise and fall on its own. “Where have you been?” he practically growled. “Oh, never mind. Take this to the Harbor Master and then return here immediately.” Mr. Tavora thrust a covered data chip at me.

  Taking it, I rushed to comply glad I wasn’t fired. I slowed my hover board at a street vendor on Wharf Street and bought a large fried fish sandwich to eat along the way. Then, even though the Harbor Master had told me that I need not wait in line, I did it anyway so I could finish eating. I was relieved he was in his office and hoped Cosmo and Gregory hadn’t had any problems. Hurriedly sucking on my teeth to remove any traces of bread and wiping my fingers on my jeans, I entered the office when my turn arrived. Pulling the data chip from my pocket, I offered it over, received a vid-security chip to take to Mr. Tavora, and was sent on my way.

  Cora had continued to cry in my absence. I walked past her to deliver the chip to Mr. Tavora, who was occupied with a heated communication with someone sounding a lot like Kiyohime. He waved me off, so I hurried down the stairs, out of his office, and into the waiting room.

  “What’s the matter, Cora?”

  Cora sniffled and looked up at me. “It’s my boyfriend. He hasn’t been by or called for days. I think he’s met someone else.” Shocked, I stared at Cora with her long blonde hair and stunning beauty.

  “Seriously?”

  Nodding, she said, “I’ve gone by his apartment, but he never answers. He could have been man enough to write me a note or something.”

  Handing Cora a fresh tissue, I said, “If he’s being such a jerk, maybe you’re better off without him.” I wondered if I could convince the gorgeous Cora to go out with either Cosmo or Gregory.

  “It’s not that simple.” Cora checked to make sure that Mr. Tavora’s door was closed before saying, “I think I’m pregnant.”

  Anger at the man seethed up in me. Such things hadn’t mattered on Eris Space Station, but Cassini had an annoyingly archaic sense of tradition. “Why don’t you give me his name and address? I’ll find him for you.”

  Surprised, Cora said, “You?”

  I nodded. “I was studying to become a Protect and Serve investigator until my father decided I had to change my major.”

  Cora dabbed at her pretty eyes. “You’d do that for me?”

  I nodded. Cora’s boyfriend, Ivan Drifus, lived in an apartment on Frog Street not too far from Yago’s business. I couldn’t wait to pay Ivan a visit. First, Mr. Tavora had more errands for me to run. After work, I bought several pounds of fresh fish and sped home. I found Snappy lolling in my tub with his tail hanging over the edge onto the floor. Water was everywhere. Two large bowls were against the bathroom wall. One had water in it, and the other was empty. A note was stuck to my mirror.

  “Taking Gregory home. H. M. went right past us. Love, Cosmo,” I read out loud.

  I filled Snappy’s empty bowl with raw fish and used my waste unit. Snappy pulled himself from the tub splattering water everywhere. I cringed as he struggled with his arm.

  “Poor, baby. I need to find a veterinarian who can fix your arm.” Snappy blinked at me and then began gobbling up his fish.

  Just as I was pulling up my jeans, I heard, “Clue! Daddy’s home, baby girl!”

  “Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! I’m going to be in so much trouble.”

  I darted from my room closing my door behind me. I made it to the kitchen in time to see Wi
nks placing my empty tea bottle into the sink. He raised an eyebrow at me. My father’s auburn hair was combed, and he was wearing a fancy dark blue suit.

  “Daddy! I missed you!” I said as I ran to him and threw my arms around his chest. Winks kissed the top of my head.

  “I missed you, too, baby. However, before I left, I asked you to do some chores.”

  I felt the color drain from my face. “Daddy, I’ve been really busy. I’ll clean it up right now. I promise. Just give me a minute.”

  With me held against his chest, Winks teleported us into my bedroom. “Clue, it’s even worse than when I left.” I knew Winks was going to explode when he saw my bathroom. Before he had taken two steps, I jumped in front of him.

  “Daddy, please let me keep him! He’s just a baby. Cosmo and Gregory helped me rescue him. He can stay on the Sea Harpy. I only brought him here because the Harbor Master was coming. Please?”

  Winks had stopped walking. Through my palms laid against his chest, I could feel his heartrate speed up. Slowly, I turned and saw a completely nude and very well-endowed, amber-eyed, sapphire-blue haired boy smiling at us from my bathroom. My cheeks flamed.

  “Daddy, it’s not what it looks like. Snappy is a baby sea dragon. I didn’t know he could assume human form.”

  I heard feet running up the stairs. “Clue, I got Snappy some more fish. We need to get him back to my boat before Winks gets home and kills us,” Cosmo yelled up to me.

  Cosmo’s run abruptly ended with a rustling jerk of shopping bags. A fish slid across the wood floor to hit the heel of Winks’ fancy black dress-up shoes. Snappy wobbled forward on human legs, his damaged arm hugged to his chest, intent on the fish. He bent over, picked it up, and began eating it raw. The crunching of the fish bones was much more disturbing when Snappy was in human form.

  Winks stepped around me, looked into my bathroom, glared at me, and stepped into my closet. Before heading down the stairs and into the basement, he turned to me and said, “Clue, I’m going to shower, change, and drink a large glass of vodka. When I come back up, this room had better be spotless, and he had better be wearing pants.”

  I heard him muttering about sea dragons, death, and destruction on his way down the stairs. Cosmo and I exchanged a long look.

  “Come on, Snappy. Let’s find you something to wear,” Cosmo said as he held his hand out to our sea dragon.

  I started on the bathroom. After several trips down to the cleaning unit and a few passes with the cleaning bot, my bathroom and bedroom were up to Winks’ standards of cleanliness. Snappy, now wearing jogging pants and a T-shirt, sat on my bed and watched me while Cosmo cleaned downstairs.

  “Snappy, I know your legs are unfamiliar. Do you want me to slip us downstairs? It’s time for dinner. Have you ever eaten human food?” I sighed. All my sea dragon did was smile and blink at me.

  Reaching out, I took Snappy’s good hand in mine. Snappy lowered his face to my hand and licked it. I rolled my eyes and slipped us down to the kitchen. While I taught Snappy how to sit in a chair, Cosmo set the table. Winks joined us as Cosmo started filling our plates with fried fish and potatoes. I grabbed bottles of sweet tea from the cold storage. Winks poured some vodka into a glass before adding tea to it. Making eye contact with Cosmo, he poured some into a glass for him, too.

  “What? Don’t I get any?”

  “No!” They both said to me.

  Frowning, I sat and stuffed fried potatoes into my mouth. Snappy bent his head to his plate, opened his mouth, and got a piece of fish. “Good boy, Snappy!” I said encouragingly as I gently patted his hand. “So, how did he manage to assume human form?” I asked Winks.

  Winks shrugged and took a deep drink from his spiked tea. “How about starting at the beginning?” Winks asked in full father mode.

  The scraping sound of fried fish against a plate drew my attention to Snappy. When the piece of fish he was attempting to eat slid to the floor, he followed and ate it from where it had fallen. Cosmo and I made eye contact. We hadn’t had time to get our stories straight, and I didn’t know what parts would be best to leave out.

  Shaking his head of black hair in resignation, Cosmo left his chair, bent down, and helped Snappy back into his seat. “Come on. Let me show you how it’s done.”

  My father’s eyes hadn’t left my face. Sighing, I started at the sea dragon’s scale while Cosmo taught Snappy how humans ate and drank. Winks’ face was red, and I could see the veins in his temples by the time I had finished updating him.

  “Elan Tavora? You got a job running errands for that over-inflated pompous prick? You don’t need to work. We’re flush, baby girl.”

  “So, you don’t like him and want me to quit? Think of it this way. Mr. Tavora is added protection against Kiyohime. Will you think about it over the weekend at least?”

  With a tired groan, Snappy slid from his chair to the floor where he shimmered into his fourteen foot, sapphire-blue scaled form.

  Winks said, “There’s no telling how long Snappy was trapped. The more time he spends with us, the stronger he will become. Once he is fully recovered, unlike Palena and Kiyohime, I don’t think he’ll need to be around either of us to take human form. The two of you, well the three of you, did the right thing in saving the creature. Cosmo, you did avoid the pirates and protect my baby girl, so thanks for that. However, Clue Taylor, you are grounded for failing to clean your room while I was gone.”

  My jaw dropped. “Grounded? Grounded?” I asked wondering what privilege Winks could possibly take away. I worried about my library privileges.

  “Yes, you are grounded. Bring me your hover board and helmet,” Winks said sternly.

  I felt my face turn red. “That’s not fair. Those are mine. I bought them before I even knew you were my father.”

  “With whose credits, young lady?” I frowned at my father, got up, and retrieved my prized possessions and symbols of freedom relinquishing them to my horribly mean father. “If you behave, I will return these to you in two days. Until then, you will be stuck with either Cosmo or me for your transportation needs.”

  Sulkily, I said, “Cosmo is always at work.”

  Winks ignored me, finished eating, and downed his drink. “Clue, clean the kitchen. You are responsible for taking care of and cleaning up after Snappy.” With that, Winks took the lift in the laundry room to the garage and drove off in the transport.

  “Where do you think he’s going?” I asked sullenly.

  “After a big score, he goes out carousing in Dorado with Eel. I’m usually invited. So, it looks like we’re both grounded.” Cosmo helped me clean the kitchen, and then we made a pallet for Snappy in front of the fireplace. “That went a lot better than I thought it would.”

  “Are you kidding? I got in trouble.”

  “You got in trouble over your room not over Snappy. Clue, I’ve got to get some sleep. I’m going to have a lot of work to catch up on down at the docks.” Cosmo stepped closer to me gently pressing his fingertips against my forearms. “I don’t regret helping you for a minute. I’m always here for you,” Cosmo said as he brought his face down to mine. Delicately, his lips met mine. I was about to remind him that my heart was made up with my romantic inclinations centered on Tadashi. He must have seen it in my eyes, because he said, “Good night, Snappy,” and went upstairs.

  I sat down beside the sea dragon carefully petting him between the ridges to either side of his head. “I wonder where your clothes went when you shifted form. When Tadashi, my fiancé, shifts, his clothes end up in a forest.” I petted Snappy until his eyelids closed.

  Then, I went to my room, soaked in my clean bathtub, and then settled into bed with Daisy in my arms.

  “Oh, no you don’t. You can forget it right now.” I heard Cosmo saying as my lights went on and my warm cozy blankets were pulled off of me.

  “Cosmo, what the heck? What time is it?”

  Rubbing at my eyes, I stretched and felt a warm body beside me. Bleary-eyed, I looked from Cosmo to
my left, who had my blankets angrily bunched in his hands, over to the right side of the bed which should have been empty. Instead, Snappy sat up beside me. I laughed. Snappy, in observance of human behavior, had clothed himself in a pair of my pink pajamas that were patterned with curled up kittens and balls of yarn.

  “Relax, Cosmo. Snappy even put on clothes.” I buried my face in my pillow.

  “There’s no way in hell I’m going to work and leaving you alone with him in your bed.”

  “What time is it?”

  “A couple of hours before sunrise,” Cosmo answered.

  “I’ll get up if you bring me a cup of coffee. Daddy came home, right?”

  “I’ll check,” Cosmo said as he dropped my blankets on the floor.

  Snappy’s hair was a wild blue mess, and he held his injured arm to his chest. Rolling from bed, I put the blankets back on and covered him. Then, I went to the bathroom. When I came out yawning, Cosmo waited with a cup of coffee.

  “The transport is in the garage,” Cosmo said as he kissed my forehead and handed me the cup. Shaking his finger at Snappy, he said, “Don’t you go getting any ideas. Clue is my girl. Put the moves on her, and I’ll drop you back off where I found you.”

  Snappy blinked and tilted his head in response. Scowling, Cosmo left. I sipped coffee, got dressed, and then went to Cosmo’s room to borrow clothes for Snappy.

  “You did a good job putting on pajamas, Snappy. Did you climb the stairs all by yourself? Do you use the bathroom?”

  Leading Snappy into the bathroom by his good hand, I tried to explain the purpose of the waste unit. He began to demonstrate his understanding before I could avert my eyes. I taught Snappy how to wash his hands and face, and brush his hair.

  “Okay, let’s get dressed and pay Dr. Benjamin a visit. Maybe, he can fix your arm.”

  I helped Snappy into a pair of Cosmo’s boots and down the stairs. After a breakfast of muffins and juice, we began walking along Honjo Street to the doctor’s office. It was still dark. The lights of various business signs cast different colors upon the sidewalk. I could see my breath in the cold air and longed for the thermoregulatory environmental systems of Eris Space Station. There was no controlling Cassini. Luckily, Dr. Benjamin’s door was unlocked, and his office lights were on. The door made a buzzing sound when we entered.