Mick, human male explorer
Mick was very very upset when he returned home, especially when his mother didn't yell at him for being in the forest. He put on a brave face and did what she said, and when he found Mary on the boat, he decided maybe it wasn't so bad after all. The boat was bigger than any he'd been on before and he took the opportunity to find every corner and crevice a boy could fit into. Since Mary was stuck in the bottom of the boat by herself, he made sure to give her detailed reports each day. Nevertheless, every night he slept with one hand clutched around the Myme, and every night he asked it to make his dad better.
When they heard the captain and owner talking, he almost opened his mouth to say something about borrowing some of the cure to make their parents better, but decided not to. Mom would probably call it stealing, and send it back and then I'd just get in trouble and Dad wouldn't be better anyway. Besides, Mary's in enough trouble as it is, if she gets caught.
Hours before the ship made port, Mick was standing along the rail, staring at the approaching town. Fears that had been mostly buried for the trip came bubbling to the surface. What if I can't find this guy I'm supposed to give the letter to? What if Mary gets sent home? What if the kids are all mean at school? What if I have to be in school all day? Moodily, he continued to stare over the gray water until a deckhand yelled at him to get lost.
After disembarking, the town overwhelms him. It's so different than home, he thinks soberly. The reassuring sight of the Navan is gone. Lost in thought, he doesn't notice the boy until they bump into each other. The letter clutched in his hand flutters to the ground.
"Oops, sorry!"
"'sok," he replies. "I wasn't payin' 'tention." He bends over to get the letter. "You know where I can fin' a moneychanger?"
