Chapter 34 Travelling….persons.

Captains log lakedate….nah That’s daft thought Will. Not going to happen.

Picking up the barges had taken a couple of hours but everything was squared away now. Trundling along behind them like three ungainly puppies, the barges were behaving. Admittedly the lake was calm but a good start.

The teens were still on deck, mostly. After talking with the children Naomi had drafted two into being kitchen staff for the trip. Not everyone thought cooking and clean up was a chore only fit for drudges, it was a fine thing to take pride in a job well done. The two, Jens and Sally, were fitting in well with galley work. Will had a private word with Greta and Al that if there was any hard feelings or bullying towards Jens and Sally, to let him know. He didn’t think there would be, the children of this world were very much work oriented. But you never know.

Will had been working on his steam skiff while Minnie piloted towards the ore fields.It would be such a help for loading the barges but it didn’t look like it was coming together this trip.So he had packed the parts back to the workroom and pulled out the folding boats instead.They had been used only a few months before so there was no repairs needed.They were left in the ore holds for now.

Lunch was on the tables in the mess now, so the children headed down to eat.Minnie was being her best self at her table, telling stories and acting them out too.Currently she was enacting her first time seeing a tiny crab, it involved much screaming and running about.Pure gold.If any of the teens had been nervous or sad, you couldn’t tell now.

Naomi had been bringing food in, with the help of Jens and was laughing at the antics.“and that’s how it happened.”, said Minnie, taking her seat again.Will started clapping, followed by everyone else.He sat beside his first mate and poured a cup of tea for himself and milk for Minnie.He raised his glass, “a toast to our brave first mate.”. Apparently this was not a thing that was done in this world. So now Will had to explain what he did, why and where was the toast. …sigh. The meal was a noisy happy affair, children nearly vibrating with the excitement of the trip, lots of food to be eaten. Afterwards the tables were cleaned, dishes washed and packed away. Then prep began for the evening meal.

Will had pulled a few nets out of storage, that needed mending and set the teens working on that.Not arduous or difficult but mostly busywork to keep them active until the shoals were reached.He and Minnie took hour long shifts at the wheel, keeping a watchful eye on the barges.It would take about an hour to separate and anchor each one for the night so they kept that schedule in mind. The weather stayed mild for all afternoon and promised to stay that way for the evening and night as well.At around 6pm they started the process of anchoring and undoing the tow ropes.Again the rails were lined as the teens watched the crew do their work.Practice showed and it was taken care of without a hitch.

Will had decided to grill burgers for this meal and it turned out that no one had heard of this either. Naomi picked up the idea very quickly and had set up tables on deck. Covered dishes of buns and burger toppings, along with large bowls of another dish he had introduced. Potato salad! One of his favourite foods and one he found that he had missed dearly.

Earlier, when he was showing Naomi how to make the mayonnaise the memories had overwhelmed him.Flashes of parks, backyards, campgrounds, of people, his children, grandchildren, his beloved wife.All of these and more, of meals and celebrations, dozens of people and then just the two of them.He came back to himself to find he was kneeling on the floor of the galley, rocking under the weight of his past.Naomi on one side and Minnie on the other. “I’m ok, just the past reminding me of who I have lost.”.he whispered “where I came from, you know what I mean Min?”. Minnie nodded from where she was snuggled up to his side “I know.”.

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Standing up his strength returned quickly.Thanking Naomi for her help he continued to work on the recipe for mayonnaise, it wouldn’t be potato salad without it.He finally succeeded but there had been a few tries that didn’t turn out, too thick or thin, too much oil or vinegar.For such a simple recipe there were many ways to ruin it.Eggs were boiling away, to add after cooling.

For now a special treat for Minnie, meringues.So simple to make but so good.He whipped the egg whites until they were stiff and stood up, added the sugar and done.Ready to bake.Watching the egg goo turn white and then bake in the oven was fascinating and Min could hardly wait.They came out of the oven browned and crispy, a pot of tea and their treat was ready.

Naomi nibbled at the edge of one, then quickly finished it. Minnie had taken a small bite, smiled in joy and finished the meringue in two bites.”oh yummy yum yum, they are sooo good,” she managed to mumble around another one. Will had passed, he disliked meringue no matter how it was used. But there should be enough egg whites left to bake up a couple of dozen more for later.

After their culinary adventures Will and Minnie headed to the bow, and Will taught Minnie how to use the grill. To not let the meat burn, make sure it wasn’t undercooked, don’t set fire to the boat. Pretty easy rules to follow, and the most important one.

Always give the tongs a quick double clack before using, sign of a true master.

And now they grilled the burgers, sautéed the onions and toasted the buns.The children loaded their plates and came back for more, Minnie ate two loaded burgers, with cheese but didn’t care for the potato salad, except for the hard boiled eggs on top.Will only had one, his reaction earlier was still affecting him, and his appetite suffered for it.He really enjoyed cooking though and the children’s joy pleased him.

Evening had snuck up on them while eating and between the slight splashes on the hull and the gentle rocking, Will could see many a drooping eyelid.Including mine he thought.He cleaned the grill, dumped the ashes overboard and splashed a couple of buckets of water over the bbq and the area, just in case of sparks.

Naomi had herded the teens below for the night, and he could hear Greta and Al calling out for settling down and quiet.Still not knowing the time bothered him but it seemed like time to call it a day.Minnie was beside him, quietly rocking on her chair.“Time for bed Min?”, he asked.“Yeah dad, pretty tired.” she replied.

They headed down, checking the anchors first. Then to the boiler room to shut that down and blow out the steam. Knocking on Naomi’s cabin they bade her good night and finally reached theirs. Shouting “Dibs!” and into the head Minnie ran. Will turned down the bed and sat on the side, half asleep til she finished. He too care of his business, carefully latched the cabin door, opened a port a crack and crumpled into bed. A small hand gripped his and next thing he knew it was light out again.

It was very early, barely sunrise but Will was wide awake and ready to greet the day.He could hear no one else was up so he quietly dressed, not disturbing Minnie, and left their cabin for the deck.

A slight rain was falling but no wind and it was again a mild day.Gaining the wheelhouse he opened his logbook and planned his day, random thoughts and ideas he had overnight.Page after page was filled with his neat printing.He used to write in longhand but Minnie had learned to print, so printing it was.

Soon he could hear stirrings below, feel footsteps, then the glorious smell of coffee.A knock on the wheelhouse door a few minutes later, he lifted his eye from his log and he saw Al with a large mug.Beckoning the young man in, “Good morning captain, Minnie sent this up so you can become human again, is that true?”said the young lad nervously.Will laughed, “kinda, and thanks.Let Minnie know I’ll be back down in a few minutes, please.”.

Entering the mess a few minutes later he was surprised it was still mostly empty. Minnie was sitting cross legged on a chair, chatting to Naomi and Greta, Al was dozing at a table. “Hey dad, morning, how was your sleepy?”, she asked. “Hey Min, it was good, I see you’re up and at ‘em.” he replied sitting at the captain’s table. Min scampered over to him, “lots of piloting today, sailing along to the rocks right?”. He nodded “Long way to go yet, nowhere is close huh, always days and days away.”, Naomi laughed “that’s the way we like it, always voyaging.”.

At that moment, several teens wandered in, in various states of dressed, prompting Al and Greta to get working.Breakfasts were served, pancakes and bacon, tea and milk drank.Will and Minnie lit the boiler, checked the coal and started picking up the barges.

Again, after an hour, they were steaming along, Will expected to hit their target late tonight, anchor up and start filling tomorrow. Have fun today kids, he thought, we will work hard tomorrow.I