Chapter 66 Business as Usual.
“Do you think if we grounded the barges ashore, and then loaded them.Could we pull them off, or would it be too heavy.”, Will asked.Minnie pondered this but shook her head “There would be too much weight in the bow, we couldn’t do it, maybe if there were two Roses, but no.”.Well dang, thought Will, it would have been quicker.“What about a zip line from shore to the barge.As long as they’re floating it should be okay.”, he asked again.He could tell by the look on her face what was coming next.“What’s a zip line dad?”, she asked.Will opened his notebook and began sketching it out.“A long rope or cable, anchored on shore, strung out to the barge, stretched taut.The the ore bags are slid along the rope and dumped.”, he explained as he drew.Minnie eyed his drawing, “What if the waters rough, it would snap the line.”.Hmm, she was right about that.
They were in the mess, breakfast on the first work day. Will, Minnie and Naomi were at their table, surrounded by apparently starving children. The bacon and pancakes that the galley crew had laboured on, they were disappearing fast. Two large tables, six people at each, very well behaved people for the most part. Ann and Milly were doing a fine job at keeping the teens focused on eating. They knew it was going to be a long day.
Will was tapping his finger on the teapot, tap tap tap, tappity tap tap.He was until Minnie flicked his finger away with an annoyed look.“Quit it, that makes my brain hurt.”, she said.He laughed “Sorry, old habit.”.Pouring a final cuppa he finished off his pancakes, no syrup for him.He enjoyed jam and butter instead.Minnie had sneaked a few bites off his plate, especially the bacon.She hadn’t noticed that he always took a few too many rashers so she could steal them.Or maybe she had and was just playing along, whichever it was didn’t matter, they both enjoyed the game.A few minutes later Will looked around and saw everyone had eaten their fill.He knocked on the table for attention, joined by Minnie and Naomi.When he had all the kids looking over he said “Let’s get to it, hit the deck.”.
As everyone climbed on deck there was much running around. First order was to put their life belts on in just in case. The small boats and the dory were loaded down with ore bags, digging tools. Naomi’s equipment, folding chairs and tables were waiting to be put in the dory as well. So much gear Will thought. “Next down time we are going to crate this stuff up, keep it stored that way. It will be easier to load up.”, he told Minnie. “Good idea, keep it safe too.”, she answered. They were going to offload the work crew after pulling the first barge as close to shore as possible. The boiler had been lit before breakfast so it was hot and making steam. Pulling the anchors they pulled for the first barge, cabled to it and headed for shore.
Will had tried to hit the same spot as last time, there the coal was piled on shore coming down and out of the high cliffs and being pushed into the water.Like a coal glacier Will thought.There were no sign of their previous camp but it had been a few weeks and who knew what weather had passed through here.As they drifted slowly along the shoreline they were all keeping a lookout.The first one to spot a large black drift of coal was Naomi , she called out from the port bow.“Well spotted, let’s get to dropping anchors here MIn.”, Will said.At the helm Minnie pulled as close to shore as they could, swinging the barge behind them.Will took a small boat from the Rose to the barge and climbed aboard.He waited until it had nearly stopped, driving in the current. Then released the tow line and dropped anchor.He was only a twenty or so yards from shore so loading should be quick.Minnie had pulled the Rose as close and they had dropped anchor as well.
Will quickly rowed back and climbed aboard.
Swinging the boats out and into the water the teens carefully climbed aboard and the three boats raced for shore.Will in the fully loaded dory with six teens and Minnie and Naomi in the folders with the rest.Minnie won by a few lengths and did a happy dance on shore as the other two boats made it to shore.“Yeehah, we’re number one, we’re number one!”, her boat crew yelled with her.Laughing Will pulled the dory up and onto the sand.Then did the same to Naomi’s boat, so they could get out and stay dry.
“Listen up please, gather round. “, Will called.The teens hadn't scattered too far and came up quickly.“Luckily Naomi spotted the coal here so we don’t have to search it out.First order is to set up the eating and cooking area, then the loading spot.There will be plenty of time to explore after dinner.”. Will continued “Let’s unload everything, get kitted out and start filling.”.Unloading all the gear took hardly any time and the cookout area was ready.Portable stoves ready to go, tables, chairs and canopy’s up.
The coal that Naomi had spotted was a mix somehow.Rich black anthracite and bituminous, not quite as good but still a hot burning coal.Will told the crew not to worry about sorting as they shovelled, the crews in Newton could worry about that.So gloves on, hats to protect from the sun, coveralls to catch coal dust, work boots on and it was off to the job. Will and Minnie led their crews to the shoal whistling happily, well Will did, Minnie was playing a tune on her penny whistle.She had become quite proficient in a short while, thank goodness.The first few days were painful.
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They had replaced the sturdy canvas bags lost in the wave incident. And these were now getting filled quickly. Will would help fill until a boatload was ready, usually three or four hundred pounds, run out to the barge and dump the bags, come back and repeat. The holds of the barges were huge though and could carry many tons of coal. It was going to take many trips and many days to fill.
The kids were working hard, no shirking at all.In pairs, one shovelling and one holding the bag open, then switching off as they wanted to. There was no need to keep separate groups going and Minnie and Will paired off with various kids during the day.Naomi, Rose and Howard were hard at work too.A mid morning snack of juice, bread and cheese, a hearty lunch, afternoon break and a filling dinner.Even after returning to the boat afterwards their work didn’t end.An evening tea with sweets and then prep for the next day.
The weather was fine over the next few days, warm to hot days then cooler nights. A good routine had been found and work was progressing well. One barge was full and the next moved in close and started to fill. Will estimated they would be done in just under two weeks at the current rate. That included a couple of days off, no work. A lazing around catch up day. But not today.
Just after lunch on their first break day Will and Minnie came up on the deck carrying poles and what looked like a net. “Gather round everyone, Min and I have have something for you.”, Will called. The teens came up from below, or from the bow and stern where they had been resting, or reading. They had been setting up two poles, one on the port and other on the starboard. Between the two was a net pulled fairly tight. “This is a game called volleyball, you have to swat the ball back and forth. If it hits the ground on your side, the other side gets a point.”. Will stood on one side and tossed it over the net to Minnie who batted it back. They volleyed the ball back and forth a few times until Will missed a hard toss from Minnie. “And there you go, point to Minnie.” he said laughing. “It’s usually played in teams, two, three or four people.”. He tossed the ball in the air, “Who wants to give it a go?”. The children nearly bowled him over, it seemed everyone wanted to play. “Just remember.”, Minnie called out “Try not to throw the ball…over the side,”, as it went into the water. They had long handled nets on board and Min grabbed one and fished the ball out, “Be careful guys we don’t want that to…happen again.”, into the lake it went. Will got it this time. Naomi laughed “You guys didn’t think this through, did you?”, as the ball went in again. Sighing Will got the ball again, as Minnie went below decks and brought up more nets and the two of them quickly strung it along the sides of the boat. Problem mostly solved, mostly. Occasionally the ball was hit too hard and over it went, but as people got more practiced that stopped too. “There’s a few more games we can play, like this one.” Will said, “And a few more that you need more space for….I’ll write them down.”. This made Minnie laugh “You sure will dad.”.
The next weeks fell into a good routine, as they usually did on long work trips.It was work four days and have a day of rest, then four more and have two days off.The children got along very well with each other and with the crew.The volleyball nets had been set up on land because on days off there was much more room to spread out.And if the ball went out of bounds they didn’t have to go swimming for it.
The first two barges were done, covered and anchored close to, the coal shore looked as though some had taken bites out of it.But there was still a virtually unlimited supply.Again Will wondered about this, how it came about.In their old world coal and ore needed to be mined.Hard dangerous work.Here it was oddly plentiful but only one way to get to it, and only one person could bring it.Perhaps it was what Minnie had said all along…a wizard did it.
This time they didn’t have to find a river to resupply with water…well they did but it was found close to where they were collecting.One day while doing a bit of exploring they were a few miles inland, getting close to the towering cliffs and had come across a fast moving river.All white water and rocks, no way to get over but easy to pump into barrels and take them to the boat.Will wished he had enough hose but sadly no.They carried a couple of hundred feet and that wasn’t even close.If there had been a better grade they could have cut a trench, but two miles…nope.So it was pumping into barrels, toting and rolling to shore and out to the boat.It took a day but the tanks were full again.
“Why do we boil the river water before we drink it dad, and run it through those filters?” Minnie asked “It smells good and tastes good too.”.Will had to think about that.“In our old world the rivers had been polluted and the water wasn’t safe.So we had to or it could make you very sick.”.“But that doesn’t happen here captain, this river has probably never been seen by a person before.We’re the first ones to drink out of it.”, added Naomi.“Oh I know but there’s bacteria, or viruses and cysts, there could be metals in it, from natural sources.Don’t forget fish poop, animal poop, dead stuff that falls in the water and rots.”, he shuddered “There’s lots of things that could be in there.”.Minnie and Naomi looked a bit sick “Fish poo…yucky yuck.”, said Minnie.Naomi nodded “Yeah, yuck is right.”.“It’s okay to use it for flushing and hand washing, or clothes washing…after boiling that is.” Will continued “But not drinking.You have to boil it, then filter it through charcoal or sand, or both.”. He pointed to their filtering system, not the prettiest setup but it worked.
Will looked around at where they had been working for the last few days. “We should make a permanent camp here.”, he said. “The ores and coal are good here, there’s fresh water close.”. Minnie was intrigued, “So we wouldn’t live on the Rose when we’re here, getting stuff?”. “I think we’d build a dock here, we’d still live on the boat, but the extra crew could live on the land.”. Will thoughts were that it would be easier on the children, less stress on the Rose. “I’m just blue skying, thinking out loud, it will be years til we do something like that, if ever.”, Will looked over the busy decks of the Rose. “I can’t really imagine living on land again, can you two?”. Naomi shook her head “No, this is home now. It was worrying at first, when I asked if I could come along, but I never regretted it.”. Will looked at Minnie, she was staring at the far horizon, “What about you sweetie, what’s your thoughts?”. She sighed “I wanna go everywhere, see everything….but only with you. I want to see what’s north, where the turtles are, what a big crab is, more porpoises, wave at whales again, eat waffles on the bow in a rough sea. That’s what I want, but only if you’re with me dad.”. Will reached for her small hand, covered with soft fur and held it tight. “It will always be us Min, and you too Naomi , as long as you wish to be.”. Minnie held Naomi’s hand, the three sat at the bow, planning the future together.