Chapter ten…Storm

After he reached the Rose and settled for the night Will had fallen asleep quickly.Didn’t even remember hitting the pillow.Again Minnie was a warm lump behind him, but she was taking up more space than usual.As he turned to look he was surprised, she had grown! Nearly twice the size she had been the night before and looked different.

Her front paws had grown wider still and her claws longer.Muzzle shorter, still bright eyed though.Strangely enough her back feet had widened and lengthened, her hind legs were not as thin.

He ran his hands over her seeing if anything was sore but all she did was roll on her back for a belly rub.Standing up and giving a shake Minnie looked up at him and jumped to the floor.She reached up with what could only be called a hand now for Will to hold and stood shakily on her back legs.“What the hell Minnie?”, he said, “what is going on?”.

His vision greyed out and he fell back to sit on the bed, nearly passing out but he fought the feeling off.Looking up he could see Min teetering around the room like an infant learning to walk.A couple of steps forward then down on all four feet, back up again, coming toward him with her hands up for balance.He picked her up and held her, looking into her little face, “I hope you’re not hurting.”.

After a few seconds Will put her on the deck and she continued to practice walking while he got dressed for the day. It seemed easy for her to switch from upright to all fours again, and her balance was amazing. Will straightened up his room then headed out, Minnie leading the way.

The rest of the morning saw Will puttering about the boat. Checking stores of coal, dry goods, oil and so on. Reacquainting with all the quirks and nooks of the boat. A few thing's had needed repairing..a loose step here or a creaky door there, that kind of thing.

A lunch break then back to work. Finishing up the supplies Stephen had brought over the day before. Day old bread and cheese tasted just fine.

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Will thought to do a hull check, depending on weather of course.No one wants to go swimming around a boat in rough water. But he found the day was still mild and warm so he lowered the transom to water level and holding a line to the boat began to swim around the hull.

Minnie enjoyed jumping in from the deck with a mighty splash and swam with him. Her longer front and back legs sent her flying thru the water faster than Will. He was more of a tugboat, built for work not speed.

The hull was undamaged, the rudder in good shape and the prop was clean of nicks.This had taken a few hours and had sapped Will quite a bit so they headed down below for a rest.

When they woke in the cosy cabin Will could see the weather was changing, rain threatened.Deciding to eat on the boat rather than go to the village they went down to the dining saloon then thru to the galley.

Will found a small kitchen with a wood stove and cabinets and storage on every wall. The boat could carry enough supplies to feed at least ten people for a month. Fishing would extend that even more.

But for now the cupboards were bare of mostly everything…but oatmeal and salt. Luckily Will was quite happy with this and started to make up a pot. He even found a tin of raisins at the back of a cupboard and mixed them in. No raisins in Minnie’s though.

Taking the dishes on deck they sat in the wheelhouse, doors and windows open and enjoyed their meagre meal.No rain yet but the clouds were even heavier than before.A downpour was inevitable.

Wills next task, he decided, was to check the holds.If he was going to be voyaging soon they better be ready.Dusty but clean and ready for whatever was loaded in.Hatches tight and portholes latched down.He swept them out, checked all the ties and fittings, and closed the doors.“That was an easy one .” he said to Minnie.

The rain had finally come and it was raining buckets, thunder boomed and there was the flash of lightning through the ports.“Stay inside Min, I am going up to check hatches and doors.”. Will ran up the stairs to the main deck and pushed open the door.The wind was high but nothing dangerous.

In fact the storm was majestic.Thunder claps and lightning as far as the eye could see on the lake, and inland as well.The waves were rising but the Rose took it well.The houses in the village showed lights but there was no sign of people about. “ I guess they are the smart ones, cozy inside while I am out here.”.

The boat was as storm ready as Will could do so back inside he went, dripping wet, chilled to the bone. “Early bed tonite Min, busy day tomorrow.”. Towelling off and climbing into the comfy bed, Will doused the lantern and drifted to sleep, rocked by the waves.

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William Harris

Age 64

Intelligence 15/50

Strength 12/50

Vitality 11/50

Stamina 11/50

Affinities for gardening, cultivating, fishing, knitting, swimming 2, mariner 2 ,

Captain of the heartboat Rose, navigation

Mechanic 1