Chapter 46. Baiting the Hook

Calling today a busy day was a bit of a understatement. Rising early to get the lay of the land, or lake, Will had been on deck just after sunrise. Naomi heard him moiling around and made him a cuppa, Minnie wasn’t up yet, still sleeping softly in her nest of blankets. Will had woken a couple of times during the night, still concerned about the railway. At first he had been enthusiastic about the idea, still was but it still must have bothered him on some level. Societies usually progressed into better and better modes of transportation, at least it had worked like that where he came from. Perhaps the frenetic growth of the Industrial Revolution was wrong, no, not wrong but just too much too fast. He couldn’t see that really going on in Newton, or Laketown. And if it did, well he had the power to put the brakes on, cutting off or slowing down the supply train. Hard to build without iron, difficult to run machinery without fuel. But then he didn’t like the position the crew was put in. The ability to control like that, and he did have that power. “Ahh, too many deep thoughts for a brilliant morning like this.”, he muttered. Things would have to work themselves out, he still had a bit of regret at mentioning trains though. For now back to work.

The smell of bacon was drifting through the boat, tendrils breaching the cabin doors to wake the sleepers within. Minnie had been dreaming of a field, full of yellow wildflowers and long grass, it had just rained and the damp was so cooling and lovely. She had been running, oh running so fast and so long, til her legs ran dry and she had collapsed on the earth. A wonderful dream but was drawn out by that smell, the field of flowers going back to wherever it lived while she was awake. Yawning and stretching she could feel dad was already up and about. “Drinking tea and worrying somewhere I bet”, she sighed. He did that a lot and as she dressed in work clothes, she was determined to help him more. Take on some of the things that caused him to not sleep or to just sit and stare off at nothing. Great, now she was worrying, have to talk with Naomi, they needed a plan. But first food.

The crew kids were up and excited. Today was home time, there were mixed feelings though. Some were dying to get home, no regret in coming but just missing things. Others wanted more, wanted to stay onboard and live this life. Will could see this in their faces, in the way they held themselves, it just showed somehow. He had thought of adding more to their crew, a couple more people. But there wasn’t really a reason to, there wasn’t that much to do when it was just the crew. He, Minnie and Naomi were family and it’s pretty hard to just bring a random person in, or a couple of randoms. More deep thoughts. He made a note to make sure they came on every gathering trip. A permanent solution no, but the best he could do. Time would alter the teen’s perception of the lake, from wondrous adventure to forbidden area. Very sad really.

He felt a thumping on the deck behind him and as he turned was tackled by Minnie, “Morning dad.” , she laughed, sitting on his chest with a happy grin. “Well hi there, finally woke up huh?”. When they had first brought her home, years ago, this was how she woke him. To let him know she had to visit the back yard. Standing up he lowered her to the ground and they sat on the railing looking out at the lake. “A bit blustery today, I think it’s going to be straight back.”, Minnie said. Will looked at her and quirked an eyebrow. “Don’t look at me like that, it’s exactly what you thought when you came on deck.”, she replied. “Well yeah, but kind of scary, that you can read my mind.”, Will said. “You try,” Minnie said, “Try to read mine.”. He looked at her, furrowed his brow, glared down his nose, “Yeah, I got nothing.”. The dinner bell rang out below, “Hah, you’re hungry!”, he said and ran for the stairs, chased by a laughing Minnie. Arriving at the mess they had calmed a bit and walked in to the crowded room.

The tables were loaded, Naomi and crew had gone all out for this last breakfast. The rest of the meals aboard would definitely not be as lavish as this one. They would be travelling for the next twenty four hours, give or take, and the weather might not cooperate enough for sit down meals. There were plans in place for either but the blustery day on deck didn’t bode all that well. Minnie was holding court at the main tables, visiting for the last time with the teens. After breakfast it was all hands on deck to rig for towing and she and Will would be busy. As the meal was winding down he caught her eye and pointed up, she nodded. Will headed to the galley to thank Naomi and her aides for breakfast and to let her know they would be underway soon. “Okay dad, five minutes to finish up here and I’ll be on deck.”, she said. As he left the mess he had a word with William and Greta that they were in charge of the teens now. Minnie stopped off in the boiler room to start things up, as the weather wasn’t so cold they didn’t need it running all the time.

Arriving deck found the weather a little more blustery but not terrible. He had lifted the bollard out of the hold earlier and now fitted it into place, making sure the bolts were tight. Wouldn’t do for that to get loose while towing. Minnie joined him and they pulled the boats anchors, they came up very unwillingly covered with a huge mass of weed and mud. They dunked and scraped off as much as they could until they resembled anchors again, and only then were they hauled aboard. Naomi had come up while they were in the middle of this..”Hey wanna help?”, Minnie asked. The young girl held up a hand, with a smile “No thanks, you guys are having too much fun.”. She sat back, adjust a pillow behind her back, “Go on then, get to it.”. A few minutes later they were ready to start moving. Will was at the helm, Minnie and Naomi ready to start attaching the barges. He cranked the throttle and the Rose left the spot she had called home for the last few days. He trundled her around and came in close to the first barge, as before Minnie and Naomi sprang aboard easily. Pulling the anchors they readied the tow lines fore and aft, then when the Rose steamed near Naomi took a long jump and made it to the stern and quickly looped the line on the tow bollard. Will brought the ship around to pick up Minnie and to hook up the second barge. Then a third time to get the last.

The gathering crew had seen this before but it was still a marvel. When all three barges were following along, crew back on board he turned the throttle up to three quarters and they were heading back to Newton. “Tomorrow morning at the latest.”, Will said, quickly knocking on wood. And as the leagues were eaten up under the keel the weather stayed mild, the waters calm and crew in good spirits. There was always a feeling of accomplishment on the way back after gathering for this long, that it was a job well done. They would be at this again in a couple of months, maybe a bit longer, but they would be back. As Will looked ahead at the horizon there were no storm clouds, he remembered on their last trip here the weather had turned foul soon after leaving camp. “Not today though, it’s gonna be blue skies all the way back.”, he said to Minnie. “Well not at night though.”, she said. Will hmmmed a little “Of course not at night, I know.”. Minnie added “Yeah, cause the skies not blue at night, it’s black with stars, and the moon sometimes.”. “Yeah, I got that, it’s just a saying, means good weather maybe good times too.” Will sighed. “Oh, I see now, you shoulda said so, that it was a saying, like that other one you told me, about birds and bushes, I didn’t really get that one either. Anyway I’m going to see Naomi about a bacon sandwich, you’ll want one when I come up, and tea or you can make that on here now huh. K bye”. And she was gone. “Bye.”, he laughed.

Every time Will checked their course he also moved the little brass Rose along her route on the map table. Hard to do that in rough weather but no problems in todays easy pleasant waters. As morning turned to afternoon, then evening the light was beginning to fade. Before it went entirely Will had visited each barge and lit the markers lanterns on each. He had done this the conventional way, of rowing to each. Not that he wasn’t capable of the long jumps that Naomi and Minnie had done while hooking up. It was that he wasn’t very practiced with this new ability. The crew had tested a few times while on shore, away from the kids and had been a bit rattled. Will remembered the world record for a running long jump, from the other world that is, was just over twenty nine feet. They had paced that out and marked it. Minnie had soared over the far mark, actually about three times as far, landed with an oomph. So had Naomi. Both of them were not quite maxed out on their strength and other stats yet either. When Will had given it his best shot the results had been a bit disturbing. Watching the other two jump as far as they had was like watching a hero from a movie. Doing it yourself, actually jumping half the length of a football field, one hundred and fifty some feet. And landing on your feet, sinking into the ground a few inches, disturbing. Being able to jump up, not a running jump but just standing and jumping straight up, for thirty feet at least. To run fast as the wind, to lift and carry many hundreds of pounds. He was still coming to terms with it, there weren’t going to be changes in their lives, he wasn’t going to start lurking the streets of Newton or Laketown at night, searching for miscreants. But it would make their busy life easier. He didn’t have to worry about Minnie or Naomi being hurt or taken advantage of. It would make certain plans he had, such as a trek from the far northern coast to the site of that monster tree much more feasible.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“More deep thoughts?”, this time Naomi had appeared in the wheelhouse. “Just thinking of how we’ve changed.”, he answered. “Ah, yes, that.”, was her reply. “Minnie and I were talking in the galley and didn’t realize that a couple of the lads overheard us. About how far and how high, how much we lifted, things like that. They seemed a little scared of us after, when I brought snacks out.”, she added a little sadly. Will sighed “It doesn’t come up often but we really are different now, far different from the land folk. Which is usually fine, until something like this comes up, or when we loaded the supplies so easily.”. “I hope they don’t start to resent us. That we can do things and go where they can’t.”, Naomi said after a minute. Will shrugged, “It’s not much of an answer but only time will tell. Good thing about this world is that there isn’t any conflicts, no wars or crime. Might be a problem or concern then.”. Naomi shook her head, “We’ve never had wars, what you’ve told us about, even before the change. We just get along.”.

On the shore near Laketown

Since the council had stopped their efforts to catch the pilfering duo, their life was much easier. Still lurking around at night though, but much more comfortable. They were unwilling to be seen by the town folks, at least until they met up with the lost members of the family. The shops had made an effort to leave goods out and this meal had been such a gift. A basket of meat pies and fresh bread, even a small tub of butter outside the back door of Stephens bakery. They had felt a bit guilty breaking and entering, stealing and taking what they needed. Now they didn’t have the constant worry of where their next meal was coming from, or would they be warm at night. That concern had been taken care of by the kind people of the village. Worrying about the missing family was pushed to the forefront now though. They talked about where they were, or what they could be doing. “I feel them closer now, I think they’re moving again.” a low voice said. The answer was inaudible but the first speaker gave a peculiar laugh “Yes her too, I know you miss her more than I do, and what do you mean there’s another?”. A period of quiet followed and then “Come here, look at me and stop sulking. They will be happy to see us, I know it, now have a pie or two. You’ll feel better when you eat.”.

The Rose

Minnie had taken the wheel just after dinner and Will was relaxed on the bow in his deck chair. The wheelhouse windows were open so they could talk, “Why would he wear his underwear on the outside of his pants.”, she asked. “I don’t think I explained it right, it’s just a costume he wears when he helps people.” Will said. The subject of their ability’s had come up and then, of course the masked heroes of his old world. “And he doesn’t wear a mask and still no one recognizes him, even when he’s not capering around in his panties.” Minnie wanted to know. Will had been taking a sip of tea when she came out with that last bit and had managed not to spit tea all over himself, but it had been difficult. Sometimes he thought she waited until he was drinking on purpose.

There was a bit more wind than before but the waves were still quite mild, Will knew however that this could change in a short while and they were ready. The galley was shutdown for hot meals and dinner had been a cold one. Sandwich’s, veggies and an assortment of cheeses, followed by the sticky gingerbread that had been prepared earlier. The teens were eating their dinner on deck wherever they could find a spot, no tables set up while towing. And the stern near the tow hitch was off limits, but twice William had to warn the same trio away. The same ones who had neglected the life belts. Minnie had noticed this and had confronted the miscreants. She had remarkably held her temper when the larger boys and their sister had told her there wasn’t much she could do about it. Simply taking a grip on their hands and started walking below, the struggling teens had no choice but to go along. Sitting in the galley with Naomi and Greta, she told them this was the last time they would ever be on board the Rose. And would let the other kids know how awful they had been, then talk to the council. The boys hadn’t thought their actions through and were very apologetic, they did however keep glancing at their sister. She wouldn’t back down, and was ignoring what Minnie and Naomi were saying. “Well you can stay by me until we get to Newton then off you go.”, Naomi finally said. “You two, go on deck and stay by William, any more bad behaviour and you’ll go before the captain.”, Minnie added. She shooed the two boys off, glared at the third member and went back up topside.

The night came on quickly and the voyage went on. The gathering crew bedded down for the last night aboard snugged away in their now familiar bunks. Will had never gotten the hang of the hammocks after all, even with Minnie’s help. He had filed that idea in his notebook to be done at another time. William and Greta were keeping a good eye on the teens that had misbehaved earlier in the day, going as far to put their beds in front of the door in case of possible shenanigans. However all had been quiet so far.

Will and Minnie were in the wheelhouse, taking turns keeping an eye on the course. As the night wound on Naomi joined them, “Everyones asleep now, including those three that have been acting up.”. Will sighed “I guess it was too much to ask that the children were always behaved, I just don’t understand why they would mess around like this.”. Minnie shrugged “Me either, they were good kids at first. Still are but just had a moment of not listening.”. Whatever the case, what brought that little act of rebellion about, it didn’t really matter. They had burned a bridge or two. Will would be sure not to hold a grudge though, if they met up on shore. Some were suited to going to sea, some weren’t.

The stars were magnificent tonight, there was no such thing as light pollution in this world. No satellites or planes crisscrossing the heavens, the only movement was an occasional shooting star. The sounds of the chuffing engine was only background noise now, the crew was so used to it that it didn’t really register anymore. Water was slapping rhythmically against the hull, the wind was up a bit and starting to whoosh across and through the boat. Will stood at the stern and could easily see the lights of the following barges, everything looked fine and he hoped it would stay that way.

After a peaceful night the sun rose, as it usually does. According to the charts the boat was still a few hours from Newton and would be docked just after lunch. “Dad, I’m starving, wake up Naomi, pretty please and get her to make me something. Look at my belly, it’s shrunk to nothing cause I’m dying. Oh woe is me, to be treated so cruelly by my family.”. Minnie was definitely on a rant, Naomi had already gone below to start an easy meal for the crew, she had mentioned French toast to Will. Then asked why it was called that instead of something like eggy toast, or dipped bread, or maybe panbread. Will had no clue why. “Hey sweetie,”, Will interrupted, “Go below and see whats going on with food and for goodness sakes get something.”. After making sure that he would be okay while she was gone, and suggestions for checking the course , then she felt she could leave. Watching her go Will laughed, such a character she had turned out to be. A little while later she returned with a tray. “Hope you’re hungry, I got us lots, I had a piece of eggy toast in the galley, stole it from Sally, and a bunch of bacon too, and a cup of tea for you, nice and strong and extra yucky and sweet.”. She placed the tray on the hastily cleared map table and sat down in her captains chair. “Everything okay below, no fights in the mess?”, he asked while tucking in to his plate. “Nah, it’s all clear, everyone’s just eating and yapping.”, she managed through her bacon. “Good good, so it’s eggy toast now, huh. Not French toast?” Will asked. She pointed her hand at her full mouth and held up a finger. “Yeah I don’t know what French is, I know you said it’s a country but not here, so Naomi called it that, the eggy toast thing.”, Minnie said finally, “Blame her.”.

The weather was changing, the wind was changing and was whistling away now, calling up some grey black storm clouds. They were running from the bad weather, Will was sure they would be docked before any of rain or snow hit.