Chapter 43. A Gathering We Go

The fish and chips were a happy memory as the boat started waking the next day. Will was up with the sun, eager to get to work and had been on deck with a mug of tea when Minnie joined him. “Morning dad, you sure sneaked out early.”, she said, sitting beside him looking out over the stern. “Ah, it’s such a beautiful day I didn’t want to miss a minute.”, he responded. “And you were thinking of something, weren’t you.”, she pointed to his open notebook. He laughed “You know me so well huh, and yeah I was.”. He pointed to a drawing he had been working on, “ I really think we could do a zip line to bring the ore bags to the barges, one by one. Any of the three of us could easy slide the bags hard enough to get this far, especially if it was downhill a bit.” Will pointed out his drawing as be explained. Minnie nodded “Only as long as it was fairly smooth waters, too rough and the rope would snap, oh wait I see what you did with that spring.”. She hmmmed a bit “That would take care of a slack line too, keep it taut.”. Nodding he pointed out that it would be much quicker than rowing a boatload out. “We’ll have to set up some kind of mast on the barges, a temporary one, and one of us will have to come out here to grab the bags, or buckets as they come in.”, Minnie added. Well he hadn’t thought of that, if we have to row out to catch the ore, we might just as well load the boats. He balled up his drawing and sighed, “I guess not everything has to be improved on.”.

Will and Minnie went back below after hearing the temporary crew was up. The mess was full of happy kids, a bit nervous but that was to be expected. They knew what was going on, what they were expected to do, just pre work jitters. Naomi and her helpers had a full breakfast today, eggs, fried ham and potatoes. Toast and jam, gallons of juice and milk. The room got a bit quiet when Will came in but when he just sat at the crew table and poured a cuppa everyone relaxed a bit. “Am I that much of an ogre, they’re all scared?”, he whispered to Minnie. “Nah,” she laughed, “it’s a respect thing, I talked with a couple, actually with all of them and the Rose and crew are like…I don’t know how to explain it.”. Two plates slid in front of them, looking up Will saw a smiling Naomi. “Morning dad, Minnie, what are you guys plotting?”, she asked. Will shrugged “Minnie was just telling me that the kids think we’re like legends or myths, does that sound right?”. Minnie nodded her head, mouth full of eggs. Naomi as well “We do, the captain and crew of the Rose has always been special. We seem to be extra special, and what we did yesterday only made them believe it more.”. Will could accept that, he guessed. Put that way. “Is there any way to quietly put the word out not to be scared or nervous, I’m a friendly guy.”. She thought for a moment, “I’ll just talk with Sally and Mike, they’ll tell everybody everything anyway.”. He raised his eyebrows, she laughed, “The galley help for this trip, Sally is a gem, you know that. And Mike is a hard worker so far.”. She got back up, “See you guys later, I smell burning toast.”, and she ran to the galley.

The two long tables were full, seven seats at each, one was empty at both though, the gallery help hadn’t sat to eat yet. Will and Minnie made quick work of their own food and were going over the days schedule. “Three boats are nice to have, we can each take a load, quicker yeah.”: Minnie said, finishing up a final piece of toast. “Oh yeah, you and Naomi take crew with you, I’ll bring all the usual. Then use the dory to bring coal to the barges.”. He noticed one of the teens had raised a hand, William quickly intervened but he asked what was up. “Well captain, Andy here was wondering why the bigger boat is called a dory.”. Wills eyes lit up, he loved telling stories like this. “In the world we come from there are many different countries. One of these is a place called Nicaragua, in their language dori means canoe or something like. That name just started being used for this type of boat.”. Another hand was raised, this time it was Sally who had just sat down with her breakfast, “What do you mean different language, didn’t they all speak the same one?”. What a good question, Will had no idea, “I don’t really know why, but I do know there’s seven thousand different languages spoken on our old world, strange huh.”. He could see the children were struggling with this concept, there was really no comparison. “It’s only one here, right?”, Minnie asked Naomi. She nodded “Yup, even though we’re far apart, we still speak the same language.”. So different and then so much the same in many ways Will thought.

“I think before the Sundering we were all one people, then we were separated during the upheavals.”, Naomi said, “At least that’s what the legends say.”. Well, it was a bit of an understatement to say Will was interested in that. “I’ve never heard that before, the Sundering is it? Tell me more, no wait. We don’t have the time right now. Tonight, tell me everything.”. She laughed, she knew this was going to nibble away at him all day. Minnie knew it too, “He’s going to go mad before dinner, you watch, pop and that’s it dad, game over.”. Will just snorted at her and finished his last cuppa, “Time to get to it, finish up, get ready.”. When he stood up so did Minnie, the teens hurriedly finished their meal, plates were gathered up by Naomi and Sally. Mike was already hard at work over the sinks, washing and scrubbing. Will left the galley in Naomi’s capable hands, he and Minnie headed down one deck to the storerooms. “We getting the outdoor stuff right?”, Minnie asked him. He nodded “Yup, tents, stoves, tables chairs, it’s all marked in crates remember.”. “Oh yeah, I got it.”. She started hefting the crates on to her shoulder and set them in the fore hold. A pallet and a cargo net were ready and Will had opened the bay doors above. Sunlight flooded down in to the depths of the boat. “Beautiful day Minnie, great way to start.”, Will said. They piled the equipment onto the pallets, tied the net around, Minnie crouched and jumped up onto the deck, then cranked up the net, including Will. The various crates, bundles and boxes were then loaded into the dory and the two of them sat on the stern benches waiting for the rest. In dribs and drabs the rest came on deck, wearing life belts and work clothes, ready to work. While they were waiting Minnie and Will had lowered the other boats and checked the anchors. When everyone was ready they boarded and they pushed off and away, heading to shore.

Of course it was a race between Naomi’s boat and Minnie’s, oddly enough it was a dead tie. The boats hit the beach in a splash of water and sand and came to a stop nearly out of the water. As soon as she was out of the boat Minnie was looking, under rocks, in tide pools. For her elusive little friends, the crabs. Will was unloading the dory and the teens were carrying the equipment to where they had decided to set up the camp. As soon as all the tents for supply storage, the tables and chairs and the outdoor stoves were in place it was time to start gathering. “Hey Minnie.”, Will called out. “Yeah dad?”, she answered from behind. “Ahh, stop doing that, let’s separate the crews and get to it..”, Will managed to get out, she had startled him. She nodded and called out “Let’s go guys, and her team picked up their gear and headed to the coal deposit. As she and her team walked towards the coal seam Will had to laugh, every sun hat the teens were wearing had a happy face neatly painted on. Will took his team to the deposit as well and work commenced. Making sure everyone had their safety equipment on, and weren’t loading too much, he and Minnie took the filled bags to the dory and packed them in. After the disastrous wave had carried away much of their bags before, Will had ordered five times as many. This enabled him to dump the coal into the barges hold and the crew could keep gathering and not wait for empty bags.

Looking at the shoal Will could see the stuff was being pushed out of the ground, then into the lake. Like a slow, very slow motion landslide. He and Minnie were working too. Smashing large masses into easily gathered pieces was easy work for them and if they were not needed for this, they would load up bags as well. The first load was ready to be taken out so Will rowed while Minnie readied the bags to be craned up to the barge. Between the two it was quick work and before long they were skimming back to shore, for the next load. The morning progressed and Will and Minnie had taken three big loads out. At noon the dinner bell rang out and was very welcome to the hungry kids. Not that they weren’t used to hard work, this was just different to working on the family farm, or in the shops. As Will looked over he was musing, “Maybe we should supply coveralls so they don’t ruin their own clothes.”, he thought aloud. “Good idea, Sally was complaining about her pants getting wet.”, Minnie told him. Making a note of this in his book, three sizes of the, “Coveralls or overalls?”, he asked. “Overalls, definitely overalls.”, Minnie answered. He nodded and continued writing. So three sizes of the things, looking over at the kids there weren’t really any little ones. Small for their age that is. Couple of bigger ones, but mostly all about the same. “This will make Darren’s day, he’ll be busy for a while now.”, Naomi said. She had looked over at his notes, “Make them baggy.”, she suggested, “They can slip them on over their own clothes or just wear these.”. Minnie added “We should get a few too, my clothes get mucky while we do this, can never get the coal goo out either.”. Will made a note of that too, Darren was going to be very busy.

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After lunch it was back to work and by quitting time a total of six loads had been dumped into the first barges hold, it was just under half full. A rough calculation showed they would be heading home in ten days, if the weather held that is. Before heading back to the Rose for dinner and relaxing, there was a bit of work to do on shore. The gathering gear was piled into one of the sturdy canvas tents, and the tables, chairs, stoves and other equipment into two others. Laced up and secure for the night the weary crew rowed back to the Rose. According to the menu it was shepherds pie tonight, a nice easy meal. Quick to prepare but much appreciated. Between Naomi and her helpers and Wills helping hands the four large pans were prepared and baking away in a short time. Minnie was taking charge of the crew and making sure everyone washed up after a hard days work. Lounging on deck, still wearing lifebelts though, or waiting for dinner in the mess, it was a quiet boat. This would change but the first couple of days were always tough, just getting in the routine.

The ringing of the dinner bell echoed through and over the boat and everyone quickly showed up to the mess. Each table had fresh rolls and tubs of butter, jugs of milk and juice, and the large steaming roasters full of shepherds pie. Before starting Will had a few words. “A good days work, well done all. Thanks to Naomi and her crew for keeping us fed and watered today, and for dinner tonight. We’ll be together for a few days, so let’s keep this positive attitude going. Now dig in.”. Minnie nearly dived for the serving spoon and loaded her plate with a healthy dollop, doused it in gravy and attacked. Greta and William made sure everyone had as much as they wanted. They were taking their chaperone duties very seriously and had done well so far. It was sad, Will thought, that some of these kids would never set foot on the water again.

Sometimes he wondered if being around the three of them could grant permanent immunity, like being around Minnie and himself had helped Naomi. An interesting idea, but what if it didn’t take. What if the waters effects came back and the Roses crew wasn’t there to help. Bearing the guilt, the responsibility for any accidents was not something he really wanted. This way of life had worked here for a long while, why mess with it. No, this was the way things were, he might be the captain of the heartboat but that didn’t give him the right to change their world. He was jarred out of his deep thoughts by a poke in the side. Minnie had noticed he hadn’t eaten yet and was giving him a look, “Wakey wakey, did you want dinner tonight of just going to stare into your notebook?”, she whispered. “Oh yes, definitely dinner, load me up please.”, he said with a smile.

Even though the cold weather was far north of here the short days were not. The sun had been setting when they came back to the boat and now it was full night. Chilly enough for a sweater and long pants, at least for most, Will was quite comfortable in his shorts still. So was Minnie but her fur helped. But he did wear a new sweater, a gift from an admirer that had been dropped off at the quay one night. It was common for the crew to find gifts like this or baked goods, tokens of appreciation from the townsfolk. They tried to wear what they received while about town but sometimes Will had to draw a line. Knitted or crocheted shorts were not his idea of comfort and Minnie had nearly died laughing when he tried a newly gifted pair on. Naomi had tried to hold it back but had finally burst out laughing as well with a “Please go and change, you look like a …well I’m not sure what but it’s awful.”. So those shorts and several others went into a bin, Will was not sure what to do with them. Unravel them and reuse the wool? Then what, he might have an affinity for knitting but had never tried in his entire life. So into storage they went.

As the evening had turned to night the two chaperones started encouraging the teens to get ready for sleep. Washing up, brushing teeth then crawling into the comfy bunks. It didn’t take long to drop off with the gentle rocking and soon after it was just the three of them sitting in the now quiet mess, finishing off a game of crib. Minnie and Naomi were very competitive in their games, Will just enjoyed playing. As it was Minnie was one point from winning but Naomi counted first and was also very close only needing ten points for the win. “You’re going slow on purpose, you know I’ve got you this time.”, Minnie growled. Naomi shook her head “Nuh uh, oh look you made me lose count, I’ll have to start again. Fifteen two, fifteen four, a pair is six…ummm, fine that’s it.”. “Good game guys.”, Will said as Minnie pegged her last point and did a little happy dance, “Anyone for more tea? I’m going to have one more before bed.”. As he stood up to fill the pot in the galley Minnie said she would have one, then laughed when he asked “One lump or two?”. “Nah, just kidding, it’s all yours.”, she replied. Naomi shook her head and yawned, “I’m going to turn in, busy day tomorrow you know.”. She hugged Will and Minnie good night, then was off. Minnie looked at Will, “Up on deck for one last check?”. How well she knew him “Of course.”. And as they climbed the stairs it was still a treat not to have to wear all the winter clobber.

“Oh what a beautiful night dad, lookit the stars.” exclaimed Minnie as she stood at the rail. The land was invisible in the darkness surrounding them, no moon tonight. It truly was a fine night, broad swatches of stars blazed across the sky, as if they were floating through instead of merely under. No threatening clouds full of snow or rain, the next few days were going to be perfect.

And back in Laketown

“I know what I saw Stephen.”, said Lorenzo. He was standing behind the counter in his shop, “it was a small orange person, with pointed ears and an evil smile, he was carrying a bag full of my cheese and climbed up the wall and was gone in a puff of smoke.”. Regina snorted “Sounds like a cheese dream to me.”. What’s a cheese dream, Stephen wondered, but Regina had a point. Lorenzo was a bit excitable and liked his cheese washed down with wine. “One of the old stories come to life hmmm.”, Stephen asked aloud. The other man nodded , “Yes, that’s it exactly. The little folk are tired of being ignored for all these years, now they’re back and full of mischief.”. “Please at least try to be serious, no such thing, never was. Just our superstitious ancestors.”, Regina said.

As they were meeting in Lorenzo’s store her own smokehouse was under attack. She had put bars on the windows, and the door was closed with a strong bolt, everything looked to be secure in the small shack behind the tavern. But there was a slight gap between boards on the floor and it was getting wider as something pushed and pried underneath the floor. “If you push right there, while I pull..there we are brother, success!”, was whispered quietly as the board popped up granting full access to the smoked delights within. A bag was tossed up first, then another and two figures climbed up, hardly visible in the blacked out room. “Oh my, smell those sausages, they will be wonderful with the cheese, make sure to take plenty.”, was whispered across the room. “What’s that, no it’s fine, we’re not stealing, just buying without paying. He will take care of it when we see him. Remember, the other told us we would all meet again. Now go and fill your bag but be quiet, you know how you get when you’re hungry.”. Without a noise the two shadows glided around the room, liberating several meals of smoked yumminess. When their bags were full they left the same way they entered. The only sign they had been there was a slightly askew board that would be stepped back into place in the morning.

Back on the Rose

Now the entire ships company was asleep. Minnie and Will had done their check and everything on deck was safe and secure. After admiring the night sky a little longer they too had gone below to prepare for the night. Minnie had fluffed her pillows and quilts into the perfect positions, tossed her clothes into the laundry bin and curled into bed. Wills jaw dropped when he saw that happen but realized they probably went in by accident. He too readied for bed but was mostly a back sleeper and didn’t really like too many bed clothes, one quilt was fine but no more. He closed his eyes and threw that switch…

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William Harris

Age 35 (stabilized)

Intelligence 39/50

Strength 50/50 Maximum level.

Vitality 48/50

Stamina 48/50

Affinities for gardening, cultivating, fishing, knitting, swimming, mariner ,

Captain of the heartboat Rose

Minnie

Best dog of all

Age 17

Intelligence 21/25

Strength 24/25

Vitality 24/25

Stamina 24/25

Affinities for fishing, swimming, husbandry, mariner

First Mate of the heartboat Rose

Naomi 0’Malley

Age 18

Intelligence 36/50

Strength 38/50

Vitality 38/50

Stamina 42/50

Affinities for cooking, fishing, gardening, swimming, mariner

Second Mate of the heartboat Rose

As he drifted off to sleep his last thought was, ‘Wasn’t I going to ask Naomi something….’