Chapter 8

Stephen continued to take containers out of the basket, “To be honest there’s really not too much to tell.He drowned.There was a terrible storm close to us and Magnus was on an fruit run from FarHarbour.”.He gestured for Will to dig in.“The Rose returned to dock the next morning, no worse for wear.But it looked like Magnus has got tangled in a line and washed overboard, it seemed his crewman was unable to get him back on board.”.Stephe continued “He had been captain for a few years but was never really dedicated…a place holder.”.

Will nodded, he had met the type before.But imagine coming to this world, gaining this position and then not giving it your all..unbelievable.Back to the business at hand though.Examining the large breakfast spread that Stephen had brought he had decided on bacon(naturally), scrambled eggs, a couple of soft rolls and assorted fruit.Interestingly there was pineapple, oranges and apples.Stephen noticed and told him “Remnants of the fruit brought by Magnus’s last trip, we keep it in cool storage to make it last but, not forever.”.

“How long ago was that, when the boat returned with him, that way?” Will asked “and a crewman?Was he drowned as well?”.“It was about a month ago that he passed.” Stephen replied. “And the crewman he wasn’t on board when the boat showed so we all agreed that he must have washed overboard as well.”.

Will remarked..”I have to say you don’t seem all that broken up about him…drowning I mean”.Stephen shrugged “I didn’t know him that well.Wasn’t my turn to greet when he appeared.”.He fixed a bowl of eggs and bacon for Minnie and placed on the floor for her.“He did his job but I didn’t really have a lot of contact with him…other than placing an order or receiving one.”.He continued “ I think you will find most of the shops and buyers will feel the same.No animosity but no one really connected with him.”.

“Ah well.Now you have us, Min and I.We are going to fit right in.” Will reassured him.Pouring a final coffee Will stood and helped pack up the rest of their meal.“I’ll just leave this here for lunch” Stephen said.They left the saloon and headed for the engine room.Will was eager to see the heart of the ship.

The engine room was down one more deck where the cargo holds were.Various storage areas such as rope and chain, bad weather gear, fishing tackle, and so on were here.Opening the door to the actual engine room they were greeted by a massive boiler with bunkers of coal near.The boiler connected to a massive one piston trunk steam engine which drove the propeller shaft.The smell of oil and coal were strong to nearly overpowering and Will was quick to open portholes for fresh air.Shinybrass valves and gauges were on the front of the boiler to control temperatures and steam pressure to feed the engine.

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Wills inherited knowledge told him, that despite its looks, the operation was a easy process.Feed coal to the boiler to bring the water to boiling, which transferred to the steam cylinder.This was kept at a certain psi, usually around 100.This caused the cylinder to move, releasing steam to fall back and be pushed again.This turned the shaft which powered the boat.As the steam condensed back to water is was collected and piped back to the boiler to start all over.

Surprisingly simple but powerful and considering the Rose was not a race boat…perfect for their needs.

He decided to start the boiler up. Building a pyre of kindling he added a few shovels of coal into the fire box and throwing an oil soaked rag in as well, he flicked a match and tossed it in, slamming the iron door shut. The wood caught quickly and started to ignite the coal. Noticing there was an automatic feed to add coal he filled this up as well with a few more shovelfuls. Heating the boiler would take time so he headed on deck.

Hmm he thought, I haven’t checked in a while.

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William Harris

Age 65

Intelligence 15/50

Strength 11/50

Vitality 12/50

Stamina 11/50

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

Captain of the heartboat Rose, navigation,

Mechanic 1

Getting younger, stronger, learning new skills, where will this end I wonder.

As he stepped up to the mason deck he could smell coal and looking up there were tendrils of smoke rising from the stack. “Look at that Min, signs of life.”.The little dog pranced on her hind legs around him, as excited as he was.Looking down he could see something was different about her.He crouched down to check.

The swelling on her feet from before was still there, but as he squeezed her feet gently there was no discomfort.Her front paws seemed broader and her toes longer.As he looked at her face he noticed her muzzle was a bit shorter and her head was just a bit larger.She hadn’t lost any fur and her tail was still up and wagging and she seemed happy as usual.But these changes were concerning and he made a note to talk to Stephen or anyone from the village about it.In fact he hadn’t noticed any other dogs, heard none barking.“Hmm Min, looks like you might be the only doggo here.”.

Clambering to his feet he gave her a last pat.Will headed to the wheelhouse to check the boiler status on the repeater there.As he entered there were sounds of gauges hissing and clicking.The room was warm as toast from the radiators on the side walls, the water within being fed from the boiler as well.Things were heating up and pressure was building slowly but surely.Will headed out to the main deck and headed to the fire if the ship.He found Minnie there, paws on the lower railing barking at seagulls.“You tell them girl.”.

Seeing the weather was fair and no wind to speak of, that there was no reason not to take the Rose out of the dock and tie up to the pier and start operations. Back to the main deck he jumped down to the dock and slipped the lines from the cleats to free the boat. Tossing a couple of large fenders down he quickly returned to the wheelhouse. Using the large brass throttle he rung it over to dead slow and felt a clunk as the prop engaged.

Reaching up for the steam whistle rope and giving it two sharp tugs he heard the shrill whistle above. Slowly the Rose steamed out of the dock and headed out into the Great Lake ahead.