Lost Girl

This story begins with a ship called The Cowichan. A marvel of crafting ingenuity at the time. The wooden hull was masterly shaped to deflect cannon fire more efficiently and the hundred and ten cannons ready to defend the ship at any given time were properly manned by the most capable sea goers. A fitting vessel for the Virolainen family to set sail with hundreds of guests. Kati’s hand hurt from her mother dragging her along as she spoke with each guest one at a time. All Kati wanted to do was play hide and seek with the other kids beneath the tables, but her mother wouldn’t have it. “That kind of roughhousing is unfit for a lady of the Virolainen family,” her mother would say. Kati thought her life would be so much better if she didn’t have that last name.

“There you are,” Kati’s father said as he approached them. “Have you been mingling this whole time?”

“Our guests would be disappointed if they didn’t get a chance to speak with us,” Kati’s mother said.

“There are too many people. You can’t possibly hope to speak with everyone before the storm hits. Rain is already starting to fall. People will be retiring soon.” A rumbling startled everyone on the top deck.

“What was that?” Kati’s mother asked.

“We must’ve hit something.” A second earth-shattering rumble was enough to make Kati’s mother loosen her grip. And Kati fell over, hitting her head on one of the tables.

The morning after the ship sank, Kati woke up on a small fisherman’s boat with a drunk looking over her a little too close. “You’re lucky to be alive.” The stench of his breath made Kati gag. His tattered clothes looked like they hadn’t been washed in weeks. “The storm last night took the whole ship.” The drunk went back to checking his lines after confirming Kati was alive. “I’ll take you to shore after I’m done for the day. Then we can get you home.” The drunk spent the next couple of hours stumbling from line to line, his long grey hair getting frizzier with every passing hour. He had a habit of taking a celebratory drink at every catch. After catching what he deemed to be enough fish, he stored it all in the barrel next to Kati at the back of the boat. Then the drunk fell, headfirst, in the front of the boat and passed out.

The sun dragged across the sky as Kati waited in the rickety, one-man, boat. The smell of fish and the drunk mixed to create a foul smell that added to her seasickness. The drunk didn’t come to until he was hungover. Without a word, he grabbed his paddles and started rowing back to shore. The man’s silence was enough to put a pit in Kati’s stomach. She missed her mom and wanted to be by her side again. Tears ran down her face when she realized she didn’t know where they were. She choked on her sobbing in fear of upsetting the man. Noticing the girl was troubled, he tried to make conversation. “Did you have any family on the ship?” Kati nodded. “I’m sorry to hear that. Is there anywhere you can go? Any family or close friends that will take you in?” Kati shrugged. “Well, you can stay with us until we get this sorted out. My name is Arthur, by the way. What’s yours?”

“Kati.”

“Kati?” Arthur cracked a smile. “What a fancy little name for such a young little girl. Apologies for my behavior, madam.” Arthur gave a bow and Kati chuckled under her breath, relaxing a little easier.

When they made it to shore, Arthur docked the boat and brought the barrel next to the house. Arthur’s home was a small hut with an old dock along the waterfront. Every hut looked horrid in Kati’s eyes. They didn’t even match the sheds she was used to seeing on her family home. Surely this wasn’t where Arthur lived. When they walked inside the house, three teens were waiting for them, two boys and a girl. They looked exhausted and were half asleep when Arthur and Kati came in. The living room was empty aside from an old rocking chair in the corner. The kitchen counter was covered in guts as the younger-looking brother was filleting fish. “What took you so long,” the eldest asked.

“I was working hard,” Arthur answered.

“How many fish did you catch,” the eldest continued.

“Enough,” Arthur grunted.

The eldest turned toward the other two teens. “Simo, how many did you catch?”

“Thirty-one,” the younger brother said.

“Your youngest got on his little canoe and caught thirty-one fish all on his own. Did you at least catch thirty-one, dad?” Kati poked around Arthur to see who he was arguing with. The teens’ eyes were drawn to the dangling curls piquing from behind their father. “Who’s that,” the eldest asked.

“A boat was taken by the storm last night,” Arthur answered. “She was the only survivor I found.”

The eldest knelt to meet Kati at eye level and Kati emerged from behind Arthur. “What’s your name, little one,” the eldest asked.

“Kati.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Kati, I’m Agrippa. That’s my sister Aja and my brother behind the counter is Simo. My father is the one who brought you in. His name is Arthur.”

“She knows,” Arthur grunted.

“I just want to make sure,” Agrippa stated. “You must be tired. We only have three cots in the next room, but I don’t need one tonight; you can borrow mine.”

Kati had trouble sleeping that night on the cold, hardwood floor. She wasn’t used to sleeping in such conditions. She missed her fluffy feather bed and her bedroom that she had all to herself. Father got her that bed because she complained about the older one. She wanted to complain again but was too scared of the family. She heard Agrippa and Arthur arguing in the next room early in the night. The banging and shouting frightened her too much to sleep. “You three need to stop staying out so late in the night. You end up exhausted and can’t do the work that I need help with.” Arthur’s voice was a low grumble that resembled a demon in Kati’s mind.

“If anyone isn’t pulling their weight in this family, it’s you.” Agrippa’s voice roared through the house like a lion, vibrating the walls. “You come back with hardly any fish and lie in that chair hungover for the rest of the day. Don’t start this argument with me. We’ve put up with too much of your shit for you to start bitching.”

“Fine. Shut up and let me sleep.”