Chapter 25. You’re Getting Warmer

As they chugged away from the shore Will felt a weight lifting, a weight he hadn’t realized he was carrying. The last weeks had been one of the busiest since he had arrived here. Wearing on all of them, Rose included. Down time was needed and he hoped they would get it. Supplies were low, fuel was low, that was first order of business. To find that coal shoal, “Nice one dad.”, and load up. As usual Minnie was reading his log over his shoulder. The two of them were in the wheelhouse, Naomi was taking a long soak, Minnie was next. It was relaxing to be off schedule, nothing really pressing at them. Just idling along, keeping an eye on the coast. Nothing much planned for meals, a what have you day now. “I’ll tell you something though dad, our house needs a good cleaning, it’s a mess downstairs.” Minnie said. “Oh yeah, we’ve had a few people over.”, Will agreed, “We can get to that when we find the coal.”. At that moment the voice tube whistled, it was Naomi letting Minnie know she was done and had run Minnie a fresh hot bath. She was up and out, with a “Seeya later stinky.”, door closing behind her. Well that was fast, he thought, she must have really wanted a bath.

About an hour after Minnie left to bathe the whistle called again. This time it was Min, letting him know she was done and she had run him a fresh hot bath. “It’s your turn to relax dad, come on down.”.

Looking out the sun had gone, it was nearly full dark now. They had only travelled a couple of hours from the burrows on a southerly course, but it was a start. The water was still calm, the only light from a full moon. The coast could barely be seen, so he decided to end their days voyaging here, anchored a hundred yards off of the coast. He let Minnie know he’d be down in a bit. Throttle off, wheelhouse closed up tight for the night. Lantern in hand he stepped out on to the bow and dropped anchor, they went deep but bit hard below. The Rose swung a bit, like getting comfortable in bed for the night, then settled into a gentle rocking. A final walk around on the cold deck, checking davits, stair latches, hatch covers, everything was shipshape so he finally went below. Again it was a different world. Warm and cosy, laughter coming from the mess. He stripped off the dreaded outer gear, hung it in place, boots on the thick mat and his gloves and hat on a shelf. Ah, how good it felt to be in shorts and slippers.

Sticking his head in the mess door he found Minnie and Naomi playing checkers this time. “Going for that bath guys, I’ll be back”, he said with a laugh. Heading down the corridor to the bathing room he heard Naomi ask “Why does he always say ‘I’ll be back’ like that?”. Minnie answered “I dunno, makes him happy though.”. Hmm, he thought, maybe I’ll have to try and write the story of those movies, be a real challenge.

Reaching the bath room, which really was just that. A small room with a large cast iron, claw foot bath tub. A couple of racks for towels and clothes, thick mats on the floor to absorb splashes and drips. Two outlets, one cold from their tanks with a hand pump and one from their boiler for hot. Usually he showered off with salt water, pumped from outside. But in this climate the water was liquid ice and while still refreshing, in an eye popping manner, was not very relaxing. The lake water was different in some fashion than the salt water of his first worlds oceans. More…something, it was hard to put into words. Ocean salt water dried on your skin, left a sticky residue, but the lake water of this world was nicer maybe, easier on you. That might be just for the crew though, it was pretty hard on the other people that lived on the shore.

He was thinking all this as he stripped off, and climbed into the steaming tub. Pure bliss as he sank in the hot water. Those first few seconds washed all his worries away, just for a little while, but that was enough. Soaking up to his moustache with a wet flannel on his head for a few minutes, just to loosen things up. Then scrubbing with a long handled brush and soap. It was a very refreshed Will that emerged from the bath room, clad in a clean caftan. It took a few minutes for the bath to empty into their waste tanks and to pick up dirty clothes and towels and drop them into the laundry room next door. He had shaved face and head, and felt ready to take on the world.

As he entered the mess Minnie and Naomi were both dressed much the same as he was. He had found a caftan in his room when he first came on the Rose and loved it. When they had gone shopping in Newton he found a tailor who made him some more. Minnie had liked the way he looked and ordered a few to fit her. Naomi had been a little less comfortable with wearing different clothes than she was used to. It was just that young women dressed a certain way, young men another, then the older you got your clothes changed along with you. This attitude had altered quite quickly when she joined the crew. After months of going swimming, water fights, hard work in all weather there wasn’t much point of wearing the same clothing all the time. Not that they ran around in their underwear, well Minnie did but that was just Minnie. Her sunny outlook on life was one of Wills greatest joys and he wasn’t going to do anything to change it. But wearing shorts, tees and flip flops on deck was about all Will wore in the sunny summer days, Minnie the same. Naomi had come around and now they all wore the same, mostly. Sometimes she and Minnie would wear summer dresses, or skirts, sometimes Will wore a long belted robe. Always with a hat though, that was a must.

But here they were, all freshly washed and relaxed. Minnie was still brushing various parts, ears, tail and so forth. Her arm and leg hair was usually very easy to take care of, same with her back and chest. Her head was a different story, a combination of long hair, short hair, and fur. Without constant care it could end up quite the mess, woolly hats didn’t help the situation either. In the near future those things would be back in storage for the next six months. “Hey you”, Minnie was poking him on the forehead, “No sleepy yet.”. “I wasn’t sleeping, I was just resting my eyes for a minute.” he protested. “Sure you were, I’ve heard that one before dad.”, Naomi laughed. There was a spread of fresh bread, cheese and hard sausage, Minnie and Naomi had been munching away but there was plenty left. “Now this might put me to sleep.”, Will said, loading a plate. “Well that’s okay, I’m pretty tired too.”, Minnie replied. “Been some long days lately, I’m for bed after this. The dishes can wait til tomorrow.”, Naomi added.

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It was about fifteen minutes later, bellies full, that the weary crew stood up with a stretch. Will packed the sausage and cheese up and put it back into the iced box, now full of ice. Naomi covered the bread and that went into the galley for the morning. Minnie helped by collapsing at the table and waiting for Will to carry her to their cabin. It had been a tiring time. Everything packed up for the night Naomi headed to her cabin, Will picked up Minnie, and went into theirs. Laying her down, she woke up and started getting ready for bed. Moving very slowly she stripped down and out on her one piece pyjamas, then snuggled under the quilts. Will laughed, then headed back down the corridor and snuffed the lanterns. Only the light from his open door was left now, Naomi called goodnight one more time then it was all quiet. He closed his door and readied for sleep. Laying in the warm bed, Minnie slow breathing beside him, he was overcome with a feeling of contentment. This felt right, and that’s all you can ask for. “Goodnight Min.”, he whispered as he dropped off, rocked to sleep.

Morning came, the water was still gentle with a little bit of light coming in through the frosty port. Minnie’s side of the big bed was unnaturally tidy, her usual nest of blankets was still tight around her. None on the floor, none flung over Will, she must have exhausted, he thought. He dressed quietly and exited without making too much noise. The corridor was dark and a bit chilly, no radiators here. Knowing the ship like the back of his hand helped, walking through the darkness. Opening the mess then into the galley he found the lantern and sparked it alight. The familiar comfortable kitchen was revealed by the flickering lantern, soon steadying. No porthole in here, just the lantern light. During the day the ceiling lanterns would be lit, but they weren’t needed now. The dimmer light was cosier, and he didn’t need much to light the wood stove he preferred to use.

The kettle was filled and put on, a comforting morning ritual. Giving him time to think and plan the next leg of their voyage. With Minnies and Naomi’s input of course. He wasn’t just going to decide what and where without talking about it. But tea, gives you time to contemplate, nearly too hot to drink, only careful sips would do it. A special blend today he thought, filling the tea ball with those magical leaves. They had drank a few pots of this but the level seemed the same, must be a trick of the light. As he went to examine the box further a stick cracked with a snap in the firebox, startling him a bit. And forgetting, for some reason, to check the tea box. Closing it carefully and putting it back in the secure cupboard it left his mind, as it had many times before.

Tea made and poured into his mug the next step was going on deck. Getting dressed was a bit of a chore still, but there was no need for the thick work coveralls. A warm jacket and boots would be fine for a short time. Climbing up and out the air was fresh and clean. The bit of wind was cold but he turned his back to it and it was okay. The weather was much of the same today, no snow yet but there were some heavy clouds above and to the north, where the wind came whistling down from. Water calm, a bit more heave but nothing like the twenty foot swells of a week or so ago. He walked the entire deck while drinking his cooling tea, every inch of rail inspected, all the glass on the wheelhouse, anchor chains holding them well. The coast was nearly invisible in the distance. Blending with the sky, all shades of white and grey, no trace of black. They would have to cruise closer to find what they needed. The wind was blowing up his jacket so that was that, back below he went. Poured another cuppa and sat in the small ships office and wrote his log.

Hmm, how to start today? Woke up, drank tea, did nothing, fell asleep. Pretty riveting stuff. We’re still searching for the coal. In the southern coasts it’s pretty common, but not up here. Almost as it is been planned. He had supposed that before, did Elaith and brings like him plan this world? There was a word that had been wiggling around in his brain, whenever this subject rose up. Terraforming. This world was neatly divided, the terrible water effect, surface coal and ore, sometimes things were too easy and other things were impossible. As Minnie would say, blah, no point in supposing. Time to start breakfast, going to be a busy day.

First though, he went to the engine room and set the boiler to full, checked all the water levels. He had to drop a few gallons in the reserve, they always had barrels of fresh purified water on hand for that. Filled the auto loaders from their dwindling supplies. There was still a couple of hundred miles a cruising left and he knew that shoal was close. So that was number one priority. A thought hit him and he went back to check the log, to see what day Naomi had spotted the coal. Going back through the log made him smile. When Minnie wrote the days events or made notes while they travelled, she also doodled. The three crew were always present, always wearing hats. Sometimes Minnie would be riding on cartoon Wills shoulders, or standing heroically at the top of a page. Peeking around the corner of another or throwing a snowball at a fleeing stick Naomi. Very entertaining. Leafing back he found the entry finally. It was before they had encountered the burrows, a couple of days before actually. So if they continued on their present course they should find it, and soon. They could always burn wood to heat the boiler but it wasn’t as efficient by any stretch. The amount of wood needed would burn up what they had on hand in a couple of days. It would work though, and if need be they could always go ashore and go logging for a couple of days to fill the hold. Time would tell.

Wow, he thought, I sure get distracted easily. First thinking about breakfast, and then two hours later here I am still hungry, next stop the galley. Minnie and Naomi were still sleeping but the smell of frying ham and potatoes, and toasting bread would surely wake them. Pulling down the pan from the rack, slicing ham, melting lard took a few minutes then in it went to start sizzling. Potatoes were coming nicely, crispy edges and nice and buttery. Bread cut nice and thick and onto the copper toast rack. It was only some times, like this one, that he missed the ease of his previous life. Simply put bread in and toast popped out. But the bread, what a difference there was. Firmer, tastier, better in every way than the millions of plastic wrapped loaves from before. And to be honest with himself, the toaster rack they used was just as quick. He had used one like it before when the family used to tent camp. A pump gas stove, pan for eggs on one side and toast rack on the other. So identical to the one he used now that he had actually looked for a company logo when he saw it first.

Setting the table, bringing in the covered platters of food, he went and banged on Naomi’s door, hearing a squeal, then opened his cabin and yelled breakfast. Minnie sat up with a squeak, then a sniff, “Ooh it that ham and taters for breakfast?”. “Yup, better gets dressed before Naomi eats it all.”, Will said. “I might do that dad.”, Naomi called as she rushed out of her room and headed for the galley. “Nooo,” Minnie called, throwing a robe on and running after her, “I’m starving, at least a piece of toast, and a bit of ham, pleeeease.”. She disappeared into the mess, Will followed right after, someone had to referee.