Chapter 41. Working Days

Far to the north

The mountain range was hundreds of miles from the lake shore and the shakings and rumblings did not reach that far. Usually. Under the surface unimaginable forces had created cracks, these branched together and made furrows in the land, such as the one nearly reaching the giant tree. This had released much of the tension that had built and it seemed that all was returning to normal.

And far to the south in Laketown

The petty pilfering had continued. Stephen and the council were at wits end trying to find the culprit or culprits. Traps had been set, cakes or buns left in plain sight with hidden watchers. Nothing. No business was safe. Baked goods, fresh meat, cheese, now blankets and pillows, most of the shops and kiosks had reported loss. No footprints leading to or from the scene of the crimes, no clues left behind. The people were loathe to point fingers at each other and there was nothing to suggest a suspect anyway. But in a cool dark room, in a warm cupboard a small figure smoothed out a thick blanket. “Is that better brother, does it help your sore foot? Be careful moving, I’ll go out tonight and fetch dinner.”. The deepening shadows told that the sun was setting and the only sound in the room was water gently lapping and the soft breathing from the sleepers.

Back on board the Rose

“Slow down Minnie, nearly there..nearly…okay take us around while dad lifts the anchor.”, Naomi was shouting instructions to the wheelhouse and Will had jumped to the first barge. The Rose slowly made a circle as he lifted the anchor and tied the thick tow rope to the front and the back hookups. As the Rose approached her stack was belching thick black smoke, waves foaming at the bow, pennants snapping in the wind. A magnificent sight indeed. Minnie slowed her to a crawl and Naomi easily caught the tow rope as Will hurled it, she slipped the loop over the bollard, carefully avoiding any loops in the tow cable. As the boat passed Will jumped the ten feet from the barge, landing with a thump on the deck beside Naomi. “Wow dad, nice jump, did you know you could do that, or was it just luck.”, the young girl asked, a bit startled. Will laughed, “Well I got to thinking. You know we are stronger, much stronger than we used to be. So I figured why not give it a try, the scary thing is that I wasn’t even really trying.”. Naomi giggled a bit, “So you might have jumped right over us, Minnie would have died laughing if you had.”. Will nodded, she wasn’t wrong. “I’ll try that with the next one, quicker than paddling. And it was fun.” he said happily. The Rose tugged a bit as she picked up the slack and took the weight of the barge, easily handled and Minnie set course for the next. Will had time to go to the wheelhouse and tell her his plan to jump to the barges instead of rowing. “Like a grasshopper, pop and you were over here again?”, she asked, between giggles. “Yeah, it was weird, I just thought why not and gave it a shot. Hey the next ones coming up, I’ll try again.”, he said as he looked out the window. “Okay.”, she said, “I want to watch this time.”. She opened all the windows to get a better view. Will stood on the bow, waiting until the next barge was coming close. He saw the gap was about the same, ten to twelve feet, waited…waited then jumped. He landed safely on the barge, staggered a bit on his feet by put made it safely. Throwing his arms up into a ‘V’ he waved at Minnie and Naomi as they passed. Pulling the anchor, fixing the fire tow cable he made ready to jump to the first, but as he waited he was astonished to see Naomi soar the twenty feet from the stern and land.

Shaking his head, “What have we become?”, he laughed. As the first barge passed by he gave to thick tow rope a mighty toss, Naomi missed the catch but pounced on the slithering rope and slipped it over the rear bollard. Again there was a tug on the Rose as she picked up the slack and then the weight of the second barge. Will was now at the rear of the train, waiting to hop over to the third and last barge. As the boat was heading straight he could see Naomi make a running leap and landed near to him. “That’s so much fun.”, Minnie will be so jealous her ears will steam. “Oh yeah.”, Will agreed, “Oh oh, look sharp.”. The third was coming up and he rescued for the jump. It seemed to be getting easier as he took off and made it easily. Pretty big target though, hard to miss, he thought as he cranked up this anchor. Pulling the coiled tow rope out of its weatherproof locker he lifted the loop over the tow post and waited for the boat to come around. At dead slow she passed, Minnie blasting the steam whistle like mad. The teens lined the railings watching every move they made. Must have been very entertaining indeed. As the Rose crept by at dead slow he readied the line, swinging it over his head as the boat, the first and then the second barge slid by and then a toss into Naomi’s waiting hands. A moment later it was hitched up and moving with the rest. With running leaps, carefully timed he and Naomi made it back to the deck of the Rose in a burst of laughter. Minnie was hanging out of the wheelhouse door just shaking her head. As they approached she asked “I get next turn right, that looked so easy, do you think I can jump that far too?”. Will agreed with her that of course she could do it too, and that yes, she could do the next ones. “When we hit land I want to see what our limits are, don’t want to risk too much on the water.”, he said as he brewed up a cuppa in the wheelhouse. Looking back he could see some of the teens seeing who could jump the furthest. All in good fun though. “Okay Minnie, take us out of the bay and on course to the shoal, full speed if you please.”, he asked. “Aye aye captain.”, she said and clicked the throttle’s lever to full. At her top speed of twelve knots the Rose was out of the bay and on her way north in just under an hour. The waters of the main lake were not too rough today and the weather was holding fair and mild. A perfect day for sailing, steaming, whatever he thought.

Having come this way a couple of times Will calculated the coal deposits were about twenty hours away at this speed. So his plan was to steam straight there, no breaks. Then anchor up and start gathering on the next day. As tradition called for it the first nights meal was cheeseburgers and the delicious deep fried chips. Will was trying another side dish today as well. He had contacted Dave, who talked to his supplier who came through with what he needed. About ten pounds of shredded cabbage and carrots. Mixed with Wills homemade mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar, he produced the best coleslaw these kids had ever had. Considering they had never had it before he still counted this as a win. The smell of frying onions, broiling beef, toasting buns and the fresh chips, if the kids weren’t hungry before they sure would be when dinner was ready. With the lake this calm Will had tied the wheel on course while he cooked and prepared. Minnie or he would check every little while and course correct as needed. “I missed this.”, she said, stirring the onions. “Yup, me too.”, Will replied, “A nice simple week, nothing hidden, just doing the normal things.”.

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Naomi had chosen two helpers, like she usually did, and together they had set up tables and chairs on the deck. When the burgers were ready she brought up the mounds of chips they had prepared in the galley, Minnie rang the dinner bell to call any stragglers. Will was still keeping an eye on their course but could take time to eat and relax with dinner. “Ah yes, the usual before dinner speech.” he said, sitting at the head of the table, “Welcome welcome to the first of many dinners that we will enjoy together. But that’s enough for now, dig in.”. The children attacked the food like starving wolves. Most of these dishes were unfamiliar to them, not what they were used to. That’s what made it special though. The salty chips, burgers covered with cheese then topped with onions. Then, after the food had settled a bit there was a freshly baked cake, well several actually, with clotted cream to top it off. Minnie had eaten her usual and was nearly asleep in her chair, but Will had taken it easy, going to the wheelhouse with a plate and checking the course. They were now about sixteen hours away so they would be there around lunchtime tomorrow. He and Minnie would switch off piloting throughout the night and morning, for now he was quite comfortable in his chair. Minnie had managed to drag herself in as well and was snoring away beside him. Will knew Naomi had things well under control belowdecks but had whistled down to, first the mess, then the galley, then finally the crew cabins. As she finally answered they chatted for a bit, she let him know that everything and everyone were just fine. The chaperones were readying the kids for the evening and then bed, the excitement usually tired them out on the first day. “Let me know, if you need anything okay?”, he said then hung up the speaking tube. He still marvelled at it a bit, how this tech got here was an amazing thing. While commonplace on vessels from a certain age in his old world, he couldn’t see how it had evolved here. Considering there was only one boat. “Another heading in the X files.”, he muttered.

As the evening turned to night there was an exhibition of heat lightning far to the west of them. Thunder boomed, but very far off as well. There was no wind to speak off and the lake was nearly motionless. A very peaceful cruise so far and he hoped it stayed that way. The last couple of ore and coal runs had some pretty stormy weather. He knocked on wood quickly to avert ill luck. Not usually a believer in that sort of thing but the last few months had proven that there were definitely a lot more things in heaven and this earth to believe in. Putting on the kettle, making a pot of tea and he settled back to write his log. The wheelhouse windows were still open though, and the damp was beginning to come in, just the usual, nothing strange but he had to get up and snug them all closed. Covering Min with a blanket he went back to his notebooks. A quick note in the ships log about leaving on such and such day and time, then an entry with a journal number. That was where the trip would be recorded in much more detail. Names and ages of the crew, daily activities, meals, how much coal they loaded, he loved writing all this down. “Makes my hand hurt thinking about writing that much dad, glad you do that part.”, he jumped at Minnie’s voice close to his ear. She had woken while he was intent on his journal and managed to surprise him. “Ack, why you do that?”, he asked. She tilted her head and thought for a second, “Cause it’s funny?”. “Yeah it is.”, Will replied with a laugh. As he was finished with his writing he closed up all the books and pulled out the cards, wiggled them at Minnie, then started dealing when she nodded. “I’ll play a couple of hands, gotta check on Naomi soon though.”, she said. They fell into the easy routine they had, playing, talking of this and that, checking the heading, as night fell hard.

The Rose was steaming along in a pool of light, from the lanterns on deck. The children were long in bed and the quiet was complete. Naomi had come up to join them. Greta and William had their charges well taken care of and were abed themselves. A tray of biscuits, an empty cake platter and teapot were on the tables between their deck chairs. They had managed to take care of another piece of cake each, finding the empty spots in their bellies. “I’m never going to eat again.”, Minnie groaned. “Aww is cake your weakness sweetie.”, Will asked. “Like that guy you told us about, what’s he called Minnie, that flying guy?”, Naomi asked. “Oh yeah…umm Clark something, why?” Minnie said. “Well that guy had a weakness to some rock, remember? He got weak and sick and couldn’t fly anymore. Maybe you’re like that, except your weakness is cake.”, Naomi laughed.

Will came back from visiting the head to find Naomi and Minnie cackling with laughter. “Oh oh, what did I miss?”, he asked. Minnie picked up the teapot and started poking him with it, “Do you feel weaker now , hahaha I’m taking over the boat, I’m a villain now.”. He looked down at his little maniacal buddy, dancing around him, poking him with a teapot, he had no clue. Naomi joined in, attacking Minnie with a fragment of cake “You’re getting weaker now my pretty, mwahaha.”. The two of them collapsed with laughter as Will looked on. And then Minnie started it, “Yaaawwnnnn.”, Naomi looked on in horror, tried her best but a jaw cracking “Yaaawwnnn.” forced its way out. Both looked at Will and he could see Minnie counting, he just smiled and dipped his biscuits, nothing from him. Watching them yawning at each other was fun but they soon tired of it. Minnie decided to go to bed herself, after many reassurances from Will that he would be okay, and yes he’d call her if he needed her, and he would remember to check the course. Naomi could see Min was worried, mostly about sleeping alone, “You come sleep in my bed, we’ll tell stories and cuddle all night.”. After a bone cracking hug from each he watched them shuffle down the deck, under the walkway with its swinging lantern. Giving an ethereal look and feel, as if in a wonderful dream that you never want to end. A dream about a magical boat, sailing an endless sea. Having adventures and meeting new people, going fishing, drinking tea, living forever with the ones you love, what a beautiful world that would be.