Slipping Through My Fingers | John B Little Sister

Chapter 2

John B should've listened.

He was leaning against a peeling white panel on the Chateau's porch, his hands still shaking and his mind still racing from the incident at Ms. Lana's. He could barely follow JJ's emotional retelling, because all he could hear and all he could feel was a hollow, daunting weight in his stomach. Like the one you get when you take a step too close to the edge.

He'd made a mistake. He should've stepped back when Peterkin told him to.

But instead, here he was. Teetering on the edge. About to fall and drag everyone he loved off with him.

We've got nothing else to lose.

JJ's words floated to forefront of his mind, like bubbles of air to the surface of the water. 

But he did have something to lose. 

He had Lu. He had JJ, Kiara and Pope. And even his dad if he was still out there. Which he was.

Now that he thought about it he had a lot to lose. 

But it was too late now, he was in too deep. He was in too deep the second he found his dad's compass. The moment he knew that his dad was even remotely involved in any of this chaos, was the moment of no return for John B.

Because while he had a lot to lose. There was really only one thing he wanted back.

It had been nine months since Big John had gotten 'lost at sea'.

And John B could see and feel his father's absence in everything he saw, and everything he did.

He wasn't fishing with Lu when the HMS Pogue docked in the evening, he didn't stay up late by the fire pit rambling on about treasure hunts and tides, he wasn't even sitting apologetically in his office after forgetting to pick them up from school in the afternoon.

The office.

"The office." John B blurted out.

"What?" Pope's soft and confused question was brushed off as John B hurried past him.

"My dad," John B explained, making his way into the Chateau, "My dad's office. He always kept it locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research."

"We used to laugh at him all the time," He reminisced, picking up the key for the room he'd never been allowed to enter alone. The feel of the cool metal against his skin sent dread to his stomach, as if touching it was the equivalent of spitting on his dad's grave or punching his father's ghost in the face.

"But now that he's gone, I've just kinda..." He switched hands and wiped the feeling off onto his shirt, and started at the lock, "I just left it as he kept it."

"We're not allowed in there John B." A soft serious voice caused the Pogues to all turn around in surprise.

Lu's hot pink undershirt, stood out against the dark denim of her overalls. Her arms were crossed, and her bare feet were just behind the threshold of the doorway, as if an invisible force was preventing her from stepping over it.

"Lu!" John B groaned out, pulling his cap tighter over the back of his head, "What did I say? We're doing important shit here!"

John B reckoned he'd done a pretty swell job at keeping Lu out of the shit show so far. Sending her out to clean the chicken coop whenever the Pogues were around, telling her he was working when they were out on the marsh, he hadn't even told her about their dad's compass yet. 

Dad was alive, definitely, but John B didn't want his sister to get her hopes up that he was coming back anytime soon.

He shooed her off in exasperation, the key still in his hand, "Get out!"