Chapter 61 Dinner and Plans
As Naomi walked up the quay Will could she was sadder than normal. She usually walked quite briskly, with a purpose. But now just meandering along. Minnie noticed her and ran down to meet her, slowing at the last moment as she picked up on Naomi’s mood. “Awww what’s wrong, Ed not the right guy”, asked Minnie. Naomi sighed “He’s a great guy, just not for me.”. Minnie growled “Want me to grrr and bite him next time, or dad could toss him to the sharps…chomp chomp, no more Ed, hahaha, let’s get him.”. At that Naomi laughed “No, he’s okay, no grrring at him, and no feeding to the fish, I’ll be all right.”. Minnie looked unconvinced but agreed not to grrr at Ed, “He might be here for supper with his mom, maybe he’ll get a shrimpie with its armour on still.”, she laughed maniacally. On the boat Will wondered what the heck was going on. A lot of growling and craziness was coming on deck, it was a bit scary.
The two had settled down when they climbed up the stairs. “Everything all right?”, asked Will. Minnie shrugged “We don’t have to feed Ed to the sharps okay?”. “Well that’s good, why would we do that anyway.”, he replied. Naomi spoke up “It’s okay captain, Minnie just want to protect me, but I’m fine, a bit sad but fine.”. Will said “If you need an ear to listen I’m here, I don’t like to give advice but I’ve lived a long time and been through some stuff…let me know.”. Naomi shook her head “It’s okay, now we have a dinner to get ready for…right?”. Will showed her all the preparations that he and Minnie had done, “You guys were busy, I’m going get changed and wash up, see you on deck in a little while.”, and she went belowdecks.
Will looked at Minnie “so what’s this about feeding Ed to the fish?”. She shrugged “I thought it would make Naomi happy, but she didn’t want to.”. That’s good, Will thought. “Probably make his mom happy too, she’ll be here for dinner in a while, with the other councillors. Knowing her son won’t be fed to the sharps, we’ll that would brighten anyone’s day.”, he said. Minnie laughed “Right, but maybe she wants to get rid of him too so she can become queen.”. “I think we better cut back on the fairy tales, back to nicer stories for a while.” Will answered. Minnie stuck her tongue out and was heading down to get changed too. “Hey dad,” her voice drifted up “Where can we get a poisoned apple?”. Will heaved a heavy sigh.
A while later all dinner plans were ready, crew lounging on deck.Playing cards while waiting for their guests to arrive.Several carriages rolled up to the lands end of the quay, Will recognized all the councillors and he and Minnie walked down to meet them.“Evening everyone, good to see you, well met.”, Will greeted them all “Shall we?”, pointing to the Rose.Matt looked frailer than the last time they saw him, but his eyes were bright and he seemed genuinely happy to see them all again.Samantha, who had not brought Ed, was quieter than Will remembered.Dave was chatting with Minnie about apples, Will just rolled his eyes at his dear little friend.Gemma and Evelyn greeted Will effusively, the two of them seemed quite happy they had returned so soon.Matt’s partner was pushing his wheelchair along the dock but was having a bit of a hard time.“May I help, the docks a bit bumpy in places”, asked Will.John gladly relinquished the handles to Will who effortlessly guided the chair along, not too fast though as there were bumps.
They reached the Rose in a few minutes, a nice leisurely walk. The boat was well lit in the dimming evening, fore and aft lanterns glowing brightly. The eating area looked inviting as well, large tables with several covered dishes waiting for them all. Naomi was bustling around, her usual cheerful self again. She greeted all the councillors and partners and welcomed them onto the boat. The delicious smell of baked shrimp, grilled shrimp, and deep fried shrimp filled the air. For most of the visitors this was their first time eating the tasty little crustaceans, only Matt had eaten them but that was many years ago. There was other food of course in case of not like shrimp, Minnie was secretly hoping no one like it….the more for her.
As they were seated and started eating the councillors loved shrimp, in every way the had been prepared.Dave really enjoyed the grilled shrimp, on thin skewers and laid on the hot grills.As Will was cooking more at the bow Dave was helping by drinking a large glass of beer and offering cooking advice.“I think that one needs turning, and that one’s getting way too done I better eat it.”, luckily Will was a patient man.Returning to the table Dave helped by carrying the large platter, placing it in the centre of the table and happily proclaiming “I helped cook.”.
Matt was not eating too much, a bit of shrimp and a small amount of baked vegetables. When Will asked if he was feeling well Matt sighed “I think I am not much longer for this world my friend. The physician I see says I have a wasting disease and there is not much that can be done.”. Sounds like cancer, thought Will. “I am sorry to hear that Matt. If there’s anything you need that we can help with….”, Will said. Gemma overheard “That’s very kind captain, we are less of a council and more family. So your offer means much to us all, thank you.”. Samantha was deep in conversation with Naomi and, oh no thought Will, Minnie. Things seemed okay and at one point Samantha burst into laughter. Dessert had been brought by the guests and soon large pies that had been warming in the stoves were brought to the table and served. Clotted cream and apple pie equaled heaven to Minnie, Will too. Strawberry and rhubarb, and a blueberry pie as well, all well enjoyed.
Over tea the talk turned to business. “I see more barges being built, a very good idea. You’ll have a total of six now?”, asked Will. Dave nodded “We are not out of raw materials yet, coal is getting a bit low and winter is coming.”. “We were hoping you could do one run for us now, just coal though.”, said Evelyn. Will had to ask “The overland try, to bring material that way, didn’t work out?.” Gemma answered this “It’s like someone specifically made it so only boats can get to the ore and coal. On purpose. The land around us is wonderful farmland but only if you go away from the lake.”. “There’s canyons miles across, or wild impassable rivers the closer you get to the water.”, added Evelyn. “We have tried a few times, to start building a road, but we didn’t get too far.”, Dave said. Will shook his head, did beings like Elaith design this world, isolated on purpose. With the centuries of conflict over land in his old world, conflict over differing ideas, religion, racism, it looked like keeping everyone apart was not a bad idea.
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But back to their question.“We were planning to head north from here, see what we can see but we could put that off a week and get you coal.I wouldn’t want you caught by surprise by winter”, said Will.“Let’s plan to leave day after tomorrow, you all arrange the crew again.”.“We want to go shopping tomorrow.”, Minnie said, “We need more candy and stuff.”.Laughing the council agreed and Matt said they would arrange everything.The evening ended on a high note, everyone satisfied.Will and the crew really didn’t mind getting coal and ore for these communities.The life they led was built on helping.
Again Will rolled Matt’s chair down the long quay, the others gathered near. The lake was bad enough in the day, at night the unknown was strong. Minnie didn’t really help by talking of the sea serpent they encountered. Or the sharp that knocked Naomi overboard. The cluster of people shuffling along got a bit tighter with every tale she told. When she reached the part where she killed the big sharp with her axe, they had reached shore and the relief was strong. “Good night all”, said Will. Naomi and Minnie echoed him, and they walked back to the Rose, glimmering like jewel at the far end.
Cleanup took a while but with the three of them it was easy. Deck cleaned up, galley wasn’t used, just the portable stoves and tables. Stacked on a pallet and lowered back into the hold, easy. Leftovers that hadn’t been sent along with the guests were tossed over for the fish, or saved for breakfast. After all the work was done they regrouped for a cuppa, or glass of juice on their favourite spot on deck, the bow. “It will only delay us a week or so, and they really are worried about winter coming early.”, said Will. “Coal is easy to find and load. We can just go back right, to where we went before.”, asked Naomi. Minnie nodded “I remember which way that is…over there.”, pointing out to the water. Will knew her piloting skill was strong so he had no doubt she was right on it. He closed his eyes for a moment and…
Menu
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
Navigation 1
Mechanic 2
Crab Catcher
Shrimper
Joker
Arborist
Labourer 1
Naomi 0’Malley
Age 17
Intelligence 25/50
Strength 26/50
Vitality 27/50
Stamina 29/50
Affinities for cooking, fishing, gardening, swimming, mariner
Second Mate of the heartboat Rose
Management 2
Cooking 3
Homemaker 2
Arborist 1
Labourer 1
Everything was much the same, surprises were nice sometimes, but not always.All their skills and abilities were much the same as they were for the last few times he checked.
Opening his eyes he could tell Minnie and Naomi were looking at their menu as well, a slight blank look was the sign.“I got something called navigation, Will that help me pilot?”, asked Minnie.Will nodded “Yup, remember we looked at the stars and you saw patterns?”.“Oh yeah, people and stuff, I can use those to find our way…right?”, she said.Will nodded, then asked Naomi if she had any gains or new skills.“Just a little bit in my strength and vitality…oh stamina too.Won’t make that much difference will it.”.“Things will be a little easier, last a little longer on walks, recover faster when you’re tired out.”, Will explained.
They were all looking forward to shopping tomorrow, there were so many more businesses in Newton and they were rich with credit to spend. Will was still fascinated with this barter/trade system they had going, it worked well so far but as they grew there might be concerns. Not my problem, he thought, I’m not here to fix everything. So the shopping tomorrow was going to be epic. New clothes, footwear, hats of course. Their food supply was taken care of by the town of course, as was the extras for the incoming coal crew. That would all be brought to the boat tomorrow afternoon, so they would have to coordinate with Rudy. But the morning was all theirs.
So the deck lights were extinguished leaving the deck only lit by the stars. Quiet and peaceful, the crew went below, good nights said and nearly straight to sleep.