Rupert was smiling at the compliment. If Edwyrd had actually been human, he would have cringed at the extremely wicked looking teeth the smile revealed. Watching Rupert, he was really beginning to understand why he freaked so many people out without even trying. Actually, looking at Rupert standing there, an exact copy of himself, he got this sort of funny feeling in his chest. Kind of like pride or something. He knew it was silly, Rupert really wasn’t his kid, but... well, he felt that way. All of a sudden, he wanted to change back to his true form and take Rupert out flying. Rupert would never have done that before. It’d be like helping your kid take his first step or something. Tom could remember just a few weeks ago, after he’d finally gotten the hang of flying. It was so exhilarating.
Edwyrd shook his head. How he could have such crazy thoughts when he had so many problems on his hands, he didn’t know. What was he going to do with Tizzy? Actually, Tizzy was about as big a problem as a rogue demon child. If Boggy would show up too, then things would be just great, he could play dad to them all, and they’d have the male half of the demonic Brady Bunch. He wondered deliriously where he could pick up a mom demon and her devilish daughters.
Closing his eyes, he leaned against the wall of the cabin. He had to get a grip on himself. He didn’t know who he was or what he was doing anymore. Sometimes he didn’t know if he was Tom or Edwyrd. If he was Tom, was Tom a demon or that guy from Harding? Again, this would have to wait, like all his other internal problems; he had to deal with the situation at hand. “So,” he said, opening his eyes, “what do we do with you? We really can’t hide you in here for six days.”
Tizzy looked away from Rupert, to Edwyrd, then down at the floor. Apparently, he was thinking about the problem, at least Edwyrd hoped he was thinking about that. “I could get out and push. Or rather, pull.”
“What?” Edwyrd didn’t know what the demon was saying now.
“Well, if we want to get there sooner, I could get a rope and pull the ship. In the dark, no one will see. We still have a couple hours of dark tonight. I can come back in here for the day then pull again tomorrow night.”
Edwyrd blinked. Well, that would work, he supposed. He guessed he too could get out and pull. The boat normally moved about ten miles an hour under sail. He and Tizzy could probably double that during the dark hours. However, it just seemed a bit too risky. What if someone saw? The night watch would have to get curious when they noticed the ship moving faster than it should. If they investigated, which he was sure they would, they would quickly find out what was towing them, and then all hell would break loose.
“No, that is an idea, but I think it’s too risky. If they found out, that would be just as bad. Further, I doubt it would speed things up that much if we only did it at night. And, we’d still have to hide you in the day.” Tizzy shrugged.
“Do we have to hide him?” Rupert asked suddenly.
“Why, of course we do.” Edwyrd stated, “I don’t think people are going to be too happy about having a demon around.”
“Maybe,” Rupert said, “but what if Tizzy came openly in the daytime? Jenn and Gastropé already know he is cruising around in the world. He could just come back claiming to wait for Tom to return, and not leave.”
Edwyrd looked doubtful. Rupert continued, “It’s not exactly like Gastropé or Jenn can do anything about him. The crew will be freaked for a little while, but they’re already convinced you’re some sort of powerful wizard or animage. If you promise them that you won’t let Tizzy hurt them, they’ll accept it.”
“I don’t know.” Edwyrd didn’t like the idea. “How do you know what the crew thinks? You’ve been down here all the time.” Edwyrd asked.
Rupert pointed to his ears. “Yeah, but I was down here in this form most of the afternoon and I can really hear good when I want to.” Edwyrd had to admit the kid was right on that one. “I overheard them talking amongst themselves when you weren’t around. They think you’re some Archimage traveling incognito with his students.”
Tizzy interrupted, sounding curious. “Why do they think you’re a wizard?”
“Well, actually, I’m pretending to be an animage.” Edwyrd cleared his throat. “However, I kinda blew up a boat with two wizards on it this afternoon. It seems to have slightly intimidated the crew.”
“Blew it up? in that form?” Tizzy pointed a couple of hands worth of index fingers at Edwyrd.
“More or less.” Edwyrd hedged, he really didn’t feel like getting into the whole story right then and there.
“Why do I always miss all the fun?!” Tizzy pouted. “If you had at least let me know, I could have hurried back sooner.”
