Chapter 57. A Whale of a Tale

The two hurried up the gangway to the deck,Will was on the bow as they steamed along, about quarter speed now.“What’s up”, “What are you looking at?”,Minnie and Naomi asked at the same time.Will smiled and pointed off the port now.As he did a majestic form rose up with a mighty heave of waves and a tremendous splash.“That's a blue whale, in fact a whole pod of them.Babies and adults, nearly extinct on our old world.”.Naomi was terrified of the huge animals, Minnie was fascinated.“They’re not going to eat us are they captain?”, asked Naomi.Will shook his head, “They eat tiny little things called krill, they suck in huge amounts of water and filter out the stuff they eat.”.“You’ve seen these before…in your other world?”, asked Naomi.

Will nodded, “We took a long cruise years ago, and we saw them from the ship. They’re not exactly harmless, being so big they get hit by ships and both get damaged. But they don’t attack.”. One of the smaller whales had made its way over to the Rose and idled along beside her, large eyes looking up at them. Minnie waved at the whale, not expecting the huge splash from its tail. She was drenched, but happy. “She waved back!”, she laughed. “They’ve probably never seen anything like us before either.”, said Will. The logs never mentioned any encounter like this, but we’re the only boat on the lake, so maybe we’ve just never met.”.

Naomi was getting a little less timid, seeing the great creatures were just having a look. Stepping to the rail she too was suddenly drenched from a tail splash. “I think it did it on purpose.”, she sputtered. “Maybe, they’re very intelligent, sadly they were hunted nearly to extinction where we came from.”, said Will sadly. Minnie gasped “Hunted! But why, you couldn’t eat that, could you?”. “Not really but they were used for the oil their blubber contains, for lamp oil. The bones for women’s dresses and stuff called ambergris for perfume.”, Will shook his head “Very horrible, but our world was like that…use it all up, take anything, ruin everything.”. He sighed, “It got better, when the younger people had enough of the waste, they showed us how to be better.”.

“I’m glad we’re here then dad, a perfect world for us.”, said Minnie, watching as the whales slipped below the surface and were gone.Naomi relaxed a bit more but asked “Are there other kinds of whales?”.“Many different types,”, said Will, “There’s humpbacks, they sing sometimes, orcas..they’re killer whales, sperm whales, belugas, pilots, narwhal…they have a long spear on their head.I don’t know if they are all here too.

Now that the whales had disappeared Naomi asked “Did you study them, you seem to know a lot about them.”.Will laughed “We took a cruise, well a couple of them, more like ten, but never mind that.Then went on a few whale watching trips when we made port.We both loved that.And whales were on books and movies.”,Minnie said “The moving picture thing right?”.Will nodded, “I know it’s hard for you to imagine.And it’s hard for me to explain.TV shows were just a part of life.After dinner, or to keep kids occupied, for a night out.It’s just what we did.”.Naomi shook her head “I couldn’t sit that long doing nothing, it would be boring.”.

Shrugging Will added “Hopefully that wont happen here anytime soon, this world seems to run on a different rate, not so frantic.Just a different place, I’ve come to love it here, but it’s sure different.”.Gazing off at the horizon “She would have loved it too you know, all the friends we made, everything we have seen so far, this wonderful life.”, turning to look at Minnie “You, you were such a joy for her, such a comfort.She would have been so proud of who you have become.”.Minnie didn’t know that she was able to but tears had started to run.“I’ll always miss her dad, but we have a good life now.”.

Naomi was still nervous from the whales but stepped forward to comfort her little friend “We sure do, and every day I’m here is just a blessing to me”. Minnie turned to her and gave her shoulder a squeeze, then leaned in and hugged her.“I’m not sad,”, she said “Well kinda, but more happy to just remember things now.”.“Part of growing up my little dear, we have bitter and sweet memories”.” said Will. “Helps us grow.”.“It’s hard sometimes dad, growing up and out.”, sighed Minnie.

The mood had turned a bit somber but their spirits raised quickly. The blue sky, warm sun and fresh wind made it impossible to be gloomy. All of the crew was relaxing in the wheelhouse, speed was set to half and they were steaming happily along. A game of crib was in progress, Will was well in the lead. Minnie was shuffling and about to deal. “Are you going to start selling your ideas Captain? This game would be very popular in Laketown.”, asked Naomi. “I was just going to give it away, to Stephen next time I saw him.”, replied Will. Minnie laughed as she dealt “That's my dad, and I got 15-2, 15-4.”. The game went on, Naomi winning finally. Leaving on the win she headed to the galley so start dinner as it had become a bit late.

Will decided to keep travelling until they were ready to eat, then anchor up for the night.Minnie and he readied the boat for the night when Naomi whistled up that dinner was ready.Tossing the anchors out, they bit well into the bottom, holding solid.Their custom was to stay within sight of shore but not tonight, open seas all around.The boiler was going to stay on, keeping a bit of pressure up, just in case.

In the mess Naomi had created a simple meal of sandwiches and a beef soup.Tomorrow would be a shrimp feast, unless they weren’t around anymore, it would be sad times indeed if that was so.

While they talked Will mentioned he used to go camping quite a bit. The concept of leaving your house, living in a tent or a camper…now that took a while to explain. But neither Naomi or Minnie saw the point. Doing things the same as at home, just harder with more work…nope. “Where we lived there was over a million people in the city, it was good to go into the country and just be by ourselves for a few days “, he explained. “A million people…that's a lot. Where were they all?”, asked Minnie. “It was a big city, maybe I can draw a picture for you, comparing it to Laketown.”, said Will.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Minnie handed him a page from her sketchbook and a pencil.He worked away at it for a few minutes then showed his work. A map showing his old city filled most of the paper.“What’s that little dot beside the big picture.”, asked Naomi.“That’s how big Laketown is compared to the city”, replied Will.The other two were quiet for a moment.“How is it so big?”, asked Minnie.“It’s not a new city, been there for nearly two hundred years.It just grew, people came to work, to live.They had kids and so on.”, said Will. “Your old world must have been very busy with so many people.”, remarked Naomi, shaking her head.“It was.”, said Will, “I hope this world stays as it is for a very long time.”.“Me too dad, now let’s go for a swim, I’m hot and yucky.”, said Minnie.

Will smiledat his little friend “Yeah let’s do that.”, but as he stood a thought hit him.“Do you want to come in too Naomi, we’ll be there with you, nothing crazy…we promise.”.He could see she wanted to, just the lifetime of fearing the water holding her.Minnie was trying to talk her into it too “It’ll be fun, I promised you I won’t let the lake get you…I still won’t, the waters so fun, feels like a big wet hug when you jump in.”.Standing, Naomi made a decision “Let’s go, what’s that you say Captain…last one is is a rotten egg.”.

In the future there would probably be a stampede for the water, but not this time.Naomi went to change into shorts and a light shirt, Minnie and Will went to change also, shorts and tee shirts.Meeting on deck the evening was perfect.Will lowered the steps down to make a easy platform to get in the water easily. Minnie usually wore a float or at least one tied off to her wrist, she had such low body fat she didn’t float well.Naomi did the same, two lifebelts tied together then tied to her.

Minnie launched off with a mighty leap and landed 10 feet from the boat, Naomi stepped to the edge….then backed up and jumped in.Will was keeping a close eye just in case of problems but all seemed to be going well..so far.He slid in to, ducked under the water, dove deep and came up with a splash.The water was amazing.Clear and cool, you could see some distance below.The thought of deep water made some people uncomfortable, on their old world that is, on this world it was everyone.But Will was not one, he enjoyed the thought of hundreds of feet below him, full of life and mystery.

Naomi was clinging to her lifebelts but seemed comfortable just paddling around. Minnie was swimming easily, along side of Naomi, keeping an eye on her, splashing her occasionally.The heat of the day was washing off them, wear and cares too.The young girl was finally coming to terms with her new life, the old her was going as she splashed in the lake.The same lake that took her parents was now supporting her, refreshing her and had given her a new life.From this day on she would truly be a part of the crew, joining in, borrowing from and lending to.

After a shortish swim they clambered back on, lifting the stairs and securing the boat.It wasn’t exactly chilly but much cooler than the day, so there was nothing for it but a warming cuppa, or warmed apple juice.Which wasn’t as horribly bad as Minnie first thought it was going to be.Just a bit different.At times like these Will missed hot chocolate, but cocoa beans were absolutely unknown, as of yet.He still had hopes of finding a more tropic area, but he counted himself lucky that tea and coffee existed here.Imagine a world with neither, he thought, as goosebumps raised on his arms.

There were plenty of biscuits from Stephens bakery so those were enjoyed as well.Little jam dodgers, shortbreads, a rich tea type, sugar cookies, oatmeal.A large assortment was always included in their resupply.Stephen was well aware of Minnie’s sweet tooth, and supplied her well.

“So, how are you feeling? After your first dip, are you okay.”, Will asked Naomi. “It was fun, so relaxing too. Like a big bath tub.”, answered Naomi, “Thanks for being understanding about it, it took a while but”, she drifted off. “It’s always fun swimming, next time let dad toss you around…like wheee, and down you go, he’s good at it, likes playing, but can you pass the cookies down here.” Minnie gushed. Her thoughts tumbling out as usual, artless and honest. Will moved the plate one inch closer to her, getting glared at. “A little more please “, she growled. Another inch. She, in turn, leaped over Will and landed on the chair on his other side. “Thanks.”, was the cookie filled response.

It was getting a bit late, they were weary from swimming and the leaving. So it was an early bed. Bidding good nights, sleep tights, don’t let the….what is going to bite me? Will explaining what they were, what they did, why they weren’t here. Sleep hit quickly, tomorrow was looked forward to. But one thing first

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William Harris

Age 35 (stabilized)

Intelligence 26/50

Strength 43/50

Vitality 39/50

Stamina 39/50

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

Captain of the heartboat Rose

Navigation 3

Mechanic 3

Mason 1

Outdoor Chef 2

Arborist 1

Labourer 1

Minnie

Best dog of all

Age 5 (will be adjusted for racial type)

Intelligence 17/25

Strength 21/25

Vitality 20/25

Stamina 20/25

Affinities for fishing, swimming, husbandry, mariner

First Mate of the heartboat Rose

Piloting 3

Mechanic 2

Crab Catcher

Shrimper

Joker

Arborist

Labourer 1

Naomi 0’Malley

Age 17

Intelligence 25/50

Strength 24/50

Vitality 25/50

Stamina 28/50

Affinities for cooking, fishing, gardening, swimming, mariner

Second Mate of the heartboat Rose

Management 2

Cooking 3

Homemaker 2

Arborist 1

Labourer 1

Hmm, Naomi got older. Have to have a cake was his last thought.