Chapter 42. Working Hard for a Living, Tomorrow.

Steaming all through the night was not a new experience for Will, by now he had done this a few times and it really wasn’t a hardship.The barges behaved, floating along behind in a nice little line.According to his charts they were now, as the sun was rising , six hours away from dropping anchor by the cairn.The calendar in the wheelhouse was a work of art.Painstakingly drawn by Minnie and captioned by Naomi, each day had something noted.What was planned or perhaps just a day off but there was always something.They marked off each day at sunrise, while they were travelling that is.Otherwise it was an evening thing.As Will marked an x through today he noted the date, December 8, nothing really special about it though.Minnie had drawn the three of them fishing around the Christmas tree, which was odd but cute.He didn’t think that was going to happen, maybe the fishing part would, in fact that was a definite.Naomi had the weeks menu planned and today was a fish fry day, so everyone would be fishing.“Hope my lucks better, if Minnie skunks me again I’ll…well I’m not sure what I’ll do but I’ll do something.”, he muttered.

He could hear stirrings from below, they’re alive he thought.And the voice tube whistled, startling him.“Morning dad,” came a chirpy voice on the other end, “I’m sorry I slept so late, I meant to come up but I was soooo comfy.”.That’s my girl, “It’s all good sweety, come up when you can.A whole bunch of nothing happened.”, Will told her.“I’ll make us some toast, see you in three minutes.”, and she was gone.Looking around the wheelhouse he decided to give it a cleaning.Opening the door the sweet fresh air cleared any cobwebs he might have had.Sweeping out a bit of debris, mostly biscuit crumbs.Packing teacups onto a tray, folding several blankets and piling pillows into their cupboard.Tidying the map table, he found several notebooks open, these were closed up and shelved, except for one that was always in a pocket.Finishing just as Minnie arrived with toast and jam for both, and a fresh cuppa for him.“Wow, that waters smooth, what gives?”, she asked.Will shook his head, “Hey I’m not complaining, after the past few months this is like heaven.”.Minnie looked at him and asked through a bite of toast “What’s heaven?”.

Ah.“Haven’t we talked about that before?”, Will replied.“Nope, you said something was heavenly, but I forgot to ask what you meant.”, said Minnie.Where to start?Did he want to dive into the confusing world of religion, the belief system that many people lived their lives by?The same system that had caused so much confusion, misery, even wars, but also gave comfort and peace of mind.This was not an easy question, and there were no simple answers.Minnie gave him time, she could see he was thinking.“Some people, many people all over our old world, believe that when you die you go to this place where everything is perfect.”, he started,“You’re reunited with people you have lost, friends and family are waiting for you there.”.He paused to think again, Minnie asked “So what do they do all day?”, she asked.“It depends on who you ask, there were so many religions.And they all know they’re right.” Will said.“Personally I think heaven will be where you are happy and content, doing what you like best.That’s just me though.” he continued.“So this is heaven then?”, Minnie asked, “I’m with people I love, doing what I want, living happily.”.Will patted her shoulder “Could be sweetheart, my life here is pretty well perfect too.”.

There was a clatter of feet, slamming of doors and a stampede of teens cane onto the deck.Followed by William and Greta, trying to keep them under control.Will opened the wheelhouse door and called down the deck, “Everyone wearing their lifebelts I hope.”.Most of the teens nodded but two turned and went back down below to fetch them.William went down with the two and Will could imagine the telling off they were getting.The speed of their passage was enough that sweaters were needed even though the sun was up, when it was higher it would be better but for now it was a bit cool.“No breakfast on deck today huh?”, Minnie asked, watching the shivering crew.“”Nope, tomorrow probably, we’ll be there in a few hours. Hey Min, I’m gonna go below for some clean clothes…you got this for a couple of hours.”, Will said with a stretch.“You bet dad, I got it.”, Minnie replied.As he left the wheelhouse and walked along the walkway he could see the coast was coming a bit easier to see, Minnie had steered a bit closer to shore than he did.Nothing wrong, just a different style of piloting.

Going below brought the nearly tangible odour of bacon, something they had been missing for quite a while.Also coffee, strong coffee.Naomi must need it this morning he laughed to himself.Stopping by the galley he found her busy.Her two chosen aides working hard, helping where they could.She had set them to frying pancakes, there were several piles being kept warm in the ovens.Many more being cooked in the large cast iron pans.Several plates of bacon were ready as well, “Hey there, how are you sweetie?” he asked.“Morning dad, just busy.A good night though, weird dream of something called ice cream.I don’t even know what it is but I liked it.” she answered.“I think I’ve mentioned it a few times, like frozen milk or cream, different flavours added, it’s pretty good.”, he replied.“Are you going back up right away, or on a break.”, Naomi continued.Will stole a piece of bacon, yum, “Bit of a break,clean clothes, cuppa, rest for an hour maybe.”.She nodded “Good idea, when you go back up I’ll send Minnie up a tray, you too k.”.Thanking her Will headed to his cabin.A quick wash and clean clothes made him feel a hundred percent better, but he still decided to lie down for a bit.It had been a long night and day, even though the water was smooth today piloting was still stressful, especially with all the youngsters on board.It seemed no time passed at all when he was woken by the voice tube whistle.Picking up he heard “You awake down there, hellooo, are you there dad, I can hear you breathing.”, came Minnie’s familiar once.“Yup I’m here, you ready for breakfast?”, he replied.“Sure am, I’m starved by the way, Naomi’s got a tray ready for us, off you hop.”.And she capped off her end.Guess I’ve been told he thought.

Heading into the mess hall he found it full, the tables and benches that had been stacked against the walls were now used by the hungry hordes.Naomi saw him enter, waved and pointed at a covered tray that was sitting in his usual spot.He called his thanks over the happy kids and headed on deck.And as he got closer to the wheelhouse Minnie saw him coming and blasted on the steam whistle.She threw open the door and took the tray from him as he climbed up the last stair.“I thought I was gonna die, so hungry, I need bacon to give me strength, to fight the wolves.”, she exclaimed.“Who are you?”, Will asked, playing along.She struck a dramatic pose “I am Minnie, a sailor, but right now food for wolf.”.They laughed, “Ah that was always one of my favourites.” Will said uncovering the plates, “I wonder if this world will ever have anything of the like?”.Minnie shrugged, mouthful of pancakes.She had drenched them in the thick golden syrup that she loved so, Will still preferred jam.“Did I ever mention that my dad liked lemon juice and sugar on his,” he pointed to his plate.“Sounds horrible, aren’t they those sour things, like the…watchamacallits, the pineapples.”, she managed to answer.He nodded, “A little bit, pineapples are much better though, you can just eat them raw, not lemons.”.“That’s where we’re going next right, to the south as far as we can, after Laketown though.”, Minnie asked.Will nodded, his own mouth full now, washing his bite down with tea, “When we first got here Stephen mentioned that FarHarbour place, so yeah that’s the next place.”.

After their breakfast Will checked the course and adjusted a few degrees to the west.According to their numbers they should be in approximately the right place in two hours, the children were all on deck, such a novelty as this was not to be wasted staying below.Will was happy to see they were all wearing lifebelts now, the chances of falling overboard were slim, but still there was a chance.A rogue wave, too much horseplay, however the water was calm and any of the crew would be in after them in an instant so it would just be a bit of a shock.If the water was rough then, sadly, the teens would be banished below.The windows wide open Minnie was on the wheel while Will was sitting at the bow, just muddling away in his notebook.Jotting down this idea or that as they surfaced in his mind, brought on as he and Minnie talked of the days to come.The time passed, as it usually does.Like when you’re waiting for the kettle to boil, watching it does no good.You have to forget you put it on in the first place and be pleasantly surprised when it sings away.Soon enough they saw a familiar sight, the cairn they had built so many months ago.Still standing showing them they were in the right place.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

They continued on for a few minutes until the black line of coal showed on the shore.This was the place.It was time to start anchoring the barges, Will was at the helm and Minnie was vibrating with excitement.She wanted to see if she could jump from barge to barge like Naomi and Will had.“You’ll be fine, just don’t jump over the barge or dad will fall off his chair laughing.”, Naomi whispered to her.“I know, I know, but it’s gonna be so much fun, I just want to go now.”, Minnie replied, whispering too.Will had slowed the Rose to a crawl and yelled out the wheelhouse door, “All right, off you go, be careful.”.With those words Minnie gave a whoop , ran back a few steps and took a running jump off of the stern, followed by Naomi a few seconds later.It might have been a trait from what she used to be, a springiness perhaps but whatever it was it helped her make the twenty five foot jump to the first barge with ease.Naomi landed beside her.They looked at each other for a moment and burst out laughing.“That was so easy, let’s get to the last one.”, Minnie said.And together they made the leap to the second barge, Minnie continued on to the third and readied the anchors to drop when Naomi pulled the tow line.She signalled she was ready and the line went slack, Min waited til the barge stopped and she dropped anchor, first port then starboard.Down down they went, until dragging then catching at the one hundred mark.Waving like a maniac she could see Will was circling around to pick her up to repeat the whole process.The Rose was churning along, dead slow, coming alongside of the now stationary barge, when it was close she leaped the twenty feet separating them.Success, another easy jump for her.She and Naomi repeated this twice more, then landed on the deck of the Rose with a flourish.The teenage crew had been watching in awe as the first and second mate had bounced from barge to barge.Will had brought the boat into a good position to drop anchor and after he turned the throttle to off Minnie dropped the anchors.And there they were, set for at least a week.“Okay peons, get to work, scrub that deck, set the mains, pump that bilge, careen that hull…and get it all done by dinner.”, Will called out as he left the wheelhouse.The kids looked at each other, did he mean it.Naomi threw herself in front of Will, arms raised, “Run children, I’ll hold him off.”.Sally raised her hand “Captain, what’s a peon?”, she asked tremulously.Will opened his mouth and laughed uproariously.Minnie too, “Good one dad.”.“Just kidding guys, we can relax the rest of the evening.Start up gathering tomorrow, bright and early.Take the rest of the day off.”, he reassured them all.

There were a few chores that needed doing before the crew could rest though.Boiler blown down, engine room swept and mopped out, lanterns filled and wicks trimmed, grill and smoker cleaned up.Finally the rebuilt boat was lifted out of the hold, they had three again.Smaller than the dory, but bigger than the original folding boat.It had been a crew project ever since the original had become sharp food.Davits had been built on the port and starboard sides and the two boats were hung with care.And as he read his log entry, about hanging with care, something had come up. Will had been heading to their lounge for a moment, he had the door open and several pairs of curious eyes had seen the Christmas tree in all its decorated glory, along with several wrapped presents underneath.He could feel the many questions simmering but dodged out of answering by telling the kids Naomi had just made shortbread and needed some testers.There would be a reckoning.

After returning from her adventure on the barges Minnie was bursting with pride, “Did you see me, I made it easy, I think I coulda made it to the end in one, it was so simple cause I’m springy, hey I wonder if that’s a talent I get like being jumpy or bouncy, maybe leapy, when we get to shore I’m gonna see how far and how high, just so I know.”, she wound down. “You and Naomi need to do that, for safeties sake..”, Will replied, “Me too, it’s easy to forget how much we’ve changed until we try something like this, gotta be careful.”.

As it was just past lunchtime, the the teens were learning to relax while on the water.Getting used to the boat rocking, sound of the water and wind had been harder on some than others.The older ones, Greta and William, had been helpful in every way in helping the more nervous ones feel comfortable.The weather was cooperating too, Will couldn’t imagine any of the kids being too comfortable in the weather that was much much farther north.It was all right for the crew, they were well seasoned now, but to run a gathering operation in those seas would be very difficult indeed.Tremendous waves had been hard enough on passengers, at times all they could do was lay in the bunks and wait for the trip to be over.Will would never put these young people through that, if he had a choice that is.Sometimes the weather didn’t cooperate and was that ever an understatement if he ever wrote one.As he wrote he could hear the laughter and talking coming from midships, talking about the work to come.Who was going to gather the most, who was going to eat the most, simple things like that.It was nice to hear they were just normal kids at heart.

“Dad I’m hungry.”, Minnie announced as she sat beside him on deck, mid decks this time. Checking the sun Will figured it was a couple of hours til dinner, “Go get some bread and butter, or some biscuits maybe.” he said, “It’s pretty close to dinner, you don’t want to ruin your appetite.”. Then he started laughing til he had tears, when Minnie asked he explained. “I’ve said those words thousands of times, never works though, kids always didn’t eat their dinner, then wanted more snacks later.”. “Well I always eat my dinner, I just feel like a snack…ack what are you doing?”. Will had reached out and squeezed her arm, “You don’t feel like a snack, maybe something boney, like a rib. Nom nom. Come here you I need a snack now.”. She laughed, “Funny pop, real funny.”. A thought struck Will, he pulled out his notebook and wrote for a few seconds. Minnie waited patiently. “Can you go ask Naomi if she has any dried corn, like for grinding. If she does bring that, a large covered pot and some oil?”, Will asked Minnie. She was off in a sec, without waiting for any explanation. A few minutes passed, she returned with the supplies, and Naomi. Heading to the bow he loaded some kindling into the small potbelly stove beside the grill, it only took a few minutes and the stove was hot. Pouring a bit of oil into the large cast pot and resting it on the top grate. Hearing the oil had heated up enough he dumped a cup of the dried corn in and put the lid on again. “So we’re gonna eat that, looks a bit icky.”, Minnie started to say but was interrupted by a pop from inside the pot. “What in in the world was that?”, Naomi said but stopped when more pops and cracks from inside. Will laughed and slid and shook the pot some more. He did this until there were no more noises from inside. Setting it to one side and carefully cracked the lid. From inside he poured out the white fluffy goodness into a waiting bowl and tossed it lightly with salt. “Try that out.”, he told Minnie. She gingerly put a single piece into her mouth and chewed. Hey eyes widened , she grabbed a handful and tossed it in, “This is, this stuff, I love it.”. Naomi had been waiting to see if Minnie keeled over, now that she survived she also took a smaller handful and ate a couple of kernels, then wolfed down the rest, “Oh, we have got to have more of this, it’s just dried corn, amazing.”. Will had one more trick. He asked Greta to run to the galley and bring up a crock of butter and a small pan. When she returned he melted a generous amount of butter and poured it over the popcorn. Minnie tried this new twist, “it’s good, make more Naomi, make more.”, she was nearly begging, it was so tasty. The smell of this new treat was so familiar to Will, and as it wafted across the boat the children began sniffing the air and looking for the source. Naomi had taken over the popping work and had delegated Will to go get enough bowls so everyone could have a serving.

As everyone, well mostly everyone, was enjoying this new snack Will was discussing toppings with Minnie. She was still eating popcorn with butter but was interested in the sweet and salty kind that Will mentioned. “A little more work, put sugar in with the oil and pop it, or sprinkle it with just about anything, it’s a fun snack.”, he said. Naomi noticed he wasn’t eating any, “You don’t like it dad?”, she asked. He shook his head “ Not really, the smell is strong and it’s a bit greasy. Just not my thing, when I was younger I would have it sometimes.”. He thought for a bit, “Now potato chips, that’s my weakness. So first you slice the spud really thin, using a mandolin, then you…