Chapter 38 Sailing Home

The next morning the crew rose early, to get a head start on their day.Heading back to Laketown, fishing on the way, exploring as well.All their supplies were topped off, coal bunkers full, with several hundred pounds in the cargo hold as well.

They had decided to walk through the town before leaving in case anything caught their eye, Minnie and Naomi had never even heard the word shopping before.Now here they were pros already.Will had already purchased a four wheel cart to carry all their treasure. Minnie had new clothes, hats, boots, jackets, you name it she had it.Naomi’s haul was the same, clothes, clothes and more clothes.

They had passed general good stores, clothes stores, garden stores, tool stores, book stores, now that was where Will used up some of his trade balance.He also talked with the owner at some length about publishing some of his own work.Well not all his own but the chance of an author from his previous world catching wind of this deal was pretty slim.

He left the store with several dozen books, some fiction, some how-to books.On every subject he could imagine, from gardening to glassblowing, cooking to casting.History books, he was very much looking forward to learning more about this fascinating world.

There were knife kiosks, tack stores, glassware stores, vegetable carts, bakeries.Just a bustling throng of people of all types, all friendly toward the three crew.Many an offer of a drink or lunch was given but they all had to be turned down, or they would have rolled back to the Rose.

And the church’s.So many of them, built of stone and of wood.Painted or carved, all of the buildings were beautifully done.They peeked inside a few and found that different aspects of the same god were represented.Being fairly agnostic Will was not very interested in the beliefs behind thechurch’s, but they were beautiful buildings.If Minnie or Naomi were interested he would support them but apart from oohing and aahing over the art, neither seemed to care.

Their cart filled with their purchases, their trade account emptied a little but not very much.They had a very large boat account along with their personal shares as well, all being kept track of by the council bank.A system that seemed to work on the honour systems, and by the look of things, worked very well.

One place Will had looked for, and hadn’t found was a boats chandler or marine supply. He supposed that being the captain and owner of the only known boat, in the world (so far), might have had something to do with it.

The wagon maker and supply store had a few things he had been looking for, or things he could adapt. Such as sturdy bench’s to go along the Roses railings, supplies of rope, turnbuckles and the like.You can never have enough supplies like this, one day you’ll need it.

While Naomi and Minnie had been looking at yet another clothes store Will found one of the things he had been looking for, a musical instrument cart. Just an older man pushing a cart full of violins, flutes and yes, penny whistles. Will bartered for a couple of those and a fiddle, he did have lots of time on his hands and you never know how good you can be til you try it.

As they returned to the boat they came across one last shop. Will knew right away that they would do a fair bit of business here. Not a very big store, but crammed full of a huge selection of candy. Gum drops, taffy of all kinds, sugared walnuts and pecans, crunchy brittle, sugar candy and boiled sweets. No chocolate though, the cocoa bean just didn’t grow in this climate. Liquorice was everywhere, soft and chewy, hard and salty and everything in between.

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Candied fruit and candied vegetables seemed popular as they were long lasting with a pleasing texture, Will bought several pounds of candied pumpkin, turnip and carrots and gum drops, so many gum drops.

Minnie had to stay away from the liquorice though, some compound in it was bad for dogs, even an evolved one like her. But, after trying a small piece of brittle, ended up buying a few pounds of different flavours. She loved the crunch even though her fur got sticky. Will had to stay away from the salt liquorice because it was horrible. Naomi bought a bit of everything.

They carried their loot back to the Rose, cart creaking under the weight. Taking their personal loot back to the cabins, and the boats supplies to the galley or various storerooms. Some larger purchases were being delivered later in the afternoon, and hopefully they would still be able to leave today.

They had arranged with the council to come to Newton at least once every two months, to do an ore run. The growing town had quite an appetite for coal, iron, copper and tin. Gemma and Samantha had pushed hard for the heartboat to base out of Newton. Which was not a terrible idea. Much larger than Laketown and able to fill the boats needs easily.

Will did feel loyalty towards Laketown though, that was where the Rose had been stored. While she waited for them. What to do? A crew meeting was needed. Naomi would be loyal to Laketown as well, but she did leave with no problems. Minnie wouldn’t care, her home was wherever Will was and Wills home was the boat. Nope, he didn’t want to dwell on this now, lots to do without borrowing worry.

As they relaxed on deck he could see the wagons approaching with their other items, so he went to meet them. Riding back with the driver, who had the most interesting name of Rudyard. He told Will he was usually called Rudy, but wished people would use his full name. Will remarked that there was a famous poet and writer of the same name, where he came from.

The driver of the second wagon turned out to be Ed, apparently Rudyard was training him to drive big teams of horses and even oxen.On the wagons was an assortment of lumber, many different types of wood, different cuts, copper pipe, ingots of other metals,

As they uploaded Rudy and Ed told Will something interesting.They were still going to try the overland method of hauling ore, even with the terrible conditions they would have to drive through.

Yet another reason to base out of Newton, sigh.

Unloading went quickly, Will knew where everything had to go. The wagons were soon lumbering back down the quay, again with Will to keep them safe. Back to the Rose and started the business of setting off. Lighting the boiler, checking all levels, closing ports and so on. A long to do list but with three crew working, it was done in a short time.

Engine engaged, Will hopped down and released the lines and Minnie took her away from the quay.Slow at first while Will tidied the lines, stored the bumpers, secured the boarding stairs, then to half full as they pulled away from Newton.

The water was calm, just a slow heave, no whitecaps yet. The barometer was steady, no signs of bad weather. Just a mild late afternoon day on the lake.

It was time for a crew meeting so they gathered in the wheelhouse, around the map table.Will praised Minnie and Naomi for how well they had handled the latest batch of kids on board.“Teens that age can be frustrating, 12 is a tough year.But you guys did great, hard to keep them occupied while not working huh?”.

“They’re always fun, I love the littles, you know that dad.”, replied Minnie.Naomi nodded along too “I know I’m not much older than them but they seem to always behave on board. Maybe they’re different on land, but I don’t think so.You can tell.”.Will agreed “We’ve had good times for sure.”.

Will had to let the crew know about Newton’s offer.“So before we left Matt made us an offer.To make Newton our home base, voyage from here instead of Laketown.”.Again he could see that Minnie didn’t really care, her life was with Will and the Rose.Naomi was thinking about it, “what’s your feeling captain?”.

“I feel a connection to Laketown, maybe that’s because it’s the first place we came to in this world.I have made friends there, it’s where the Rose was docked after Magnus passed.”, said Will.He paused, with tea, to gather his thoughts.“I would prefer to be independent, dock where we want to, go where we’re needed, but stay based in Laketown.”.

He could see Naomi’s shoulders relax as he made his intentions clear. “Thank you captain, it would have been hard to put Laketown behind me.”. It seemed a decision had been made then, not that Newton didn’t have lots to offer. It would have been disloyal somehow, to jump ship simply because they had more.

They had been steaming on as the meeting went on, and now they saw something amazing.As the Rose ploughed on through the waves a score of what looked like dolphins were jumping along with her.Sleek and grey with powerful tails, swooshing through the water as easy as walking.Minnie sprang to the rail and whooped and barked with delight.“Oh dad, look at them, so beautiful.”.Naomi joined her and shouted with happiness at the sight.As the creatures arched beside them, some as high as the rails, they seemed to wink at the crew as they passed by.

Will had heard of this happening in their old world, dolphins leaping in front of ships, but had never seen it.Such a wonder it was, and a good sign they had made the right decision.

Will and Minnie, his friend, his child, his companion in everything sat at the bow, joined by their crew mate Naomi….what a fine day it was.