It’s Not a Soap Opera, it’s War!

Delphi and Feifei took their breakfast trays and sat beside Alton, as was their usual practice.

"Good morning," Delphi said tentatively to the man.

He nodded cooly at her and kept eating.

Not his usual morning greeting or look, but she could live with it, at least he wasn't ignoring her entirely.

"Bill's heading out this morning too," she told him. "He might travel with us some of the way."

"No point," he said shortly. "We're heading south-east, and he needs to head due south."

"I was thinking that instead, we can go with him to Port Fairy, commandeer his boat to take us to Phillip Island, then sail back together. Safety in numbers and all that. Plus we'll save time. With the horses we can make Port Fairy in a day and a half and then use the water to cut our travel time in half."

Alton considered the proposal and nodded. "It's not a bad idea. We should be able to cram the horses on his boat, and at least one dragon for protection."