Chapter 56. Explanations and More

  “And that’s how the rudder got broken, a sea monster threw a log at us.”, Minnie explained. A hubbub of voices were asking questions, did it follow you, how big was it, did you kill it, who are those little guys? The tale telling had wound down and people had been enthralled by the stories. Their small world had been opened, just a bit, it was realizing there was more out there, and more to life than the day to day. The young folk, ones that had gone gathering on the Rose, were acting like this was an every day thing. It always happened and we dealt with it, aren’t we cool. There was no one to set the record straight anyways, let them have their fifteen minutes.

  After checking the time Will found it was getting close to the council showing for dinner. Seeing Stephen talking with a couple he didn’t recognize he waited until noticed, “Sorry to interrupt but um, how to put this, are we doing a potluck thing or are you providing?”. Stephen laughed “No worries, we’ll supply everything, if you can cook it for us all. I’m interested to see the famous grill in action. And what’s a potluck?”. Minnie rolled her eyes at Naomi, why were all the men fascinated by cooking outside. But with that question answered, and the talk just about over it was decided to head back to the Rose. Just in time for the little fellows, they hadn’t like the attention much, Ron had whispered to Percy “So many people, but they’re all nice right?”. Percy hadn’t answered just held his brothers hand, only to find Wills large hand on Ron’s shoulder. Just as Naomi was standing close to him, as he stood on the barrel. It was comforting in a way he only half remembered but still appreciated.

  The crowd dispersed as the hour was getting late, “Are they about to roll up the sidewalks?”, Minnie asked Will. He laughed “Looks like it, we better get back to the Rose or we’ll get rolled up too, come on lads!”. Leaving the dock, waving to the townsfolk still near, the race was on. “Last one there’s a rotten egg.”, Will called out. Not really knowing what was going on but still somehow compelled to run everyone took off. It wasn’t too far but Minnie was the winner by a nose and only because she made a mighty leap and flew the last thirty feet. Naomi had as well, much to the astonishment of Percy and Ron. Will strolled up, “Yup, I’m the loser today, I’ll do dishes tonight.”. “How can they jump like that, and you’re all so strong, will we get that way too?”, Percy asked. Will shrugged, “We’ve been on the water for a long time now, changed from what we were. You probably will too.”. That was reassuring to him, but the the question came up, did he want to change, would it be better? Will could see he was worrying so he sat with him for just a moment on the deck benches that were along the railings. “I can’t say don’t worry, the future can be scary. But Minnie turned out okay, mostly.”. “Gee thanks dad.”, Minnie snorted as she came aboard. Will laughed and went on “I think the way the magic works is by being on the water, the Rose helps too, the magic is strong on her as well.”. “Will we change til we aren’t us anymore, I like being me, Ron too, he doesn’t want to change either.”. Will reached and hugged his littlest friend “You’ll still be you, just a little different, maybe taller, maybe stronger but still Percy. My smallest of friends but always the bravest.”.

  “Now,” he said, “I need to pull the Rose out a bit so the bow is more outside, in the air, cause sometimes the barbecue smokes up a bit.”. Looking around everyone else was conspicuously not there. Sighing he held out a long oar to Percy, “Try to steer us a bit, hold that in the water behind the boat and just keep it straight , if it sticks let go, you don’t want to fall in. In fact, put this life belt on, just in case.”. Will went to the bow, tied a long line to the anchor hitch and jumped the twenty feet to shore. Shouted at Percy to keep us straight and gave a mighty tug. The Rose shot forward about twenty feet until the prow hit the rocky bank outside the covered dock. “Oh, that should do it.”, he mumbled, and jumped back aboard . Percy waved from the stern “How was that?”. Will gave him a thumbs up and called “Good job.”. Minnie had come on deck in a hurry to see what was up and just shook her head at the shenanigans. “Hey Min, is there still room to put out a gangway for our guests, inside the dock?”, Will asked from the bow. She did a quick survey “Yup, I’ll set that up now.”. She pulled open a hatch and dropped down into the aft hold, and returned a few moments later, then lifted the long railed gangway up and out. And quickly fitted it in place. Ron had come up as well, to see what all the fuss was, he saw Percy holding the long oar and ambled over to see what his now diminutive brother was doing. “I steered.”, Percy said proudly.

  After dropping anchor, just in case, Will started bringing up the chairs and tables used for entertaining and eating on deck. He hmmmed for a bit then brought up three potbelly stoves as well and a couple of full wood boxes. Minnie was at the workbenches with the lads, inspecting the new rudder. “Nice and dry pop, it’s ready to install. You want to do that now, or tomorrow?”, she called over. “What time is it?, he returned. “It’s half past five, maybe tomorrow then huh, we’ll get wet, and probably icky with the weedies and lake goo.”, she answered. “Yup, tomorrow, let’s clean up the deck a bit, light some lanterns and set up this lot..”, Will suggested. “Yeah, then Naomi said to come get some respectable clothes on, me too, those guys too, she’s been primping for a while now, changed clothes about three hundred times and fixed her hair twice. Oh and teas ready too.”. Will looked at Ron who nodded and took off belowdecks to return in a minute with a fresh cuppa. “Oh that’s the ticket.”, Will sighed taking a good sized sip, “Thanks.”, and patted Ron’s shoulder. Finding a couple of brooms he set the new guys sweeping while he and Minnie lined up the stoves along the port rail like three iron dwarves. Then the tables and chairs set up in the mid decks under the lantern. Minnie fiddled with the ignition setup until it sparked to life and brought a warm glow to the dimming surroundings.

  Then they all trooped belowdecks to change. After a quick wash, just to get a bit of dust and grime off Will changed into a long grey robe. Then changed his mind and put on khaki shorts, collared shirt and flip flops. Minnie had changed into a caftan, looked at him and laughed, “Why not a robe tonight? Be warmer if a chill comes up, and I think the little guys are wearing matching robes too. Naomi laid their clothes out earlier.”. “Maybe not grey then, yours is green and white stripes, I should go blue maybe.”. So a dark blue belted robe was tried on, “Nope, just not feeling robey tonight, going back to the shorts.”, Will decided. A knock at the cabin door, Minnie looked at him, Will nodded and she opened up. There were two people wearing matching green caftans, belted at the waist with an orange sash. “Ooh, looking good bros.”, Minnie said. Ron nodded his thanks, Percy was a bit more vocal, “We do look nicer than usual, the tailor man found these for us today.”. Talking and walking to the mess they found Naomi waiting. She appeared to have gone all out and was wearing one of her high/low dresses that she favoured. Very high, and very low. While giving their talk today Will had noticed that no other young lady was wearing anything like her usual outfits. He had gingerly mentioned it, in a very roundabout way, she had laughed, told him not to be so nervous and there was only one Naomi in the world. And she would dress the way she wanted.

  Hearing muffled voices coming closer Minnie alerted Will and the others that company was coming, after a final check they went up on deck to greet them.

  A knock was heard on the dock door and , at Wills called “Come in, come in!”, the door open and quite a few people came in. Will recognized Stephen and the other councillors except for one smaller man, and six others who might be significant others or aides. Nope, they’re aides, following and carrying several wooden crates. There was a bit of a scrum as everyone boarded, introduced themselves. The entrees and side dishes were taken to the bow to be set grilling, frying, boiling as needed. Will and Minnie helped relocate the stoves to the bow when he saw two of the young people struggling to lift one. He and Minnie lifted one each easily, then Will came back to get the last. Minnie had discovered the young aides were teens that had come along on their first trip, so long ago. So she was chatting with them for the next while.

  After everyone was set, tea or coffee poured, or in some cases wine or an ale, Will had an introduction to make. He stood and gestured to where Percy and Ron were waiting patiently in a shadowed section of the deck and beckoned them forward. “I understand you had a bit of excitement over the past few weeks, things going missing. These two are my friends from my former world. They were brought here by the same being that helped Minnie and I. We would like to thank you all, and the townsfolk for helping my…well the only way to think of them is my children.”. As he had brought them forward the last member of the council, a man called Lorenzo had gasped and said “I told you I saw a small furry orange person, you all laughed but there they are.”. A few questions flew at once but Regina shushed everyone and asked the brothers if they were okay now and that they were sorry for the way the town had first reacted. “That’s my big sister, she’s awesome.”, Naomi whispered to Will.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  The council had brought the makings for dinner, and had they ever. Minnies favourite beef ribs and steak, a hot potato and vegetable medley, fresh rolls and cheese buns. At the sight of those Ron had elbowed his brother and managed to rasp out “Our favourites.”. A cheese tray was also unwrapped causing Percy to gasp with happiness , “Oh I love those little cheeses, thank you for bringing them.”. Lorenzo was delighted to make the brothers acquaintance and offered a few of his newest cheese attempts, all delicious. Minnie had rejoined after making sure the ribs and the steaks wouldn’t be over cooked, “Remember, nice and rare.”, she called to the teen cooks. Regina laughed, “They’re very good in the kitchen, they run the tavern for me most days.”. Naomi picked up on that, “Are you away from the business a lot lately?”. Regina shook her head “Later, okay?”.

  Will had been deep in conversation with Stephen, Boris and Margaret, about Laketown’s needs. The barges had been built and were ready for testing. The crews had followed Magnus’s plans to the T, so they were exact duplicates of the ones used by Newton. “So one filled with coal and one with lumber? Are you sure not two coal right away, winters coming.”, he asked. Stephen nodded “Our coal need is not as great as Newtons, but we really need lumber. This way we can get two fish with one arrow.”. What an odd twist Will thought. “Okay, can do. We will finish repairs tomorrow, resupply oh and we’re waiting on some new things for the gathering crew from Travis.”. “Ah good man, hard worker.”, Boris added, “He’s my son-in-laws business partner. Tailoring and skinning.”. As he mentioned that Will remembered the dozens of bales of hides and pelts still stored below. “Something on your mind captain?”, Margaret asked. Will nodded, “Those people we reconnected with, the burrowers we called them, they gifted us with a huge amount of furs, and leathers of all kinds. Something the town might be interested in.”. Boris looked interested and soon Will took him below to the hold where the skins were still stacked. “Oh my, these are prime pieces, things I’ve never seen, if the town won’t trade I’ll buy them personally.”, the man said excitedly.

  Coming back on deck they found everything was ready, ribs and steak cooked perfectly, same with the other dishes. The one empty table was loaded up so all the guests could fill their plates then get the beef from a happy Minnie at the bow. When Will came up for his she told him she had tested the beef and found it okay. “That’s good sweetie, I know it’s a sacrifice.”, he answered. The little boys were staying close to Will and when he settled back at midships to eat, they sat beside him. Not eating much in the way of vegetables but they did enjoy the ribs and cheese buns. Seeing small Percy and Ron clutching a huge beef rib in both hands and attacking with gusto brought a smile to Wills face. Eat up boyos, he thought, you’ve got some growing to do. Minnie joined him after leaving the now warming meat in the capable hands of Regina’s cooks. “Pretty yum dad, been a while since we had ribs.”. Will did a quick calculation, “it’s been like four days since we had fresh beef, a very long time indeed, I’m amazed you survived.”. She nodded “I know, it’s been hard.”. Sometimes he couldn’t tell if she was kidding or not. This time though, with the side eye grin she was definitely kidding around. From the look of her loaded plate she was pretty happy now, with the food, but something was eating at her. Will looked over at Naomi who was sitting close to Regina, aha he thought. “Something going on there you think?”, he whispered to Minnie. She nodded “oh yeah, want me to listen in?”. “Nah, if Naomi wants us to know she’ll tell us.”. Percy heard them talking, looked over at Ron who had taken on a plate of ribs and was now working on a rare steak. He knew what was going on, had overheard Regina a few days ago talking about things with Stephen. Yet as father said, it wasn’t his business. And there was cake, he poked Ron who had just finished and pointed at the cakes. Slowly and stealthily they crept in the shadow, slinking from chair to table until the treasure was close within reach, he reached a hand out until…. “Hey, a big piece or a small one, one of each kind, that’s what I do, pie too if you’re a pie guy, I am a pie gal but cake too. There’s whipped cream too and that’s like the best thing ever except for bacon, and cheese and milk, oh don’t forget the milk, so yes?”, he looked up as he heard Minnie’s voice. “Don’t need to sneak around no more, unless it’s for fun, then it’s okay.”, she laughed.

  Seeing that Minnie had a handle on the two would be burglars Will looked over at his other girl, sitting beside Regina she looked sad, her sister too. Should he go and make idle talk until someone gave in and told him what was up? He didn’t like to interfere in family matters but this was his concern as well. Naomi had chosen to live with them on the Rose, was this the concern, then Stephen caught his eye and motioned towards the bow. Snagging a piece of cake and one of apple pie he followed him to the crews usual area, he found Minnie and the little guys already there. “I saw you thinking about talking to Regina, that might not end well.”, Stephen started. Will shrugged “Her hurt feelings aren’t really my concern, Naomi however is. Do you know what’s going on, seems fairly serious.”. Sighing, Stephen nodded “She’s leaving Laketown for the mountains, selling the tavern to her uncle. Told me she thought Naomi would be running it but that won’t happen now.”. “I thought it might be something of the sort, her and Naomi were pretty close til we came along.”, Will said. The other man held up his arms helplessly “Things happen for a reason, our ancestors knew this, we do too if we’re not caught up in things too much. You were meant to be here, just as Naomi was meant to be waiting for you both here.”. “Dad said it like that too, she was the daughter of his heart, waiting for us here.” Minnie added. Stephen agreed “Regina knows that too, she’s not angry but being here is too much, reminding her of what’s changed. After all.”, he went on, “You’ll be coming and going for many many years, unchanging and seeing that will be hard as well.”. Will gaped for a moment “Ah, I didn’t realize you knew about that.”. Stephen smiled “I didn’t know for sure until just now, but I suspected for a while now, the council did, that is.”. “We didn’t mean to conceal it, but it’s not something you bring up over tea and cakes in the back yard, oh by the way we’re going to live forever, one lump or two?”, Will said.

  Naomi looked around and saw dad, Minnie and Stephen were deep in conversation at the bow of the ship. I can imagine what, she thought. After the talk she and her sister had just gone through, it might be time to lighten things up a bit. She quickly ran belowdecks and retrieved her fiddle and Minnie’s penny whistle from the lounge. Then to the bow where she handed Minnie her instrument and looked at Will. “Galway Gal, and show these friends of ours how to do a proper singalong?”. Minnie was overjoyed and started the intro right away. Will knew what was up but was always good for a tune and a song, and if it helped then even better. The sounds of the fiddle and whistle drew everyone to the bow as Will started with the opening, clapping hands in time “I took a walk down the old long walk…”. And they were off. A couple of hours later the two players sat in tired heaps, some songs had been repeated several times and had become instant favourites. It was comforting to think that the unicorn song and Puff would live in this world now.

  As the evening broke up and the councillors began to drift off to home Will checked the time and found it was only a couple of hours til sunrise. “Right, I officially declare a lazy day.”, he announced. Minnie gave a weary cheer as did Naomi, Percy and Ron were long asleep. After the teens had cleaned and packaged everything up, and the deck of the Rose was as it had been, the weary crew made their way below. Will saw the young people off and thanked them for the hard work put in for everyone’s benefit. “Happy to do it captain, least we can do for all you do for us.”, the oldest said. Making sure no stragglers had fallen asleep on deck Will finally joined the others below. Naomi was lingering by her cabin, “We’ll talk tomorrow okay, thanks for letting it go tonight.”, she said, giving him a tight hug and going into her cabin. Will sighed, then went to check on his other two lads. Minnie had carried them below and they were sound asleep in their new beds that had been delivered. One on each side of the room, snoring away. He knelt besides the beds and made sure they were warm and tucked in, “Night fellas, see you in the morning.”.

  Checking below that all lanterns were out, stoves cool and boiler on low Will finally made it to his and Mins cabin. There was a single candle lit in a glass safety holder on the nightstand close to him. Minnie was already huddled in bed, a blanket mound with eyes. “Hey, took your time hmmm?”, she murmured as he came in. “Always lots to do before bed, at least I don’t have to put the dog out now.”, he laughed. “Har har har, fun night huh.”, she answered. “Yeah it was, why haven’t we done that before, singing and stuff, I loved it.”, he asked going in to the head. He could hear through the door “I dunno, cause you’re old and forgetful?” Minnie muttered. Coming out he climbed under the covers before a chill hit, the heavy quilt so comfortable. He blew out the candle and reached for a small hand, and as he found it he could feel his eyes and mind dropping off, “Night Min, sweet dreams.”.

  He slept the darkness away and by the light coming in the port it was well into morning. Hearing “Dad, dad, you’ve got to see this!”, had him tumbling out of bed in a hurry. Throwing on a robe and flinging open the door he could see Minnie standing in the open door of the boys room.