Dunstan of Arbigland

(Junior) 3 Dunston of Arbigland

By

Jan Skarzynski

Version 1/3.   Jan 10

1.The Strong Current

The wind was strong and even, without the frequent strong gusts that caused a sudden capsize. Pippa and Max were out on the sea, sailing their new fast skiff that their uncle had built especially for them. Uncle Toka usually built large heavy fishing boats but this time he used his skills to make a small, sleek skiff for his cousins so that they could learn how to sail and hone their sea craft because he hoped that one day, when they had grown up, the children would take up their life as fisher folk; that was a strong family tradition. Only their father Rotan was not a fisherman, but that was because of a serious accident when he was out in the forest, harvesting timber and a trunk had inadvertently split and broken his leg. He was no longer able to stand up and balance in a fishing boat safely so he had turned to farming a piece of land adjoining the bay. Max and Pippa only remembered the days on the farm but they spent most of the time with Uncle Toka in his little shipyard and on his fishing boats, out on the wide sea. Now they had their own skiff which was fast, manoeuvrable and lots of fun. Far more exciting to sail than the lugubrious fishing boats with their large lateen sail but they were work boats and not the plaything they now had.

“Pippa, the wind is just fab today. We should sail around Crab Island,” said Max conspiratorially.

“No, No!” shouted back Pippa, “Uncle Toka made us promise that we wouldn’t go further than Crab Island otherwise he would take the skiff away from us.”

“I knew you would say that but how is he to know? He’s gone to the town market with dad and won’t see us.”

“No, we promised!” replied Pippa emphatically.

“But nobody will see us and the wind is strong and even. We’ll be around the island in a jiffy and be back here in no time.”

“No!” shouted Pippa but Max detected a little over emphasis in his sister’s ‘No.’

“Pippa, it gives us something to aim at, a target, instead of just going around in boring circles. You can be Captain and take the tiller and I’ll be your slave and do all your bidding today,” said Max with a glint in his eye. He knew how to get around his little sister.

“OK then, but just this once and you’re not to brag about it to your friends. Promise! Uncle Toka will hear about it if you spill the beans.”

“I promise, I promise. Look, spit and cross my heart that I won’t tell anybody. Done deal?” answered Max looking at Pippa for confirmation. She wasn’t totally convinced but nodded her head in agreement. Max let go of the tiller and ushered Pippa into the back of the skiff rather roughly.

“Hang on Max, you promised to be my slave so don’t push me about so!” shouted Pippa angrily.

“Sorry Pippa, sorry Captain, sorry Skipper. I was just hurrying you along. Come on, set the direction and let’s be away,” shouted back Max as he slipped down the boat and gripped the sheets to adjust the sails. “Come on Pippa, let’s see what speed this bucket will do in this stiff wind?”

“Don’t call it a bucket Max,” shouted back Pippa as she positioned the tiller for maximum speed, “Uncle Toka says we should name this boat. It’s unlucky to have a boat without a name.”

“Yes, but we can’t agree on a name Pippa. You don’t like mine and yours are just too awful. Anyway, dad painted a lucky eye on the front to protect us,” replied Max in an effort to appease Pippa and keep things sweet. 

“How far do you think the island is away? We don’t seem to be getting any nearer,” said Pippa with some concern in her voice.

“Look Pippa, we can see both the island and the mainland so it can’t be that far. Uncle Toka says that standing on a boat you can see five kilometres out to sea.”

“I know that Max but we are looking at an island with a mountain, sticking high out of the sea so it must be much further away.”

“Look behind you Pippa, in this short time we have sailed about halfway so it can’t be that far away,” shouted back Max, trying to reassure Pippa. The wind was good and the waves were more of a swell and no white horses to be seen. They felt quite safe as they rounded Crab Island. As they got on the lee of the mountain the wind dropped and the sails started to flap. 

“It’s much bigger than I though,” shouted Pippa.

“It looks so small from home. Do you remember the times I used to say that I wanted to put Crab Island in my pocket and mum would laugh out loud?”

“What should we do Max? There’s hardly enough wind here for steerage,” replied Pippa with some concern.

“Just look at the Mountain top. You can see we are drifting in the current. It won’t be long before we are out of the lee, on the other side and we can tack back home,” replied Max, with some emphasis, to sound more authoritative and comforting.

“Yes, but it will be ages before we are clear.”

“OK, OK Captain, your slave will get the oars out. Please don’t use your lash too harshly,” replied Max with a sly grin, as he fitted the rowlocks and the short oars.

“That’s better Max at least we have steerage on the tiller and with the current, I can see we are moving. The current is taking us further out though Max.”

“No worries. The wind is more likely to pick up further out and we can then use the sail. Look out for any squalls on the water ahead so that we’ll be ready to set the sail Pippa,” shouted Max, but with some trepidation in his voice. After a while, Max stopped rowing for a rest, stood up at the mast and looked about. “We are about three-quarters of the way past the island now Pipa,” he shouted.

“More like two thirds only Max and we have drifted a long way out. It will take us some time to beat into the wind when we get around,” replied Pippa quite softly.

“Don’t be such a scaredy-cat. We are fine,” shouted back Max but not very convincingly. He sat down and started to row with more effort but they still just drifted further away from the island and there was no sign of the wind picking up.

“You got us into this Max. If Uncle Toka finds out, we are for it!”

“Uncle Toka won’t find out unless you tell him!” shouted back Max. “Instead of just sitting there and moaning, why don’t you come and take an oar. Between us we should overcome the current and get further along past the island.” Pippa left the tiller and took up an oar between them, they rowed steadily and the skiff picked up some speed. “That’s better,” muttered Max, “We are at last getting somewhere.” After some half an hour of hard rowing Pippa stopped and got up to the mast.

“I need a rest Max. Look we haven’t got very far along the length of the island but we seem to have drifted a long way off. Come and check for yourself Max,” she said rather tearfully as Max joined her at the mast head.

“Yes, we have but I think we need to row more towards the island. Come on Pippa, you need to help,” pleaded Max as Pippa picked up an oar despondently and both started to row with renewed vigour. After a long time, they both stopped exhausted and Pippa stood up, holding the mast to look at the Island.

“Max, it’s even further away,” she blurted and burst into tears.

“Crying is not going to help,” replied Max rather harshly but he looked out and in dismay said, “You’re right, we are drifting further away. The current must be stronger than us rowing. I just hope the wind gets up.”

“It’s your fault Max and we are going to get into big, big trouble from Uncle Toka,” shouted Pippa accusingly.

“It’s not old Toka I’m worried about, it’s Dad and Mum and they are going to be furious when we get back. They weren’t very pleased with old Toka for giving us this skiff in the first place and they’ll probably sell it or break it up,” answered Max forlornly.

“They wouldn’t break it up, would they?” questioned Pippa. “Anyway, how are we going to get back, I’m too tired to row any more and thirsty? Get the bottle from the poop.”

“It’s no use it’s empty. I forgot to fill it. Sorry.”

“You know Uncle told us never to go out without fresh water and look the sun is getting up. We’ll bake out here. What are you going to do Max, it’s your fault,” shouted Pippa as Max sat down, resting his back against the mast.

“We are going to do just nothing,” replied Max thoughtfully.

“What do you mean ‘Nothing’? We can’t just do nothing,” screamed back Pippa. “It’s your fault Max. Do something. Don’t just sit there!”

“Hold your hair on and stop screaming. Remember, when we got lost in the forest with Mum and Dad. What did Dad say we had to do in such situations, certainly not scream?”

“Yes, but Mum told me that we weren’t really lost that day. Dad was only pretending.”

“But you cried your eyes out and that wasn’t pretending. You were scared stiff that day. Now what did Dad tell us to do?”

“Sit down, have a drink but we haven’t any water Max.”

“I know, I know but what did he say we should do next?”

“He said we should think it all through and discuss quietly and come up with a way out of the problem.”

“Right, let’s just take a minute to think through the problem.”

“Problem?” shouted Pippa, “Problems with a capital ‘P’ Max, that’s we that we have. No wind, no water, no way home and the sun is getting hotter!”

“Calm down Pippa and think of some solutions. Dad said that if we are ever lost, we should stay in one place and not move around then someone can find us so first thing is, I suggest we take down the sail,” said Max looking at Pippa and hoping for some support.

“OK, we take down the sail and just drift with the current.” answered Pippa and followed with, “and we make a shelter, a tent with the sail to shelter us from the sun.”

“Good thinking but no one will see us without the sail up.”

“That’s true but we could hoist a flag up. Surely someone would spot that?” said Pippa with some confidence returning.

“Yeah, that would be great if we had one. I suppose we could use my shirt for that. After all I could hide from the sun in our tent. Come on help me with the sail and we can use the oars to make the shelter.”

“No wait. Let’s do what Dad suggested. Stop and think. What do we do about water and what do we do about food?”

“Water’s easy, it usually rains in the evening and if we create a gully in the tent we can collect some and fill our bottle. We can fish for food. The sea is teaming with fish,” said Max rather proudly having found the solution so easily, then he clouted his head with his fist and shouted in anger, “Silly me, I took all my fishing tackle out the last time we sailed to check it and I didn’t put it back today. With the wind, I didn’t think we needed it. I only fish when there is no wind.”

“You great big clot Max!” shouted Pippa again, “No water, no food and we are miles away from home.”

“Don’t blame me. You should have checked too. Anyway, when Dad gets back from market, they will organise a search party, with lots of men to row and they’ll pick us up in time for supper,” said Max purposefully, for Pippa’s benefit but with a feeling of panic deep inside.

“I only hope your right Max. Mum’s going to kill me for all this. I shall be on chores for the rest of my life because of you Max.”

“OK, OK Pippa, I’ll take all the blame. I will say I just steered the boat out to Crab Island and you cried all the way, sitting in the poop.”

“No one’s going to believe that! Just no one! Now let’s get the sail down and do the things we planned.” So they quickly lowered the flapping sail and made a rudimentary shelter with a dip in the middle, to catch any rain water. Max hoisted his shirt up the mast as a sort of flag then they lay down in the bottom of the boat, under the shelter from the sun and promptly fell asleep.

Pippa was the first to wake and popped her head out of the shelter and to her dismay, the Island had disappeared. She stood up and looked all around but there was no Crab Island to be seen. She nudged Max awake with her foot.

“Max, Max, climb up the mast and see if you can see land,” said Pippa urgently. Max jumped up, looked around and promptly shinned up the mast and again took his time, looking around to all horizons, with his hand shading the sun from his eyes.

“No sight of anything. Not even a sausage,” shouted down Max as he slid carefully down the mast and stood next to Pippa. “We must have drifted a long way in this current. Now old Uncle Toka must know about the current and the search boats will follow it. They will know what has happened to us. Now let’s get out of this sun and rest. Look the clouds are forming. It will rain soon and we can have a drink. Look to the bright side!” urged Max, trying to be the big brother, as he gave her a hug.

It was three nights out in the open sea before they were spotted by a large cargo junk. The Captain sent out a boat with six sailors to row and a coxswain to check on the drifting boat and found the two children, cowering under their tent to protect them from the sun and rain. They had plenty of water but had only managed to eat a few scrawny flying fish that somehow had leapt aboard their small boat. It took the junk a further three weeks to reach the capital city of Newtown and they had to work their passage on board by scrubbing the decks, climbing up to the crow’s nests to be lookouts and cleaning out the cabins. The Captain told them it would be too dangerous and too far out of his way to divert to Arbigland. Too many pirates in the waters there so they would have to find their own passage home from Newtown.

2. City of Newtown

Pippa and Max were handed over by the Captain to the Harbour Authorities who were at a loss what to do with them. Although Arbigland had been a penal colony a long time ago where all the miscreants were sent, that had long been stopped since the waters there were full of pirates and some of the ships hadn’t returned. Therefore, no ships were bound for Arbigland at this time and for the unforeseeable future. The care of the children was handed over to the City Authorities and they farmed them out to foster parents. Mr. and Mrs. Theaton were quite nice but rather strict. Max and Pippa lost their freedom to roam and sail as they had done back home. They were sent to school which they hated because they couldn’t read or write since no one had bothered to teach them at home. It wasn’t that their parents were at fault, it was probably that they couldn’t read or write either since there were no schools in Arbigland. Only a few important people could read. At their new school they were put into the ‘babies’ class, where the beginnings of reading and writing were taught. Since Max was ten and Pippa nearly nine, they were laughed at and bullied by the older children in the playground. They also stood out from the others because of their strange accents and choice of foreign sounding words.

They regularly bunked off school and became a problem for their teachers and their foster parents. They spent their time between the harbour, pestering the Harbour Masters to check if any ship was bound for Arbigland and the large lagoon, behind the sand spit. There they watched the rich kids, sailing boats and having swimming lessons in the shallow and reasonably warm water of the lagoon. They missed the warm climate of Arbigland. Here the weather was often cold and wet so they had to don more clothing which restricted their movements. 

One day a tall man came to the school assembly and talked to the children about sailing. He offered the class a free trial for an hour to see if they would like that sport, and if they did, they could come to the lessons on a regular basis. Max and Pippa shot their hands up and shouted out that they wanted to join the class. This was the wrong thing to do, they found to their dismay. Because they had caused a commotion in the assembly, they were sent out and missed the opportunity.  This didn’t deter them, because when they found out where and when the lessons were taking place, they just turned up at the lagoon with the other kids from school. The teacher, accompanying the children, wasn’t too pleased but said they could take part only if there was a spare boat for them. Max and Pippa waited in line but were again disappointed that there wasn’t a boat for them and they were resigned to watch from the jetty. The boats were small and only enough room for one child. The teacher instructed them all from a canoe and since they were beginners, he had no problem keeping up. Watching others learn to sail was boring until Max spotted a boat, similar to their skiff moored at the jetty nearby. This was part of a more advanced teaching fleet and the boat was fully rigged and was about to be pulled out of the water to the storage area.

Max nudged Pippa and tilted his head towards this craft. Pippa need no second invitation and immediately jumped in the boat and took the tiller. Max loosened the tie rope and unfurled the sails which immediately caught the wind and they drifted away from the jetty. They were immediately spotted by their teacher who was standing by the owners of the boat who were discussing their lesson on the beach and the teacher in the canoe, who heard all the shouting and started paddling towards this skiff. Max expertly hoisted the sail, Pippa on the tiller set a course for maximum speed and they were off towards a coloured buoy, set out in the middle of the bay as all on shore, shouted at them. They were too fast for the teacher in the canoe and sped out to the buoy, sailed around it expertly with a smooth tack and sped on to another buoy where they repeated the process. Once the people on shore realised that they were competent, the hullabaloo died down and they just watched as Pippa and Max sailed the course between the buoys with ease. The instructor in the canoe went back to teaching his flock and their own teacher lost interest and watched the beginners struggle with their tiny boats and sails. After an hour, the beginner’s class had finished and their boats all tied up to the jetty, Max and Pippa decided to return the skiff to its proper owners. They slipped quietly up to the jetty with the sail down to minimise their profile. Max leaped out and tied up whilst Pippa made sure all was ship shape on board. They meant to jump out and scarper rather than hang about, getting into lots of hot water.

“Waugh kids,” said a man who they recognised as the teacher in the canoe as he barred their escape with his arms. “You were good out there. Where did you learn to sail? I haven’t seen you about here on the boats before. I now know where I have seen you two before!” he exclaimed, “It was at the school assembly and you two were shouting before the teachers sent you out.”

“Yes Sir,” said Pippa, trying to sound apologetic. “We didn’t mean any harm and we didn’t damage anything. Please check for yourself.”

“No need, I can see that you can handle a boat. Now tell me where did you learn?”

“Back home, our uncle built us a skiff and we sailed every day,” answered Max, giving away very little information.

“And where is home?” asked the man.

“It’s at the bay facing the sea,” answered Max.

“I’d like to see you race. Turn up tomorrow after school and you can join in a junior race and we can go on from there. What are your names, by the way?”

“This is Pippa my sister and I’m Max. We’d like to turn up but we can’t pay,” answered Max.

“That’s not a problem for now. Just turn up tomorrow and we’ll see how you get on. I have to go now. Bye Max and Pippa. Make sure you turn up tomorrow.”

“We will,” answered Max as the man turned and ran off towards the beach huts.

“Why did you clam up Max?”

“Well, you know how it is. Whenever we say we come from Arbigland then people look funny at us and treat us all differently. Come on, let’s go back to the house, I’m hungry. No doubt we’ll be in trouble there again for being late.”

“We’ll say we’ve been having sailing lessons with the school Max. That should do!”

“Yeah, but you know how the other kids are like there at the home. They’ll blurt out that we stole a boat and smashed it and more lies, just to get us into trouble.”

  

The following afternoon, Pippa and Max dutifully turned up at the jetty and hung around waiting for the man they met yesterday.

“Do you remember his name?” asked Max.

“No, I wasn’t paying attention when he was introduced at assembly. I was trying to poke Don in the back and make it pretend it was somebody else,” answered Pippa.

“I can’t see him. I hope we are not too late,” said Max mournfully.

“Hello you two! Max and Pippa isn’t it. Glad you arrived,” said the man they had been waiting for. “Unfortunately, they have cancelled the junior race today but don’t look so dismayed. You will get your sail. Have you raced before? Do you know the rules?”

“No, we don’t,” answered Max in a worried voice.

“No worries. What we will do, is follow the senior race. I will go with you, just as a passenger. Watch and advise on tactics where appropriate. Now get that skiff, tied up over there ready and I’ll be with you in a minute,” shouted the man as he ran off to give orders to a group standing on the beach.” Max jumped up for joy and gave Pippa a hug and off they went to check their boat which was similar to the skiff they had commandeered the previous day.

“Max, will you ask the man his name. We can’t just call him ‘hey you’ can we?”

“OK, OK Pipa, now do you want to skipper or do you want to do it. I don’t mind.”

“The sail looks too heavy for me so I’ll take the tiller Max.”

“OK but listen to me, don’t just ignore me and think you can do better, just as you usually do.”

“I don’t, but you’re not always right, so there!”

“We have to impress today and behave, so no answering back as you usually do, promise?”

“Promise but you don’t shout at me and don’t make me feel small Max. Here comes the man. Do it now Max.”

“Right kids, by the way my name is Harrison but everyone calls me Sailor,” he said, as Max looked knowingly at Pippa. “You can call me Sailor or just Sail. Now, is the boat ready?”

“Yes Sir, I mean Sail,” answered Pippa. “I’m going to Skipper and Max is going to crew, if that’s OK?”

“OK by me. I’m just a passenger and advisor. Now the race will start in ten minutes. We have time to get around that green buoy so that you get the hang of the boat. On return, I want you to position over there, way away from the start line. We’ll let everybody get off before we join as rear end Charlie. Understood?”

“Aye, aye Captain,” remarked Max automatically. “I’m casting off Skipper,” he shouted clearly to Pippa who took the helm and filled the sails in the stiff breeze as Max adjusted the sheets for maximum speed. They made for the buoy and quickly went about and then slowed down to almost a drift as they positioned themselves at the rear of the field.

“Don’t you two talk to each other, shout orders and things as your sailing?” asked Sailor.

“Why should we?” questioned Pippa, “We always look to the man on the tiller for the next move, other than when we are close to shore or other boats, we don’t see any reason.”

“OK, carry on, its just that we train people to shout orders so that each person knows what is going on but you two seem to know instinctively. Let’s see how you get on. We are far enough behind to set off as soon as the hooter goes.”

“What if we catch up with the stragglers?” asked Pippa.

 “Unlikely, but in the event just stay well clear and don’t hinder them. With my extra weight in the boat, catching up with tail end Charlie will be some success. Right, there’s the hooter, off you go then.”  Pippa swung the tiller over, the wind filled the sails and they were off, chasing the fleet. Sailor just sat low by the mast, out of the way, watching critically their technique and the craft ahead. On the second lap they were level with the last boat but Pippa was sailing well clear. “OK, take them,” shouted Sailor, “We are much faster. See if you can catch up with the one ahead.” Max looked at Pippa and sent a signal. Pippa veered off wide for the next buoy and they tacked to catch the full blast of the wind and shot past the boat as it also jibed around the buoy, stealing its wind. “Very clever,” shouted Sailor, “Right no holds barred now, I want you to pass the next boat. You can go as close as you want but no barging and don’t get in their way. Right show me what you two are really capable of.”

 It was a long chase, but they caught up near the last buoy and slipped on the inside as they turned and were half a boat lengths ahead aiming for the finishing line. “Don’t you dare cut then off,” shouted Sail as a warning, as Pippa readjusted her tiller with some dismay. “Just one of the rules Pippa!”

“Sorry Sail. Max, hoist the sail to the maximum, they are catching up on us,” shouted Pippa in earnest, as Max used all his weight to lift the heavy lateen sail just a fraction higher. It gave them just an edge as their boat sped forward again. Then the wind dropped and the other lighter boat just pipped them on the line.

“Well done you two. I reckon, in a proper race you would have come in third in this fleet of seven, if I hadn’t been on board and you hadn’t disqualified yourselves by getting in the way.  Right, beach the boat and I want you to meet the others.”  The pair of older boys on the other boat came over and they were surprised to see such a young crew had given them such a struggle. Sailor chided the senior crew, that they were nearly beaten by junior racers and that they should work harder on their technique. 

“What happens next?” asked Max looking at Sailor.

“Mm, yes,” muttered Sailor, rubbing his chin and flexing his arms and chest to get rid of the stiffness of sitting in a bottom of a boat during the race. “You say your parents can’t afford to pay for you to sail?”

“Foster parents,” added Pippa.

“Oh, foster parents. Well in that case I will sponsor you as a crew in the juniors, I think you will go far, but in return you will come and help to set up and put away the little beginner’s boats for me. Will you do that?”

“Yes Sir,” answered Pippa smartly.

“I thought you would. Come after school every Wednesday and we will see how you get on. One more thing, I don’t want to catch you going off in somebody else’s boat again. OK?” as both Pippa and Max nodded their heads in shame. “OK, off you go then and get your foster parents to get in touch with me so they know where you are each Wednesday. Now I have things to do, Bye.”

3. A Glimmer of Hope

Each Wednesday they turned up, helping with the beginners, then took part in the Junior team events. If there was no wind then Sail would discuss tactics with them all, drawing the courses in the sand. Soon they were consistently winning races and became the star crew of the sailing club, with the most wins in various classes of boats in the club. Things were looking up for them and even school wasn’t so bad anymore.

One day, the Headmaster announced that Mr. Harrison from the sailing club was here to present a prize to the best crew in the Newtown Sailing Club. Amid applause, Pippa and Max had to go on stage, shake every teacher’s hand and receive a wooden plaque with their name inscribed from Mr. Harrison or Sail as he was known to them. The plaque was to be affixed to the wall in the entrance hall for all to see.

“Pippa, Max can you show Mr. Harrison the projects that your class has done this week. Some are very good,” requested, or ordered the Headmaster. Max and Pippa sheepishly took Mr. Harrison to their classroom to show him the various projects that had been pinned up on the walls. Mr. Harrison viewed the products and congratulated the authors for their good works. He finally came to the last one hidden away from the rest, which had little writing on it but some very good drawings of mountain scenes and animals. He stopped and pointed to a large catlike drawing.

“What is that?”

“A golden leopard,” replied Pippa promptly.

“And what are these crocodile creatures at the water’s edge?”

“Chukas laying eggs on the beach,” replied Max.

“Who did this bit of the project?” asked Mr. Harrison, turning to the teacher.

“These two, Max and Pippa.”   

“Oh, and where did you see creatures like that? They look very natural to me.”

“In Arbigland,” answered Pippa, getting a dig in the ribs from Max.

“Yes, these two children are purported to come from Arbigland,” added the teacher dismissively. “There is some story that they were swept out to sea in a boat, picked up by a trading ship and brought here.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that. Max and Pippa, can you come to the clubhouse on Tuesday after school. I want to talk to you. Don’t look so worried, I’m just interested,” said Sail, reassuringly as he saw the look of horror on Max’s face. He had thought that this admission would signal the end of sailing for them. Both nodded in acknowledgement without saying anything, whilst the teacher ushered Mr. Harrison out of the classroom towards the Headmaster’s study for some refreshments.

 

Pippa and Max met Sail at the sailing club on the Tuesday with a degree of trepidation. They didn’t know what he wanted to know but knew it was about Arbigland. They hoped it wouldn’t jeopardise their sailing. Sail quizzed them for over an hour about how they accidentally left Arbigland in a boat and in particular about Arbigland and what they knew about it. They were exhausted by the time Sail had finished and he took them to the bar for a treat of frothy fruit juice. He told them as he walked them home, that he belonged to a group of people who were interested in adventures and they had rekindled his desire to explore the Islands that made up the Arbigland Archipelago.

 He also said that if he could get his group interested then it may be a way to get Max and Pippa back home. He told them that he couldn’t promise anything at this stage and that they were not to be disappointed if it all fizzled out to nothing but he was going to have a long discussion with members of the group. Max and Pippa at last felt that there was hope but Sail told them to hold back their hopes until the big Assembly when all new projects for the group were aired and agreed. He also told them he had made enquiries about them at school and was shocked that they were so far behind in their schooling. He had arranged special tuition for them with a specialist teacher friend of his whom they would call Aunty Tess.

 

4. The Assembly

“What day is it today Max?”

“Lawday, all day I believe Pippa,” as he carved away at a wooden catapult with his penknife.

“I know what day it is stupid. But what special day is it for us?”

“It’s the Assembly Day, course I know.”

“What do you reckon of our chances?”

“Fifty, fifty, maybe more but don’t bank on it.”

“Sail says we are in with a chance, a chance of a lifetime Max.”

“Yeah, but don’t bank on it. We could be disappointed and then it would really hurt, wouldn’t it?”

“I suppose so, but wouldn’t it be great if we could go with them and get back home to Mum, Dad and our sisters. Sail says they don’t normally take youngsters our age.”

“You’re not ten yet Pippa.”

“Yes I am, well in my tenth year, with a birthday in three weeks.”

“Congratulations, I need to finish my catapult if we are to go. See you later.”

The man strode through the lunch time crowd purposefully, weaving and darting to made good headway. Since he was tall, he could spot his way through the throng and people parted on seeing his advance. His bleached mouse brown hair, longer than the businessmen around him, bobbed up and down in time to his long strides and was occasionally swept away with a broad hand, to show off a tanned angular face. Unlike his compatriots in formal business attire, he wore a faded brown military styled shirt with long sleeves, which were darker than the body, suggesting that they were more accustomed to being rolled up. His trousers were of similar sailcloth material and although clean and neatly pressed, had seen better days. His feet were shod in brown desert type boots, well worn and comfortable looking. The whole façade shouted of military man, adventurer, totally out of sync with the soft conservative herd he was scything through, so expertly. As he passed, people would turn and give him a second glance of interest, including the men, but all this was ignored as he sought out his destination.

He ran up the broad granite steps, two at a time, and was met by a large burly businessman holding two tumblers. With a nod of greeting, he grasped a tumbler offered and followed the man through large impressive wooden doors and into a gloomy hallway. At the end of a corridor, they entered a large airy conference room and sat down at the two empty places reserved for them, at the head of the table. A noisy discussion was ensuing amongst the twenty or so people sitting on either side of a broad polished limestone table. The whole room exuded wealth and only a carved shield on the wall, located this magnificent conference room to belong to the AJSki Private Bank.

“Has Dunston or anyone here been to these islands before?”

“Of course not, Tess! You know the answer to that. We just never go to the same place twice.”

“But somebody must know of it here?”

“That’s the whole point. We always go to somewhere different and unknown.”

“Yes, but why are we going armed? Mentions pirates in the notes, sounds dangerous.”

“I’ve heard its more like a lawless frontier place, a Wild West of the Our New World.”

“We’ve dealt with worse things than a few pirates in the past, haven’t we? It used to be a penal colony according to Sail and we used to get rid of our undesirables there”.

“I’d rather face pirates having some firearms than a few dry sticks. Wouldn’t you?”

“Don’t be daft. You know what I mean! Me and the girls will pass on this trip. We can’t be away for that long,” remarked Tess with some disappointment in her voice. 

“Oh, come on! That’s the whole reason we belong to the Assembly and pay our dues so that we can get away at a drop of a hat. You girls are losing sight of your priorities.”

“I agree with the ladies. The seven-to-twelve-week duration or more as noted, is just too vague for me. I’m out. We should stop the preliminaries and vote with our feet. I’m leaving but don’t let that influence anybody who wishes to stay.” With that, the dark-haired man rose, nodded to the head of the table and strode out.

“I also agree. The whole thing needs a lot of planning work and we should leave it to those dedicated to it. ‘Bonne Chance!’ and another man arose, followed by the majority of others. Most nodded and waved an acknowledgement or an apology to the head of the table.

“Dunston, I have a request. We take Max and Pippa, mentioned in the notes. They need to get back home. Can you accommodate them?” asked Sail.

“With our ladies exaggerating the dangers so much, would that be wise?”

“Well, that was more of an excuse; to politely excuse ourselves from the fray,” added Tess.

“Look, if we are going to be nannies to some kids, then you ladies need to come and mother them along.”

“Does that mean you will take them?” asked Sail.

“I wouldn’t, left just to me Sail, but we would have to vote on it. That is, only the members who accept to go. For information purposes, I would only accept if at least one of you ladies joined us.”

“I second that,” said the burley man to his side. With that the three ladies looked at each other, nodded and two rose, said their farewells and departed, leaving Tess seated.

There were only eight of them left, scattered around the huge table and showing total indifference to the exodus that had taken place.

“I hope that this doesn’t mean we cancel this trip?”

“Not at all,” said the burly man, “only our cost structure and finances have to be rearranged a little. Anyway, the Annual Fees are due so I’ll make sure the others pay up smartly.” With a sideways glance to Dunston for approval but getting no response he carried on, “Let’s get on with the allocation of duties and sourcing of equipment and supplies. Sail, you look after transport, Monty, you do your usual on camping and climbing gear etc.” 

“Before we go any further can we vote on the two young ones please,” pleaded Tess.

“OK, let’s vote. Those in favour? I presume Tess, you will go only if they are accepted.”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. Unfortunately, I promised Sail that I would accompany this expedition so if they are accepted then I will come to mother them as you wanted.”

“OK, we have four votes for, which is a majority of one, discounting your vote Tess since you are a floater.”

“I’m against this because it might affect what we do but I’ll go along with the majority,” said the Chairman.

“Thanks Dunston, I know they will be delighted,” added Sail. “We need to get them back home to their parents.”

Whilst the man to his right allocated the duties Dunston assessed the team in his own mind. The man to his right was Bank. They all had nicknames apart from him and these were used all the time they were together, with their real names mostly forgotten. Bank, was the backbone and financial arm of the whole Assembly. In life, he was the Chief Consultant to a major bank in whose interior they were sitting. He effectively ran the bank. He had been begged by the doddery board to become a partner but had refused and still made an unhealthily large income from the advice and business he brought to the organisation. He ran everybody’s financial affairs in the Assembly and they had all profited financially and business wise. It was like a mutual company. As an organiser and financier, he had no match and was trusted by all. As a travel member he was totally cooperative, as they all were expected to be, but he had a particular streak of determination which saw them through most difficulties they encountered and a particular brutal and at times, a viscous streak which frightened any enemy off from actual engagement.

The Assembly, as they loosely called themselves was made up of a number of adventurers, like minded people, who also had the means to go on extended tours to the more exotic regions of Our World and were prepared to put up with dangers and discomfort. They met once a year, hence the name Assembly and Dunston proposed a trip, usually with a purpose or objective, to explore and investigate some outer region of their World that was little known. The membership had grown over the years and they were all good friends and companions. Their wealth and ability to take part in extended tours was largely owing to Bank who generally looked after their mutual finances and it was generally Bank that introduced new member to the fold. Dunston was their undisputed leader and his main task was to research new ventures and also to lead the teams in the field. There was never any pressure on anyone to join a particular trip and generally they were over subscribed. This particular journey into the unknown and somewhat dangerous territory had attracted only the elite and two unknown youngsters.

“Ex, will you check out the logistics and work with Sail on any transport elements,” commanded Bank to an older man, rocking back on his chair. Now, ‘Ex’ or ‘Expert’ was a bewildering phenomenon, an engineer by profession, with his own large consultancy that specialised in fixing production problems. Always glad of his company and an invaluable member of any expedition. He had an infuriating habit of going off by himself, without consultation, and solving a major group problem, all on his own. He always had to be forgiven for this unilateral and unorthodox approach.

“Mont, just go easy on the camping equipment and check with Sail and Ex. We should be permanently based on the sea for much of the time, according to the predicted plan,” carried on Bank with the assignment of duties. 

I’m glad Sail is so positive. He operates a large marine operation that includes ship building, charter, brokerage and chandlery. He spends most of his time frightening clients into submission on his sleek, super-fast, sailing boat. Being a sailor, a good man to have around in a brawl or when the going gets tough. He also does plenty of social work, helping at the sailing club. That’s where he came across those two brats, I believe. I only hope they are tough enough to survive the rough journey. Don’t want to be saddled with crying kids, he thought.

“Sergeant, you’re going to supply us with some firearms for protection and hunting. Some new developing weapons that you want us to test, I hear. Something that works when it needs to, I hope! Also, I want you to take charge of group security and safety. Don’t want to lose anybody do we?” droned on Bank.

Now Sergeant, more commonly known as just Sarge is more of an enigma than Ex. A military man who seems to come and go at will and probably very high up in their organisation because he rarely wears uniform and even then, it’s mostly adorned with medals but no rank. Amazing strategist and can smell out problems or issues before anybody has even thought about them. Charmer and wonderful influencer, has most of the local businesses doing jobs for the military on a trial and development basis, free, gratis, out of pride and loyalty to the Homeland. He is also one of the Directors of the select organisation that maintains the ‘Book of Knowledge,’ an encyclopaedia to which we, as a group, are a major contributor, mainly from the results of our varied travels and adventures.

“Nurse, you take on the usual responsibility of looking after our groups’ health and happiness and since only Tess remains with us, of the ladies, you two can become the chief cooks and bottle washers to keep us all in fighting trim with your culinary expertise.”

 Nurse or Doc is a heart and lung surgeon but dabbles in other bits of medicine so is useful in patching up the group when required but more so in helping with medical and even veterinary problems in the far-off communities we come across; the quickest way to get cooperation from the villagers after he’s been at them with his medical kit. Now, we come to Mont. A mountaineer, with massive experience and an excellent hunter albeit with a reluctance to kill. Rather be at arms length to some dangerous animal and talk to it, than nab a trophy. Looks rather inoffensive but he’s extremely dangerous when cornered, especially with the use of his knife. Good man to have watching your back. Runs an engineering company making precision parts and does a lot of work for Sarge.

Tess, our only lady on the trip is a teaching advisor and usually the scribe and artist of the group that kept the log of accounts. She is also a tough cookie and can be relied on to keep a cool head in difficult circumstances. She is also renowned for turning unappetising ingredients into delicious fare which is always welcome on these trips.  

“That’s about it, Dunston, I’ll liaise with the group before the off and look after any incidental expenses. Over to you Dunston,” finished Bank, slamming his file shut.

5. The Mission

“Thanks, Bank and I welcome you all to our major adventure for this year. Thank you for being supportive. I hoped a few more might have joined but I can understand their reluctance.”  He looked around the room as they all sat up, attentive to his words. Why he was their chosen leader he had never quite worked out. They were all established leaders in their professions and could take over the group at a drop of a hat. He had no profession, not even a permanent home. He was an adventurer, an innovator and finisher. He always suggested the travels and they just said ‘Yea’ or ‘Nay’ with never any dissent. They would always attend the Assembly meeting, say their piece and stay or go and he would be the undisputed leader with Bank or Sarge acting as general secretary and organiser and off they would go with him into the wild yonder.

“As you know we have a main mission or objective but as you all know, from bitter experience, these objectives are often sidetracked by something unexpected. The main mission for this trip is two-fold. We sail to the archipelago of Arbigland which has a secretive community made up of former escaped prisoners, convicts and free spirits, so I doubt if they will welcome us with open arms. These series of low islands haven’t been explored or even mapped properly yet. Previous official expeditions haven’t returned so we know very little. This is the last frontier and we don’t really know what to expect. We do know that there is a giant underground cave system, called the Crystal or Diamond cave. This is our first objective to find, explore and map. The mountains or hills there are forested and abound with strange animals. Found there are purported, golden leopards of immense beauty, which we will find and record and it’s up to Mont to decide if we take a specimen. The cave was found by prospective gold miners so I think the secretive nature of the community there, may come from this element, which they don’t want to broadcast for obvious reasons. That’s the sum of my knowledge and research which you can see in the notes is smaller than usual for these expeditions.” Dunston looked at each person in turn and they nodded in acknowledgement but said not a word.

“Last but not least, we also have a mission to get the two youngsters, Pippa and Max back home to their parents, don’t forget,” added Sail as they all nodded in agreement.

“We plan to depart in five days time on a junk boat to Wayland, which is the first stop and last confirmed plan of our journey, after that it up to Sail and our wits to continue to our destination. That’s it!” With that Dunston rose, picked up his notes and made his way out of the conference chamber.

“Yippee, we’ve been accepted. Thanks Aunty Tess. I’ll go and tell Max. He will be thrilled. When are we off and what do we need to pack?”

“Within the week probably Pippa and I’ll help you with your packing. You can’t take too much. Now remember, you two will have to be on your best behaviour and do exactly as you are told. It could be quite dangerous and sometimes you may have to take a back seat so I don’t want any sulking or scenes. You understand Pippa?”

“Yes Aunty, can I go and tell Max the good news now?”

6. First Step

They embarked at daybreak on Lawday morning (Eight days in the week here) and had a slow sail on a trading junk to Wayland, their first port of call. Two of the three moons had lit up the nights’ sky, so they stayed up late to watch the spectacle of iridescent flying fish trying to elude the hungry sea bats. During the day they drilled with the new firearms they were issued by Sergeant. These were revolutionary for the time in the New World, in that the elongated bullet and gunpowder cartridge were encased in one bronze container, easy to handle and more importantly, the system was waterproof as was proved later. Each handgun and long gun had a canister which housed up to seven of these bullets and reloading was either automatic or the pull of a simple lever. They were impressed and each person was given a handgun and holster to wear around their waist apart from Max and Pippa.

For Max and Pippa, the journey was quite tedious since for most of the time they were confined to the one communal cabin where they all slept in hammocks, cooked, ate and socialised.

“Max, are you awake.”

“No, I’m in a deep sleep. What do you want?”

“This is boring. They won’t even let us out on deck.”

“Dunston says they have too much valuable cargo out on deck and don’t want kids prowling about.”

“Yeah, but the others get out, fire those gun things and we fester in here playing chess. It’s even too dark to read the books Tess gave us. I wish we could get out and get some fresh air Max.”

“It’s only for another couple of days. Aunty Tess says we must be patient.”

“It’s alright for her. She can go on deck and we are stuck here. I don’t want to play chess anymore. You win all the time.”

“You should concentrate more rather than complaining all time. You even complain about Aunty Tess’s food.”

“You must admit its pretty boring having the same stuff every day.”

“I agree but we shouldn’t show it. You know what Aunty said about not complaining when things are bad and we have just started out on our way back home. And it’s going to be an adventure.”

“Come on Max, you don’t call this an adventure being stuck in a dark cabin for days on end and eating boring food.”

“Pippa, that gives me an idea. What if we ask Dunston if we can go on deck and fish. I’ve brought some fishing tackle with me and if we catch anything then Tess can cook it for us. I know you don’t like fishing but you can pretend, can’t you?”

“I suppose so but you’ll have to help me Max,” answered Pippa with a shudder, thinking of slimy, wriggling fish.

“Now what are you two up to, whispering away like that?”

“Hi Ex, just Pippa and me are bored to death in here and we were wondering if we could go out on deck and fish. Even the food is a bit monotonous, don’t you agree?”

“I see. So, you want to improve our diets do you? I must admit it can get a bit samey when we are all cooped up like this. Let me go up and talk to the Captain or Boson. I’ll be back in a minute.” 

“See Max, even the grownups are fed up.”

“I didn’t see you complaining to Ex. You left it up to me to ask. I’ll get my stuff together, just in case.”

“You don’t intend going out now do you. It’s in the middle of the night and what do you know about fishing off a large ship?”

“Come off it Pippa, we get a chance to get out of here and you’re chickening out already.”

“No, I’m not!” she answered defensively, “it’s just that it will be dark out there. We’ll look right fools if we don’t catch anything.”

“OK you two, the Boson has agreed as long as you are supervised. I suppose I’ll come out and see that you are OK,” confirmed Ex with a broad grin.

“Oh, thanks Ex, I’ve got my gear. Come on Pippa, quick let’s go before anybody changes their mind. Is the moon out Ex?”

“Two moons out tonight so there will be plenty of light. I’ll just bring a stool out to sit on. Come on then, what are you waiting for?” They rushed up the ladder and out on the upper deck, into the silky light of the moons. “We’ll have to climb down onto the lower deck and you can fish from the mid-ships where it’s closer to the water.”

“Here Pippa, you take this line on this bobbin and let the hook down into the water.”

“But don’t you have to put some bait on it first Max.”

“We haven’t got any yet but there is a shiny lure with the hook and that might be enough. When you feel something tug on the line, give it a yank and pull it up. OK? And keep your hands away from the hooks, they are sharp and dangerous. That’s it. Just lower it down until the cork float moves away from the ship’s side.”

“I can feel something tugging at the line already Max. It’s pulling the line out of my hand.”

“Here, just get hold of the bobbin and yank hard to fix the hook. That’s it, now wind the line around the bobbin. Go on, the fish is going to put up a bit of a fight, you have to pull hard to get it in.”

“That’s quick, what have you caught?” asked Ex.

“Don’t know yet, I’m just pulling it in. It’s putting up a bit of a fight and should be fairly big. Look Max, it’s out of the water, look, it’s huge!”

“Not that huge but let me help you. Now get it over the side that’s it.”

“What do I do now, it’s wriggling about on the deck, what do we do?” screamed Pippa.

“Don’t panic, here, take this marlin spike and bash it over the head to kill it.”

“I can’t do that, you do it Max.”

“It’s your fish, you kill it. Go on. Just bash it hard on the head. Not like that, wack it hard. You want to kill it in one go, not just to hurt it. That’s it, now let me show you how to get the hook out. You have to be careful. Just watch and learn then you are on your own.”

“What’s this, success so soon?” asked Ex, coming over to them.

“Yes, and I caught it myself Ex.”

“Well done Pippa, it’s a Red Bass, good to eat. What have you caught Max?”

“I haven’t started yet, I’m just showing Pippa how to do it then I’ll start myself.”

“OK, carry on and catch a few more.” They fished for about two hours and as soon as the hooks and lures touched the water the fish just fell onto them. They pulled up about forty fish of differing sizes and of different varieties. A sailor came by and told them which to keep and which to put aside. He returned later with a bucket and a harpoon.

“Right kids let’s have a look at your catch. Great, now I’ll fillet them for you and you arrange the fillets on this canvas.” He filleted the fish expertly with a sharp knife and threw the remains into the bucket with the discarded fish whilst Pipa and Max arranged the fillets on the canvas stretched out on the deck. “OK, now stand back. You lad!” he ordered. “Throw the remains over the side and get out of the way.” Max did his bidding and threw the gruesome remains into the sea and moved quickly along the ship’s side, away from the sailor who lifted the harpoon and waited. The crud just floated about when suddenly lots of little fish started darting about, feeding on the bits. 

The Sailor still stood there patiently, looking carefully down into the water. Then suddenly there was a blue flash as a huge fish shot by, then another and more until the water seem to boil. Woosh went the harpoon and the sailor yanked at the rope. “Come on, don’t dawdle you two. Give me a hand to pull this in!” They rushed over and pulled on the line, even Pipa gave a hand and up came a large blue sleek fish, about two metres long, wriggling on the deck. “Watch out for its teeth!” warned the sailor as he cut out the harpoon and aimed it over the side again.

 Max got hold of the fish’s tail and pulled the whole thing out of the way. “Come on, pull again, don’t hang around you lot!” and once again they repeated the task of pulling up another blue fish. The Sailor stopped after the third had come up on deck and Pipa and Max peered over the side to see that all the fish had now dispersed. “Good meat on these Blue Snappers. Don’t get much opportunity to catch them being so busy on board you know. Need a lot of fish crud to get them together. Thanks, I’ll get the ship’s cook to sort out these. Now get some seawater in that bucket and throw in the fillets. That will keep them fresh for you until tomorrow.”

Pippa and Max proudly took the bucket up to their cabin and placed it besides the charcoal stove. That would be tomorrow’s breakfast and maybe they would have the opportunity to catch more for other meals. They retired to their hammocks feeling very pleased with themselves and rightly so. 

“Max, Pippa congratulations, you have demonstrated some initiative and ingenuity in catching fish for our meal and also, I hear providing some provision for the sailors on this boat. We need people like you on this team.”

“Thanks, Mr Bank, it was nothing, Max just helped me,” answered Pippa proudly.

“Now don’t call me ‘Mr. Bank’ I’ll just accept ‘Bank’ from you two. Now eat up and let’s enjoy the change in our diet.”

“Yes, well done you two. I expected the ship’s cook to provide us with food on board but we had to rely on our own emergency provisions,” added Sail, heaping more praise on them.

“It’s OK Sail, Pippa and I can fish for some more if you like and would you come out and supervise us next time, please?”

“No problem, but this time we shall catch one of those Blue Snappers for ourselves. I heard from the sailors that they enjoyed their juicy steaks. We should have some too.” That afternoon they pulled out another bucketful of fillets which they gave to the sailors and a huge three metre Snapper which Sail harpooned. They feasted on huge steaks, grilled on their charcoal stove until they were all bloated.      

 

7. Wayland

Wayland was a scruffy trading port on a large island and its main claim to fame was its fishing. The large crayfish and the long-legged crabs were a sought-after delicacy. Dunston and Sail went off to search for onward sailings to Arbigland whilst Monty and Sergeant set off to find some decent accommodation for the group. Bank and Nurse went off to find some liquid sustenance and Ex with Tess, Pipa and Max, were left on the quay side, to supervise the offload of fifteen sturdy sea chests and storage barrels. Three were missing and the sailors were adamant that there were no more in the hold.

“Ex, our sea chest is missing and it’s got my best clothes in it,” cried Pippa in dismay.

“I’m sure it will turn up. It’s got my things in it too,” answered Max, trying to console Pippa. 

“I’m off to have a quiet chat to our nice Captain, I’m sure he will throw some light on the matter. You watch our other baggage with Tess and I’ll be back shortly.” Ex hopped down over the rail and walked up to the Captain and Boson of the ship. They purported, of course, to know nothing about the missing chests and weren’t even prepared to give any orders to their men for further searches. Ex took out his pistol and calmly shot the Captain through the fleshy part of the thigh, saying, “This might refresh your memory and if it doesn’t then one through the Boson’s heart might do the trick.” Amidst much screaming and shouting from the Captain, the Boson ordered the foresail hatches to be checked and lo and behold the chests had somehow secreted themselves in there.

The noise and commotion had attracted a large crowd of onlookers and Bank had hurried back to check out the trouble. It was over and the sheepish sailors had deposited the last three chests on the quay and had gone off to placate and patch up their Captain. The crowd had attracted some crab vendors, and with bottles of local ale and some fresh fruit juice that Bank had purchased, they feasted on a selection of delicious crayfish tails and crabs’ legs, straight from a hot barbecue on the quayside.

“That was a bit vicious of Ex wasn’t it Max?” whispered Pippa.

“I suppose so but it got your sea chest back pronto, didn’t it?” answered Max quietly.

“Yes but shooting the Captain in the leg was uncalled for. Did you see all that blood spurt out! It’s not right.”

“Look, you weren’t so squeamish about hitting those poor, defenceless fish over the head.”

“Yes, but that was different. I feel sorry for the poor Captain.”

“I shouldn’t, he was a rogue trying to steal our goods. Well at least he’s learnt his lesson now not to fool around with our party.”

Mont and Sergeant were the first to get back to the quay side, accompanied by two scruffy young sailors whom they seemed to have befriended. They weren’t introduced but sat on the trunks and enjoyed the feast. A lad was sent off to get some more drinks.  Very much later, when the impromptu party was in full swing, the locals came to join in plus more vendors vying for business. The two transport seekers returned somewhat dejected and frustrated. Dunston and Sail returned to tell them that no one had sailed out of Wayland bound for Arbigland for the last two years at which point one off the scruffy hangers on piped up and said he could have told them that since he and his companion have been waiting six months for a passage. They introduced themselves as Captain Koran and First Officer Ivor of a galley from Arbigland but with no ship to sail them back home. They had set off on an adventure in a trading junk and had been landlocked in Wayland for the past six months.

When Max heard that Koran and Ivor were from Arbigland, he grabbed Pippa by the arm and dragged her over protesting, towards the two men. “Pippa, didn’t you hear? These men are from Arbigland. They will have news of our parents. Come on. We need to ask them about mum and dad.”

“With all the noise I missed that bit. Now let go of my arm Max. You are hurting me,” as they pushed through the throng to face the two bedraggled sailors.

“Hello Koran, hello Ivor. I’m Max and this is Pipa my sister. We are from Arbigland. We got swept out to sea by a strong current off Crab Island. Do you know our parents? They farm Chukas, just on the bay behind the town.”

“Hey, you must be the two youngsters that were lost in a boat a couple of years back,” answered Koran.

“Yes, the fishing boats searched all over for you,” piped in Ivor his companion. “They thought you either drowned or were carried away by pirates since they didn’t find an empty boat.”

“We were picked up by a trading junk and ended up in Newtown. This group headed by Dunston over there is taking us back,” said Max.

“Are our parents OK?” asked Pippa and Koran replied.

“They were quite devastated at the time. We took the galleys out to help the fishermen in the search. The problem is that no boat wants to go to Arbigland anymore. There are huge problems with the Governor and the Boyars in the mining areas. We have been away for a long time so we don’t know the latest situation.”

“Your parents have got over your loss or so I heard but they will be ever so pleased to get you back if your Dunston can find a way. We would like to get back too and join our families,” added Ivor.

Bank added that he had come across the two at their newfound hostelry and had invited them to join the group since they knew about Arbigland, their destination. He then shouted to a couple of men who had arrived with large hand carts. They loaded their chests and storage barrels onto the carts and Ex recounted the sad story of the missing three. At this news Bank threw his empty ale pot, crashing, onto their ships decking and had to be restrained from ventilating the Captains other leg and maybe his head with his own pistol.

With the chests safely secured in a locked room and intact, they settled down for the night in their hostelry dining room eating a hearty meal. Pippa and Max sat quietly and looked around at their new surroundings and listened intently to the discussions that ranged long into the night. After questioning their two new travelling companions about Arbigland they all retired to their bedroom, to await what tomorrow might bring. 

“Max, what if we don’t get to Arbigland? What will we do?”

“Don’t be so defeatist Pippa. I’m sure they will find a way. Look at Aunty Tess, she doesn’t seem bothered. I’m sure they will find a way to continue on.”

“I hope so. I don’t like the look of this place. It’s all spooky and dirty.”

“I agree but I did like the barbequed crayfish tails, didn’t you Pipa?”

“They were scrumptious. I liked the soft crabs best.”

“I saw you talking a lot to the Captain Koran from Arbigland. He looked rather scruffy for a Captain.”

“Captain Koran is very nice Max and you would be scruffy if you had no money and had to fend for yourself for six months!”

“OK, OK Pippa but what did you get out of him about Arbigland? Did he know our Mum and Dad well? I had to sit next to Tess and Nurse and they were just talking about boring things.”

“No, he didn’t know our parents. All he talked about was that Arbigland was such a beautiful island, much nicer than Wayland here.”

“Yeah, Yeah, but what did he say about the place. Bank said it might be dangerous there for the group.”

“Do you remember the stories about the Wild West and Cowboys and Indians that we used to be told? Well Ivor said it was a bit like that, all wild and rough. People have to look after themselves and there is very little law and order and its run by a tyrant.”

“Doesn’t sound like home that we know it but Mum never let us go into town. I suppose that’s why the grownups have brought those guns with them to protect themselves.”

“I don’t like guns. Look what they did to that poor Captain!”

“Don’t be squeamish. They at least frightened the sailors to give up our things. Pippa, shall we creep out and look around the town? I’m bored sitting here. We could go down to the quay side and get some more crabs that you like.”

“Aunty Tess says we have to stay with the group!”

“We don’t have to do everything that Aunty Tess says. Come on, don’t be a pansy Pippa!”

“OK, but only if we go to the quay and nowhere else.”

“Come on Pippa, let’s slip out before anybody notices. I’ll go first and you follow in a couple of minutes. I’ll wait for you outside the front door. Now don’t creep, just walk out confidently as if you’re going about your business.”

“Did anybody see you Pippa?”

“Yeah, Tess saw me but I pointed upstairs and she just nodded. Now where do we go?”

“Just follow me and walk confidently, don’t stare around, just as if we do this all the time. No, you can’t hold my hand! Look, there’s the quay. Look at all the ships in the bay. I didn’t notice that many before.”

“They don’t look very lively. Look, most of them are listing over and there isn’t a light showing on most of them.”

“You would have thought one of them would be able to take us to Arbigland Max?”

“Hey, you two! What are you doing here? We haven’t seen you before,” shouted a boy, head and shoulders taller than Max, standing next to a smaller boy who was sitting on a bollard.

“Hi, I’m Pippa and this is Max. We have just arrived on that junk over there. We are staying at the Sailor’s Arms.”

“Yeah, we are with a party and we have just popped out to get some fresh air,” added Max.

“Not much fresh air around here with all the stinking fish lying about,” said the smaller boy, standing up.

“We are looking for the crab vendors. Do you know where they might be this time of the night?” asked Max.

“You won’t find them here.” said the taller boy. “Have you got some money then?”

“Yeah, Max and me have probably just enough to buy a portion of crabs for the four of us if you show us where they hang out,” added Pippa.

“OK then, if you are buying then just follow us,” answered the smaller boy heading off towards the town.

“I’m Hugo and this is my brother Edward. Just follow us to the town square and we should find plenty of vendors there.”  

“Thanks Hugo. Max and I had some crays and crabs earlier. Never had any before like that but we loved them and thought we would like some more before we leave tomorrow.”

“Where are you going?” asked Edward.

“We are going home to Arbigland, aren’t we Pippa.”

 “Where’s that?”

“Haven’t you heard of it Hugo, it’s the last wild outpost in Our World. Full of wild animals and crazy people, it’s a fabulous place to live, isn’t it Pippa?”

“I wish we could come with you,” said Edward, mournfully, “We only get out on the fishing boats and occasionally Dad takes us into the forest for the day.”

“Here we are folks, now let’s just look around first and see which stall has the best-looking crays. Do you like the baked snow apples?”

“Never had them. What are they like?”

“You will love them Pippa,” shouted Edward above the noise of the milling crowd. “They are mushy and sweet with a tinge of spice. Hugo always asks for extra butter.”

“Before we go any further, how much money have you got? We are skint, not even a bean. Dad keeps us short.”

“Max, what have you brought with you? I haven’t got any.”

“It’s OK Pippa, I have some coins here that Ex gave me when we were on the Quay. I suppose I was to hand them back to him. Look Hugo, this is what I’ve got. What will this buy us?”

“Wow, that’s a lot, we can all have crabs, cray and apples we can eat and more. Come on let’s go over to that vendor there. He seems to have all what we need and he’s not too busy. Give me that big coin Max. That should pay for the lot.”

 They pushed forward to the vendor and Hugo ordered and they stood watching as the vendor threw fresh crab and cray onto the grill and four large yellow apples in compartment under the coals. The cooking food smelled good, especially the snow apples which gave off a fragrant sweet scent. The vendor heaped the cray, crabs and apples into a roughly woven basket and Hugo paid, asking for more butter on the split apples. Pipa got the job of carrying the haul to the steps of the Town Hall nearby and they sat and greedily tucked into their meal.

“Oh, Oh! OK folks just do as I tell you and don’t look around. There’s a gang of lads just behind us and they are eying up our food,” hissed Hugo. “Now leave the rest as if we’ve had had enough, get up and leave it behind.” 

“I’m not leaving this delicious food behind!” said Pippa indignantly.

“Pippa, quiet, just do as Hugo says. This gang will attack us and rob us and probably hurt you. Come on, just do as Hugo says and don’t start looking around. Get up slowly and follow me.” They rose, leaving their half-finished food and followed Hugo who walked quickly down the steps away from the gang. As soon as they were a short distance away, the gang of boys pounced on the remains of the food, but some saw better pickings and started to run after the four.

“Run! Run quickly and don’t let them catch you,” shouted Edward and shot off after his brother. Max grabbed Pippa’s hand and dragged her along, then decided to change direction and run towards the quay. This confused the chasers for a moment and they quickly split into two groups and resumed hunting their quarry. This gave Max the opportunity to shout at Pippa to run for her life and he would follow. Pippa suddenly realised the full danger they were in and speeded up rather than looking about.

“Run to the quayside and don’t look around. I’ll follow. Go on, run!” shouted Max, as he fumbled in his pocket for his catapult. As Pippa rounded a corner Max shot a stone at the chasing boys. It must have hit one, because he heard a yelp and the chasing gang slowed for a moment. Max caught up to Pippa and steered her to the right to get as close to their inn as possible. Suddenly their way was blocked by a huge man with outstretched arms.

“Hello you two! What’s up? What are you running for?”

“Oh, hi Bank. We are being chased by a gang of boys. Look, there they are,” said Pippa gasping for breath and pointing back to five youths who had slowed down, wondering what to do next.

“OK, get your breath back, you’re safe now,” said Bank quietly as the gang decided to turn tail after shouting some rude comments at them. “Did you enjoy your supper? It smelled delicious.”

“Have you been following us Bank?” asked Pippa. “Please don’t tell Tess. She will be very cross with us.”

“It’s OK Pippa. I noticed you two slipping out and decided to follow to ensure you didn’t get into any mischief.”

“But we didn’t do anything wrong, did we Max?”

“Oh, you didn’t do any mischief but you could have got yourself into some heavy traffic if that big lad you were with, hadn’t noticed in time. You need to be more street wise around here. Look around, most of these people are starving and a basket full of delicious food will bring the worst out of everybody. You should have followed the rest of the crowd and got a bite here and a bite there. You understand?”

“Yes Bank. Sorry, we were a bit stupid and thanks for coming out and saving us. I only hope our friends got away.”

“I’m sure they did Max. I watched them run off and then I sprinted off to intercept you two.”

“So, you were our guardian angel Bank. Max and I didn’t see you,”

“No Pippa, you were too busy tucking into the food to notice me.”

“Sorry Bank, to drag you out. I suppose Pippa and I will be grounded now.”

“Well let’s say this was a fast-learning exercise for you. I will keep mum if you do.”

“Oh, thanks Bank, that’s saved our bacon.”

“OK now let’s all saunter back to our lodgings, just as if we had been out for a quiet stroll.”

“Bank, will we get to Arbigland?”

“I’m sure we will somehow, but don’t ask me how. I haven’t the foggiest. I’m sure Sail will find a way as long as he doesn’t suggest swimming!”

“Captain Koran told me Arbigland was some six days hard sailing away.”

“Well, we would need a faster ship than the old junk we came in then.”

“Look, we are back at the inn Bank, thanks for looking after us and not telling Tess.”

“OK you two, get a good night’s rest, because my nose tells me we could be very busy tomorrow. Good night.”

 

8. The Schooner Tristiana

The next day was spent searching for a charter to take them to Arbigland with no success. Most owners and Captains didn’t want to know. They all had heard about Arbigland and never any good news. It was only towards the end of the day and after checking all the wrecks lying in the bay that they came across a sad schooner named Tristiana, lying low in the water with a frightening list to port. The watchman on board told them of the owner who would offer them the ships sails and spars for sale at a knock down price.

They discovered that the schooner belonged to a Captain who couldn’t get any work and had given up sailing to take up farming. They left it to the next day, mid morning, to accost the owner. After lengthy negotiations with a canny Captain, they agreed on terms, that they would pay a weekly charge and any refurbishment cost to make the vessel seaworthy plus an option to buy or pay for the possible loss of the ship at twice its current salvage value. They sent out an independent surveyor to value the ship in its current state and got the local Sheriff to verify the deal.

According to Sail, the surveyor valued the ship at a ridiculously low price, not so much for the state of the craft, but more for its lack of cargo handling capability. It was still too big for their needs but effectively the best one available.

Sail took over the group leadership and outlined his plan. He would act as Captain and he would hire in Wayland, a First Mate, a Boson, a navigator, two shipwrights and two sail makers and the rest of the party would be press ganged to work as the motley crew. The first job was to beach the hulk and inspect and remove the barnacles. They would then repair and replace the masts, spars and cordage as required. The sail makers would repair and replace the sails sufficiently for them to leave harbour. Further sails would be made up and added as required during the journey. Bank would handle the finances as usual. They were planning to leave in five days time. Their first job would be to row out to the ship, pump out the water, dump the ballast and anything else unnecessary and generally clean up the vessel so that it could be beached on the high tide at six, next morning. Oh, and also to land all the ships stores, sails, spars and furniture that could be removed, to lighten the ship. Finally, throw the watchman overboard unless he agreed to work for them.

Pippa and Max listened to all the discussions with great interest and wondered when they might be part of the plan.

“Max, Pippa there is a serviceable small sailing dingy on the ship. You two can sail that and help?”

“Oh good, at last there is a useful job for us,” replied Max as Pippa nodded her head eagerly in agreement.

“Right then you two can be helpful as our messengers and carry things and people back and forth. If you get bored, then you can go fishing in the bay. OK?”

“Yes Captain Sail! When do we start?”

There was no argument or discussion, which was the way of the Assembly party. No dissent until you had a better idea, supported by at least two others, or else you unquestioningly got on with the job. The hulk was a hive of activity and a couple of chug boats were hired with crew to transfer goods between ship and shore to remove the weight. There was a lot of splashing and the poor watchman got the job of emptying the ballast from the bilges. This seemed duly appropriate since over the two years the ship had been berthed, he had helped to fill the bilges with his own excrement. Extra pumps were employed and slowly, over night, the hulk rose out of the water and the alarming list corrected itself. Additional cables were borrowed, with huge blocks to drag the ship up as far as possible up the beach. Sail explained that the removal of the weight of barnacles would compensate and with the added buoyancy, help to re-float the ship when they had finished making the hull watertight. 

          Pippa and Max were kept extremely busy shipping people and messages between the schooner and quayside. Pippa took over the role of skipper and Max who was stronger, manhandled the goods they transported and helped the people in and out.  When there was a lull in proceedings they joined the flotilla of small boats out in the bay, fishing for crabs. The process was easy, a line with some meat tied on the end and the greedy crab hooked on and was swiftly elevated out of the water, into a waiting bucket and would be later barbequed for lunch.  

Sail managed to hire two shipwrights, two sail makers and an extra cordage expert. The others were more problematical, once they heard of their intended destination. Eventually they had to resort to bribing the Navigator, Mate and Boson with extra bonuses on completion of their term.

9. The Beaching

At high tide, early next morning, the men were arranged around two temporary capstans on the beach and they slowly took the strain on the hawsers. Gradually the ship was hauled up the sandy beach and settled, listing in shallow water. The open side was hidden by a blanket of seaweed and hidden barnacles. The two shipwrights were handing out tools and ordering the men to wade into the water to chisel away the debris. This was going to be a long slow process. The shipwrights prepared sharp pegs of iron wood which would be hammered into the holes of evicted wood-boring worms by Pippa and Max, to stop the leaks. The sail makers were sorting out the sails with lots of tutting and shaking of heads. Bank had to give up the de-scaling work to deal with the purchase of supplies and materials.

Early in the morning Ex did his usual disappearing trick to the consternation of the others.  A couple of hours later he reappeared at the head of a line of about twenty men and two women pushing a laden hand cart. For a good square meal and a bottle of local ale, he had collected up the ragtag and bobtail out of the gutters of Wayland and offered them a day’s work. The work progressed at a faster pace and the women set up their kitchen headed by Tess and attracted the attention of a swarm of fishing boats selling their catch. A further gaggle of onlookers sat on the beach offering advice and hoping for some morsels of food. They were useful when extra bodies were needed to tilt the ship over to tackle the other side. The shipwrights could now concentrate on the inspection and survey of the rest of the ship and its rigging.

By sundown the hull was clear of seaweed and barnacles, fully plugged and determined to be watertight. The last of the bilge water was pumped out and seepage was almost non existent. The hull was coated with a thick layer of hot pitch and everybody downed tools and congregated by the kitchen fire on the beach. A beaming Tess, doled out a generous helping of thick fish stew to Ex’s workers first, followed by the motley crew. When everybody had had their fill, the on lookers shared in the bounty. The temporary workers were sent off back to their shelter or back to the gutter, with a bottle of local ale to cheer them up.

Sail got his crew together and under lantern light got the shipwrights to report their findings and solutions, same with the sail makers, cordage man, plus the new Mate, Navigator and Boson. They had lots to say and were listened to without interruption until Sail called a halt and outlined his plan and instructions based on what he had heard. Tomorrow at first light, they would re-float the ship and tow it to the quay where they had easier access for repair and supplying the ship. The sail pattern would be changed by extending the bowsprit to take an extra foresail and the foremast would have a square rig sail added to improve with sailing with the wind or down wind in sailing parlance. Spars would be replaced as needed and rigging upgraded and improved. The new folk agreed with the general plan but kept asking questions particularly about the ballast and balancing of the ship. Sail brought in Koran, who explained that Arbigland was in need of coal and iron so the ballast would be made up of bags of coal and pigs of iron that could be easily moved into position, as they got under way to improve the ships balance and sailing quality. The final act of the day was for Ex to repaint the name ‘Tristiana’ on the bows in gold and also the lucky eye in Blue. He got a cheer for his efforts. After a heavy day the crew settled down on the beech to sleep in readiness for the next day.       

10. Moored at the quay

Attached to three anchors, set out far in the bay and attached by hawsers to the ship’s capstans, the crew took the strain and waited for the tide to lift the ship afloat. As Sail had predicted the hull broke free off the sand as the tide began to turn and the capstans pulled the schooner out into the deep water. Plenty of bay chuggers were at hand to pull, push and manoeuvre the ship to the quayside, to be safely tied up and ready for the refit. 

The timber merchants fought with each other for the right to supply the ship and Sail just wandered amongst the timber on offer and chose his requirements, according to the shipwright’s needs, as they got on with their meticulous carpentry. The men of the Assembly organised the cabins and the loading of the ballast into the holds. Anyone caught shirking got an hour of scrubbing the decks. This was an important task to swell the decking wood, seal the joints in the planks to make the decking watertight. The new Boson was delighted to reassert his authority and have the men dashing back and forth helping with the most immediate tasks. The plan was that they would be ready the following afternoon to do a shakedown cruise and check the ship’s balance and sailing capabilities. That evening the local chandler would supply the ordered provisions and they would be ready to sail on the ebbing tide the following morning. 

Pippa and Max got the daunting task of climbing up the rigging and chopping away any rotten ropes, or sheets as they are called in sailing terminology, that they found or pointed out by the Boson. Sail would follow on and replace them with new ones. Being high up on the rigging was quite frightening at first but Pippa managed to overcome her fears quite quickly and was faster than Max climbing up and down. Going out on the spars was another matter and she left Max to carry out those tasks, excusing herself as a task being too easy.

The trial went well, with the sails and mast tuned to maximum efficiency and the ballast redistributed to get the best balance. The sail makers suggested a third short mast at the aft to help in steerage plus some additional rigging. Provision was made to install this out at sea at a more convenient time.

11. The wine is sour.

Everyone was exhausted at the end of the day and settled down in their hammocks below.  Ex was appointed to handle the final delivery of provisions, water and materials. He sat on the quayside whittling a piece of wood into a whistle and awaiting the carts from the chandler’s storehouse. The men below were suddenly woken up by shouts and the crashing noises from barrels rolling off carts and breaking on the paving. They saw Ex haranguing the cart men and stevedores and sending them back on their way. The chandler or his warehouseman had sent over substandard goods and they had been found out. The smell of sour wine pervaded the whole area.

 Dunston amassed his troops. Five of them set off into the hills above the town. They arrived at the chandler’s palatial villa and easily scaled the wall. They entered through the backdoor and into the kitchen. The main course was about to be served and the dining room bell tinckled to commence the serving of three mouth watering platters and large flagons of wine. The bell rang louder and impatiently and a moment later five strange manservants entered and placed their laden platters and flagons onto the large table, surrounded by the chandler at the head, his wife and two boys and guests. One of the guests was the Sheriff and Sail acknowledged his surprised look and then addressed the man at the head of the table. 

“We seem to have a problem with the quality of our provisions, not comparable to the fare you are serving your guests here.”

“What is the meaning of this intrusion? Sheriff, please ask them to leave so that we can continue with our meal,” said the white-faced chandler, trying to maintain some dignity and composure.

“I wouldn’t mess about with these boys my friend,” quipped the Sheriff, “They are apt to distress your legs as they did to the Captain of the junk, who strayed out of line.”

“I suggest Mr Chandler that you supervise the delivery yourself, early tomorrow morning,” said Sail sneering. “We will leave now but expect you to full fill our order and of the best quality. We don’t want to be delayed tomorrow.”

12. We are sailing

Stowaways

A crowd of onlookers watched them sail out of Wayland harbour and numerous boats followed them out to the spit at the head of the bay. Pippa looked at Max and raised a questioning eyebrow.  Max shook his head vigorously and put a finger to his lips to denote silence. The mood was broken by the Boson ordering them up to the crow’s nest to scan the sea ahead for squalls, shallows and floating logs that could do damage to the ship. Since they were now sailing through uncharted territory two lookouts were necessary. Pippa and Max felt honoured to be chosen since they were the only experienced sailors in the crew apart from Sail himself of course.

“Raise the mainsail!” was the order from the Boson and all hands clumsily started to unfold the huge piece of sail cloth wondering which attachments to use and where to stand. With the help of the two sail makers and shouted orders from the Boson the sail was hoisted aloft and firmly tied off onto the main spar where it would stay permanently throughout the voyage. As the strong breeze filled the mainsail, they could all feel the ship pick up speed and the crescent bow-wave became more pronounced. The Mate shouted a heading and the two men at the tiller responded and the schooner slewed direction to respond to the tiller. The Boson shouted more orders and the sails were adjusted to his liking. 

The first few days of sailing were bad. Not weather wise. That was fine, with a stiff regular breeze but the Boson’s training methods were verging on the sadistic. He had the motley crew up and down the rigging taking down sails, replacing them, reefing, scrubbing, pumping even though much of this seemed unnecessary. They were supposed to be divided into two shifts with four hours on and four hours off but the shift work all ran into one. For some reason, they were required to change all the sails and scrub the decks at the same time. The only relief came when the sail makers needed help but in reality, they just added another sail for the mariners to rig and work with.

 The two shipwrights and Sail spent the time below checking the timbers and adding strengthening pieces. The worst was when they were on deck and the crew had to replace a spar here and there and alter the rigging. It sapped their strength which even Tess couldn’t replace fully with her cooking.  They were all working on borrowed energy. Only Bank and Mont survived intact, with their over developed upper body strength, they were incredible but Ex and Dunston made up in sheer energy. The two new recruits Koran and Ivor suffered most. They had spent six months in Wayland on a poor diet and this energy sapping work was killing them. They also lacked the inner belief and determination possessed by the Assembly members who had been through similar experiences of deprivation more than once and now almost thrived on it.

Max and Pippa were also kept busy. If Max wasn’t up the mast acting as lookout, he was busy fishing. Pippa also had a stint in the crows’ nest when she wasn’t serving water to the crew or helping Tess in the ship’s galley.

The third day of hell arrived and all the crew were on deck fixing the last sails which the sail makers had completed. They still had five more to make up to provide the Tristiana with a full complement of canvas. Dan the chief sail maker opened up a side locker up at the bow of the ship and screamed, “Captain, we have stowaways on board!” Pippa and Max who were perched high up in their own crow’s nest waved to each other and observed the proceedings. The Boson and Mate rushed up to the locker followed by Sail, the Captain as two youths were pulled out of the locker by Dan, the sail maker.

“Who are you and what on earth are you doing on my ship?” shouted the Boson as the two lads shielded their eyes and tried to exercise their legs.

“I know you two!” shouted Sail. “I recognise you as the two youngsters belonging to the Chandler. What are your names and what are you doing on my ship?” grabbing hold of the tallest youth roughly.

“I’m Hugo and this is my brother Edward. We mean no harm,” answered Hugo looking very frightened.

“We just wanted to join you on your adventure Captain,” said Edward cowering behind his brother. “Our dad said you would be having a wonderful time so it was my idea that we stowaway.”

“No, it wasn’t,” shouted Hugo, “it was mine and please don’t turn back Captain. We will work our passage and will make ourselves useful won’t we Edward?”

“Captain, Captain,” shouted the sail maker. “There’s only one full bottle of water in there and there is no means of getting out of these lockers. They can only be bolted on the outside.”

“We are very thirsty,” said Hugo lamely. “We had no help, honestly!”

“I don’t believe that for one moment. Right, you two, get your belongings together and follow me into my cabin where we will have a little discussion,” ordered Sail. “Boson, send Bank to my cabin and when I’ve finished with these two, I want to see Pippa and Max and they better have some good explanations for me!” as he marched the two miscreants to his cabin. The two boys were thoroughly grilled by Sail and Bank. 

“Right, we will continue to sail on but at the first opportunity or the first ship that is sailing for Wayland, you two will be in it. Understood?” ordered Bank.

“Yes Sir, and we will make ourselves useful won’t we Hugo?”

“Yes, we can fish, we can do lookout duty and we have brought our map making materials with us,” answered Hugo. “We will behave and make ourselves useful.”

“Right, off you go and see the Boson. He will have some chores for you,” added Sail, “and send Pippa and Max in to see me. Not another word from you. Off you go,” as Hugo and his brother marched out looking very forlorn and chastised.

An hour later four youngsters, under the watchful eyes of the Boson were busily, on their knees, scrubbing the decks and trying to look serious about it. Max caught Hugo’s eye and winked in a conspiratorial fashion.

“Get scrubbing you lazy good for nothings!” came the cry from the Boson.

On the third day the Boson announced that he was going to retire to his bunk for sixteen hours and the crew could all go to hell. Since they thought that they were in hell already, they didn’t quite know what he meant, but the Mate took over and stood down a shift and distributed light duties to the others. Those on deck were in an automaton mode and kept looking at the sails and rigging, expecting a shout or the whistle to set them scrambling. At the command ‘Set the main foresail!’ they were there in anticipation and pulled in the sheets immediately to maximise the sail efficiency. There was no need for the Mate to add ‘look sharp about it!’  They were now fully trained and conditioned to do all tasks about the ship even in their sleep. The foursome had the pumping out of the bilges added to their chores.

13. Turkey Island

Some light relief came when they anchored off Turkey Island. The Mate sent them off to get water and fresh provisions. The two midshipmen Hugo and Edgar immediately volunteered to catch some turkeys and asked how many they needed. “Three or four, especially if we can get them alive” said Nurse our chef. They were all intrigued as to how these young lads were going to trap these huge dangerous birds. They were the height of a tall man with powerful legs that could splinter bones with ease. Their meat was to die for. Momentarily all the people sent on shore gave up their appointed tasks and followed Hugo and Edward with curiosity. The boys told them to stay back in the bushes as they set themselves up by building a screen with logs and bushes to shoulder height.

 Hugo then fixed a small knife with a shiny blade, to a long stick, whilst Edgar prepared loops of rope and arranged sacks at handy distances. The curious party including Pippa and Max watched from a vantage point up in a tree as the knife was dangled above the parapet to catch the sun and strange gobbling noises were heard, uttered by Hugo. This went on for some minutes when they heard a rustling sound coming from the bushes ahead. Sure enough, a turkey’s head popped up and gobbled respondingly. The knife on the stick was pulled down and only popped up quickly and wiggled coquettishly then was quickly withdrawn, accompanied by some squealing noises. They were suddenly witnessing the mating ritual of a turkey with a sailors’ knife on a stick. They were all eager to see the outcome.

With much ado, the seduced male turkey advanced and was enticed to look over the parapet. That was his downfall. A loop was quickly passed over his head and a stick waved menacingly in front of his head to frighten him. Duped and crestfallen, he took off into the distant bushes, to hide his blushes, at a gallop. Unfortunately, the rope around his neck ended his forward progress and he veered off right. The onlookers noticed that the rope end was tied to a nearby tree which at full length limited the beasts’ progress so that basically the rope was being entangled amongst the trees and bushes until the turkey couldn’t move any further. Struggling just tightened the noose further. The boys slowly and carefully approached and slung a sack over his head and that seemed to quieten the jilted gentleman. His legs were lashed together and the noose was released to stop him struggling. They had themselves a trussed-up turkey which Nurse and Sail carried back to the beach. They watched another successful wooing and capture and went off to do their duties of collecting water, fruit and firewood.

The main party returned to the beach lugging sacks of fruit, bundles of firewood and couple of barrels of fresh water to find Ex, Mont, Pipa, Max, Hugo and Edward frolicking in the water. They hardly noticed as they dumped their stuff and demanded to know from the boys what the happy occasion was. The Hugo just grinned and in return demanded to know what took them so long and had they any spare sacks left. They had captured four amorous male turkeys, all now below deck on the ship and were now amusing themselves catching crayfish for the supper. The main party left them a spare sack and a bucket of water to drink and rowed the boat back to the ship to stow their newfound provisions and retell the tale of the turkey hunt. Before the day boat could be sent out for the beach party they saw the happy four swimming towards the ship, towing a raft of balsa wood branches which they had constructed on the beach, loaded with a sack and a bucket full of crayfish.

The Hugo and Edward were hauled aboard to a hero’s welcome as the day shift hauled up the anchor and Doc prepared the barbecue on deck. The Edward showed off his culinary skills by demonstrating the method of cooking crayfish. First catch your crayfish, which was no mean feat without being severely nipped, whilst scrabbling in the bucket or sack to find a choice plump one. Its head was then smashed on the deck to stun it and slung, legs up, on the hot barbecue where they sizzled and spat. Once the spitting had stopped, they were speared with a knife and dumped in a bucket of seawater to cool down. The head could then be broken off and insides sucked out and with a deft flick of the hand the crays’ outer casing removed to reveal the white fleshy tail which was superb in flavour. They all quickly learned the trick, especially the cooling in sea water. If you didn’t or were too quick you got severely burnt from the boiling juices as you snapped the head off. Hugo said you could just put them on a platter to cool but what fool would wait that long. They didn’t bother shucking the legs and Nurse insisted the carcasses and legs were thrown in a bucket as he was going to pound them into delicious fish soup to go with the turkey dinner. In their intent to guzzle themselves on Cray they had forgotten about the plight of the turkeys and their wellbeing. The Mate confirmed that they were well trusted up and alive below, though one was going to come to a sticky end tonight. 

The Boson was busy with the shipwrights, fashioning an ugly looking harpoon with nasty barbs as a trusted-up turkey was brought up to be summarily despatched. Bank chopped off it head and neck, still in the sack, with a sea hatchet from the rack and was about to discard it over the side when the Bosun showed him the bucket adding, “for some sport tonight.” With the thoughts of their recent three training days in mind they didn’t want to think about what sport the Boson was hatching. The chopped off legs also went into the bucket and the birds was left to Doc and his surgical skills to gut the carcass. The lads came to the rescue again and Edgar suggested and demonstrated that if the skin was slit in certain places they could peel the skin off with the feathers and it would save time plucking the bird. They all set to and soon had a clean nude bird on the well scrubbed deck.

Next the bird was gutted and the insides were collected in the slop bucket. The liver was retained by Doc for the gravy. The breast and legs were carved into man sized steaks and the other bits thrown into a pot. The broken-up carcass was put aside next to the slop bucket and the decks scrubbed clean again without the Boson’s intervention. They were still intrigued by his plans for the scraps and their imagination couldn’t keep away from some of the horrors they were possibly going to face.

The meal was magnificent with a bowl of spicy pink soup coloured by crushed Cray shells and juicy lumps of turkey. More Crayfish tails were accompanied by freshly baked ships flat bread. The main course was delicious roast turkey steaks with roast tubers collected that day, all covered in aromatic thick gravy. The trays were set out on benches on the deck for the party to help themselves. Bank commandeered one empty tray and proceeded to lick it clean in appreciation. A fight almost broke out for the second which was begrudgingly gifted with extra portions of bread to the two grinning midshipmen. A basket of mixed fruit and a tumbler of watered down wine each, completed the feast.

They all rested on deck watching the sun recede and the three moons rise and throw an eerie light onto the sea. The wind had dropped and the sails started to flap but nobody cared, when suddenly the Boson jumped up and shouted, “Come on you lazy bums. Let’s have some sport,” and proceeded to chuck some turkey remnants into the sea. They all hung over the side and soon saw large shadows of striped tiger sharks glide lazily by and snap at the morsels with their razor-sharp teeth. It was a beautiful sight to behold and they were all mesmerised by their silky shapes when more crud was thrown in and the fish began fighting for it and leaping out of the water. “Right! Fun time over! Someone here is going to harpoon one of those beauties for our supper tomorrow.”

Boson chose Bank for the first attempt and the harpoon was heaved with strength and determination into the rising mass.

 “Go for the small ones!” shouted Boson but it was too late the harpoon hit one of the large ones but didn’t penetrate to the barb and easily dislodged and had to be pulled aboard on the line. Bank handed the harpoon onto Mont saying, “You’re the expert at this Mont, more akin to your knife throwing than my quill handling and bean counting.” Monty weighed the harpoon in his arm and set himself on the swaying deck and focused on the leaping fish. He suddenly let fly, piercing a smaller tiger shark at the top of its flight, just behind its gill slit. The point went in deep, hiding the barb and the fish convulsed and dropped into the water.

 “Get out of the way!” shouted Boson as he threw a bight around a nearest belaying pin and let the line slip through his hands, occasionally braking its flow. “The barbs bitten, it’s going to hold, we have ourselves a beauty. Just watch this?” he shouted with glee as they all looked on in amazement.

It took an hour of playing to bring the fish in and they took turns of paying out the line as the fish pulled away and reeling it in as it changed direction. The other fish had been alarmed by the display of one of them and had zoomed off. Every now and again the line would run out to its end and would run taught since its end was tied off to a mast. The ship would be heaved forward by the strength of the fish and they just crossed their fingers hoping that the barb would hold. The tiger shark would swerve away and they would reel in as much as they could. Eventually the fish tired and they netted it and brought it aboard, saluting its strength and fight, as it slowly expired on the deck. “We need to wrap it in wet sacks and keep it in the hold for at least three days for its muscles to slacken. Eat it before and you might as well chew on iron wood,” said Boson walking off, satisfied, to his cabin.

The magnificent specimen of three metres of solid muscle was admired for a long time and finally transferred to the hold below. They were all exhausted and those not on watch duty, melted away to their bunks and hammocks. They had similar sport on three other occasions but each time the fish found extra strength and broke the line or the barb tore out. They weren’t too disappointed. It seemed a shame to take part in the sport unnecessarily and Mont refused to take any further part.   

14. Training Midshipmen

On their initial sail out of the harbour, the Navigator had stopped their progress and insisted on calibrating the three compasses against known reverse bearings to the Bayland Town Hall tower. It took some time especially when he insisted that Pippa and Max, the Midshipmen should each check their bearings and results against the clock and also the Pole calendar. Then they all had to shoot the sun with their sextants to get the latitude, with more peering at tables. They just wanted to be off to get their sea legs back whilst Sail with the Mate wanted to double check all readings. To cap it all Sergeant came up from his cabin with a magic box and started turning knobs and wheels and rechecking all the readings. With nodding of heads, they all were in agreement and went off putting their instruments away carefully, as the crew got on with the job of sailing. If they had known what was in store for them in the next three days, they would have savoured every second of this delay graciously.

Ex was assigned the task of arranging the training of the now four midshipmen since he knew everything about everything, though he never pushed it down anybodies throat. He arranged for Pippa, Max, Edward and Hugo to spend time with all the key persons on the ship so that they could learn at first hand from the people doing the jobs. He took on the teaching of theoretical elements himself, like mathematics, navigation, sailing mechanics and stresses, weather patterns and history of Our World. 

The History is what they enjoyed most since Ex told it as a story and they had to repeat bits of it at regular intervals as a test. The history lessons were attended by a number of the sailors especially the Boson who insisted on being present, whatever the occasion. He had a good memory for facts and detail and would be the first with answers to the delight of the three boys and girl who managed to escape most of the grilling.

Ex told them about the true beginning of civilisation on Our World rather than the more popular versions. Our World was at one time listed as planet 6288 by astronomers on Mother Earth, over five hundred years ago. A manned mission was sent to this planet to check if it was truly habitable. They reported back that it was but the return rockets failed to operate and they found themselves stranded. A further mission was sent out full of technicians to get them all back. Since it took ten years to get out there on the spaceship, the stranded people had to wait a mighty long time. In the meantime, Technicians on Mother Earth had detected another problem with the main rocket and sent a third mission with more technical staff. When they finally all arrived some forty years later after the first rocket, they found to their surprise that the population had already increased by twelve. The newly arrived technicians and their new spare parts managed to repair the first return rocket but their own craft had developed major problems so they in turn were effectively stranded. A lottery was held resulting in twenty allocated places and the rest to be left behind. Not surprisingly the main rocket was sabotaged and they were all stranded and it would take another fifteen years to get new spacecraft out here from Mother Earth. In the meantime, there was major trouble on Mother Earth and all of the Space programmes were abandoned in favour of armed rockets to blow each other up out of existence. The news coming from Mother Earth was depressing so somebody kindly burned down the communication building and destroyed all the rockets and technical equipment and the people were left with no choice than set to and settle there on Our World, as the frontiersmen of the past had done on Earth.

They spread and multiplied, and their lives changed from being spacemen and technicians to be fishermen, farmers, hunters and gatherers and they had no time for useless technical knowledge that didn’t provide immediate food and shelter. Later, someone realised that all the knowledge built up over thousands of years on Mother Earth would be lost and started compiling an encyclopaedia, commonly known as the Book of Knowledge. Since there were plenty of well-educated people, a lot of information was collected but most of it of no immediate practical use to the people at the time. Since that time the local people had made giant leaps in medicine, engineering and farming based on snippets from the book.  The populist history theory taught in schools was that people just didn’t want to go back home to Earth and wanted to stay on in their new Eden.

15. Dangerous Waters

They were now sailing into uncharted waters and double lookouts were posted to look for islands and surf denoting rocky outcrops. Positional readings were taken more regularly and sailing was restricted to daytime and only on fully Moon lit nights. With having three magnetic poles the positioning was more accurate by using triangulation rather than just dead reckoning. They sailed more carefully and slowly so that the Midshipmen with Sail could launch a skiff and sail it alongside. Pippa and Max would sail the ship’s dinghy which was smaller and easier to handle than the larger skiff. They also explored small islands and brought in fresh supplies. Crayfish, small turkey hens and dog-rabbits were the favourites. Fishing in the teaming seas was a constant occupation to keep the larders full but during the nights the flying fish would jump over the ship, just get caught in the sails or rigging and flop down on deck as a gift. There was always a container at hand to store them. In places, they came across low reefs where only the surf breaking on what they supposed coral reef, showed the danger. They avoided them but mapped their position and recorded their existence for the Book of Knowledge.

“Land ahoy! On starboard bow,” came the shout from aloft from Max as they all peered out onto the horizon expectantly.  “Steer towards it!” barked an order to the helmsman. A ‘check the sails’ order was unnecessary since the crew were already at the sheets, adjusting and checking. They had a full set of sails and spares for most of the rigs by now. They had a spare mast and enough spars to refit the whole ship if needed. “Large Island with mountains in clouds,” came a shout from Max above, but below, on deck, they could only see the high clouds on the far horizon. The crew anticipated the command to loosen the sails to slow the rate of progress. They now had the ship rigged up so that the sails could be raised and lowered from the deck.  Mont with telescope was sent up the secondary mast as a stream of information and description came flooding down.

Koran came up to Sail and whispered that he thought we must be at the Island of Egremont. He had described the rivalry between the peoples of Egremont and Arbigland. The present ruler of Egremont was a war mongering tyrant who gave support to pirates who could get shelter and provisions there. The Dictator kept a number of galley ships that were manned by slave rowers and was planning to add the Arbigland archipelago to his Kingdom.

“Helmsman, prepare to veer off at my command!”

“Aye, aye Captain. Prepared to veer off!”

“Navigator, signal completion of readings,”

“Unusual activity on Quayside Captain.” Came the shout from Max up aloft, immediately followed by, “A galley is departing the quayside now Captain.”

“How fast are these galleys, Koran? Can they outstrip us in this light wind?” asked Sail.

“Very fast over two or three hundred meters and they have firing machines that are good for another two hundred metres, positioned in their prow.”

“Lookout! Report any activity on prow of galley!”

“Four men, working some equipment Captain,” came the shout from Max immediately and followed by affirmation from Mont with the aid of his telescope.

“Slacken all sails but look sloppy. Let the foresail flop to its limit. We need to show them some bad sailing. Navigator, shout the distances to the galley.”

“Aye, aye Captain!” came from numerous sources as the Navigator started shouting out the closing distances of the two ships.

“I want a real sloppy turn and a slow start on the five hundred metre shout and a slow uptake of speed. Only current Shift on deck, everybody else below,” came the command from Sail as the rest of the men disappeared below deck and out of sight. 

As the galley got closer the ship swung round in an untidy way and some of the sails flapped loudly.

“Over correct Helmsman!”

“Aye, Aye Captain,” and added, “My first time at the helm Captain!”

The navigator shouted, “Four eighty, Four sixty, they’re speeding up Captain, Four fifty.”

“Missile on Port bow Captain!” shouted Max as a large arrow shot past and landed in the sea ahead of them.

“Quick spurt of speed helmsman!” as the ship shifted to maximise the wind, the ship pulled away as the distances shouted, increased. The crew stood at the ready to maximise and set the sails as the second arrow landed in the water only a ships length away.

“How long can they keep this speed up Koran?”

“About another ten minutes or so Captain, anymore and then the slaves start dying.”

“OK Enough of this. Let’s show them some sea room sailors, easy does it,” as the schooner pulled away, convincing the galley to give up.

“An interesting lesson for us Koran!”

“Yes Captain. The next shot would have ripped the mainsail apart and that would have slowed us down to be showered by bolts from their crossbows. You ran rather close Captain. I would have had ‘welcoming bunting’ on my galley to fool you before attacking. They were a bit overconfident I would say, but in restricted waters, we would be sitting ducks to a good galley Captain.”

“Do I detect some criticism there Koran? Some deck scrubbing could cure that,” as Dunston came up and clapped a hand on Koran’s shoulder and wagged a finger at Sail for the Captain to relent.

16. Koran’s Concern

Dunston invited Koran to a meeting of the Assembly members to discuss plans for their travels in Arbigland. He asked him to tell them about the political situation and the problems they may face on arrival. Koran asked if Ivor could join them so that he could corroborate and add his views. This was agreed and they waited for Ivor to be relieved of his shift duties. Koran told them that they both had been away for six months but one of the reasons for departure was that the Governorship was taken over by a mining Lord or Boyar who was called Bonard. Bonard was a former resident of Egremont and was probably financed by the Lord of Egremont, to buy himself a position of influence in the Arbigland community. He had taken over the Governorship when the last recumbent resigned after a dispute in the mining area.

Ivor added that it was generally rumoured that the Governor of Egremont and Boyar Bonard had engineered the dispute and paid the existing Governor to resign. Bonard was then elected Governor and then had appointed another Egremont man, Arnoldo, to run the militia and police. Arnoldo was ruthless and the goals had been filling for senseless reasons. The Boyar families who operated the gold mines had been promised extra powers over their workforces, turning them into virtual slaves in exchange for hefty payments in gold to the Governor. One of the galleys was sent out on a hoax mission and was easily captured by the Egremont Navy, almost to order. They didn’t know the current state but believed that Bonard, the Governor and his cronies were planning to sell out to the Egremont Governor. Things could be bad, at least worse than when they left some six months ago.

Dunston told them his plan. “We arrive in the main town harbour of Barcloy as visitors and request permission to visit the interior to explore the Crystal caves and see and record the unusual animal life on the island. We say we plan to be there only for two weeks. We make our minds up after we have assessed the political situation. “We tell the Governor that we plan to leave and explore the Southern Oceans. If the situation is favourable, then we stay longer and complete our mission. For a few days we will moor in the harbour and sleep on board and check out our welcome.” He looked about to see nods of affirmation and continued. “The seas around here are dangerous with lots of hidden rocks, sunken islands and underwater barriers. Koran and Ivor will pilot us into Barcloy harbour during daylight and we will assess the situation. Ivor tells me the harbour is large and sheltered and we can anchor in many places. Initially I will take five people into town and try and arrange a meeting with the Governor Bonard so we can size him up check our welcome there. We will go armed but hidden. We don’t want to pose any threats but we are not going to be soft on them.”

“What about Max and Pippa,” asked Sail. “We should get in touch with their parents at least.”

“Good of you to remind me Sail. In fact, I will use that as our main reason for landing in Arbigland and then, since we are here, ask permission to explore and map the island for a short time. It will look as if we are just passing rather than the focus of our mission, thank you Sail.” 

Everybody nodded in agreement and went off to their duties and preparations as Sail went off to outline their plan to the others who would remain on board at all times. 

17. Barcloy Bay

Koran piloted them into the magnificent harbour of Barcloy, formed of a natural igneous dyke, forming a natural quay on one side, a sandy beach with floating pontoons opposite and the backdrop was the town of Barcloy built on, or more correctly built into a steep outcrop of limestone, separated from the rest of the mainland by a narrow strip of the black dyke.  It was effectively a magnificent island fortress. They anchored the schooner in the centre of the bay and saw the towns’ folk waving to them and running along the quayside. The appointed party launched a small boat and rowed to the steps at the head of the bay and were welcomed by outstretched arms of the local people. Koran led them into the square which was being prepared for some gathering or street party. A messenger arrived with an invitation to meet with Governor Bonard immediately and they were ushered to the large and impressive Town Hall. On the way they notice that the streets were strewn with rubbish and the place looked dishevelled and unkempt. Even Koran looked shocked but wouldn’t comment.

They were led into a palatial meeting room with beautifully made furniture and asked to sit down. A servant brought them goblets and a large flagon of wine. Another servant brought a large platter of what Koran described as crispy fried soft-shell crabs, a delicacy of the region. They sat down and helped themselves to wine and the minute tasty crabs and wondered how long they had to wait.

Not for long, as the doors were flung open and in marched a beaming Bonard with all his gold chains of office, followed by a sallow man in military uniform, Arnoldo, both flanked by six guards holding spears with flags.

“You caught me off guard but welcome, welcome. Please sit down and enjoy our island’s special delicacy. I would have been here earlier but it takes so long to get this infernal gold insignia on. Now gentlemen what brings you here to our beautiful island? Not just our soft-shell crab?”

“Thank you for your gracious welcome Governor Bonard. I’m Dunston, the leader of this expedition and we are on a journey to explore the Southern Oceans. Our main reason for stopping here is that a couple of your young people were cast adrift in strong currents a few years ago and ended up in Newtown. We have brought them back for you. They are Pippa and Max. Their parents, I believe have a Chuka farm in the next bay. Can you send a message to them?”

 “I shall be delighted to do that,” answered the Governor as he nodded an order to one of his men. “Stay as long as you like. You are welcome to visit anywhere on these islands. I can even provide you with guides if you wish. You are all invited to a Fiesta tomorrow as my special guests. It’s in the main square and I’m sure you have seen the preparations. If you will excuse me now, I have work to do. We will talk further tomorrow,” with that he rose and glided out with his entourage.

 They looked at each other, finished off the crabs, gulped down their wine and left.  Koran said he would stay ashore and find out more about the awful situation he saw there. He would also organise some fresh food for them to be sent out to the ship. A small boat, sent by the Governor, followed them back to the schooner to pick up Pippa and Max.

 

18. Pippa and Max reunited with their parents

Sitting in a small boat and being rowed ashore by some unknown sailor was quite upsetting for Pippa and Max. They held hands for comfort not knowing what kind of reception they would receive from their parents; would they be cross or just understanding? How would Uncle Toka behave since he built the boat for them? Would they be able to sail ever again? All these thoughts troubled them greatly. Also, they didn’t look too presentable in worn clothes which were rather grubby. Aunty Tess told them not to worry about such small matters and everything would be alright.

When they reached the shore, a gruff man was waiting for them with three horses. He didn’t even know where they lived. Fortunately, both could ride these mountain ponies well and rode off with the man trailing behind. They stopped out of sight of their home and decided to walk the last part so they dismounted and handed the reins over to the man who promptly rode off without a word to them. They reached the top of a small hill that overlooked their farm on the coast and they could see the sea as far as Crab Island. They both shuddered about their disastrous experience a few years ago. They also noticed the farm was a hive of activity with bunting being hung between the trees and tables being set out.

“Do you think this is for us?” asked Pippa meekly.

“I think it is Pippa. Should we wait a while or just go down now. They wouldn’t be putting bunting out if they were cross with us would they?” asked Max with a tremor in his voice.

“I think we should just hurry down. They must be expecting us.”  Pippa started walking fast down the track leading to the farm. Max followed and caught up with her. They heard a shout and all the people down below dropped tools and looked their way. They saw their mother gather up her skirts and dash forward to meet them followed by their father. Pippa broke into a run. Max followed as Pippa fell into her mother’s arms and was swept up. Dad had his arms extend for Max to run into them and again receive a bear hug.

 “We couldn’t believe you were coming back,” cried Mother as she hugged Pippa and stretched her hand out to Max. “We are delighted you are both back safe and sound. When the messenger rode up to tell us the good news, we got him to ride to all of our good neighbours and tell them to come over to our farm and greet you.”

“You’re here faster than we though. My how you have grown! You will have to tell us all, your story,” said father with tears in his eyes. “You look well and healthy, you must have been well looked after. I’m most grateful.”

“Shush father, let them get their breath back,” admonished mother, “Let them greet our friends who have supported us in our grief over the years. Now it’s time to be joyful.” 

Pippa and Max went around all their neighbours and gave them a welcoming hug and told them all that they were ever so glad to be back home amongst them. Aunts and Uncles came out and distributed refreshments before the main banquet that had been planned. Two chairs were set up on the central table for Pippa and Max and they were asked to recount their experiences over the time they had been away as everybody listened attentively whilst platters of food were brought out and people helped themselves with occasional morsels being passed onto Pippa and Max.

 It took over an hour for them to tell all their experiences and adventures and the massive help that they received from the Assembly members particularly Sail and Tess. Mother stopped the questioning and insisted that the two get down from the table and fully join in the feasting and festivities. Max admitted that in their long absence they had missed chukka eggs and tails. The only thing that worried them were the references to the problems with the leaders of Arbigland who seemed to be taking the Country to rack and ruin.    

19. First taste of Chukka

Back on-board ship Dunston described their welcome from the Governor and the fact they were shocked by the appalling state of dereliction of the town of Barcloy. Ivor immediately wanted to go and witness all this for himself and had to be restrained. Dunston wanted Koran’s report before he would allow anyone ashore. They were all amazed at Dunston’s observations because from the Bay the town and setting looked spectacular. They could see a lot of construction activity in the main square, as it jutted onto the quay and were interested to know the form of the Fiesta, since Ivor could shed no light. 

“Small craft approaching Captain!” came the monotonous tone from Edward the lookout. They had been pestered by a number of fishermen peddling their catch, so the shout was generally ignored. Hugo the lookout on the prow would see to them.

There was a gentle thump as a boat touched the side of the schooner and the flat of the hand slapped the side and a strong boyish voice shouted up to them.

“Permission to climb aboard, Captain Sail!” No one was going to be allowed on board without the once over thought Captain Sail as he got up off the deck and looked over the side. Looking up at him was the pretty face of a young woman with an outstretched hand, wearing a white starched apron. Who could refuse such a request? Sail mumbled, “Permission granted,” as the painter was expertly flung to her to tie up the boat. The thought that Captains don’t do these things never crossed his mind and he reached down and caught the waving hand as the girl put a dainty foot on the ship’s side and expertly heaved herself up and over the gunwale, showing off more petticoat that was good for the staring sea of faces.

“Thank you, Captain Sail,” as she did a small curtsy and a hand wave to the staring men on deck. “I’ve come to cook your supper, Captain. I’m Isobel. Can you get your men to haul up the goods from my boat? Please tell them to be careful with the barbecue. It’s hot. Now where shall we position it?” She looked around inspecting the deck and pronounced. “Over there by the wheelhouse will do,” as all eyes followed the gesture of her delicate hand. She flicked her black shoulder length hair back from her eyes and in a scolding voice uttered, “You’ve chosen the worst place to anchor Captain. Please move this elegant vessel further out into the bay. Over by the crabbers will be perfect. I don’t want the smells from the galleys over there to spoil my supper.”

Now who could refuse an order from a pretty woman like that, especially one who is going to cook your supper? The men got up and got quick orders from the Mate and shuffled bemusedly to comply.

“Can you set up a makeshift table and benches over there between the foremast and main? You have plenty of planking, barrels and small casks, I’m sure. I want everyone to be seated.” She looked over the side and shouted, “Careful with those hot coals. Don’t want to spoil your fine decking!” and she continued to supervise the hauling up of her provisions whilst the rest of the rest of the crew were heaving the ship into a new position against the anchors and handing up planking and barrels from the hold.

“Lookout!” barked the Boson as Hugo the lookout at the prow, suddenly realised a dereliction of duty, closed his gaping mouth and resumed his watch of the harbour.

The planks and barrels were expertly lashed to form a long broad table and benches supervised by the shipwrights who chose the necessary lengths of timber. The ship was repositioned and the anchors set. The barbecue positioned and fuelled up and the provisions stowed in their desired positions. Mont and Ex were then commandeered by a delicate hand and ordered to set out the beakers and jugs from a chest, and flagons of wine were decanted.

“Now would the crew please sit at the table and enjoy the wine. Supper won’t be long. Now Captain Sail, please introduce me to Dunston. I understand he is the only one here without a real job so he can come and help prepare the meal.” Smirks followed by guffaws greeted Dunston. With cap in hand, he sheepishly stepped forward.

“Yes Miss Isabel, what is it you need me to do?” This smelled of a set up and Dunston was going along with it, to be made a fool of he thought.

“I hear you boys like our soft-shell crab. Dunston is going to fry some up for you while I do the main dish. Over here Dunston I’ll show you what to do,” as she guided Dunston over to the barbecue.

Now this was going to be interesting. Never had anyone given a direct order to Dunston before, neither had anyone witnessed Dunston prepare a meal for anyone. This trick must have been well prepared thought Dunston and set up by someone, probably with Koran’s help. Let’s see what happens.

Isabel put a large cast iron frying pan on the barbecue to heat and poured in some oil that soon gave off a sweet smell. She demonstrated by dipping a handful wriggling small crabs, in a wooden bowl of flour and transferring them into the hot oil where they sank and sizzled. When they rose to the surface, she expertly scooped them up with a spoon and threw them on a large platter. As she took the platter to the table, she gestured to Dunston to get on with the cooking and pointed to the large wet sack full of squirming crabs ready to meet their maker. 

“Now you must be Doc, the ship’s cook on this voyage. Can you stoke up your ovens in the galley and bake these three trays of vegetables? Make sure you don’t burn them,” as she set to and started hacking off large steaks from three differently coloured metre long pieces of fillet, with a sharp knife. The knife was huge and the men nearby squeezed away on their benches to give her room. “Now you two boys, would you kindly unload the plates and cutlery from that box over there and set it out onto the table.” Who could refuse such a sweet command, especially when it was accompanied by a distinct flutter of dark eyelashes? “Would someone kindly set a barrel up for me by the barbecue and place this board of meat on it,” was accompanied by a mad dash of helpers vying for the privilege.

“Now Dunston, how are we doing with the crabs? Are you keeping up?”

“Fine Miss Isabel. Almost halfway through the bag. Very tasty they are too!”

“Don’t eat too many yourself. How did you find our town?”

“Well, a fine setting and a superb harbour to be proud of.”

“No, I meant how did you find the wellbeing of the town?”

“Well, to be truthful I found it rather disappointing.”

“You mean disgusting, don’t you?”

“Yes, but as a visitor and guest I wasn’t going to be disparaging about your town.”

“You can be as disparaging as you liken Dunston. Since Governor Bonard took office, the town has gone to the dogs and it’s been a deliberate plan on his part.”

“We met the man and he was quite welcoming and charming on first impressions but I suspect that in his case it could be quite misleading,”

“I wouldn’t trust the man at all. Now when you have finished the crabs you can help with grilling the steaks. Just to this colour, then stack them on the tray with a sprig of Rose herb between. I need to go and see how Doc is doing with the accompaniments.” At this moment Doc’s head popped up out of the hatch asking, “Miss Isabel, the tubers are nearly ready. What do you want me to do with them?”

“That’s quick. Just sprinkle some of this oil over them and let them rest. Come up and have some crab.” The head disappeared to finish his task as Isabel slid large trays out of the side of her special chest and slid them onto the table saying, “Help yourselves to starters. Its special fruit from our forests, dressed with sliced Chuka eggs. There’s a huge main course so don’t eat too much. Leave some room. You boys, dole out the wine. You’re failing in your duties!”

“Here Dunston, taste a piece of this chukka egg. They are the best.”

“Certainly, I haven’t tasted any egg as good as this. Generally, I avoid eggs.”

“Nobody avoids chukka eggs Dunston. They are the most sought-after delicacy from these Islands. My uncle raises them. I must show you around the farm. You will be astounded. Doc, please pass the trays up. We are almost done here. Come up for the starters or you will miss out on the chukka eggs. Hey, you two boys! Give him a hand with those trays and set them on the table.”

“Yes, Miss Isabel and we’ll clear the others away. Great food Miss Isabel,”

“Sorry guys, you will have to bring your plates and queue up as in school. Dunston will load you up with three differently prepared chukka steaks. You have eaten the eggs now we come to the big mammy tails. The light one is natural, the brown one is smoked and the yellow one has been pickled in spices. Come on don’t be shy!”

A sort of orderly queue was formed before Dunston, with some prudent elbowing to ensure full view of Miss Isabel. The food was secondary to this beauty. When they were all served, Isabel got three plates and loaded them up with chukka steaks and said, “Come on boys make room for Dunston, Doc and me. The Chefs need to eat as well!”

Room was made in the middle, on either side of the table and Isabel slid in between Sail and Bank whilst Dunston and Doc sat opposite.

“Here’s to our new and beautiful chef,” someone cried as they all raised their glasses and toasted Isabel, shouting, “To our new Chef, Miss Isabel” and someone added amongst chuckles, “May she sail with us!”

“Thank you, kind Sirs. It will be my privilege and pleasure to see to the feeding of you on the finest that Arbigland can offer for the duration of your stay.” The response was a drumming of tumblers on the tabletop. “My greatest thanks are for you bringing my nephew and niece back all safe and sound. We had given up on them as lost to the sea. Their parents will be delighted and I’m sure will want to thank you all themselves personally. Now eat up and enjoy the food we have.”

“Miss Isabel, I am Tess. We overheard that things aren’t to you liking in Barcloy at the moment?”

“Pleased to meet you, Tess; I should say so! Things have gone from bad to worse since the coming of Mister Bonard. Let me give you a taste. Firstly, the main sewer is blocked hence the unwholesome stench. Secondly the fresh water supply has failed for the lower levels of the town. Not for Governor Bonard. The fishermen objected to the Governor commandeering their catch so most of them were jailed by Arnoldo. The main food supply for the town, fish, was cut off so people had to stop work to fish or collect food in the forests for themselves. Those missing work were jailed. The workers weren’t paid and when they couldn’t pay their rent, they were kicked out onto the streets or jailed. The only thriving business in town is the jail which is overcrowded and has expanded to the school cellars. The school has closed down for the lack of teachers who are now in jail. Shall I go on? I’m sure Koran will confirm and add to the detail.”

“Sorry to arrive here and see you in this plight. I’m Bank and look after the finances of this trip. You must have gone to some trouble amassing the ingredients for this meal. You will be well compensated.”

“Pleased to meet you Bank. I had no trouble. I used to run an eating place in town with my two sisters but we couldn’t survive, with our best customers in jail. My suppliers trust me and most of them are family.”

“Boat approaching!” came the shout of the lookout. “It’s just Koran returning Captain.”    

A couple of the men pulled Koran over the gunwale and he brushed himself down and addressed the staring group. “Sorry to be so long. Had to find out a lot. The situation is desperate out there and I had to check to find any opposition to this regime. Hello again Isabel. I hope she has fed you well and probably told you of the shocking things I’ve witnessed with my own eyes and ears.”

“Come and sit down and join us Koran,” shouted Ex, “Hey make room there lads. Sorry Koran, you’ve missed quite a banquet served up by Miss Isabel and Dunston. Dunston has shown us some talents we never knew he had. No food left for you I’m afraid, Koran.”

“I’ve just left your father and sisters at the smithy Isabel. They fed me well but some wine would be welcome.”

“Isabel has filled us in on some of the issues out there. Hope you can tell us more on the possible outcome to all of this.”

“Isabel has told you about some of the major problems. I tried to find out with little success the reasons for Bonards’ actions and if there was any organised opposition to him. He appears to be supported by the mining Boyars in the Colvend region on the other side of the island, particularly Canatto who seems to be a Bonard lackey.”

“Who and what are these ‘Boyars’ Koran?”

“Well Doc, they are the local Lords of the Colvend area, on the other side of the Island, who have accumulated more wealth and power than is good for them. They control the entire mining region and won’t allow any other person to encroach onto their territory. All I have found out is they all support Bonard and he supports them. Any opposition is quickly snuffed out by Arnoldo, by jailing or eviction onto the streets. He is a terrible man and many have lost their lives at his doing.”

“So, these two have all Arbigland in a stranglehold and subjecting the people to a grim life.”

“That seems to be the case Dunston, but to what end? If he wants to feather his nest he could do it by getting support of the locals in Barcloy rather than causing so much pain and chaos. There must be something behind all this.”

“OK folks, we need to turn in early and see what tomorrow brings. Sail, post full watch and ensure all members are fully armed. We don’t want any surprises. I want every craft to be challenged that’s approaching this way. Any movement you see on the galleys, call ‘Action Stations!’ lookout. Have the row boats ready to tow us out when we cut anchor. Monty, will you and Serge arm yourselves with long guns that can pick off our enemy at a distance if necessary.”

“Duntson, you don’t think we should just sail away in the middle of the night?”

“No Ex. I don’t want to abandon a promising exploration of Arbigland just yet. Let’s see what tomorrow brings but I want everybody to be on guard at all times. I don’t like the situation here with Bonard and Arnoldo. I’m not sure if we can be of help to these people at this time.”

“OK men. To your posts or below! I will assign duties later.”

21. What morning brings

The night was peaceful with no disturbance not even any false alarms. Nobody slept much and Koran was much in demand, inundated with questions particularly from Ivor who was much concerned about the fate of his family and friends.

A bang on the hull brought them all to attention suddenly ready to take action stations when a sweet recognisable voice shouted, “Permission to come aboard Captain. I’ve bought you fresh breakfast.” As the lookout, already in position, tied up the boats painter and gave the lady a hand over the side. “Lots of fresh bread, local butter and fruit for you. You all look tired out. Too many late nights’ boys?”

“Welcome on-board Miss Isabel. Good to see you again so early with the breakfast. Yes, we may look worn out but not through play. We spent much of the night discussing the situation in Arbigland and the sorry plight of the people.”

“Thank you Sail for your welcome and concern. We are all in a pickle in Barcloy and don’t know how to extricate ourselves from the mess. Now come on and enjoy the breakfast, please help yourselves. Plenty for everyone! Dunston, the Governor sends his regards and would like you folks to be at his stand and seated by ten this morning. The entertainment will start about then.”

“Miss Isabel, any idea what the entertainment might be?”

“Sorry Ivor. It all seems hush, hush, but we have seen some jugglers practising and also some acrobats. Max and Pippa’s parents will be there after the fiesta to meet you and thank you for bringing them safely back to Arbigland. As you can imagine, they were all thrilled to have them back.”

22. The Fiesta

The Assembly members were seated well before the start of the performance in seats allocated just below the main platform. Koran and Ivor went to mingle with the crowd around the makeshift arena. A trumpet call heralded the Governor’s party onto the main platform surrounded by six pike-men guards. There was the Governor Bonard and his sidekick Arnoldo, the Governor’s wife and two other officials. He saluted the crowd who responded in muted silence, sat on his throne-like chair and banged the wooden gavel loudly on the table in front of him.  

This was the signal for the show to begin. A group of acrobats showed off their skills followed by a group of jugglers and they all got a welcome if muted in applause. A group of horsemen rode in at speed and showed off their skill by piercing melons with their spears, at full gallop. Another group galloped in and skilfully leant over and picked up small baskets off the ground, at full speed. The first group returned and showed their immense skills by switching horses at full gallop around the small square. The jugglers and acrobats returned and performed some more skilful routines. The applause of the crowd got louder as they started to relax and enjoy the proceedings.

The gavel sounded again and the crowd hushed as two horsemen, armed with hunting spears, galloped in and started circulating the arena at the ready. The gavel sounded again and two large boars with wicked tusks and a sharp horn protrusion on their snouts rushed into the ring and searched for a means of escape. The two horsemen immediately charged their prey and a wild chase ensued. The boars were quick and wily. They didn’t succumb too lightly to the attack and spun round and charged and raked viciously the horses back legs with their tusks. Fortunately, the horses’ legs were well bound and protected. The hunters tried to corner the beasts several times but on each occasion they escaped. Finally, the horsemen skilfully managed to round the animals up at one end and gave them an avenue of escape between them. This in fact was the avenue of entrapment as the hunters raised their spears at the ready. The pigs charged down the obvious corridor of death but at the last moment and to the surprise of the huntsmen and crowd, they veered off in opposite directions and reappeared and charged at the barrier opposite. Three hundred kilos of solid animal was no match for the planking which splintered as the boars escaped to freedom. The laughter turned to applause for the animals then appreciation for the hunters who had put on a skilful show of horsemanship even though the end result was different from planned.

The crowd was now enjoying the performance and responding in a positive and agreeable manner. The gavel sounded again and two men ran in and spread out a net in the centre of the arena. Two horsemen followed with spears and circled the arena. A door in the arena wall opened and the crowd hushed in anticipation. The men with the net took up positions opposite and the horsemen rode up to the opening. Suddenly a sleek golden animal pounced into the arena and hissed loudly. It was a golden leopard and the crowd screamed in amazement. It was a beautiful creature with short golden fur and large black eyes and long golden tail. The crowd hushed as the creature seemed to wind itself up and assessed its situation, hissing loudly. The horsemen rode up behind it intending to move it towards the net. As the riders advanced the leopard suddenly sprang in the air like an uncoiled spring and startled the leading horse which reared up with fear, nearly spilling its rider.  The second horseman backed up as the leopard leapt an enormous distance onto the rump of the retreating horse and vaulted over the barrier and into the screaming and panic-stricken crowd. It disappeared along the quay and the crowd regrouped and relived the frightening events. The crowd, out of danger, applauded the animal’s escape and were thrilled with their probable first sight of a golden leopard at such close quarters.

After an interval to settle the crowd, a group of soldiers came in and demonstrated swordsmanship. This seemed pale fare compared to the previous two acts and after a few minutes they were sent off on their way with slow hand clapping and jeering. Some men ran in and placed a number of spears, swords and shields on the ground and quickly disappeared. Two horsemen with lances rode into the arena menacingly. About six men were then pushed reluctantly into the arena by some soldiers. The crowd hushed and became restless as they recognised the men ushered into the centre. Women wailed and groaned as the horseman rode and scattered the men. Some picked up weapons and others just knelt on the ground in resignation. The horseman rode down the kneeling men and prompted them into activity and into arming themselves albeit reluctantly. Quickly the men arranged themselves into a sort of protective cordon as the horsemen rode up and down in front of them. One of the lancers galloped forward and speared a man on the end of the line killing him instantly. The second lancer took position for a charge as the opposing men broke rank and scattered.

23. End of fiesta

Dunston looked up in the direction of the platform and saw the smirk of satisfaction on the faces of the Governor Bonard and his side kick Arnoldo. Dunston nudged Bank and whispered, “I’ve had enough of this. Come, we have to take the ultimate law into our own hands! There is no judicial system here, so we have to be judge, jury and executioner here.” They climbed the steps to the platform and faced the Governor and his guests.

“Are you enjoying this spectacle Governor? The crowd have had enough of your murderous display.” He addressed the seated man, drew his handgun and proceeded to shoot the Governor through his thigh with his pistol then held it threateningly to his head. A second shot rang out as Bank shot his sidekick Arnoldo through the thigh and pointed his pistol at the guards. The wife fainted and the other two dignitaries disappeared under the table in fright. Dunston jumped up onto the table and addressed the worried crowd. 

“The Fiesta is over! The Governor Bonard and Captain Arnoldo have been arrested. Go home and stay indoors until we sound the bell. A new Council and Governor will be appointed to your liking as soon as order is restored to Barcloy. My ship and my crew are only visiting and I promise we will leave you as soon as peace and order is restored. Now please disperse.” 

Bank jumped up and shouted, “Those of you without homes or shelter, make your way to the Town Hall and sit on the steps until we find you accommodation and help.” By this time the rest of the crew had arrived on the platform with their firearms at the ready and watched the crowd scurry off.

"You two guards! Take this woman to her apartments. Find her maid and confine them there. You stay guard over them,” ordered Dunston as the woman was carried away by the frightened and puzzled guards who welcomed some orders. “You guards! Drop your weapons and see to the Governor and his henchman. Doc, I want their wounds bound and the men in chains. Now who are these two hiding under the table?” as two figures crept out.

“I’m the Treasurer and he is the Scribe,” said one of the men meekly.

“You, guard! Take these two to the main meeting room and keep them there for me,” ordered Dunston as they were led away. “Right, the rest of us will go to the Council Chamber and plan our next moves. You guard! Go and find Edgar and Ivor and send them to the Chamber immediately.”

“Pardon me Lord Dunston, Governor of Arbigland,” spoke the guard timidly, “The Laws of the Land prevent me going. A minimum of three guards must be with you at all times your Lordship. You are our Governor now.”

“OK, OK.” Replied Dunston taken aback that he had acquired a new title so suddenly, “Just find someone to bring them to us quickly!” as the guard seized an onlooker and gave him orders. 

24. Action Plan

As the square quickly cleared of people, they all marched off to the Council Chamber followed by the three pike men and settled themselves down in the plush seats and ordered the guards to stand outside and guard the door. A few minutes later Koran and Ivor were ushered in looking very pleased.

“Come and join us Koran and Ivor. You two need to be our key advisors at this point. We had to take decisive action out there and since the Judiciary here has collapsed our action out there had to be drastic. I’m not in the habit of carrying out shootings or executions but that seemed the only way out this time.  We need to make an immediate start on getting things put right around here and to establish law and order,” said Dunston looking around and getting nods of confirmation from all.

“First of all, Sarge, I want you to establish the security in place and foremost ensure our safety. Take over the military and establish their capability and strength and assess our defences against attack on Barcloy from sea or land by our friends from Egremont and Colvend. Take one of the guards and go now. Clear the people off the streets,” As Sergeant nodded and was making for the door. “I shall be in this building all the time for communication purposes and we will meet up tomorrow evening if not before for a full review and debrief.”

“Sure thing, Dunston. You’ve taken the right action here. We are all behind you. I will also look in on the prisons.”  Sergeant left the room.

“Ivor and Tess, you find Miss Isabel and arrange food for the people, including children on the steps. There must be kitchens in this place. Also get somebody, even the Scribe to list the homeless people and the reason their homeless. As far as possible I want to return to status quo so if these people have been evicted, get them back to their own houses as quickly as possible. Get one of the guards to escort them back. I don’t want anyone on the streets. Understood?

“Yes Dunston, I’ll get Miss Isabel to arrange food. Can I move these people into the large meeting room and off the steps? They’ll be more comfortable and we can keep an eye on them better and they are less likely to wander off.”

“Good idea Ivor. Now Bank, get hold of that Treasurer and assess the finances of this place. If there is need for immediate funds make sure they are available. I don’t want anything held up because of money shortages.”

“Sail, you and Koran will review the naval capability. Liaise with Sergeant and check out the protection we have in the harbour from possible attacks from Egremont.”

“Right Dunston and I will also check on the fishing fleet.”

“Good thinking Sail. Now Ex, will you sort out the towns’ water supply. Do what you have to and it needs to be running freely ASAP. The water shortage is the prime cause of the many problems we have here.”

“That’s fine Dunston but I also need to check out the sewage system otherwise we could have an even greater problem.”

“Thanks Ex but its important to show the people we are taking immediate action to improve their lot and you just concentrate on the water supply. Mont, can you sort out the sewage please? We need to improve the hygiene of this place and avoid any plagues starting.”

“OK Dunston. I will clear up the excrement and liaise with Sail and Ex on the flushing elements of the system. I’ll also organise some street cleaning while I’m at it.”

“No Monty, just concentrate on the sewage. Doc, you need to asses the wellbeing of the people and their immediate medical requirements. Also get the same people who put the arena up to dismantle it and use them to commence the street cleaning.”

“OK Dunston, I agree that our first priority is water, hygiene and food availability. Most of the people and children look half starved.” 

“On your way folks and remember that Bank and I will be here on site if you need us. Ensure that anything important is communicated immediately. I don’t want any surprises.”

25. The Review

The following evening, they met in the Council Chamber all looking weary and somewhat bedraggled apart from Dunston.

“Hey, Dunston, have you been preening yourself whilst we’ve been up to our neck in solid ‘merde’?”

“It may look like that to you Mont,” replied Bank, “but Dunston has been at it unravelling the murky politics and sorting out lots of admin issues. His pristine appearance is due to our guardian angel Miss Isabel who stole some of his clothes from the ship as a pattern and had a couple of new sets of clothes made up for our Dunston pronto. She said that as Lord of Arbigland he couldn’t look the scruff he normally does.”

“Hey guys, less of the banter or I’ll go and put my gold regalia on and dazzle you completely. I hear you’ve spent two hours bathing in the sea Monty. Life can’t be that bad!”   

“If any you had been where I was then I’m sure you would forgive me for trying to eradicate the glorious smells of local sewage system, before coming in here!”

“Thank you, Monty, for your kind considerations. We do appreciate it. Now let’s get down to business. Let’s start with you Ex. You look pleased with yourself. The waters here must suit you. Let’s have your report first.”

“I’m in love, I’m in love I’m in love,” sang Ex in his best tenor voice to the surprise of the assembled.

“Who’s the lucky lady Ex? We all thought you were a monk and signed the pledge,” shouted Sergeant.

“It’s not ‘Lady’ it’s ‘Ladies’,” replied Ex with a beaming smile. I’ve found two beauties that you would die for.”

“Oh, come on Ex. Let us in on this secret. We can’t believe you were out there chasing pretty butterflies when you should have been divining for water.”

“Doc, you complemented me on having the water sorted quickly and the two butterflies just flew into my hand. These two divine creatures are Miss Isabel’s elder sisters. They are twins and wouldn’t be separated so I agreed to marry them both if one of them would have me.”

“Are you serious Ex?”

“I’m deadly serious. If you had spotted these glorious creatures first Doc, you would have been smitten. You’ve all seen Miss Isabel and you are all infatuated by her, well, her sisters are even prettier, if that can be. Just ask Koran over there.” Koran nodded in confirmation and grinned in agreement.

“I presume you’ve popped the question, Ex?”

“Course I have. Just got to approach their father and convince him what a good character and catch I am, though I doubt any of you ignorant lot will put a good word in for me!”

“OK Ex, let’s have your report on just the water please,” added Dunston.

“Hey, I can’t leave my lovelies out of my report. They are a critical part as you will see. I found the waterman who looks after the system but he had been too busy in the past looking for food for his family to bother much with maintenance. The Governor made a pact with him to ensure a constant supply to the Town Hall and the rest of the towns’ people could look after themselves. The waterman actually stopped the water to the rest of the town from the high deposit. Let me explain. There are two water systems here. The high one, which feeds a water deposit on the hill at top of the town is fed by a pressure pump to get the water back up the hill. The low one is an open channel that runs over the causeway from the mainland and into the square area. In the high one, the feed had been broken but enough water stored in the deposit to last the Town Hall about two weeks. The lower one was just a trickle and the channel had been damaged by animals and leaking badly.”

“Not by the lovely creatures you’ve been talking about Ex?”

“I’ll ignore that Doc. The waterman took me to the smithy to pick up supplies of hollow bamboo pipes and iron clamps. For the clamps to form a watertight seal they have to be heated, fixed and cooled. The two girls were at the smithy with their father and volunteered to help. We took three pack ponies with supplies and also carried a hot burning brazier. We followed the pipeline and repaired both the channel and bamboo pipe as we went along. We even had to spend a romantic night under the stars. The girls shot a dog-rabbit with their fold away crossbows, so we were well fed. Next day we checked the supply and cleared the entry point of flotsam and now you have water in full flow. The deposit on the hill is filling and I’m just waiting for the OK from Doc and Monty to switch the supply to the whole town.”

“Well done Ex. Doc is having the streets cleaned and it really up to Mont to give you the go ahead. Is that all?” asked Dunston and added to some chuckles, “just on the water problem I mean.”

“This morning, I was introduced to the quarrymen and they are going to upgrade both systems. Sergeant released some quarrymen and masons out of jail and they are going to donate five days work free to the community by starting work immediately. They haven’t got any other work on at the moment so things should go on at a pace. The supply at the river is going to be upgraded with a small dam leading to a new stone-built channel with a stone cover to protect it from animals. The second main unused deposit is going to be fixed to make it watertight and fed by a second water supply. Oh, I have also ordered them to start paving the road to Colvend which will reduce the journey there by a day.”

“Thanks Ex. Just spend more time with your girls and don’t spend too much of Arbiglands’ money,” added Dunston and turned to Sergeant. “Let’s have your report Sarge and leave out any romantic tales.”

26. Military matters

“Sorry to disappoint you folks but no hanky panky in my report. The full force here amounts to your six guards and twenty troopers, half of them mounted. They are well trained but lack leadership and supplies. The horsemen are excellent riders as you saw in the arena but again need more equipment. I have appointed one of your guards Dunston, to command them. He’s a good man and well respected here. I have liaised with Sail and his twenty or so mariners on the galleys will come under my man’s command so that there can be full cooperation and interchange. Also, their training will be the same. The defences of the town are poor in that there is no plan or comprehensive communications. I’ve set up a lookout post on the highest promontory on the mainland and a semaphore signalling system which is being built and installed by our shipwrights. This will be our early warning system for any seaward attack. Signallers are being trained at the moment by our own Mate and Boson.”

“What is happening at the jail?” asked Dunston.

“You don’t want to go there! The conditions are dreadful. I sent the fat jailer to the galleys as punishment and released five quarrymen to Ex. I also released ten fishermen on the understanding that for the next six days, half their catch goes to Miss Isabel for her soup kitchen to feed the poor and the people in jail. They were all being starved to death. I was told that at least twenty corpses had been removed.”

“Why haven’t you released them all?”  

“Well Dunston, I didn’t think we needed an unruly and surly mob out on the streets at this very moment and they needed feeding and cleaning up. I shall release more daily on the basis they offer to put in at least five days of voluntary work for the good of the community. That way we will have some willing labour to clean up the place.” 

27. Arbigland’s navy

“As you heard, I’ve worked closely with Serge and we came up with coordinated plans for defence and communications. The conditions on the galleys were worse than in the jail. The smell was overpowering and the slaves were rotting on their benches with severe scurvy through lack of fresh food, exercise and water. Some were at deaths door when we arrived. I sacked the Admiral as he called himself and put the next Captain in line, Zoltan, in charge. Koran is now Captain of the second small galley. The first job of the Captains was to water his rowers, feed them and give them regular fruit to get rid of the scurvy.  The galleys were taken out of the harbour and totally washed and cleaned out and a system of proper sanitation installed and implemented to avoid repetition of the mess. I don’t like the idea of slaves as rowers but we have to live with it at the moment. Miss Isabel has been contracted to supply proper food to the galleys and Doc has arranged a supply of fish from the fishermen on a regular basis. This will be in lieu of protection from pirates when they are out on their fishing ground. I have also suggested to Ex that some of the slaves go and help with road building and water channel building to give them some different exercise. Both galleys will have semaphore and flag communications and the cutter which is the other naval vessel is already shipshape with a crew of four. Our Navigator and the two midshipmen Hugo and Edward are out surveying and mapping the approaches to the harbour on the cutter at the moment.”

“So, we are not going to be surprised by an attack from the sea at least. I’m grateful to both you Sail and Serge for ensuring our security. Now Mont tell us what nice things you have been up to.”

“I only wish some of you people had been around to witness my feats in the ‘merde’ department. The system is good but it had been deliberately blocked in the final tunnel through the hillside, leading to the swamp and reed beds on the other side. A few trusty men and I had to climb up the slimy tunnel from the exit and clear away the blockage of timber and try and escape the deluge and torrent that gushed down. We spent two hours washing in the sea to get rid of the smell. As Ex provided us with water and we flushed the system, working up from the bottom of the town to the top. Sarge provided us with soldiers and horses to carry water up which speeded the process. As soon as the waterman has fixed up the pipe work from the deposit, he will turn the water on to the rest of the town. I think the towns’ folk are appreciating the positive work we have done so far. Their only concern is about the curfew and they wonder how long that is going to last.”

28. The plot

“Thanks Monty. More and more towns’ folk are out and about now. Doc has ordered all people allowed out in town to wear special armbands which he issues so we have some control. Once the town is clean, the school open and people can go about their normal business then we will reduce the curfew to sundown only. Let me tell you what Bank, Doc and I have been up to.” Everybody leant forward to listen carefully.

“Bank commandeered the Treasurer and they checked the state of the finances. I can tell you there is enough there to keep the whole island, in fact the whole of Our World financed with major projects for the next ten years. I then interviewed the housemaid and she came up with some interesting info that she had overheard and gleaned. It seems that our Governor Bonard was accumulating enormous wealth so that he could ship it all out to Egremont, back home. There with the wealth, he was going to overthrow their present Governor and take over that Kingdom. He was going to install the Boyar from Colvend, Lord Canatto who currently rules that part of the island, as Governor here. In the meantime, former Captain Arnoldo was going to keep charge of the military and keep an eye on Canatto and ensure he sent the correct monthly tithe to Bonard. It seems Bonard had arranged a ship to collect him and his treasures in the next few weeks so he was running the place down and causing as much mayhem as he could so that Canatto would look like the big white knight on his charger, the saviour of the people, when he took over.”

“So, what are we going to do about Canatto?” asked Serge.

“Good question Serge. I have consulted with Bank and Doc and we have invited Canatto, his wife and his elder sons to come to Barcloy on the pretext of discussing his potential of taking over the Governorship of Arbigland. That will ensure he comes. After a friendly meeting we will clap him in irons.”

“Have you interviewed Bonard’s wife?”

“Yes Ex and she more or less corroborated what the maid said. By the way, the maid is some feisty woman who we need to make proper use of in some way. The wife was more concerned about her silk satins and her furniture. Apparently, she commissioned enough furniture to fill a palace and it’s all stored in the cellars. The furniture makers are renowned on this island for their exquisite pieces and when it came to pay, the Governor sent them to prison.”

“What’s going to happen to all this furniture Dunston?”

“At this stage I don’t know but we have freed the furniture makers and promised them some compensation if they are willing to put some time in for the good of the community as required. Bank has already commissioned a whole boat load of furniture for himself and paid them in advance so they are quite content at the moment. Now Doc, tell us your remarkable finds.”

29. The Chukkas

“Apart from cleaning up the town and seeing to the immediate needs of the people for food and water, I came across something remarkable which you will all have to come and see. Miss Isabel sorted out the food and the Town Hall kitchen staff members are all busy preparing meals to feed the town, prison and the galleys. There is plenty of food in the Town Hall pantry. Mr Bonard wasn’t going to stint himself.”

“We know all that Doc. What was this remarkable thing?”

“Patience, patience. I was just coming to that. I asked where Miss Isabel was sourcing the food and she offered to show me. First, she took me to her uncle’s chukka farm on the coast. Pippa’s and Max’s parents run this farm. Well chukkas are weird sea creatures, looking more like a crocodile but with a broad and short snout, rather like an enlarged frog. They laze about in the shallows, hiding in the reeds with their mouths wide open hoping for tender morsels to swim in. They also scavenge for dead fish and even drag land animals under the water and drown them. They have a vicious bite and powerful tails that can knock a horse over. They moult their tails as they grow larger and the females lay hundreds of eggs in the sands on the beaches. Now you have all tasted their eggs and tail steaks and you all must admit they are wonderfully tasty.”

“But how do you farm dangerous animals like that Doc?”

“This is the clever bit. The farmer has cordoned off a section of the beach and put in stalls as if for horses and puts food out for the chukkas, mainly fish heads, guts and bones from the fishermen. The chukkas’ love these, particularly if these remains start to decompose. As the chukkas are feeding, he selects the tails that are about to drop off and puts a loop of rope around them attached to a bendy pole. The chukkas escape by leaving their tails behind which flip up on the bendy poles and can’t be eaten by some other greedy chukka. The chukkas then go off to the shallows and re-grow their tails.”

“Another part of the beach is cordoned off and covered with netting. The sand is kept immaculate, swept and cleared of debris daily. The big female chukkas come up in the evenings and lay their eggs in the lovely sand. Once they depart for the sea, our clever farmer collects the eggs, before the pelicans and other creatures can get at them. That’s the reason for the intricate netting.”

“But how do they reproduce if the farmer collects all the eggs?”

“Now here is the other clever bit. Left to their own most of the eggs would be either crushed, eaten by predators or rot in the sand. The few that hatch and get to the sea become sweet morsels for their mums and dads. The Farmer sets some aside to hatch and this is where the fun starts. The baby chukkas look just like bird chicks with big yellow gapping beaks and the farmer puts them in a pen with his other turkey chicks and the mother turkey feeds them all by regurgitating food directly into their open mouths. When they get large enough to look after themselves and not be gobbled up, the farmer releases them into the sea and lets them grow, with a good start. This way more chukkas survive for farming.”

“How many tails can they harvest from one Chukka?” 

“According to the farmer about five and then if a mature one comes to feed, he just kills it and let the others devour it.”

“What does he do with all the eggs and tails? He must have lots.”

“He does Monty, and some go to the fisherman in exchange for fish bits and at one time he used to sell a lot to passing trading boats but the pirates and the aggression from Egremont has put a stop to that.”

“We must see this. Sounds most imaginative. I tell you what; there would be a great market for these things back home. I’m going to be agent and make a fortune.”

“Hold your horses Sail. You are at the back of the queue on this one.”

“Bank is going to set up a Trading Company here and back home that will trade with the goods from Arbigland and ensure a fair spread of wealth.”

“OK Dunston, that’s good. What do you want us all to do now?” asked Tess.

“Just carry on overseeing the areas assigned and look out for any sign of trouble not that I expect any. We meet here at midday tomorrow to meet with our friend Canatto and review progress. Miss Isabel is cooking onboard for us tonight again I presume.”

“Hang on Dunston. There’s been a change of plan. We are eating here in the main dining room and the maid has got rooms ready for us all here in the Town Hall. I’m having the interior of the ship refitted to make it into a luxury cruiser with proper cabins and facilities,” announced Sail, “I’m going to purchase the schooner and reimburse you all for the costs so far. The local workmanship is exquisite and the shipwrights here are all idle at the moment. You can all look forward to a comfortable journey back to Newtown. They also weave fantastic linen sail material that won’t rip. Look at Dunston’s fine new clothes. I’m having all the sails replaced with this material and I’ve put in an initial order for fifty bolts of sailcloth to take back home.”

“That’s a bit drastic Sail, but I suppose you know what you are doing. Have you checked our security with Sergeant?”

“He has Dunston and I believe we will be more secure here on dry land behind locked and guarded apartments than onboard. The maid is waiting to show you to your rooms folks and Sail has arranged the transfer of our baggage. Don’t luxuriate in your rooms too much guys and don’t miss the dinner at eight down here in the dining room. Miss Isabel has a surprise for you. “ 

30. Dinner at Eight

The group assembled in the large palatial dining room and were offered drinks at a broad bar by a liveried butler. 

“Did a tailor come to measure you up Bank?”

“Yes Mont. Miss Isabel sent him round. As major officials of Arbigland she suggested we should tidy our selves up and be more presentable and not go round looking so tatty. Look what she has done for Dunston.”

“Hey Sail, I’ve found a buyer for your ballast, the pig iron and the coal that we brought on the ship from Bayland. It’s the blacksmith, my future father-in-law. He needs all the iron and coal he can get.”

“So, you’ve popped the question, have you Ex?”

“Of course I have. I wasn’t going to waste any time and came away with full agreement Sail.”

“Well good for you Ex. When’s the big day? More important are you going to introduce us to your future wives.”

“Keep this quiet Sail but they are cooking our dinner tonight and they will make an appearance but please keep it a secret.”

“I will, I will. You are a dark horse Ex but I wish you much happiness with your wives. But explain to me why you are marrying both ladies?”

“It’s quite simple really. They don’t want to be parted and there are five times as many ladies in Arbigland than men so it’s quite acceptable to have more than one wife. In fact, polygamy is encouraged.”

“Just a question before the others join us, what are we going to replace the ballast with? Any thoughts?”

“Got that worked out too Sail. The beautiful buff stone from the quarries which I’m going to use to build a house back home. Like you and Bank, I’m feathering my nest too. Let’s join the others.” 

A bell chimed and the butler requested all to be seated at the sumptuously decorated table with candelabra and crystal glasses. The maid served the cold starter and the butler filled the glasses with white wine. Miss Isabel entered and they rose to greet her.

“Please be seated, please be seated. I’m only here to check that everyone is here. The starter is a salad of freshwater crayfish and crabs from our lakes. Please start and enjoy the course. The next course will be brought in by your guards shortly.” She skipped out of the room as they savoured their salad and wine. It was obviously good because it was a few minutes before anyone spoke. 

The butler brought in small bowls of crushed corn and set them out in the middle of the table and cleared away the empty plates. There was a drum roll and the guards marched in carrying golden globe covered salvers. These were set down carefully, one for each guest, and Miss Isabel entered and chimed a small bell. The guards lifted the lids to expose the next course.

As soon as the lids were lifted the contents of the salvers came to life. Little chicks opened their mouths and squawked demanding to be fed.

“OK gentlemen, a bit of fun for you whilst you wait for the next course. Please don’t allow your charges to starve!” and she disappeared again amongst laughter and squawking. The Squawking subsided as the grain was dropped in wide opened mouths of the baby chukkas. After a few minutes of entertainment, the guards replaced the golden lids and carried out the salvers amid much laughter and hilarity.

A second drum roll sounded and Miss Isabel entered at the head of a double line of guards. Between the guards came two beautiful waitresses carrying a three-metre-long board covered with an upturned boat like structure made of leaves and flowers. The guards made room down the centre of the table as the waitresses pushed the long wooden platter down the middle. Sail looked towards Ex and raised an eyebrow and got an affirmative nod.

“Be upstanding to toast the lovely Miss Isabel and the two beautiful brides to be,” shouted Sail as the Assembly rose quickly to their feet, raised their glasses, and stamped their feet in unison, shouting, “To Miss Isabel, Expert, and his gracious brides!” the stamping went on for some time. Even the guards outside, came in to see what the commotion was.

“Thank you, gentlemen. Pleased be seated,” as two guards lifted of the leafy cover to reveal a long thick eel like fish with a vicious mouth stuffed with a fruit. “We have a Colvend Monster fish straight from the mountain lakes for you to savour.” And she proceeded to chop it up into thick steaks with a large knife as the two waitresses served them out onto finely carved wooden platters. All looked on in silence until everyone was served. “Please help yourselves to the vegetables on the platter and more fish. There is a special sweet course to follow!” With that the guards and girls quickly retreated and left them to wonder.

“Here’s to you Ex. We are all envious.”

“Any more at home Ex?”

“Bit greedy of you not to share in your bounty Ex.”

The fish was sweet and firm, something like lobster but in much larger chunks. Everybody agreed that this was going to be a memorable meal.

31. Canatto’s demise

They slept well but were up early to check on their own areas of responsibility. The town was quiet with only the sound of the lapping sea and the gushing of the fountain in the square. News had arrived overnight that Canatto would arrive with his entourage at midday. Preparations were being made for the meeting to be held in the main Council Chamber.

Progress on the semaphores could also be seen on the high promontory and on the highest point of the town’s hillside. Ex was telling Sergeant about the weapons he had witnessed. “Sergeant, these crossbows that my two girls have, you must see. They are a marvellous contraption designed by their blacksmith father. They fold up so that they can easily be carried without the usual obstructions and they are really powerful.”

“But are they accurate and what’s their range?”

“Well, they brought in our super without much difficulty and the metal bow is powerful. It has a ratchet system to pull the wire taught. The range is as good as I have seen in any crossbow. My future Father-in-law makes them for the hunters and also makes the special bolts. I would think they would be useful for all of your guards, military men and marines.”

“Certainly, the fold away system seems more useful than the usual crossbow but they are slow to operate compared to long bows.”

“Yes, but just think of the years of training needed by the bowmen. You could even supply each man with two so that they could get the initial volley off quickly.”

“Sounds interesting Ex. You will have to show me this blacksmith, maybe after our meeting with Canatto. Shouldn’t last too long by what Dunston has arranged for him.”

The seven Assembly men arranged themselves at a large table facing the door. The scribe was at the desk on the side and instructed to record all the detail. Four of the senior towns’ people who had previously served on the Council were invited to sit in the gallery and witness the proceeding.

At the appointed hour the doors were flung open and the six guards escorted in a group of men and one woman. The obvious leader was Canatto and the lady was presumed his wife. Dunston waved a hand and bade them to sit on the opposite side of the broad table and the guards positioned themselves by the door. Canatto sat in the middle with what looked like two grown sons on his right and his wife and two men on the left. Canatto took immediate command of the proceedings with a haughty air and announced, “I’m Lord Canatto and these are my two sons, my wife and two of my trusted Generals. I presume I am facing Dunston?”

“Lord Dunston to you, Mr Canatto,” replied Dunston, “since there can be only one Lord in Arbigland then please address me as Lord Dunston since I have taken over the title temporarily.”

“Since you arrived unannounced and shot our Governor and General I don’t see how you have the audacity to take on that title. You’ve taken the law into your own hands and now trying to take over the whole country.”

“I and my people arrived here on a peaceful mission of exploration but were faced with an intolerable situation that needed drastic action.”

“Drastic action!” shouted Canatto. “What gives you the right to shoot our Governor and his General? It’s not legal or remotely the correct procedure in Our World. May be OK for that place back there but not here.”

“Mr. Canatto, Governor Bonard had given up the right to rule these islands because of his dreadful actions. He and Arnaldo are responsible for many deaths.”

“What actions? He only put down a rebellion and put a few of the rogues in prison. Those that died probably deserved it!”

“You know, Mr Canatto that this was not the case, and please address me as Lord Dunston if you please. I am the current incumbent of that title and you must show some deference.”

“Deference, you want deference?” shouted Canatto. “Get back on your ship and leave immediately. I can look after this place. Go and take your henchmen with you,” screamed Canatto.

“People here were being starved to death and killed for amusement. That’s not what I call civilised behaviour.” said Dunston quietly but with authority.

“Don’t tell me what Civilised is! You don’t know the situation here. You’ve just arrived and nearly murdered two of my friends and clapped them in jail. What else are you going to do, eh?

“We have brought a semblance of order to the town and repaired some of the basic utilities that had been allowed to fall apart by the connivance of the Governor.”

“Rubbish. Bonard was just a bad administrator and if the people hadn’t revolted things would have been quite normal,” shouted Canatto, going red in the face.

“Before we leave this island there will be a democratic election or selection of Governor and the whole Archipelago of Arbigland will become a protectorate of the Homeland.”

“No need for that,” shouted back Canatto, “I can take over and govern Arbigland. There is no need for elections. I already rule the other side of the island from Colvend. I can take over the whole Island. I am prepared to take over the whole island. It belongs to me; us I mean not to some trumped up tourist.”

“I presume you have the backing of Egremont then, since you sound so powerful.”

“Egremont, Egremont has nothing to do with this. Yes, I would get a treaty with them so that we could live happily together,” said Canatto with some hesitation.

“So, you would keep paying Egremont extortionate tithes in gold to keep them on your side. Why don’t they just come and invade you here and take everything?”

“It’s not like that. You don’t know what is going on here.”

“Oh yes I do,” retorted Dunston, “we know that you were planning with the late departed Governor, a take over of Egremont, with all the Gold and wealth accumulated here, from the gold mines you were supposed to be running on behalf of Arbigland.”

“Rubbish! Where do you get such fanciful information?” shouted Canatto.

“Please Mr. Canatto can you keep your voice under control. The information I have is that Governor Bonard was going to install you here as a puppet Governor under the control of his sidekick you call General Arnaldo. He was going to ensure your wings were clipped and that you didn’t get above your lowly station. That’s what Bonard had planned for you,” said Dunston with a slight rise in the tone of his voice. Canatto sat back dumfounded as the realisation struck him that he had been duped.

“Preposterous! Preposterous,” he said with an obvious lack of determination and looked at his sons for confirmation and support.

“Mr. Canatto,” continued Dunston, “These are serious accusations and in Our World, we see them as treasonable actions committed by your good self and Bonard. Furthermore, the dreadful conditions you have introduced to the mines have resulted in many deaths. What have you to say for your self, in defence, Mr. Canatto?”

“What am I being accused of here? I haven’t done anything. If Bonard was planning something like that, he didn’t confide in me,” said Canatto with a slight tremor in his voice. “The deaths at the mine were just accidents which are normal.”

“He obviously didn’t confide totally in you Mr. Canatto, but he did promise you the Governorship when he left, and that in Our World is a treasonable offence without proper democratic election, supported by the majority of the people.”

“But who else could rule this place?” asked Canatto, now on a defensive tack. “I’m the only person who could have brought the place back to order. After all I run the gold mines and that is where all the wealth comes from.”

“According to the statutes the gold mines belong to the people and you should be only taking a percentage not the total output and also looking after the welfare of the miners, which you are obviously not. How did you take total control of the mines? Was it with your cronies, the self-elected Boyars as you call yourselves or was it with the help of your friend and conspirator Governor Bonard?” asked Dunston as Canatto was lost for words.

“It was all Bonard’s plan,” said Canatto defensively, “but I didn’t know he had plans to take over Egremont as well. We gave him the gold so that he would leave us in peace in Colvend, to do our own thing.”

“Yes, to do your own thing and line your pockets at expense of the labourers who you have taken into slavery and given their lives to fill your pockets. I don’t think you have a leg to stand on Mr. Canatto. All this duplicity leading to treason makes this an overwhelming case against you.”

“I’m not on trial here!” shouted Canatto banging his fist on the table. “You can’t try me here. Your Homeland has no jurisdiction here. I’m not standing for this!”

“You know we have jurisdiction here. Homeland controls all of Our World. It’s just unfortunate that we or our representatives didn’t get here sooner to put and end to this situation in Arbigland and Egremnot,” answered Dunston quietly. “I am going to have to hold all of you in custody until we do further investigations.

“Oh no you’re not! I have a stronger force of men in Colvend than is here and we will throw you out and feed you to the fishes,” shouted Canatto rising, preparing to leave and indicating the same to his sons and wife.

Sergeant stood up, facing Canatto, drew his pistol and shot him through the thigh. “Guards! Take these other people down to the galleys where they can serve their term and take this woman down to work in the laundry room until we decide what to do with her,” commanded Sergeant as they all looked on in horror and shock. “Canatto will be cleaned up and spend his time in our jail.

The men were removed by the guards struggling and only the woman looked less uncomfortable by the drastic outcome of the proceedings.

Dunston stood up and announced, “Thank you Gentlemen. Not the outcome I expected but it suits our purpose. I hope the Scribe has managed to record most of our discussion?” he looked at the frightened Scribe and got a confirmative nod. “I hope you people in the gallery witnessed the full actions and discussions here. I would be obliged if you would record them before you leave and have them counter signed by the scribe for the record.”

At this, one of the Midshipmen, Hugo ran into the room and mumbled, “Lord Dunston, a cutter has arrived not half an hour ago from Egremont. We couldn’t tell you earlier until you finished your meeting here.” He noticed the wounded and bloody body of a man folded over in an armchair and faltered.

“What do they want?” asked Sail, “Is there any communication from them?”

“Yes Sir, they come every month for the payment in gold Sir. That’s what they told us Sir.”

“OK Hugo, get back to the ship and tell them we will have something for them shortly,” ordered Sail as the midshipmen ran out quickly in sheer relief.

“We are not going to give them any gold are we?” questioned Mont.

“I hope not,” said Ex, “But we have to send them back with something plausible. We don’t want an invasion on our hands just yet, do we?”

“You’re right, Ex,” replied Dunston, “They probably have found out what the situation is here so we have to send them off with a good story at least.”

“I know what we do,” said Sergeant, “We send an official communication to ask them to send an Envoy to discuss our relationship with them and continued friendly alliance. They will no doubt turn up with a show of strength. One of their galleys I would assume. Since they don’t know our intentions, I think it would be quite easy to capture or at least recapture a galley and even up the odds somewhat.”

“That’s very devious of you Sergeant,” said Bank, “Ever the strategist our Sergeant. By the way, can you please put that firearm away unless you’re going to shoot someone else today?”

“That’s a good point Sergeant,” answered Dunston, “Bank, can you draw up a formal invitation for talks with enough innuendo of our compliance to get Egremont excited. I don’t want them sending their whole navy at this stage.”

“No problem Dunston and Sergeant, please get the defences of the town shipshape,” said Bank, “We are in for some fun on two counts, one from Arbigland and I’m sure that the Boyars of Colvend are not going to take this sitting down. They have a lot to lose.”

“We should send someone to Colvend,” said Mont, “a spy that can inform us of what is going on there and what they are planning. I’ll ask Ivor and Edgar if they know of anyone suitable.”

“Good thinking Mountain man. Should have thought of that myself,” answered Sergeant.

“Doc,” said Dunston, “you’re good at cleaning up the mess. Please get someone to dispose of Mr Canatto will you and ensure he is in chains. OK guys, we need to be on our toes. I will draft a document with Bank and post it in the square to inform people what has happened and what we are planning to do to avoid any unfortunate rumours. I will announce that the gold mine is going to be back under Arbigland’s control. That’s going to upset the Boyars but we can expect that anyway. Any questions?”

“Yes,” said Ex, “have we a spy or a source of information from Egremont? I’ll check out the fishermen. They are the ones likely to travel across there. Sail you can help too.”

“OK back to work guys.” Said Dunston firmly, “We have a lot to do and think about. Let’s get all the points together at early dinner tonight,” As they nodded and dispersed leaving Doc to deal with the removal of the wounded Mr. Canatto.

32. Evening review

Miss Isabel had sent them a message to say that she was too busy with organising the feeding of the poor, prisoners and galley slaves to have time to cook a special meal for them but she had appointed Bonard’s maid to provide a simple buffet for them with some wine.

The lowly maid, not to be out done, had scoured the Town Hall kitchens and store cupboards for all the delicacies she could muster and provided a sumptuous buffet. She told them that her brother ran a vineyard as part of his farm and had sent them some of his best wines in gratitude for what they had done. She had them organised and suggested that they sit down and get on with their meeting and she would ply them with the delicacies as she saw fit. That way, everybody would get a taste of the best that Arbigland had to offer and they could come back for more. She shooed them away from the buffet and to the dining table and they were obliged to start their meeting.

Sail started with good news. “One of the fishermen has a sister, married and living in Egremont. He apparently sails there on a regular basis to see her and trade in chuka eggs and tails.  He has agreed to go more regularly and we will subsidise him so he doesn’t lose out on the fishing.”

“Good but how is he going to glean the information that we need?” asked Sergeant.

“Chuka eggs and tails are an expensive delicacy over in Egremont and only the rich and influential can afford them,” answered Sail. “She visits the hierarchy with her wares and will no doubt pick up some useful information for us. It’s all set up and Captain Koran will be the point person. Hey guys have you tried this? What is it?”

“It’s a sea slug boiled in white wine and then smoked with herbs,” said Jaya the maid. “Don’t eat too many of them. They are an aphrodisiac.”

“Give them to Ex. He may have need of them,” added Mont.

“Have we got anybody to get information from Colvend?” asked Dunston.

“Sorry Dunston, it’s a closed shop over there and as yet we haven’t found anybody reliable,” said Sergeant gloomily.

“I’ve got somebody reliable for you,” interjected Jaya as she laid out further interesting morsels for them to try.

“Who might that be pretty maid,” asked Dunston.

“Are you flirting with me Lord Dunston? I believe you are spoken for already,” said Jaya the maid and pretty waitress amidst a raucous sound of guffaws and laughter.

A somewhat embarrassed Dunston bravely continued, “Sorry to disappoint you, pretty maid but we are interested in your information.”

“Well, my father is the Chief Engineer and Manager at the mine and effectively runs the operation for the Boyars there. He isn’t happy about the situation there either but cannot intervene. I can get information to him and from him. For heavens sake I’m his daughter and nobody is going to suspect a lowly maid getting mixed up in this high falutin stuff.”

“God bless you my Jaya,” added Sergeant. “It will give me utmost pleasure to work with you and your father.

“Thank you, kind Sir, and who’s flirting now then?”

“OK, OK,” shouted Dunston above the racket of cheers and jeers. “We’ve got that sorted out. Let’s move on to the next topic. Doc, what’s happening in town?”

 “All quiet on the Western Front. The people are pleased with the improvements and the public notice has made them comfortable and eager to get back to their daily grind. We have eased the curfew which is just as well since there are a lot of people engaged in various activities in getting the town back in shape and supervising a rigid curfew would be a nightmare.”

“Doc, what is happening with the homeless and the prison population?”

“All the homeless have been found accommodation either in their own homes or lodgings. The prison population is diminishing. The school cellars are empty and school is beginning next week. The main prison is full of sick people and we are moving them out as we can. Some will be moved to the hospital when space is available. All have agreed to put in at least five days of voluntary work wherever it is convenient, so we have a good labour pool available when required.”

“Sergeant, how are our defences? Can we hold off any attacks from land or sea?” asked Dunston.

“The land defence is quite adequate. The Town is virtually an island linked to the mainland by the narrow dyke. The flat lowland area behind can be flooded to create an extension of the swamp and will be almost impenetrable,” answered Sergeant. 

“What if we can’t flood the flat land in time?” asked Ex.

“Well, the flat land behind the town is facing an almost vertical cliff that’s pierced by windows. The hill is like a rabbit warren of caves and dwellings. I am making sure that the windows and doors on that side are adequately fortified just in case we can’t flood the lowlands in time.”

“The second water deposit is being repaired right now and we shall be testing the waterproofing tomorrow. This should give us adequate water for some days,” said Ex, “should they cut the water supply which is what I would do.”

“What’s our attack capability?” asked Mont. “Or do we just defend?”

“If we face a known attack then it is likely to come at night,” answered Sergeant. “I have made provisions for bonfires to be set on the other side of the swamp. This will light up any attackers for quite a long time and probably deter them. Then we have acetylene lamps as used in the mines which throw a good light, like search lights set up high on the walls. This should spot any attack and allow us to muster our troops.”

“Have we any capability of our own to attack?” asked Mont, “Or do we sit there like sitting ducks?”

“We have some antiquated catapults which are currently on the harbour side. I’m going to have them refurbished and set up in the high town. They can scatter a volley of stones at any would be attacker. More of a deterrent than a threat but gives the defenders a good feeling to throw something at their attacker.”

“Anything more effective or aggressive than that Sergeant?”

 “There is an old iron cannon on the dock side but we lack black powder to use it. For closer action, I am equipping all of our troops and marines with the crossbows that Ex showed me. The blacksmith is making up some more for us as a priority, plus plenty of bolts for them; the marines should be practising with them as we speak.”

“Thanks Sergeant. What have you got for me Sail?” asked Dunston as more titbits were placed in front of them.

“The two galleys are in better shape then before, particularly with the recent introduction of new blood. We have managed to do some practise runs and the rowing technique is improving. The better food and water provided by Miss Isabel is working wonders. The better hygiene regime has got rid of the obnoxious smells. We could do with additional, what I would call harpoon guns, to throw bunches or bundles of arrows or fire balls at any enemy. The marines are now supplied with more crossbows but we need more. I have also installed additional masts on the rear and aft decks so that we can put crossbow men aloft and shoot down at the enemy at close quarters. At this moment, with only two galleys, we are not much of a threat. We also have the schooner and cutter but they are not much use as fire power. We would have to equip them with catapults and maybe cannon to be at all effective.”

“OK Mont, what have you been up to?”

“Well Dunston, I’ve surveyed the landside approaches to the town with the two midshipmen, so we know the likely routes of attack. The semaphore stations are set up and can work, day or night now. At night we use an abridged version of Morse code, similar to what Sail uses with flags on the ship. Also, Sergeant has got something he has brought for us to try and it will blow your mind. I’ll let him explain later. No one in their right mind is going to climb up the sewage system but just in case I have had the access points secured.”

“Thanks Mont, lets have your news Ex.”

“Well, I have been visiting my two beloved girls and if you think that was all play you are wrong. With the help of Sergeant and some horses we moved a ton of pig iron from our ship to the forge and the blacksmith is using it to make up crossbows and what Sail called harpoon guns. My two lovelies are busy fashioning bolts for the crossbows as fast as they can. I’ve also been helping Miss Isabel to ensure the Town Hall cellars are provisioned with an adequate supply of food to withstand a siege. Canattos wife Saffron is now busy in the kitchens preserving fish and meat for storage. She was wasted in the laundry.”

“Anything else?” asked Dunston.

“Yes,” answered Sergeant, “We need an offensive plan rather than just waiting for an attack and constantly being on the defensive. I have a plan for Colvend which I will discuss with Ex and Sail to iron out the finer points. Sail, Miss Isobel and I have also worked out a plan for the arrival of the Envoy, given that he comes in one or two galleys. Anymore then we are into all out warfare. I have brought with me eight walkie-talkie radios which I want to test. You all must have heard about these devices. Now we have some to test. They are driven by a windup spring and we can communicate with each other at up to about six kilometres I think. The two galleys are trying them out now to help in fast communication and coordinated attack if need be.”

“Great, let’s finish the food and ponder over any other issues. That will give me time to assess the information we have. Miss Jaya, can we have some more of your brother’s wine please.”

“I’m glad you like it. I shall leave you with the rest of the bottles. I’m off tonight to see my father and will try and get back to you as soon as possible. I’m leaving Canattos wife Saffron to look after you. Don’t worry. She is OK. You solved a problem for her. She was in a forced marriage and glad to get out of it.”

33. Arrival of the envoy

Three days later the semaphore signalled the sighting of a splendid large galley flying the ensign of Egremont. It was using its main sail with the oars withdrawn and the slave rowers resting. A second telescope was sent up to the pinnacle to look out for additional galleys that might be lurking. The Cutter was sent out to greet their arrival and send some wine and delicacies for them to savour on the last leg of their journey into the harbour of Barcloy. Their other mission was to spot any other galleys lurking and they had a walkie-talkie radio with them to pass on the communication.

On the waterfront, preparations were also in progress of two kinds. The route from the harbour was hung with bunting, but the sides were made to look dishevelled, dirty and unkempt. The fishermen were asked to strew the fish innards and bones on the ground to increase the foul smells. The two galleys were made to look most dilapidated with oars stuck out at odd angles and sails and sheets flapping. It was a sorry sight. The marines were idling about playing cards and drinking what looked like wine. Nothing to fear here was the look.

As they got in easy sight of the harbour, the galley shot its oars, about a kilometre out, and efficiently sped through the water like a fish, showing off its paces, as the marines in splendid uniforms stood to attention on deck whilst Envoy Anton sat in his throne on a raised deck, in a splendid uniform. Information on numbers on the galley and strength had already been relayed by the cutter which was having difficulty keeping up with the galley at full tilt.

The welcoming committee to meet the galley comprised Dunston, Bank, Ex and the Treasurer accompanied by a dozen guards of honour in assorted uniforms that really made them look a joke rather than a threat. To ice the cake of comfort, the treasurer carried a heavy gift for the Envoy from Egremont to welcome him to Arbigland. It was a large plate of solid gold, borrowed from the treasury for the occasion and hopefully to be later returned.

The galley expertly slid alongside the quay where the welcoming committee stood waiting and the ship’s marines disembarked and formed up as a guard of honour. They made the Arbigland crew look like a bunch of clowns. After a measured moment the Envoy raised himself slowly from his dais and languidly strolled to the edge of the galley, as a platform was placed on the deck in front of him, so that he could be hoisted with dignity onto the stone quay. No hopping over the ships side for him. He glided to the head of his guard of honour with the haughty air becoming an important person and was met by the land party.

“Welcome to Arbigland Envoy Anton. I hope you had a pleasant journey,” announced Dunston.

Envoy Anton was obviously taken aback at being recognised by name and somewhat pleased. What he didn’t know was that intelligence had already been passed by the fisherman and confirmed by the cutter Captain. “Thank you,” he answered, “I’m pleased to be invited. You must be Dunston. You sent the invitation I believe.”

“Correct Envoy Anton, before we move off to our Council Chamber our Treasurer would like to present you with an initial gift to show our esteemed friendship and continued cooperation with Egremont,” as the Treasurer struggled to hand over the heavy plate. The Envoy also had a pleasant problem with the weight and his attaché had to help him out. Dunston had difficulty in restraining a smile. “Let us all proceed to the Council Chamber. We will lead with our guard of honour and we would be pleased if you follow.”

The sloppy guards arranged themselves and walked off in a disorderly fashion followed by the smart marching soldiers of Egremont. Envoy Anton and his attaché walked along with a smug and superior look on their faces. This place was a shambles. They entered the anti chamber and were offered an impressive range of refreshment including large goblets of wine. The smart guards from Egremont were offered similar refreshments by the scruffy host guards but were initially reluctant. It didn’t take much though, to lower their guard.

The main party moved into the Council Chamber to sit around the large conference table. Again, the Envoy and his attaché were presented with a large gold gift of almost embarrassing proportions. The meeting went smoothly with the Envoy stating his demands and Dunston and his team considered each and put up some resistance but at the last moment allowed the Envoy to have his way. The meeting ended amicably and they went through to the magnificent dining room for a sumptuous feast with plenty of wine on offer. No one noticed that the guests were being served from different decanters to that of the residents.

Whilst they were enjoying their banquet, further innocuous activity was going on at the quayside and on the water. Miss Isabel had arranged food and drink to be taken ceremoniously to the visiting galley. Again, there was plenty of strong wine. Miss Isabel had her way and overcame their reluctance to allow the food aboard and ensured that soldiers and sailors ate the delicious food. Vendors in boats drew alongside and handed strong wine and liquor surreptitiously to the sailors. Which sailor worth his salt could refuse a free gift like that?

Back in the great dining room, Envoy Anton asked for his guard of honour to take him back to the ship for the night. He was told that they had already gone to the ship but a message could be sent to get them back. The alternative was the local guard to escort him to his galley. That didn’t seem a good idea to Envoy Anton having seen the shambles of the local men. While he was pondering the decision, hampered by an excessive amount of good wine, it was suggested that his party retire overnight to the spare guest chambers at the Town Hall. This was an admirable idea. Who in the right mind wouldn’t jump at the chance of a night in a comfortable room than cramped quarters on a smelly galley? 

This must have been the easiest and slickest capture of a ship in recorded history in the whole universe. Without one word of anger or any injury, unless one counts a drunken sailor being fished out of the harbour or a soldier accidentally cracking his head on the quayside as he fell over in a drunken stupor. The visiting soldiers and sailors were quickly rounded up and carted off to the town jail to sleep off their sore heads. The visitors to the Town Hall spent an uneventful night in deep slumber and comfort only to find the morning room service had turned sour.

Dunston congratulated his colleagues at breakfast, especially paying tribute to Miss Isabel for her work at the quay. The news spread rapidly and a crowd gathered on the quay side by the galley and another at the Town Hall shouting for Lord Dunston to come out and address them and be applauded.  Dunston made an appearance and was wildly applauded and cheered. He made a short speech asking the people to be fully cooperative with the Local Authorities and things would get better for them all. He also assured them that he would stand down from his temporary position and that their future peace and stability would be assured by Arbigland becoming a Protectorate of Homeland. He also told them that there would be some difficult times in the short term when the situation with Egremont had to be finalised and the division with Colvend district had to be healed.

After a leisurely breakfast Dunston, Sergeant and Bank interviewed the embarrassed Envoy and came to an agreement where the Envoy and the attaché would be released on the pretence that the Envoy would have to pay a hefty ransom. The attaché chose to pay a full ransom anyway and that would maintain the authenticity of the whole deal with the Envoy.  He was given a simple choice, pay a ransom for freedom or spend the rest of his life as a galley slave. The Envoy in return for his release would have to provide regular and accurate intelligence on the Egremonts’ proposed actions against Arbigland. For such information he would be paid well which would enable him to maintain his position in the local hierarchy. This was agreed after much discussion and assurances. As Sergeant underlined, that this was really an invisible way of keeping the lid on Pandora’s box and Arbigland could react defensively if Egremont Governor decided on any action detrimental to the well being of Arbigland. Homeland was too far away to take any instant action and by then considerable damage could have been done. 

They also asked Envoy Anton how Egremont got information on the happenings in Arbigland. To their surprise the Envoy told them they got most information from the fisherman’s sister who supplied the top people with chuka eggs and meat. It looked at first that they had a double agent working for them but on further consideration anybody with any sense would know that chuka eggs only came from Arbigland and that someone from there must be supplying them. They still decided that Sergeant should have a special word with our fisherman friend to ensure only the right kind of information or misinformation got passed on to the sister and to the influential people in Egremont. They all felt quite satisfied by the turn of events over the past twenty-four hours. The only problem was the issue of Colvend and how they were going to solve that thorny problem. 

34. War with Colvend

They had a breakfast meeting to review events and progress of the previous day and what to do with their newfound galley and prisoners. The two Captains, Zoltan and Koran were invited to have their say. It was decided that the Senior Captain would become an Admiral, Zoltan, taking charge of the whole fleet and Koran would be fast tracked to Senior Captain of the newly acquired and largest galley. Another officer Kano would be appointed Captain of the second galley and Ivor would become the Captain of the smallest galley.

Koran reported that a lot of former Arbigland people, especially fishermen had been press ganged into service on the captured ship as sailors, marines and slave rowers. It was suggested that they should be freed. It was decided that these men should be released and become free men on the condition that they gave at least a month of service to Arbigland as either sailors on the galleys, marines or join the land army force. The slave galley rowers would be replaced by the remainder of captured prisoners currently in the town’s jail. Edgar suggested that some of the galley slaves on the other vessels should be released since many were put there on false charges and they had a plentiful supply of replacements. The new Admiral Zoltan agreed and suggested that all the Arbigland men should be released and that we should organise the rowers differently in future by training up more marines that could row and be soldier as required. The Assembly members wholeheartedly agreed and suggested that they should plan to only have criminals as slave rowers and that majority would be fighters as well as rowers giving vastly more manpower in any sea battle and ship attack.

The question of Colvend and the truculent Boyars was raised. Sergeant had come up with a plan which was to start an offensive against Colvend as soon as possible. First of all, there would be a land attack and an army of regulars and volunteers would cross over the low mountain pass and carry out a frontal attack on Colvend. The predicted response from the Boyars would be to carry out an immediate counterattack on the unprotected Town of Barcloy and further harassment attacks on the marching troops. The Boyars would pressgang the miners to fight for them and could muster quite a large force. How good they would be was anybody’s guess. The Boyars would promise the men all sorts of wonderful things to get them to fight for them.

The key to this plan would be that a galley would secretly sail to Colvend along the inward passages, plus the Schooner and attack the town from the sea. The newly appointed Admiral objected saying that the passages to Colvend were notoriously dangerous and the Straights virtually impassable. Sergeant acknowledged the difficulties, which was why they should try the unexpected. The schooner would stand out to sea and provide support and safety should the galley run into difficulty. Koran volunteered to Captain the ship but the Admiral Zoltan ordered Ivor to take on that role with his smallest galley and the one with the shallowest draught. Also, they had the advantage of handheld radios to maintain communications at all points of attack and defence.

Sergeant determined that with the fall of Colvend from the sea the Boyars army would capitulate with probably little loss of life and the Gold mines could then be returned to the control of Arbigland. The new paved road as far as the pass that Ex had instigated would be finished with haste to aid communications overland. Also, the semaphore would be installed on the highest mountain so that Colvend wouldn’t be isolated in the future.

Monty raised the point that Egremont might throw its weight against Arbigland. What were they going to do on that front? Sergeant told them that they had to deal and stamp out the Colvend threat first, because if they delayed and Egremont decided to launch an attack, then the Boyars would be tempted to attack at the same time and catch them in a pincer movement. That’s why they had to snuff out the Colvend problem quickly. The sea attack on Colvend had to be done in secret and the task was given to the Admiral to plan and coordinate. Sergeant would lead the land attack with Dunston and Bank. Sail would take the schooner and track the galley out in the open sea. Ex and Doc would organise the defence of Barcloy.  Mont would be left in Barcloy with a small band of men in reserve to provide support as required. Ex had already arranged for the blacksmith to increase his output of cross bows to the maximum which would be the main offensive weapon. The plan was that a show of force in numbers might just prevent any serious hand to hand fighting. The majority of the troops would be untrained and nobody was sure how they would behave, fight or just run. This could probably be said for the Boyars army too but since they were fighting for a rich gold mine, they might have more spirit to fight. That was just a wild assumption.

The plan was to start the march the following morning, overnight and attack Colvend the following day to coincide with the surprise attack from the sea. Carts and bullocks would transport the army to Colvend plus the regular cavalry and any other horsemen they could muster. Ex would start the defence by flooding the lowlands behind the town and build a barrier across the dyke to block the main entrance to the town. The Admiral, with a much-reduced manpower, would have to face any attack on Barcloy from the sea.

 They set off to make their own plans and arrangements. Mont was assigned as chief communications officer and coordinator of the whole campaign. To any outsider this may have seemed an odd choice, since Dunston was the natural leader but the Assembly members recognised that Mont had the coolest head under pressure and most capable of assessing the situation and determining the correct action. He had proved this capability and genius on previous expeditions and had never failed the Assembly. If the Assembly were ever to vote for a leader, then Mont would be a major contestant and no one disputed the fact, but it was generally understood that Mont would never put himself up for any such election. 

Five bullock carts were commandeered and straw bales were affixed to their sides to form a protection from arrows and crossbow bolts. Each was pulled by two powerful bullocks and would hold five, foot soldiers and a driver. The cavalry comprised six highly trained horsemen armed with javelins, swords and lances. They were the only real troops; the rest of the guard and marines had gone onto the galley. Sergeant, Dunston and Bank were allocated horses and they had their firearms plus their radios.

They set off early in the morning at a slow pace which was the best the bullocks could muster. They weren’t in a hurry and they wanted the news of their advance to get to the Boyars. Hopefully that would provoke the desired response.

Ex organised the building of a strong barricade with the help of the shipwrights and started flooding the lowland to create the protective swamp. Doc engaged the cabinet makers on a new task of ensuring all the openings on the cliff side of the town facing the swamp were blocked with shutters or sturdy doors. Ex’s two fiancées were roped in to set up the large acetylene lanterns on high vantage points to shine on any approaches. Other people were assigned to clear the slopes beyond the swamp land and build up a series of bonfires that would be lit at night again to show up any approach or attack. They wanted to avoid any surprises. 

Mont checked his communications including semaphores and started briefing his small band of six men who would act as tactical support to Ex or the Admiral in the defence of the town. Ivor took his galley out on a supposed training mission as a new commander and Sail took out the schooner on the pretext of checking the new sails he had installed. Below deck he had a troop of twenty marines that would be transferred to the galley once out at sea. Jaya had returned and heard from her father that the Boyars were planning to take over Arbigland but were having difficulty appointing a new commander with Canatto no longer there to lead them. Apparently, they had sent spies to Barcloy to find out what was going on there.

Sergeant was heading his troops toward the pass in the mountains leading to Colvend. It was a slow procession but the bullocks could pull the carts for twenty four hours or more as long as they had a full nose bag so there were no halts for rest or food. Each cart was provisioned and the driver would scythe some grass on the wayside to fill the nosebags and water the animals as they forded a stream. They quickly spotted the advance force from Colvend spying on them from the forests. Sergeant decided to try some thing to entice the Colvend troops out into the open. The front cart was loaded up with eight men with cross bows and told to keep out of sight as the cart pulled ahead. An incident was staged with the second cart in line and it halted with a wheel problem blocking the way for the carts behind. The leading cart pulled away and was heading for a small hilltop and would eventually take the cart over the top and out of sight. Sergeant was the only horseman with the leading cart. The others were milling with the main party trying to sort out the problem.

The bullock cart went over the rise and out of sight of the main party, as Sergeant was in continuous radio communication with the main group. The horsemen were on call to come to the rescue if needed but for the moment they were just milling about. As on cue the Colvend advanced troops showed their cards and mounted an attack on the isolated cart. There were two horseman and about ten, foot soldiers advancing down the slope shouting and yelling. Sergeant retreated behind the cart and ensured that everybody kept the heads down as a volley of crossbow bolts headed towards them from the attacking group. Sergeant aimed his pistol at the advancing horseman and fired. It was a lucky shot and he must have hit the rider in the shoulder because he rained in his horse and attended to his wound.

 As the screaming mob ran towards the cart Sergeant issued an order and eight crossbows appeared over the straw bales and aimed at the advancing troops. The sight of a mass of unexpected crossbow aiming at them put the advancing men in disarray and they halted unsure what to do. The other following horseman urged them on to continue the attack as Sergeant ordered his men to fire. The advancing men broke rank and tried to turn back as the bolts flew towards them. Fortunately, none hit their target but the attackers weren’t in the mood to test the aim of the second volley and started arguing with their leader on horseback. They were all further thrown into disarray when they heard and then saw the group of eight horseback riders galloping towards them. They turned tail and ran towards the forest. 

They had had enough and the two riders galloped off along the road back to Colvend. The band of attackers were quickly rounded up by the cavalry and disarmed. As predicted, they were mainly mine workers who had been promised untold wealth and freedom if they fought for the Boyars and some thing worse if they refused. Their hands were tied and they were made to walk behind a cart as the group advanced on Colvend. The captured men seemed happier to be out of the fray.

The galley captained by Ivor was making steady progress through the rocky channels towards Colvend. Its progress was being closely monitored by the schooner crew out to sea. Ivor had decided to send two small sail and rowing boats to check the channels and was making better progress than predicted and avoiding any underwater reefs that would have torn out the bottom of his boat. Being on a more direct route the galley was leaving the schooner Tristiana behind. The galley was using mainly sail, and rowers for the more delicate manoeuvring.  Many of the sailors were leaning over the prow spying out the channel. Their progress would be slowed down during the night and the schooner would then catch up for the attack in the morning.

Ex and Doc did their final rounds to check the Town’s defences. The bonfires were built high and when lit at night should cast enough light to show up any attack and hopefully act as a deterrent. How long they would last was unpredictable but it was a start. The flow of water from the water ditch was making little impression on the supposed swamp. It probably needed at least three full days of flow to turn the lowland fields into a boggy mess, but for the moment it wouldn’t hinder anyone crossing to the cliff behind the town. They double checked the shutters and barriers put up by the carpenters and cabinet makers. They seemed solid enough but wouldn’t withstand a prolonged attack. The acetylene lamps would have to be used accurately to spot any point of attack so that the meagre defence team could be directed to protect that specific area.

On their return to the barricaded entrance Doc spotted a shutter that had been decorated with a distinctive marking. They decided to investigate this later, noting down carefully its position and likely passage to the town side of this opening.

The barricade at the entrance was well constructed and the draw bridge allowed easy passage but when up would be impregnable and only some skilful climber could get up and over the wall. The ladies had done a good job positioning the lanterns and had polished the discs that would cast the light in a beam.  Men were assigned to operate the lanterns once the bonfires were ineffective.

 On the pretence of double checking the defences, they visited each dwelling that had access to the cliff side and checked the shutters. They quickly discovered the dwelling with the distinctive makings on its shutter and decided not to divulge their findings so far. They consulted with Mont who quickly came up with a plan and he would deal with their concern. 

As the evening light failed the bonfires were lit and gave the whole area the cheerful atmosphere of a pageant or a festive occasion. The bonfires lasted longer than expected and lit up a whole cordon so any intruder would have been easily spotted. As the bonfires died down the lanterns were lit but had to be trained on a target to spot any movement. Ex and Doc took over a lantern each and were in constant contact with Mont on their radios. They deliberately avoided shining their light in one area but had a couple of spotters still observing that point. Sure-enough the spotters detected movement and that was passed onto Mont.

Mont had divided up his group of six into two teams. The strongest men were to climb out onto the cliff side out of one of the openings while he took the other three to a special house that they had identified with the distinctive markings on its shutter. Mont and his three troopers lay hidden in the shadows observing the house. They heard sounds and Mont went up and looked through a window into the interior. He signalled to his men to cover the door. As soon as the door opened, the three men plunged in with their weapons and barred any exit whilst Mont pointed his pistol through the window and fired. The explosion and the shattering of the glass frightened the occupants and was also the signal for his three men to bar the shutter exit on the cliff side. 

The twelve attackers and the house holder gave themselves up quickly especially since Mont’s bullet had hit one of the attackers in the arm and he was screaming the house down. The householder had been persuaded by horrendous means to let the attackers in through his entrance and they then planned to capture and let down the draw bridge and let the main attacking party in. This was thwarted and the main group never made an appearance or attack and by morning light there was no sign of them. The defence of the town had held so far.

By early morning Sergeant and his bullock carts were on the last stretch of road to Colvend, they could see lots of activity ahead as people were hurriedly constructing barriers to protect their town. Sergeant was able to communicate with Ivor in the galley and instructed him to attack from the sea whilst they would set up an attack from landside. Colvend collapsed quickly since no one had predicted a seaward attack. Ivor and his marines took the defenders by surprise and quickly breached the barriers from the inside so that Sergeant could enter with his troops. The defenders had no taste for a fight and gave up and surrendered immediately. 

The Boyars and their henchmen tried to put up some resistance but a few shots from Sergeant’s pistol in the air quickly brought them to their senses and they gave in and surrendered. Order was quickly restored and the miners were told to go back to work and the towns’ people were ordered to take down the barriers and get on with their lives.  

The bullock carts were turned and trundled back to Barcloy and the troops walked back since it was quicker or hitched a lift on the galley which returned via the open sea on a safer passage. The whole episode fizzled out quickly especially since many of the Boyars were now all in custody and shipped to Barcloy, locked in the hold on the schooner. The mine manager was put in charge of the whole region outside of the town and things quickly turned back to normal and to every ones’ liking, apart from the remaining Boyars and their families, who couldn’t protest too much, being afraid of being carried off to Barcloy jail like the others. The uprising had faltered and had been easily extinguished with little damage or injury. Most of the perpetrators were in custody and couldn’t cause any more trouble. It was left to Dunston, Sergeant and Bank to work out a strategy and plan on how the future of Colvend region would develop and what role if any the Boyars might play.

It was decided that the Boyars would be stripped of any title and their lands and wealth confiscated.  They wouldn’t be allowed to take part in any mining activity. That would all be under the jurisdiction of Arbiglands’ administration. The mining activity had effectively been nationalised for the good of everyone there. No one would be allowed to develop a power base as before and the miners would be free and work in the mines on a proper and fair basis. That was the plan and the Colvend Council were tasked to carry this through.

35. Problem of Egremont solved

A meeting was held late in the evening after everyone’s return to Barcloy to review the events of the day and consider the next obstacle, Egremont. News had come back that the galleys in Egremont were being provisioned and prepared for a proposed invasion of Arbigland, on the pretence that it had been taken over by a bunch of tyrants who had assassinated the Governor and other important people. The prisons were full and the tyrants were going to take all the gold and sail away. This sounded a good reason to invade and free the islands if true.

They stayed up much of the night discussing what they should do and quickly, to stem the threat of an attack. Admiral Zoltan came up with a germ of an idea which with some embellishments grew into a formulated plan and orders were sent out to make certain preparations. The action had to be drastic and quick before the Egremont navy had set sail.

That afternoon a flotilla left Barcloy harbour led by the schooner Tristriana, that had been fitted out with a new harpoon machine which could fire a large projectile, be it harpoon or a bundle of arrows over a thousand metres or more. It had been tested in the harbour by the blacksmith at three quarter strength and he was happy with the result but the whole thing needed calibration and testing under action. Next followed a fleet of seven fishing boats, under maximum sail, with orders to keep up with the schooner. The cutter was shepherding the fishing boats and Doc was on board with his radio.  At the rear was the newly acquired galley with the new Captain Koran and Admiral Zoltan in charge. The Admiral was given total command of this operation and he was taking the whole operation very seriously. Mont was on the galley with a radio to communicate with all the fleet. The galley was equipped with an extra two harpoon machines commandeered for the occasion from the other galleys.

The fleet was heading for Egremont harbour hoping to arrive late in the evening under cover of darkness. The fishing boats were stripped out of their normal fishing gear and normal spare sailing gear but loaded up with faggots of dry branches soaked in animal fat and grease. The Schooner carried seven barrels of black powder from the mines. This provision had delayed the departure of the fleet as they waited for the arrival of this precious commodity. The fleet sailed under total blackout and only one of the three moons was visible giving a dull glow which just enabled the lookouts to just about pick out each craft as they sailed on.

As the neared Egremont harbour the cutter was sent off ahead to reconnoitre the situation there. The information back on the radio was that all was quiet and the five galleys and other shipping was moored as expected. There didn’t seem to be any special lookout or guard mounted. So far so good. The fleet of fishing boats was assembled around the schooner and each was loaded up with a barrel of black powder and a fuse. Each boat was handed an enclosed container of burning charcoal and the four fishermen in each boat drew lots to be chosen to navigate their boat into the harbour on their own. A lot of men were very disappointed not to have drawn a lot. The chosen few set sail followed at a distance by the cutter and the galley which was going to be the backup if the plan failed.

The fishing boats set their sails and set their course aiming for the galleys moored on the quay side. They were ordered to set fire to the faggots at least a hundred meters from their target and abandon ship, to then be picked up by the cutter. The lookouts on the galleys sounded the alarm but it was too late and the alarms caused more confusion than action. The fishermen had fixed on their target galley and had sailed further than ordered and the faggots had hardly lit when the fishing boats hit the galleys. The sailors and marines on board realising the danger tried to fend them off but the wind was too strong and drove the fishing boats onto the galleys and fuelled the flames. The fishermen were swimming frantically away when the first of the black powder barrels exploded with devastating effect.  It blew a huge hole in the side of the galley and threw burning faggots in all directions. The second, third and fourth barrel exploded adding mayhem to the scene. The final three barrels must have exploded simultaneously in a thunderous blast and set up a tidal wave that swamped the galleys and sinking them faster than ever. By now people and soldiers were running out on the quayside to check out the commotion and the guards were rushing to the galleys to save the slaves and rowers down below deck. This was difficult since they were all chained to their benches. To cause more chaos the attacking galley had arrived on the scene at the mouth of the harbour and shot volleys of arrows onto the quay side causing further mayhem and disorder.

The cutter picked up the swimmers and was heading off to the harbour mouth as the galley was firing its arrows to keep any counterattack at bay. The fishermen on the cutter insisted on capturing and making off with the two cutters moored in the harbour so there was some delay in their escape. The two cutters were cut free and the night watchman thrown overboard. Sails were set and the three cutters made way for the harbour mouth and escape. By this time the opposition on the quay side was more organised and a couple of catapults started projecting huge boulders at the galley in a counterattack. Much damage would have been done if their aim had been more accurate but a volley of arrows in their direction from the attacking galley had the artillery men breaking for cover.

The whole episode took no more than ten minutes from the first blast and as soon as the cutters were under full sail and making good headway the galley rowed out of range and the reduced flotilla headed for home. By all accounts, from the observers on the cutter, all the galleys were damaged severely and at least one was seen to be sinking. Fire would have caused some damage to the decking but the blasts must have damaged much of the structural timbers which would require major repair. Later reports from spies confirmed that two of the galleys had sunk completely with many slaves unfortunately lost. The other galleys were badly damaged and one was deemed beyond repair. 

Many slave rowers on these vessels were badly injured and maimed by the flying splinters from the blast. Many of the soldiers and marines suffered from the blast and also from the mass of arrows. The naval strength of Egremont had been reduced to zero. Their biggest problem would be to get replacements for the rowers. All plans for invading Arbiland had been abandoned and the Chief Sea Lord and many of his senior staff had been removed from office for dereliction of their duties. Egremont harbour apparently had a floating barrier which should have been in place but had never been used since they weren’t expecting any attack, especially from a weak naval force from Arbigland.

The Admiral congratulated the Captains and fishermen but admonished the particular fishermen who had taken it upon themselves to capture the two cutters since they had delayed the escape and endangered the fleet. Two additional cutters to naval strength were gratefully received, nevertheless. All the fishermen would be handsomely compensated for loss of their craft and the local ship builders would be tasked with building replacements post haste.   

A few days later the Envoy, his attaché and Governor Bonards’ wife were dispatched back to Egremont. The Envoy was sent off with a supply of gold to oil the palms of some influential people who could lobby for the cessation of aggression against Arbigland.

A Governing Council was set up in Arbigland with nominated people to Govern and administer the island, the leadership of which would pass from one senior Councillor to another and then elections would eventually be held. An independent and impartial judicial system was set up to hear any grievances and to dole out any compensation for any wrong doings of the Bonards’ regime. The Treasurer was put in charge of that having shown in Bank’s estimation a high degree of competence in managing financial affairs.

36. The Mission resumed

Having found matters returned to some degree of normality and the safety of Arbigland assured for the moment, Dunston raised the possibility of carrying on with their mission of exploring the island, as was intended in the first place. They agreed that this would have to be in the guise of visiting all the people in all parts of the island and ensuring that they were all benefiting from the island’s wealth and prosperity accordingly. This was agreed by all and Dunston then moved onto the planning aspect of the trip when Ex interjected, “That’s all been done and dusted folks. Miss Isabel has agreed to lead the expedition and Saffron will accompany us as the main cook and quartermaster. Whilst you were playing at sea battles, I checked out the logistics of this. Let me give you an outline plan which I have devised for you to consider.”

“You seem to have taken it all onto yourself Ex, as usual,” said Bank, “it better be good.”

“I think you will approve and may even like the plan. You may not know this but Miss Isabel and Jaya, our incomparable maid and housekeeper spent most of their childhood exploring the island and Miss Isabel would be an admirable guide.”

“OK Ex, but how are we going to travel. Not on bullock carts, I hope. That would take an eternity,” said Sail mockingly.

“I do propose to take two bullock carts to take all our equipment, tents and cooking pots and use local ponies for our own transport. You haven’t yet seen these ponies. They are quite small but very strong and hardy and quite suited to this terrain. I am assured that you will love them.”

“Yes, Ex but those bullock carts are so slow.” repeated Sail.

“They will take the direct route from camping place to camping place whilst we explore on the ponies,” answered Ex.

“OK Ex but have you given any thought to the itinerary or route?” inquired Bank.

“Miss Isabel and Jeya have suggested that we visit some settlements in the interior and in the mountains. On the way we will visit the Crystal cave and then move onto the dense forest area where we might come across the golden leopard. We will complete our journey with a visit to the gold mine and then see the gold workings at Colvend. We can then make our way back on the road or get the schooner to collect us.”

“Well, I couldn’t do any better than that,” announced Dunston, “Anybody has any other suggestions? If not, I propose we go along with Ex’s plan,” as they all nodded in agreement.

“Just one thing,” said Sergeant. “What do we do with our two Midshipmen during this time? Seems a waste to leave them in Barcloy getting up to mischief.”

“If you are all in agreement?” answered Ex, “I am going to take them along with us and they can map the island as we travel. There are no accurate maps at the moment and those two have shown some competence at navigation and I’m sure they will do a good job for us. They will travel with the bullock cart and Saffron will keep an eye on them. OK?”

“That’s fine Ex but can you tell us what arrangements you’ve made for feeding the party?” asked Doc.

“We will revert to hunters and gatherers. We simply hunt, fish and collect food as we go. Jaya assured me that we won’t go hungry and if we do it will be our fault entirely,” answered Ex.

“Right! Let’s get on,” commanded Dunston. “Let’s go through the detail and logistics. We all know that all our best plans usually go awry but we must have a detailed campaign plan if we are to get the best out of this experience.”

They continued the discussion through the night until early morning until most of the eventualities had been determined and planned for and they departed to their beds excited that at last their intended exploration plans were back on course.

37. Exploration starts

The plan was for the expedition to start out the following morning but the two bullock carts were loaded with their equipment and set off that midday with Saffron, two of the guards and the two midshipmen and their mapping equipment. The advance group were going to set up camp the following night along the route. The main group of seven plus Miss Isabel, their guide, were going to settle some matters of administration   in preparation for their absence. They also got acquainted with their ponies. They were small and hairy but very sturdy and handled their rider with ease. They were ridden bare back and had basic reins without a mouthpiece. They weren’t too easy to control but were eager to show off their paces on any terrain.

They rode off at first light and their first stop was to be at a farm in the hills that provided much of the milk and cheese for the town of Barcloy. The farm itself was sited on a hillside overlooking a large pasture set in a picturesque valley. The pasture lands were dotted with trees with large canopies and one could make out large animals feeding beneath them and occasionally reaching up and snaffling a leaf or two from the overhanging branches. Miss Isabel told them that these trees were specially protected by the farmer for the cows. As they pulled and ate the leaves, nuts fell regularly from the tree and that gave the milk its special nutty flavour. With plenty of rain in the area, the grass grew well and provided all year-round fodder.

They were met by farmer Zuberan and ushered into the large farm building to have an early lunch of milk and various cheeses made on the farm. After the sumptuous meal, they were invited to inspect the animals. They were in for a shock, instead of normal cows that they had expected these were more like large pigs on tall legs. Instead of udders these animals had eight teats that could be milked. According to Zuberan, they produced twice as much milk as normal cows. The cows were fairly docile and made soft squeal like noises, not unlike a pig. The males which were kept well apart in a far-off part of the farm were huge and apparently vicious when angry and should be avoided at all cost. They roared like a bull and were extremely strong. They could push over a fully grown tree if they wanted to impress their cows or provide themselves with succulent fodder.

 They rode off with a supply of cheese and promised to keep well clear of the male bulls. The rough track led them up a wooded slope and into deeper forest. They had about a three-hour ride to their campsite and Miss Isabel suggested that they keep a sharp lookout for any game animals which they would need for their evening repast. They heard many animals in the undergrowth but they quickly moved away as they advanced. Supper was going to be more cheese unless their luck changed. Miss Isabel didn’t seem to be perturbed and was confident that they would come across something suitable.

The ponies were first to notice and reared and whined and refused to go any further. Miss Isabel decided it was best to dismount, hobble the ponies and investigate on foot. She suggested that Mont should lead and have his firearm at the ready to shoot their supper. They walked slowly and quietly and came into a large clearing. At the far side they saw the undergrowth part and a huge black boar appeared totally unperturbed by the visitors and turned to stare at them over its shiny horn and two black side tusks curved like scimitar. They had seen two smaller versions at the fete what seemed years ago. It roared at them a couple of times and pawed the ground. Miss Isabel warned them to watch the undergrowth on either side because they were usually accompanied by an entourage of younger specimen that were always around to impress the big daddy. They heard and then saw a rustling in the undergrowth on the far side of the clearing as two younger specimens appeared and roared and pawed the ground.

Suddenly one leaped into the air and rushed towards them roaring at full blast into full attack. Mont drew his pistol and rushed towards it into the clearing. This had no effect on the wild beast and it just slightly altered its course aiming for Mont. As he ran towards it he dummied a sidestep but the boar just steamed on, roaring at full blast, ignoring the movement. The onlookers accepted the inevitable that the porker was about to annihilate Mont when he sidestepped again and shot the animal through the eye at point blank range. The animal took three more paces and then suddenly dipped its horn into the ground and gracefully cartwheeled over in the air and plunged down onto the ground with an enormous thud and slid towards the frightened onlookers as they quickly got out of its way.

‘Look Out!’ went the cry as the second young boar launched itself with even a greater roar seeing that his pal had failed to see off the enemy. Mont stood his ground and pulled out a stick from his pouch and lit the end with a match struck on his boot. Mont pointed the spluttering stick at the charging boar when suddenly the stick exploded and shot a flame at the young boar. It hit the boar on its snout full on, and the effect was devastating. The pig again cartwheeled in its attempt to halt, jumped up and with an ear-splitting squealing, rushed off towards its master who watched the proceedings without any movement or apparent interest. Three other young boars made their appearance and rushed after the frightened beast as it disappeared in the undergrowth to the right of their leader. The massive boar gave a disdained look towards the enemy, grunted and trotted off following his squealing herd. No doubt to take them to task for their failures. 

The whole episode seemed to take a blink of the eye as the onlookers let out a deep sigh of relief. Mont put out his flame in the long grass and they all carefully approached the fallen beast. It was certainly dead. They marvelled at the sharp horn and the curved tusks and imagined what damage they would have done if they had connected with one of them. Sail went off into the bush and came back with two long poles and started lashing them together. These would be used to drag the carcass back to the campsite for Saffron to butcher for their supper.

The camp was set up at the side of the trail and the tents had been erected on a level piece of ground by Hugo and Eric. A large fire was burning and a cauldron was set above it to boil.  Saffron was busy at a cart clattering her utensils and the bullocks lay alongside munching the grass. They arrived and proudly displayed their trophy. Saffron walked over with a large carving knife and admonished them that they hadn’t immediately bled the beast and proceeded to butcher it by cutting off its head and trotters and removing the innards. These were carried off in a sack and dumped into the forest for the scavengers after removal of the curved tusks and horn. The carcass was lifted onto a cart to be used as an impromptu butchers’ block and cut into joints.

Soon the smells of roasting pork pervaded the air. Ex was being pestered by the two midshipmen to again describe in minute detail how Mont killed the young boar. In between the retelling of the hunt the boys were in charge of roasting the tubers that Saffron had collected earlier in the day. They revelled in the detail and hoped that they could witness the next kill. There was enough meat for two meals and the remaining roast boar was smoked with herbs and special wood to preserve it for a day or two and also to enhance its flavour, if that was possible. They retired sore from their long ride and wondered what excitement was in store for them the following day.

38. The Wrestling Match

The following morning, they reluctantly arose and had a quick breakfast of cheese and baked tubers, leftovers from the previous nights’ meal. Since they weren’t used to riding for such long periods many of them offered to walk alongside their mounts rather than ride. Only Miss Isabel and Dunston rode off up the hillside along a well beaten track. They were heading for a mountain village where the people lived off the land hunting and gathering. They were also renowned for frequently heading for the lowlands and doing a bit of rustling of cattle, pigs and turkeys. Miss Isabel and Saffron warned them of this weakness and to be on their guard at all times. The bullock carts would follow and reach the village before nightfall. If they wanted a midday meal they would have to move along speedily and nor dawdle too much.

As they approached the village, they heard loud drumming and screeching pipes and whistles playing. Miss Isabel was puzzled and didn’t think it was in their honour, so they rode up to investigate. The village was all decked out with flags and flowers as some festival was in progress. Their arrival was totally ignored. Miss Isabel managed to find an old man from the Council who had the time to explain that they had arrived at the annual wrestling festival which was the highlight of this village’s calendar. People had come down from the mountains and assembled ready to take part and party.

The rest of the stragglers of the party eventually arrived and they were all made welcome and invited to join in the midday feast. The men were busy clearing and constructing a series of rings on the ground by clearing away the grass and bushes, spreading river sand and enclosing this with a thick rope of twisted ivy. Surrounding the arena people were constructing seating, stands and viewpoints to better see the action. Ex, Doc and Sail were roped in to help, since progress had been slow. Bank went off to explore on his own and Miss Isabel and Dunston were invited to participate in the music making, since some of the participants were flagging. An ear for music was an unnecessary attribute and in fact could have hampered the proceedings and since the whole point was to create as much chaos and noise as possible, helped of course, by copious draughts of locally made hooch. Mont disappeared behind the huts and wasn’t seen for a while.  

Behind the huts the participants were grooming themselves or being mobbed by admirers as they flexed their muscles and arranged themselves into the best poses to show off to the crowd. Last years champion was all painted up and adorned with regalia and paraded about passing advice and receiving adulation. The challengers were being coached and talked to by their trainers and checking on the strength of their opponents and weighing up their chances in the bouts. Some were practising their moves and coaching younger members of their family. It appeared that the family with the champion and the largest number of winners in each age category became top dogs for the year with enormous status and power in their community.

Mont observed these antics and moved on checking on the rules of the sport and the tactics that could be employed to defeat your opponent. Everyone had their favourite move, parry and pass and much discussion and hot air was being spent on what tactic each competitor should employ. The advice was endless and the trainers were getting more and more voluble and argumentative as their copious refreshments hit their mark. To one side, more or less beyond the main melee, a group of women were coaching their young sons and egging them on to be brave and not to let the family down by going off crying.

Mont watched the proceedings as the women were cajoling, threatening and bribing their weaker offspring to put on a good show. They would be fighting in the earlier rounds and the women didn’t want them to end up as laughingstock. These were the smaller, weaker, fatter and less bright of boys but all had to take part. To speed up the early contest this cannon fodder would be fed to warm up the better contestants and was generally treated as a bit of amusement at the expense of the weaker elements. All the mothers wanted for their little darlings was for them to put on a good show, be beaten and then comforted by them. The worst scenario was for these kids to run off crying and not put up any resistance or fight.

Mont watched the mothers with their helpless siblings and decided to give them a hand. He showed the boys some basic tactics of head butting their opponent in the stomach, how to wriggle out of a hold, slide tackling the opponent and finally, although punching wasn’t allowed, he showed them how to hit their opponent with the flat of their hand on the nose. This was guaranteed to draw blood and would get tremendous cheer from the crowd. The mothers were at first concerned that many of these practises were not very gentlemanly but when Mont pointed out that their darlings were being put into the ring unfairly and at an immediate disadvantage in size and ability, they would be forgiven such slight misdemeanours.  His gangling minions of cannon fodder were got ready and Mont got the mothers to paint them up with fierce faces and blackened their eyes so they looked twice the normal size and certainly less puny than before.

The Games Master called up the first contestant and a small boy with a fierce painted face ran confidently first into the ring ahead of his much bigger opponent. He got the applause especially as he bowed to the crowd in all directions. His bigger opponent was a bit nonplussed about this and lost some of his initial bravado but stepped into the ring nevertheless to face his opponent. As soon as the two boys were in the ring the contest was deemed to have officially started. The little lad knowing this, immediately launched himself at his much larger opponent on the edge of the ring and slid feet first and knocked his opponent of the ground. The little fellow jumped up quickly, grabbed his opponents’ foot and quickly dragged it to the edge of the ring and touched the foot against the boundary rope. Contest over! The crowd exploded with applause and appreciation as the victor bowed and rushed off to get an appreciative hug and kiss from his mum.

The next opponent again was slow into the ring and on stepping in was immediately head butted in the chest by his weaker opponent and fell back onto the rope. Again, the crowd were euphoric since they didn’t expect much of a spectacle from the starting line up. Hearing the noise and commotion other people joined the crowd and demanding to know what the excitement was all about so early in the competition. Another little lad shot into the ring against a larger opponent and managed to attack immediately with a handful of sand in the face. The little lad head butted his opponent in the stomach and as the large boy wiped dust from his eyes, he knocked him over but was too far away from the edge for a leg to be dragged over. Eventually the larger boy managed to grapple the little lad, lift him off his feet and carried the struggling lad to dump him unceremoniously over the rope. For his pains he got an elbow directed in his eye and also accidentally stepped out of the ring and was disqualified. The crowd of people were enjoying this spectacle of the weaklings getting some success and kudos.

 The third contest went as normal with the big lad just smothering his struggling opponent and dumping him onto the rope edge. The fourth contestant was a fat lad who would be counted as slow in the head but he kept running around the ring waving to the crowd as his larger opponent chased him and tried to grapple him. The fat lad suddenly stopped and his opponent ran onto his flat waving hand, busting his nose wide open. He ran off with blood everywhere to be consoled by his mum no doubt. The fat lad just sat down on the sand in surprise and studied his blood-soaked hand until his mum dragged him off amidst much cheering.

The rest of the little fellows didn’t do so well since their erstwhile opponents were now alerted to some unexpected tactics and just used size and brawn to overcome their puny opponents even though they suffered many bites, kicks and elbows for their efforts.  The beginners had done well and were well applauded. They were even given a ringside seat to watch the proceedings with pride and with their mums cheered on their elder and more skilful brothers. Mont was given pride of place amongst them as they now watched and expertly judged the older contestants. 

The three rings were in constant use and the competition got better as the afternoon progressed. The final bouts were fought fiercely and the winners rightly applauded. The senior championship was held in the evening and a break was called to get more refreshments and to clear the rings. The final was between last years champion and a young upstart. Being the final, it was held over three rounds to determine the winner. Each round was contested to the bitter end and after the second bout they were evenly matched. The crowd now was divided and their allegiance could have been heard all over the island. Drums and other instruments were commandeered from the protesting musicians to support their chosen champion to be. The young pretender was judged to be the weaker and the betting was all on the current incumbent. 

The Game Master managed to silence the crowd for the final bout and he led the two competitors into the ring, introduced them and got them to shake hands and then parted them to opposite sides and smartly stepped out as the two men circled and launched themselves at each other. The younger fellow seemed to be pushed over but took a surreptitious second step back and allowed himself to fall backwards but at the same time lifted his knee up to the chest of his opponent. This was a fateful blow for the champion as he fell forward he felt himself being cart-wheeled out of the ring. Sure enough, his foot touched the rope and we had a new worthy champion. His supporters jumped into the ring and hoisted him aloft cheering wildly as the defeated one melted into the background. The mothers, with their ever so proud kids, surrounded Mont and cheered and dragged him to the banqueting table. It had been a good competition with many surprises and the visitors had brought an additional element to the day.

The Champions supporters still wanted more and bayed for their champion to fight again to show off his prowess. This was the hooch talking and not the mind. Eventually they suggested that one of the visitors should take on the challenge and step into the ring and provide a demonstration bout for the champion to show off his skills. They approached Dunston and he was reluctant to appoint any of his team to take up the challenge. The only one eager was Bank but Dunston wouldn’t allow that. He knew that for Bank this would be more than a demonstration and a comfortable loss to please the crowd. He would take it seriously and would employ all of his unarmed combat skill to win. Having a badly injured Champion would not further their cause with these people.

Eventually the mothers and children started baying for Mont to take up the challenge. Mont agreed albeit reluctantly and stripped off his shirt and boots. The Champion was already in the ring as the crowd cleared and made way for Mont. The Champion waved to the crowd and strode across the sand purposefully with arm outstretched to shake his opponents’ hand. Mont stuck out his hand to shake when suddenly it was grabbed and a leg swung through an arc to sweep him off his feet. As he fell onto the sand, he could tell the intention of the Champion was to fall on him and end the contest. So confident was the Champion that he, let go of Mont’s hand which was his big mistake because it allowed his opponent to direct a massive heel kick to the inside of the thigh. This temporarily paralysed the leg so his fall was not under total control which meant he had to involuntarily put out his hand to cushion his fall. 

This was his second mistake as Mont managed to push the hand forward with his foot so that it would touch the rope. The whole thing would need a slow-motion replay to separate the movements and the action. The result was clearly obvious to the onlookers and a hush went over the crowd. It was obvious that a limb had touched and disturbed the rope but whose, was difficult to establish. The new Champions hand was definitely over the line but there was also Mont’s foot that had pushed it there. Which had touched first? The contest was over and Mont got to his feet and conceded defeat and congratulated the Champion. The Champion was equally puzzled as he was sure that he had touched the rope too and probably first. A definite winner had to be decided and a committee of five experts huddled together to make the final decision. The New Champion won by a close margin with a vote of three to two. This seemed to satisfy most of the punters especially when the Games Master declared that all bets were null and void on this contest.

They all decided to carry on with the serious element of the day and that was to party and discuss the finer points of wrestling. They all agreed that Mont had refined the contest somewhat but not all agreed that all the elements should be approved for future days. The local brewed hooch had improved the musical talents of the artists and people got up to dance and make merry. Mountains of food were laid out onto the tables and girls with sticks were posted to keep the hungry village hunting dogs at bay. No one was going to starve here but there were going to be a lot of sore heads the following day. Dunston and Miss Isabel, who now insisted that they drop the title of ‘Miss’, went around the Assembly and warned them be careful with the hooch, particularly Bank who seemed to be drinking it by the jug full. On closer inspection one would notice that it was his newfound friends that were consuming vast quantities with his encouragement and by his example but very little if any actually crossed his lips. Most of it watered the soil and encouraged the local fauna to flourish or maybe wilt.

The children had gone off to play and the group that Mont had schooled were re-enacting the last contest over and over again. The new Champion was being played by the largest fat boy and others were playing the part of Mont but were getting most frustrated because the ‘Champion’ wasn’t playing fair. After shaking hands and sweeping ‘Mont’ off his feet he wouldn’t let go of his hand and just fell on the poor opponent and wining the contestant every time. The boys even got the help from their mums to persuade the lad to play the game properly so that they could wriggle free but to no avail. The arguments that ensued brought a few more onlookers including the real Champion who lifted his stand-in onto his shoulders and declared him the true winner since he did the right thing and not let go. This satisfied the group and they went off to play their own games.

The bullock carts arrived as the party was in full swing and the camp was set up in a quiet glade some distance away from the noise. The partying and frolicking went on until the early hours of the morning. The possible danger from these villagers evaporated as one by one they fell and slept soundly on the ground. The assembly members went around and checked that each slumbering figure was comfortable and snoring in unison and then departed for their tents.

39. The Crystal Cave

They quietly struck their tents and left the quiet village and rode off into the forest towards a small mountain lake where Saffron promised them a splendid breakfast of trout. There was a heavy dew that morning so within minutes they were wet through with the droplets from the grass and passing branches. The sun was just making an appearance but it would be some time before its strength would be strong enough to warm their bones. A large bonfire on the lakeside was welcome relief but the arrival of Saffron soon had them worried. She was asking where were the trout that they were supposed to have caught for breakfast? This proved a more difficult task since they had no fishing equipment and Saffron and Isabel were not going to help with any suggestions.

The two midshipmen came to the rescue and showed them how to tickle for trout on the bank side. With nine pairs of hands delicately practising the poachers’ old art they managed to bring back a basketful of fat trout to the campfire which had now reduced to hot embers and ashes. Saffron had prepared long switches from the nearby bushes and was soaking them in the lake water. She demonstrated how to skewer the fish and told them to cook their own over the embers. Hugo and Eric again showed off their culinary expertise once again and pushed the switches into the ground near the embers and sat back and soaked up the heat of the rising sun as their catch cooked itself. Once crisp on both sides they nibbled off the sweet flesh down to the bones and these were cast onto the fire. Two fat trout were sufficient for all except the two midshipmen who had hollow legs that needed filling. A curious heron got an easy breakfast of some leftovers. Hot tea and sweet cake from the village completed the meal as the sun drank up the heavy dew.

They loaded the ponies with ropes and caving equipment and were led through the trees by Isobel towards the mine entrance that opened up into the Crystal Cave. The bullocks and their load would travel on and set up camp on the lake side higher up the mountainside above the cave system. An overgrown track led to the mine entrance which had been abandoned since no minerals had been discovered but they had penetrated into the cave system. The ponies were hobbled and set free to graze on the lush vegetation.

Ex noticed some strange rock formations and decided he would forgo the cave visit and investigate further the geological features. He would also look after the ponies and ensured they didn’t stray too far. The main party lit their acetylene lamps and ventured forth into the coolth of the mine entrance. The level adit tunnel was some hundred metres long but it took them some time to spot the slit in the rocks in the side wall that was the opening to the cave system. Mont took over the lead and squeezed through the gap with a lamp in hand. The others followed one by one, leaving a suitable gap to avoid frying the person ahead with the flame of their lamp.

A long winding shaft led them along. It was dry and a distinctive breeze suggested some opening ahead. At times they had to crawl on hands and knees but most of the time they could walk upright. At major openings to this tunnel, they stopped and checked everybody’s well being. Mont apologised to no one in particular but stated he was defacing the cave sides by marking them with soot from his lamp so that they could find their way back. Somebody actually praised him for his forethought. They passed through a few more small chambers with good developments of stalactites and stalagmites and the passage now started inclining steeply upwards. In the distance they could hear rushing water but these passages were dry with only an odd spot falling from the ceilings sounding a loud splash.

Eventually the noise of moving water got louder and they entered a large chamber and could hear the water rushing, through the broken rock of a large roof fall, below. There were three passages leading out of this chamber and Isabel remembered that the one to follow was the quiet one, not the ones with sound of water. Three of them set off in different directions and Sail came back first directing them along his chosen route. As they walked along the noise of rushing water receded and only the hissing of the lamps was heard. They entered a large chamber and found that their lamps were not powerful enough to penetrate to the roof.

Mont called a halt and took out a large acetylene lamp that he had brought just for this purpose. The lamp took a while to warm up but soon it cast a light up to the ceiling and they were greeted by a shimmering glitter of sparkling light. Not only that, but the sparkle was also mirrored and reflected off the lake surface so that both ceiling and floor glittered. They had found the Crystal cave and sat down and switched off their lamps and allowed Mont to display the splendour to the full. It was difficult to know whether to follow the beam of Mont’s lamp playing a dazzling display on the walls and ceiling or watch the mirrored reflection on the still surface of the lake. It was a beautiful sight and they all agreed that this would be one of the highlights of this trip that they would remember for ever.

Mont asked them to light up their lamps and in pairs to explore the lakeside and cave sides and return back to this spot with their findings. He told them to go carefully and not to disturb any natural formations especially on the floor. The echo in the chamber was enormous and shouts could be heard from all directions as new discoveries were made. Eventually Mont whistled to bring them all back to their meeting place. Bank reported that he and Sergeant had found a passage that led to a water flow which probably fed the lower lake. Dunston and Isobel reported that they couldn’t find any obvious exit for the water. Doc and Sail reported that they couldn’t find any visible passages leading out of the big chamber other than the one Bank and Sergeant had explored and the one that they had entered through. Mont asked Isabel if anybody had found any exits along the entry tunnel but the answer was negative.

It was at that moment a huge gust of wind rushed from the passage that they had entered the chamber. This was followed by a loud rumble which sounded ominous. Dunston suggested that their exit shaft might have been tampered with. Some of the lamps had been blown out and Mont requested that they shouldn’t be lit to conserve the fuel. Bank said he had come across lots of branches and timber that had been washed down and suggested they light a fire. Mont agreed and added that they should get a good fire going and them attempt to get it smoking, firstly to see where the exits were and also alert any rescue teams on the surface that might be alerted by Ex. 

Mont and Sail were going to check the return passage towards the mine entrance and see what had actually caused the rumble. Bank and Doc were directed to get firebrands and explore the passage where they heard the water sounds. A bonfire was easily lit with the abundance of branches but to achieve smoke was more difficult until Sergeant pulled wet wood out of the lake and toasted that. It was more steam than smoke but there was a steady draught up through the roof hopefully it might get up through the rock and to the surface to raise the alarm.

Mont and Sail carefully returned along their entrance passage checking the roof for any falls or possible danger. There was no apparent problem with the state of the passage but when they reached the adit corridor entrance to the mine they found it blocked solid with stone. They started excavating a passage but more stones tumbled down. The possibility of an exit this way looked bleak. Sail noticed a funny smell which he recognised as gunpowder. Mont decided they should not alarm the others with the news of possible sabotage at this stage and just put it down to a mine roof collapse which can be quite normal in old mines, but they were furious about the possible culprits. 

They returned to the main chamber and found the bonfire burning well and smoke rising up through the roof. They decided to check out the passage that Bank and Sergeant were exploring. They found that Bank had kindly lit small fire along the passage so that they could save the fuel in their lamps. The sound of rushing water got louder as they proceeded onwards until eventually, they came into an enormously high chamber with a waterfall descending in a huge torrent from a high cliff face some sixty metres up.  

Mont moved them back into the entrance passage where it was quieter and told them that he thought that there must be a way out above the waterfall since the branches and the tree trunks must have been washed down from above and by the size of them, they could get out easily if only they could get up to the waterfall and beyond. He suggested they light a blazing fire to give as much light as possible so that they can assess how they could climb up there. As Mont pointed out this could be only the start of their problems but they had to try.

They pondered over the issue and decided that the only safe way was to scale the large stalagmite group nearby and bridge across to the lip of the waterfall. The first problem was getting high enough up the stalagmite to bridge the gap. The second was to build the bridge. Eventually they searched amongst the timber and found suitable spars that could be joined to form a climbable limb to get up the stalagmite. Arranging a suitable structure for the bridge was more problematic since they didn’t want to shorten the only rope they had. Eventually Mont decided on a course of action. He would climb up the constructed pole to a possible ledge on the stalagmite. Bank would follow him up supported by the rope and then they would somehow lift the pole higher so that Mont could climb up it to the next level. It all sounded very precarious but they had to go by Mont’s expertise on these matters.

The limb was set up against the stalagmite and it just about reached the first ledge that Mont was aiming for. Bank held it steady as Mont climbed over his back and shinned up the pole. It looked easy the way Mont did it and he was soon at the top with the rope around his waist. He cut off a length and managed to thread a gap and around a thinner part of the stalagmite creating a loop. He let the rope down and Bank tied on and started to shin up the pole. Suddenly the onlookers saw how difficult it was but Mont held Bank securely by the rope. He eventually reached the ledge and Mont manhandled him into a safe position.

 Mont needed to climb to a ledge some ten metres above them but there was no handholds on the smooth stone. Once they were settled and tied onto the first loop, the pole was hauled up and through the loop. This was why Mont insisted that Bank would be the second in line to make use of his phenomenal upper body strength. With Mont’s help Bank managed to inch the pole up until is base was wedged in the cleft they were standing on and the loop of rope held it against the stalagmite. With Bank steadying the pole, Mont nimbly shinned up it to the higher ledge. It was an easy matter for Mont to then shin up to the next ledge or cleft up the now thinner stalagmite and affix another loop for the rope to pass through.

A loop of rope was passed down to Bank who tied it to the base of the pole which was then hauled up by rope and the muscle of Mont and Bank to rest its base on the second cleft. Slowly the pole was lowered by the rope with its base stuck into the cleft. The people down below held their breath and fuelled the fire to maximise the light for those above, not forgetting to add a quiet prayer. Eventually the pole was tilted to bridge the gap and Mont manoeuvred and rolled it and wedged it into place.

The bridge was in place but how were they going to climb up to that height and cross the bridge. Hearts in mouth they watched as Mont hoisted and manoeuvred Bank by rope up to the upper level. It was a matter of climbing, hauling and a lot of sweat. Both men were now perched high up on the base of the bridge discussing the next step when those below suddenly saw Mont stand up and tight rope walk across the beam to the lip of the waterfall. He disappeared under the overhang and secured the end of the pole. He then beckoned for Bank to cross to join him. Bank tied the end of the rope around his waist and sat astride the pole and gently edged himself over the chasm. It certainly wasn’t as pretty but an effective and safer way of crossing a precarious bridge

There was a pause in events as the two steeplejacks discussed how they would tackle the next step. The group down below had no idea of the next steps planned when suddenly they heard shouting from above. The roar from the waterfall completely masked the sound and none of the instructions could be recognised. Sail suddenly stood up behind the blaze and started using semaphore signals to pass a message up to the people at the top. The first instruction from above was for everybody below to stand clear and well away from the waterfall. The pole was dropped down and retrieved from the river by the people below. More signals instructed the people to stand the pole upright against the waterfall wall and Mont was lowered down on the rope to the top of the pole and beckoned for Dunston to shin up to him. Dunston managed without too much difficulty and the loop of the rope was passed beneath his arms and Bank hoisted him up and over the lip of the waterfall. The rope wasn’t long enough to reach to the bottom hence the need for people to climb the pole. Isabel was next and found some difficulty so Sail followed behind her and helped her up to Mont and the rope. With two people hauling on the rope Isabel flew up to the ledge. Sergeant and Doc followed and Sail brought up the rear bringing all their lamps and equipment.

The ledge was getting crowded and with the aid of a lamp they moved further up the tunnel. Dunston immediately pulled branches out of the stream and started a fire with aid of the acetylene flame. This lit up the chamber and saved them more fuel. Dunston led them forward with a fire brand and at each chamber where there was a supply of wood they lit a fire. Eventually they reached a pool of water from which the flow welled up and spilled over forming the stream and the waterfall. Mont surmised that there must be a large channel to the outside for the branches and tree trunks to come down. The only issue was how long these channels were and were there any air pockets that would allow them to pass this in stages. Dunston demanded that he should be the first to try since Mont was now the leader and it was more important for him to stay safe and look after the party. He tied a rope around his waist and lowered himself into the water. Isabel shouted and stopped him and gave him a glass jar. She shook the jar and it lit up with fire flies. It wasn’t a strong light but could be useful if he found an air space.

Mont explained to Dunston that he should push himself along the sides and keep out of the main flow and check for air pockets with his raised hand. Dunston took some deep breaths and submerged himself in the pool and disappeared as Mont paid out the line. Two tugs signalled that he had found an air pocket and was OK. The amount of rope paid out suggested it was about six to eight metres in. A few minutes later Dunston reappeared and told them he needed an assistant in the air pocket so he could attempt the next sump. This time he took a lamp with him and ensured it was properly sealed for transport under water. After a couple of tugs, Doc followed with an understanding that two tugs followed by two tugs then somebody else could follow. Slowly and carefully the group managed to get themselves through a series of three sumps to a large chamber where they relit a lamp.

Here they grouped and Dunston told them that there was a lot of debris in the next section ahead and it would be difficult and even dangerous to get through. Bank suggested that two of them should go forward with the rope and the firefly light and tie the rope to some of the branches so that they could tug on them and maybe clear a channel. Dunston said it was unnecessary for two people and he would go alone. A minute later they saw branches and logs floating by as Dunston had cleared away some of the loose material. Suddenly Dunston appeared gasping for breath. He signalled to Bank to pull on the rope. A number of them helped and suddenly the rope gave and a mass of branches swept along the water through the chamber. They had difficulty in undoing the rope. Sail suggested that he should try next and took the end of the rope and light jar and was away before anybody could protest.

He was back quicker than Dunston and had the end of the rope in his hand. He had looped the rope around some branches and they were instructed to pull on both ends. Out came another load of branches and debris and the looped end was freed and easily pulled out. Sail repeated the operation and Sergeant insisted he had a turn. Slowly but surely the mass of branches were cleared. Even Isabel insisted that she took her turn and with her efforts she broke through to the next air pocket. They seemed to be making some progress but were getting very cold so Bank lit a fire in the main large chamber on a ledge above the water where they could thaw out a little and rest.

 Eventually Isabel spotted what she thought was sunlight and decided to make a major effort and swam the last sump into the open. She was on a lake shore. She couldn’t recognise where she was but that didn’t matter. She tied the end of the rope to a tree and swam back to tell the others the good news. The last sump was very long and Mont decided that he should go forward, pulling himself on the rope and tied the ends together to form a continuous loop. That way people could be quickly pulled through and the people in the air pocket wouldn’t lose sight of the rope. It worked fine and everyone was pulled through and welcomed the warm sunny air on the lakeside.

It was evening and it must have taken them over five hours of hard labour and nerves to get out and rescue themselves. They now wondered what Ex and the others must be doing and thinking. Having rested in the sun they decided to explore the lake edge and see where it led. Mont sent out his trademark piercing whistle at various moments to alert Ex if he was in the vicinity.  An hour later they came across some mine workers who had been summoned to help in the search, alerted by Ex.

40. Ex’s tale

Up on the mountainside, above the mine shaft entrance, Ex had found a vein of mineralization which he was investigating when suddenly there was an earth tremor and immediately followed by a recognisable explosion which ejected lots of dust and dirt out of the mine entrance and scattered the ponies. Ex stood up to look and saw as the dust settled, two men emerging out of hiding and investigating the tunnel. Ex hurried down realising that these two fellows were up to no good and when they appeared at the entrance he challenged them.  They took one look at him and ran off down the track. Ex shouted for them to stop but they were getting away so he drew his pistol and fired four shots in their direction hoping that they would take fright and stop. Along the track he found one of the men clutching his knee in bloody hands and moaning. Ex chased down the track after his mate but he had gone.

He went back to the fellow on the ground and quietly asked him who he was and where was he from. All he got was more moaning and groaning so he kicked him in the wounded leg and again. The screams frightened the birds who rushed off screeching. Ex asked the question again and aimed another kick with his boot. The man in terror told him his name and that they had been sent by one of the Boyars, Fredrickson, who had planned to trap them all in the Crystal cave. Boyar Fredrickson along with a few others had eluded capture and internment earlier. Ex then asked how many of them were there and aimed another kick and was told quickly only two and they had come with ponies and two barrels of gunpowder. A further kick of disgust had the man screaming and retching with pain.

Ex tried the radio on the party’s frequency but as he suspected there was no answer or response. The mountain of rock would prevent any signal reaching the party in the cavern. He looked into the mine entrance and saw it was solidly blocked with tons of large stones as the roof had all caved in. The men sent by Fredrickson had done a good job of the demolition and it would take some days to clear away the entrance and build a safe new supported tunnel.

He tried the second frequency and hoped to get Saffron but again didn’t expect a response since she thought that these instruments had been sent by the devil and wouldn’t even touch them. He was just about to give up when he heard a faint response from one of the Midshipmen. He couldn’t tell who it was but clearly asked him if he was Hugo and if so for him to bleep twice. Sure enough Hugo bleeped twice to confirm himself and that he understood the messages. Ex then slowly gave him a set of instructions to go to the Mine Manager at the gold mine and get help. First, they were to come to the mine entrance and pick up the ponies and ride off to the main gold mine. Within an hour the boys had arrived and they rounded up the ponies which fortunately hadn’t run off too far, being hobbled. They also found one of the brigand’s pony.

He ordered Hugo, with his radio, to take a pony and go to the main mine for help and excavating equipment. Eric stayed behind and helped Ex to bundle the brigand onto one pony, lying him on his stomach. They tied his hands and feet under the animal and not too gently. Eric was instructed to take the load back to the camp. They would see to his wounds at a more convenient time.  Ex set off on his pony to explore the limestone outcrops for possible other entrances or exits to the cave system. Miss Isabel had told them that the cave was a chance find when the exploratory mine tunnel was excavated. Before that no one had known of the cave system beneath the mountain.

The sturdy pony took Ex up the mountainside and through the trees looking for outcrops of limestone. They followed a dry valley for a while but there was no sign of any depressions that might lead to an opening. He decided to climb up to the very top of the mountain and survey the area. The slopes were steep and at time it felt safer for him to dismount and walk or scramble. The sure-footed pony had no trouble climbing and Ex just hung onto the reins for extra lift. At some point he noticed a smell of wood smoke and at first he put it down to Saffron setting up camp but it was far too early for that. After reaching the top he climbed a suitable tree and viewed the surrounding landscape. Not very promising and it was difficult to see much because of the heavily wooded slopes. He looked for possible smoke from a wood cutters fire of a possible hunter but the sky was clear.

He checked with Hugo on the radio and reception was good. Hugo had got to the mine and the Mine Manager had organised two parties. One with equipment and bullock carts to excavate the collapsed tunnel and another advance party that was going to go up to the lake and start the search for an opening from there. Ex was to meet them at the lake. Ex looked from his perch and saw a large depression that could hold a lake and with his pony made his way down to where he thought that might be. He remembered that Saffron was going to a lake to set up camp.  On his way down again, he detected wood smoke again and wondered if it was coming from the cave system. It would be the only way of the trapped party attracting attention. He decided that the miners might have more idea of where to look and descended quickly to the hollow.

The lake was quite large and situated in a broad cleft in the mountains. He let the pony quench its thirst and then explored the perimeter of the lake hoping to find the track leading to it. He came across a long manmade dam, constructed of large blocks of limestone. He found a well constructed water channel leading away into the distance but the water level of this lake or reservoir was well below the entry level to this channel and therefore it was quite dry. A lot of effort had gone into the construction and Ex wondered why the project had been abandoned.

 With some searching he found a couple of overgrown tracks and decided to stay in the vicinity. The radio crackled and Hugo told him that the advanced party including the Mine Manager Harald who was Jaya’s father was also coming with them. They were about half an hour away from the lake and the bullock carts would be on the way by now to the old mine. Hugo asked him to light a smoky fire so that they could find his location. All that Ex could do had been arranged but he still racked his brain for further ideas.

Ex heard shouting as the ponies trotted up the track and Hugo waving his hat. The Manager introduced himself and discussed the problem with Ex and Hugo. The lake was situated in a natural hollow and the mining company had constructed the reservoir to provide water for the mines to operate the water pumps but as anyone could see, it was a failure if not a total disaster as the water wouldn’t come up to the planned height. Harald surmised that there was a leak somewhere and Hugo suggested it might just drain into the cavern system. This seemed a sensible idea and the Harald suggested that he sent some men around the perimeter of the lake looking for possible outflows. Ex told him about the smell of smoke on the mountain side that he had detected and the Harald agreed that it could be a sign from the party trapped in the cave. They decided to spread out and search the mountain side above the lake towards the old mineshaft and hope to find something of interest. Harald said that mining engineers had explored the whole area of the mountain looking for minerals, in the past and hadn’t recorded any caves or entrances, other than the mineralization zone that Ex had investigated.

They had about four hours of daylight left and would search about a third of the area. The men would then go to the mine and start on the escape tunnel. They had planned to dig out and shore up with locally cut timber a narrow tunnel as far as the cave entry and would be working all night. Ex said he would join them but the Harald dissuaded him saying that the men were on a fat bonus and wouldn’t want any interference or hindrance.  Ex decided to tell the manager quietly on the side that this was sabotage and what did he know of Boyar Fredrickson. Well, he told him a lot and it wasn’t very nice. Boyar Fredrickson was a greedy fellow Harald told him, swallowing some more detrimental description of him, who was trying to organise the other Boyar families into revolt and having heard that the erstwhile visitors were going to visit the cave had planned obviously to put an end to them.

It was common knowledge that they were going to visit the cave and he must have posted some men to watch for their arrival and set the charges. Ex decided to foil the plot any further by sending one of the trusted miners back to the mine with the good news that the party had got out safely after the rotten roof timbers of the mine tunnel had given way and brought down the roof. They had found a crawling space at the side and with some rock clearance had got out unhurt. There was to be no mention of Fredrickson or the explosion. The search party were going to camp overnight at the lake and return early in the morning. That information would take the sting out of the plotters tail and delay any of their attempts to take control of Colvend and the mining district. The information should cause some confusion amongst the leaders and make them lie low. Ex mentioned the second brigand who had escaped and he might tell a different tale. The manager Harald decided that this man was more likely to disappear than face the wrath of Fredrickson after failing in his mission. They would have to chance that but the seeds of doubt would be sown in the conspirators. 

 They organised the search for possible entrances and sent the men off in three groups, the first to check the lake side, the second to work the ridge facing the lake and the last group to work on the other side of the ridge. Three blasts of a whistle would be a signal that they had found something of interest. Six blasts would mean abandon the search and regroup at the lake. Hugo went off with the lakeside group whilst Ex and the Harald reviewed their plans and course of action. Harald explained that it might take two or three days to dig out the escape tunnel depending on the danger from the loose rocks but he was confidant that the group would perform the task even if it meant digging out the whole mountain of collapsed rubble. He assured Ex that they wouldn’t need to do that and would do the minimum rock shifting to achieve their result. They were experienced at this and could be relied on.

Ex pondered over the possibility of digging a tunnel directly into the cavern but  Harald dismissed the idea out of hand since they didn’t know precisely the position of the cavern and it would take three times as long and still no guarantee of reaching any cavern system. At least they were following a fully mapped course and anything else would surely be doomed to failure.

Six loud blasts of a whistle were heard well before sundown and other blasts were heard of confirmation. Suddenly the radio buzzed with static and the excited voice of Hugo was blabbering something totally incomprehensible down the air waves. The men on the lakeside had found something but why the signal for cessation of search? Could they have possibly found the group? How could that be? The men assembled by the lakeside and Hugo was seen sprinting down the path waving his hands and hat. He came slithering to a stop and hugged Ex and shouted that the party had been found by the group searching the lake. They were OK but exhausted. None of them had thought of using a radio. The whole band rushed back up the path to meet the cavers, Hugo led the way shouting back that they had found a passage up to the lake and had to scale waterfalls and swim through tunnels full of water to get out.

They met about a kilometre up the path along the lakeside and all jumped for joy at being reunited. The miners were doubly excited because their manager had promised them their pay, even though they hadn’t done any of the heavy work. The miners decided to go back home over night to their wives and a comfortable bed. Harald was invited to stay by the lakeside and camp overnight with them and hear the full tale of their escape. Ex took Dunston aside and explained the situation and what action he had ordered. Dunston said they would review proceedings once they had rested and been fed and watered.

The bullock carts led by Saffron arrived at the lake dam much at the same time as the cavers and again it was time for rejoicing. Saffron had taken pity on the wounded brigand and had patched up his wounds and had given him some water. He was recovering but still in shock. She had also questioned the captive and got lots of information from him about Boyar Fredrickson and his plans. But first thing was to set up camp and collect food for the evening’s feast and celebrations. They were taken aback by her orders having just escaped from a damp and dark jail and wanting sympathy rather than orders to hunt for their supper again.

Saffron ordered them to go and swim in the lake and get cleaned up and while they were about it they should dive for the fresh water crayfish that abounded on the lake bed. She handed out sacks and told them to be off and fill them. Off they went, skinny dipping in the lake, splashing and diving for cray. Soon they discovered that the crayfish hid under flat stone so that when lifted, cray scuttled off and had to be quickly gripped behind its pincers otherwise blood would be drawn. This seemed a happy pastime and many were caught and stuffed into sacks. The group noted that Dunston and Isabel were doing more playing than fishing and heads were nodded in understanding.

The two boys went off into the reeds with a sack and a large knife. The reeds were high and hid the amazing bird life that lived there. They were after the large frogs, but these were too fast and elusive to capture easily. The way to catch them was patiently and quietly to part the reed and look for black tipped herons that fed on the frogs. They were adept at catching them but the frogs fought back. On being caught the frog played dead and was swallowed by the heron. As it slid into the gullet it spread its legs and virtually choked the heron as it gradually climbed out. By the time the frog reached the herons’ beak the poor heron had passed out through the lack of air and shock and was too helpless to attack the frog again. The frog would jump out and swim away to live another day.

The herons were greedy creatures and often chose a morsel far too big for their own good and would suffer. A smaller frog had no chance and got squeezed into the stomach to meet a sticky end. The boys were searching for suffering herons, to relieve them of their burden. They would grab a weakened heron and pull out the frog, cut off its two hind legs to keep and throw the body to an awaiting heron that would swallow the enfeebled frog with no consequence and danger. They returned with a wet sack full of frogs’ legs and very pleased with themselves.

The others returned with sacks of cray and eventually Dunston and Isabel turned up looking sheepish. The fire had burned down to red embers and a metal grill was set up above the fire. They knew how to handle the cray from previous instructions and a bucket of water stood handy for the dunking. The frogs’ legs were more problematical until Saffron demonstrated the method of skewering the legs with switches of wood and grilling them until the skin was crisp. They were delicious particularly when the meat was sandwiched in a blue roasted tuber which had a peppery flavour that complemented the sweetness of the legs. The cray were old hat but much appreciated by all.

As they cooked and ate, they discussed and retold the tale of their escape. Hugo and Eric were enthralled when Sergeant described how Mont and Bank scaled the waterfall, especially the bit about Mont hopping and skipping across the slippery pole. By this time the height climbed had been exaggerated and the pole had become a snake rather than a stiff piece of timber. They made little of their problems but Dunston, Sergeant, Harald and Saffron spent some time discussing over their continuing political problem with the Boyars, particularly with Boyar Fredrickson. They decided to let the Boyars stew in their juice of their own making for the time being and firstly they would visit the gold mine and then go onto Colvend and sort out this problem for good and all.   

    

41. Panning for Gold

They had to cross the mountain to reach the Gold mine and the Mine Manager Harald led them over a low col, a dip in the mountains, from where they could see the whole stretch of coastline, all the way past Colvend. They could see the gash in the landscape of the mine and below, spilling into the sea were the tailings, the worked spoil, where most of the gold had been extracted by fairly primitive methods. Harald explained that since the seam was so rich they didn’t have to be too precise or efficient in the process of getting the gold to separate out. To get more gold out would cost more and the present Company, now nationalised, was probably happy with the current production.

Harald explained that there was a thick seam of minerals about two metres wide running vertically up from a great depth that had split the mountain effectively in two. The miners quarried the ore and it was hoisted out and spilled onto slides and down to the workings where the gold could be separated out. They had to leave horizontal pillars or cheeses as the miners called them at intervals to stop the excavated crack from closing in on them. This was wasteful but necessary for safety. He hoped that under the new State control, safety could be improved since rock falls from the upper strata of the mine were a constant problem. Also, the lower reaches were now suffering from flooding and lots of energy had to be spent on pumping water. They, at one time, had hoped to utilise the water from the reservoir to harness a water wheel and a pump. This had failed so they currently used bullocks for the power.

As they descended to the mine, Harald called a halt and diverted the ponies onto a track leading to a small stream. He told them that they were going to pan for gold and he was going to show them how to get rich quick. Anything for a diversion and since getting off the ponies was a good, relief they agreed. Harald pulled out some metal plates from a sack he had borrowed from Saffron and handed them out. He took off his boots and plunged into the stream ankle deep. He scooped up a handful of gravel from the bottom with the plate and swilled it about. With his hand he picked and discarded any larger pebbles and was left with coarse sand. With a deft flick of the wrists, he had the sand swirling around the plate as he sloshed bits off the edge. He refilled the plate with water and continued the process until he had a thimble full of silt on the plate. He brought it out for show and sure enough some particles glistened and were deemed to be gold. He told them to spread out and get panning. He expected the party to fill the sack with silt that would then be panned by experts back at the mine. He hoped a sack full of raw pay dirt as the miners called it would fetch a cup full of pure gold dust. He told them to watch out for nuggets and larger specs of gold which could be put directly into the cup he had brought for the purpose. 

They set to, panning, under the watchful eye of their manager Harald. Ex as usual got bored and started investigating the riverbanks and the rock outcrops and disappeared from view. About an hour later when people were complaining from back ache Harald whistled to put a stop to the proceedings and weighed the contents of the sack in his hand and viewed the contents of the cup, proclaiming that they certainly had half a cup full and the expert panners back at the mine workings might just make it more. At this moment, Ex appeared and started handing out nuggets of gold to everyone. Each person got a nugget the size of a small pea and they were amazed by his find. The manager Harald was equally surprised and all wanted to know where he had got them. He simply told them that brains got you more than brawn and laughed, so they all bowed down and kow-towed to him until he relented and showed them to the bank where he had been sitting, looking out over the seashore in the distance. They all agreed it was a pretty view but where was the gold they demanded. He sat himself comfortably on the bank and gently swung his legs kicking the bank side beneath. Gravel tumbled down and looking down at it they saw the occasional gleaming nugget. He told them this was the lazy man’s way of panning then showed them a line of light-coloured sand along the bank side like a streak. If you dug at this line, you could find your gold. Sure enough, they all crouched down and with their knives or stones gently scraped at the seam. Cries of delight signalled a find and soon the whole area was a mass of ooghs and aaghs.

Dunston the spoilsport, brought the proceedings to a close and called a halt. They had more important matters to attend to and had to be on their way. They decided that each person should, in turn, chose a nugget as a souvenir and the rest would be pooled. Ex was delegated to be first and he chose the largest two and handed one to Isabel and said the other large one was for Saffron. Dunston was deemed next and greedily chose the three biggest and gave them all to Ex, one for each of his brides to be and one for himself. Eventually the distribution was complete and they had enough nuggets left to overspill the cup. They left satisfied and agreed that the contents of the cup and sack would be distributed evenly amongst them. Harald surmised that each would receive a gold coin for their efforts.

42. The Gold Mine

As they approached, they saw that the mine was a huge undertaking and the miners had excavated a huge crack into the mountain side. The manager Harald told them, “Currently the miners are totally dependant on the mine and have to find work there or move away. They are virtually slaves since all the land has been taken away from them long ago by the Boyars.”

“How did the Boyars manage that?” asked Sergeant.

“Bit by bit they got the miners into debt by charging them for provisions and equipment,” answered Harald. “They also fined them for being late for work or just being absent even if they were ill. They took their land as payment of debt even charging them rent. Today the miner’s lot is worse than being a slave.”

 “How can we change that?” asked Dunston.

“We must get rid of the slave culture in Arbigland,” added Doc.

“Well, we certainly must do something, particularly about the safety of the mine. I’m not proud of running such a business and as you can see it’s very inefficient.”

“I can see that,” said Ex and asked, “OK Harald, you look a man of some worth and must have some ideas. What would you do?”

“Yes, what would you do Harald?” asked Sail. 

 “Well, I did have a vision but the Boyars put a stop to all that. I wanted to run the mine as part of the community. The miners need to be paid workers rather than slaves and each to own a sizeable plot of land so that they could cultivate their own produce and be mainly self-sufficient.”

“But Harald, you are suggesting part time miners, is that it?” asked Bank.

“What’s wrong with that?” said Harald and went on to say, “As long as the Country of Arbigland is not too greedy, then we don’t need to mine so much gold in the first place. It was only the Boyars and Governor Bonard that wanted more gold to form a power base.”

“I suppose by bringing in more efficiency you could do with fewer miners then?” said Ex. “I can see lot of scope for improvement here.”

“Yes Ex, you’re right but if we bring in the changes in efficiency too quickly what happens with the redundant miners?” retorted Harald.

“So, by giving each miner a plot of suitable land we can make them more self sufficient and less reliant on the wages from the mine,” surmised Mont.

“That’s the way I see it,” said Harald. “Since crops grow well in this climate it doesn’t require much work to produce plenty of food for your family here. Fishing is another option some might take up. Fishing is good here and they could have a happy life.”

“I see the first problem is to provide each miner with a decent wage,” said Bank, “Then we see about the land allocation. Is there enough land here Harald?”

“Hang on a minute,” interjected Dunston and added, “Our prime task now is to get rid of the Boyars and divide up their lands. I don’t see any other way now that they have shown that they cannot be trusted.”

“I agree,” said Sergeant, “We will confiscate all of the Boyar property as planned, demolish their fine buildings and divide up their land or provide a means of fishing for those who choose it. The demolished buildings would provide materials for new ones if needed and the local Government would help in achieving this. That’s my suggestion.”

“What do we do with the Boyars?” asked Doc.

“Give them the same option,” added Sergeant, “Release them from internment and give them a plot of land and they can farm and work in the mines as labourers if they chose to.”

“But we need to do something special for Boyar Fredrickson,” added Dunston, “We can’t let him off so easily. We need to make an example of him, any suggestions?”

“Yes,” said Harald, “you either expel him and his family or cast him and his two elder sons in the galleys for two years. That would be a definite deterrent and remove him from circulation.”

“That’s a bit drastic Harald but you know these people and know how they would react to that type of punishment,” said Dunston, “I don’t want to be too harsh but its no good having somebody like Fredrickson stirring up the community.”

“Well, we certainly have a lot to consider and arrange. I suggest that we pay the miners a sort of bonus and deal with the Boyars immediately,” said Sail.

“OK, we are getting somewhere. Let’s draw up some plans,” said Dunston. “Harald, are there any other reliable people in the community in Colvend that we could draw on to form a local Council to handle the changes? It would be better that the initiatives came directly from the locals with a bit of direction from the main Government from Barcloy.”

“I could certainly muster up a group of people for you to consider,” replied Harald and continued, “I suggest that your group go down to Colvend and stay in the Council building which has a lot of accommodation. I will go and see my supervisors and give them the good news about the bonus if I may.”

“Yes, do that Harald,” said Dunston, “and join us in Colvend with your chosen people as soon as possible. Also, can you send a message to Barcloy to send a representative from the Council here as soon as possible.”

“I’ll get someone on horseback to ride there immediately Dunston.”

They had a quick look around the mine workings and Ex asked a supervisor for a sample of the spoil tips to be bagged and sent to Barcloy. On reaching Colvend they were met by a crowd of people eager to see and meet their new Governor and his entourage. They had also heard about the party being trapped in the Crystal cavern and how they had escaped. No Boyars greeted them though some of their henchmen were noted in the crowd. 

43. Colvend Council

They spoke to the crowd and retired to their new accommodation and waited for the carts to catch up. Sergeant rode back to meet the carts to ensure that their captive was kept under cover since they had a role for him the next day. They had a private meal and discussed and finalised the plans that they would introduce to their new Council which they were going to chose later that evening.

They all met in the Council Chamber and Dunston introduced his team. Harald was asked to introduce the people he had brought. He introduced a selection of miners, fishermen, town’s people, foresters and farmers. He made sure to select some women and men of various ages to try and get a balanced cross section of the community. Dunston congratulated Harald on his choice and welcomed the people warmly. He told them that he wanted them to form a Council to organise the local community on behalf of the Government of Barcloy and Arbigland. He asked each representative to tell the assembly of one thing they were passionate about for the good of the local people.

They got lots of ideas from the group, more than they had bargained for. The main thread throughout was that they all wanted rid of the Boyars and a less stressful life for the miners. They decided to reduce the size of the Town Council to seven members and at this stage they would be appointed by Dunston and the Assembly. In future they would be elected by democratic vote. Dunston chose the members with the approval of his people and they were then asked to appoint a leader. A woman teacher was selected unanimously by the group and Dunston, as Governor of Arbigland swore them in. He told them that their first task was to sack the current Council who were the only cronies of the Boyars. This task was done formerly and noted by the newly appointed Clerk with relish. He then asked Sergeant to outline the plan they had agreed on earlier and asked the Council to discuss and vote on each item. The discussions were far ranging but Dunston and Bank ensured that they stuck to the main points and Sergeant interjected with additional comments or explanations as required. All the items that were submitted by Sergeant were accepted though some had additions and embellishments. Other points were added and a manifesto of action was determined. The Council were harsher than Dunston’s men but with the built-up bitterness over the ages that was expected. The action against the Boyars was toned down somewhat and they were given equal rights to the rest of the community and they hoped that their power base and influence would be totally defused.

Dunston announced that all matters discussed and agreed upon were to remain secret and tomorrow they would meet the Boyars and mete out their sentences. It was early morning by the time they had finished and the new Council members decided to stay rather than return home. They were made as comfortable as possible and a guard was posted.

The following day the free Boyars with their entourage arrived and swaggered about the town trying to drum up support for their cause. Rumours were rife but no one could confirm the truth. The Ex-Councillors tried to spread rumours that this was just a flash in the pan and that the visitors would be expelled, but the majority of decent people wanted change and were quite excited as to how events might pan out. At midday the Boyars and their immediate family members were invited into the Council chamber. Weapons were removed from them. Those who refused weren’t admitted to take part. They all eventually relented and handed over their daggers and short swords. They were sat in family groups facing the Council members and their Governor Dunston. The other assembly members sat around the edges of the chamber. Ceremonial armed guards covered the four exits and kept the doors closed. Other guards outside the building kept the curious crowds at bay. 

Lord Dunston, the Governor of Arbigland, opened proceedings by welcoming all to the meeting and commenced by introducing the new Council members and detailing their new roles. He then addressed the Boyars directly and rounded on them for total mismanagement of natural resources and mistreatment of the local people. He outlined the charges against Canatto, their former self-appointed leader and then accused them all of treason for rising against the Governor and starting a war. They listened smirking and commenting laughingly at the proceedings although some looked uncomfortable. Dunston then identified Fredrickson and brought in the captured brigand who confessed what he had been paid to do. Angry shouting and commotion ensued as the Boyars rose and shouted and argued amongst themselves. 

Dunston pulled out his pistol and fired into the ceiling and silence ensued. He then told them that they had to chose between leaving Arbigland or staying and losing all their possessions and being given a plot of land to restart their lives again as common men. This as expected brought the Boyars to their feet and surging towards Dunston and the Councillors. This time Bank fired his pistol into the air and dislodged a large chunk of plaster that crashed to the floor with an enormous clatter. This again quietened the Boyars as they saw that they were surrounded by armed guards and that Dunston’s men had their firearms drawn, ready for action. The more sensible ones sat down and reviewed their options and the others stood and glared at Dunston who took the opportunity to sentence Fredrickson to four years in prison as a galley slave and his two elder sons to two years. The guards, who had been pre-warned, grabbed the guilty persons and dragged them out of the chamber. The attention of the others was now fully on Dunston as he announced the full terms for them and asked them to either accept or be prepared to be expelled from the islands. They all relented and accepted their new conditions. Each family was allocated a plot of land and would be escorted there immediately without returning to their mansions which would be demolished. They would be given a supply of provisions and equipment to start a new life. They were also allowed to work at the mine if they wanted, for a fair wage. Dejected, they were escorted out of the building and loaded onto carts as the local populace jeered and threw mud at them having realised that their reign was over.

In the afternoon, two councillors arrived from Barcloy plus a detachment of guards.  Notices were posted and announcements made to the local people about the changes. Councillors were sent out to their areas to explain the new rules and arrangements. Allocation of land would be by lottery unless a prior strong claim was raised. The Mine Manager Harald would be the arbitrator and he and his appointed men would check the boundaries of each plot in a month to check for any infringements. No one would be allowed to hold more than a certain amount of land. Materials and equipment would be made available for building and farming and for those opting for fishing, boats and nets would be made available. Those people already established would be assured of their land, building and profession. Stability would be established and the operation of the mine would change. Every miner would get a decent wage and could negotiate their hours. Anyone with a grievance had to write a note to the Council and it would be posted and heard within a week. Other proclamations would be made to explain and clarify the changes as needed. 

There was lots of cheering as people read the notices out for the people at the rear of the crowd. Most seemed satisfied and those displeased kept their disappointments to themselves. The most worried were the Boyar’s henchmen and cronies who expected some sort of retaliation against them. People were more concerned about their own plans and dreams rather than the plight of the Boyars or their followers. The new broom had swept the town clean and everybody was excited about the new start.

44. The Big Changes

Next day the miners and workers entitled to land or boats gathered in the town square in front of the council chamber and registered their names with a Clerk and were given a number. Eventually a barrel was brought out and boys and girls from the school drew tickets out of the barrel. Bank read out the number and the ticket holder went into the building to check their allocation and get a registration certificate. It went quite smoothly but at the end there was a group of twenty of more surrounding Bank and waving their certificates. It seemed that some wanted to change their plots for various reasons and had found someone to change with. Others waved their certificates hoping that someone might want to change. After some consultation Bank announced that Harald would organise any changes. Those who wanted to simply exchange needed to go to the clerk to record the change, others would be held by Harald as potential changes until a customer could be found. In the end most people were happy with their lot and went off to view their plots and set up their boundaries.

Dunston and his people plus the Councillors toured the newly allocated lands and helped with setting up boundaries and settling minor disputes. Some of the men had decided to stay at the mine as workers and had to be assured that they could still keep their allocated plots, build their dwellings and leave the land fallow. At some later stage they might change their minds. The main problems were for the people to decide where to build their new dwelling and how to get drinking water. Harald was good at advising and Ex always found an answer to a technical or practical problem. Isabel and Saffron toured the area with supplies of immediate food to ensure that everyone stayed happy and didn’t lack the essentials. By the third day they felt that the local organisation was working and most of the people were self sufficient and it was time to move on and return to Barcloy.

Ex and Harald had found time to review the mine operation and set out a series of projects to ensure safety and improvements in efficiency. They decided to dig a new tunnel which would drain the mine and provide a lower level for removing the ore rather than hoisting it to the top of the mine. The cost of the tunnel would be a major outlay but a necessity in the long run. The use of bullocks for crushing the ore was slow and expensive in upkeep of the animals. They decided to resurrect the reservoir plan and use the water for power as once planned. They decided that they would send a party up to the lake and build a second dam around the lake outlet. This would raise the water in the reservoir and maintain a dry entrance to the Crystal Cave and allow it to be visited more freely, with some modifications at the waterfall. The safety problem with rocks tumbling down into the mine would be solved by building galleries, the length of the vein, at different levels, out of concrete and this would do away with the natural supports or cheeses. These cheeses would be mined to recover their ore and gold content. Harald reckoned that all this might take a month to six weeks of work when the mine wouldn’t be producing any gold. Bank sanctioned that since the coffers were full and they had also discovered that the Boyars had each stashed away a considerable amount of gold hidden on their premises. This would be payback time for the people at the Boyars expense.

45. The Junk

They were about to set off back to Barcloy on the direct route when they heard shouting and saw two riders galloping towards them. They recognised Ivor, the galley Captain and the Treasurer Regan waving to them. Ivor reined in his horse and jumped down and shouted, “We thought you would have been gone. Up to the mountains we thought. We wanted to catch up with you and tell you the news!”

“What’s the problem?” asked Bank, “Whoogh there horse, calm down now,” as he grabbed the reins. “What’s the trouble?”

“Ivor, have Egremont attacked us?” shouted Sail, “What’s the Navy doing?”

“No, no, no trouble,” said Ivor sheepishly and catching his breath continued, “We just thought you would like to know the news and keep you up abreast of the happenings in Barcloy.”

“The way you rode in shouting we thought that disaster had struck.”

“Sorry but I suppose we were pleased to catch up with you,” replied Ivor. “We thought you would be up in the mountains again in search of the leopard. That was your plan, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, but since we have spent so much time here we were going to come back to Barcloy and update the Council there,” answered Mont. “What’s the news? It better be good having scared us out of our wits here. Come on tell us, out with it!”

“Well, I suppose we have come to show off a little,” said Ivor colouring and looking slightly embarrassed. “We have some good news and we managed to get Regan here to come and tell you himself. We think he did a splendid job and should tell you himself and I’m here to ensure he doesn’t miss anything out. Regan’s far too modest.”

“Come on Treasurer Regan,” said Bank, “Dismount and let’s go into the Chamber and you can tell all. You there, guard! See to these mounts. Make sure they get rubbed down and watered,” as a guard rushed up to collect the reins. They filed into the chamber and Dunston ordered refreshments as they sat themselves down around the table and looked intently at the two newcomers from Barcloy.

“Come on the Regan, tell us all. Don’t keep us in suspense!” demanded Ex. Regan cleared his throat and took a drink and started his tale.

“Well Bank, as you told me we needed to get the trade going in Arbigland to improve people’s lives.”

“Yes, get on with it. We know about that,” answered Bank impatiently.

“Well, a large trading junk arrived,” continued Regan the treasurer,

“It was attacked by pirates but it saw them off with a few well aimed rockets,” interjected Ivor.

“Yes, yes Ivor,” snapped Regan, “you can tell your bit later Ivor.”

“Sorry Regan, please go on.”

“Well, the junk arrived and we entertained the Captain and his officers and arranged for him to show samples of his goods in the town square. As you may know, these junks ply their trade by sailing from port-to-port bartering. This Captain had come to Barcloy especially for our furniture and chuka tails and eggs; also, for some of our timber, especially our famous black iron wood.”

“What did they have to trade?” asked Mont.

“Well, the junk was full of basic materials and ores, textiles and tools. Oh, also various bits of machinery for farming, woodworking and for the textile making. It was a wonderful display. The trouble was that you know the parlous state of our workshops and farming since most people have just been released from prison, they didn’t have many finished goods to trade. Also, our craftsmen were short of raw materials and also needed to repair their equipment and tools that had rusted during their absence in prison.”

“So, the junk sailed away, did it?” said Sergeant despondently.

“Well, no, well I mean yes,” answered Regan and continued,” We gathered samples of our produce for the Captain to see.”

“No Regan, you ordered the trades people to bring their samples finished or not. To show the Captain,” interjected Ivor. “Come on Regan, don’t be bashful, tell them the truth. You forced them to come up with their goods to show!”

“Well yes Ivor. Bank here wouldn’t have been pleased if we had squandered the opportunity to set up regular trade.”

“Too right Regan! Carry on and Ivor, less of the interruptions,” added Bank.

“Well, the Captain got quite excited by our goods on offer. He had heard of the quality of our manufacture but he said his expectations were surpassed. He was particularly interested in the furniture and I showed him the store we had commandeered by the late Governor Bonard. Bless his soul. That got the Captain really excited and I also showed him the furniture in the night chambers.”

“I suppose we have no where to sleep now Regan?” stated Nur.

“Well, I did contract the furniture makers to make replacements, but yes all the furniture has gone and at amazing prices,” said Regan with an apologetic air.

“I suppose that’s why you were hoping we would stay away,” said Mont accompanied by laughter.

“No, no, we have found you replacements but not as grand. You will still be quite comfortable. The carpenters knocked up some beds and benches for the interim.”

“Back to camping out as usual then gents,” shouted Sail followed by more laughter.

“You’re not going to like the next bit Sail,” added Ivor looking mischievously at Regan.

“Er, yes Sail. I have a confession. We took the Captain on an inspection of your ship to show him the exquisite workmanship you had commissioned to enhance your schooner.”

“Don’t tell me Regan, you’ve sold off the Tristiana to some grubby trader?” interjected Sail.

“No, no Sail nothing as drastic as that but I did commandeer all the unused bolts of sail cloth that you had bought; the non-rip stuff. I got four times the price that you paid for it and orders for as much as we can make,” said Ivor defensively.

“You cheapskate Sail!” shouted Bank. “We will have to watch you in future!”

“The cloth makers were more than happy with my price!” argued Sail. “Now I’m going to be paying a fortune to replace my stock and future orders.”

“It’s OK Sail,” added Ivor, “tell him the deal Regan and put him out of his misery.”

“The cloth makers have appointed you, Sail, as their New World Agent and all further sales will be controlled by your Company. They have promised to replace your stock and also ensure that you have two full sets of sails made up for the Tristiana as a promotion and advertising for their product. It’s a good deal. Isn’t it Sail?”

“Of course it’s a good deal!” interjected Ivor, “and it’s all down to Regan’s negotiating skills.”

“Good work Regan! You’re wasted as Treasurer here. Come and work for me!” added Sail.

“You’re not working for that Cheapskate!” shouted Bank. “You’re too valuable here!”

“Regan, tell them the best deal,” encouraged Ivor.

“Well, the main thing for me was to get the Captain interested enough to ply a regular trade with Arbigland and he owns four vessels so I negotiated an exclusive trading deal with him on the basis one of his ships call at least twice a month,” added Regan.

“What if other traders call in?” asked Dunston, “surely we can’t just turn them away?”

“No Dunston. We accept them and trade but charge commission and share it with our Captain Stone as a sort of royalty. I hope you approve Bank?”

“Oh, I approve Regan but what else have you in store for us? You seem eager to tell us something special. Do go on.”

“I told you the ship had lots of goods that the locals wanted to buy, especially the tools and machinery. I also heard that you might need further tools here in Colvend. The problem was that the local traders’ have insufficient money or goods to trade. I offered them loans but they weren’t comfortable with that idea so I set up a bond store where I or the Local Council would buy the goods and sell them onto the people as needed, at a profit of course. That way we would get the goods we wanted and people would buy them as and when they had the money.”

“Good work Regan. You’re a genius!” retorted Bank. “We need to set up a local Trading Company for those things unless you’ve already done that Regan?”

“Well, I was waiting for you approval Bank.”

“So how much stuff did you trade?” asked Dunston.

“We emptied the ship!” shouted Ivor unable to hold back his excitement.

“Is that so?” asked Sergeant.

“Well yes,” answered Regan sheepishly. “We even took their ballast of iron pigs and replaced it with building stone as you did with Tristiana. They had lots of things we needed and they loaded up with stone, timber and samples of cloth, foodstuffs especially the Chuka tails and eggs. We also have orders for another shipload or two.”

“How did we or you Regan pay for all the goods?” asked Dunston.

“The furniture and sail cloth went a long way to balance the books but I was going to pay the balance with gold from the treasury but what I decided to do was to show the Captain Stone and his merchant some samples of gold jewellery that our craftsmen make. Captain Stone fell in love with it and his chief merchant positively drooled over it so I negotiated an attractive price. Not too greedy so that they would come back for more. In fact, it got to the stage where the Captain was going to owe us money rather than the other way round.”

“You did well there Regan,” said Band standing up and shaking Regan’s hand in congratulation whilst the Assembly clapped to show their appreciation as Treasure Regan coloured with embarrassment.

“I hope I did well for you? I didn’t get much support from the last Council and Governor,” answered Regan.

“We need to reward you substantially Treasurer Regan,” said Dunston solemnly. “Arbigland needs more people like you. You are a major asset to the community and also you have by yourself it seems, kick-started the economy and trade of Arbigland. Well done! We shall have to come up with a suitable award for you.”

“Thank you all for your show of confidence in me. I did think I may have over stretched the mark and might end up my days in prison or in the galleys.”

“Well, we would have to line your cell with gold plate,” shouted Ex.

“There is more detail to tell,” shouted Ivor above the applause. 

“That can be left to later,” answered Regan, “when Bank checks the books he will see the detail, but enough of my tale, get Ivor to tell you how we handled the pirate situation.”

46. Pirates Repelled

 

 

        “Come on Ivor. It’s your turn,” said Dunston turning to Ivor. “What have you got for us? You look as if you are bursting to tell us. Come on.”

“Thanks Dunston. Treasurer Regan did us all proud and Barcloy is buzzing at the moment. His work has overshadowed your achievement here it seems.”

“Get on with it,” said Regan, “or I will tell all.”

“We told you that the Junk had been attacked by a pirate ship,” continued Ivor as the Assembly members nodded. “The junk managed to slow them down by firing these special rockets at them. A lucky shot set the decking alight and halted them and the junk was able to escape and fortunately for us sail into Barcloy harbour for safety.”

“We bought twenty rockets for the Navy,” interjected Regan.

“Good work Regan,” answered Sergeant. “They are a good deterrent but not very accurate yet.”

“The Admiral ordered the cutters to set out and find the pirate ship. Well, it was lurking in the islands offshore and we decided that it was waiting for the Junk to leave the harbour. The Admiral ordered a lookout to be sent to a nearby island with one of your splendid radios to watch the pirate ship whilst we prepared the galleys.”

“But the galleys could only chase away the pirate ship?” asked Mont.

“That’s true in most cases. Pirates won’t attack when galleys are present but there is no way that a galley could chase and catch up with a sailing ship in full sail.”

“Unless you caught them in a calm,” added Sail.

“Admiral wanted to capture or destroy the pirate, not just chase him away so we followed your plan Sail to attack Colvend and took one of the galleys with a radio through the shallows to creep up behind the pirate. We took down the masts so we wouldn’t be noticed.”

“But surely the pirate had lookouts posted?” asked Sergeant.

“Yes, they had a small sailboat out checking the harbour but they didn’t expect any large vessel to face the danger of the shallows. Our lookout kept us informed of all their movements and actions. Those radios are great. The junk Captain agreed to help us rid the seas of such scum and acted as decoy. The large galley rowed behind the junk completely hidden from view of the pirates.”

“Surely their spotter boat could see the galley leaving the harbour?” asked Sergeant.

“We expected that so the junk left by itself and allowed the spotter to see that it was alone and turn tale to warn the pirate. As soon as the sailboat had turned tail the galley left port and caught up to the junk. The junk steered a course close to where the pirate was hidden. Our own lookout on the island noted the arrival of the sailboat alerting the pirate and passed the information onto our lurking Galley in the shallows. The pirate crew were so concerned with setting full sail and getting under way they didn’t notice the smaller galley behind them.”

“What weapons did the pirate have?” asked Sergeant.

“They had two small cannon in the bows, but their main intent is usually to board, capture and plunder any ship they attack, then sink them or sell them to Egremont. As the Pirate got under way and most of its crew in the rigging setting maximum sail the junk fired a rocket at the pirate and at the same time we in the galley had rowed out in full view and shot another flame rocket at the pirate. The first rocket from the junk missed but since we were so close ours hit the rigging and set the mainsail alight. We then shot a catapult of tar and grease to fan the flames which meant that lumps of flaming tar were dropping and igniting the decking. The pirates still hadn’t noticed our galley. They must had thought the junk had sent a second rocket that ignited the ship and by now the junk had veered off and put on full sail and exposed our large galley heading straight for the pirate. Panic set in and the ship tried to turn which effectively stopped it on its tracks and our galley was on them in a trice. Our marines boarded them and overpowered the pirate men. The Captain of the marines ordered the ordinary crew men to put out the fires and bring the ship to as the pirates were disarmed and bundled up securely whilst the sailors on the boarding party took over the ship.”

“How could the Marine Captain tell the difference between the pirates and the ordinary crew?” asked someone but Ivor was in full flow. 

“By their mode of dress,” stated Ivor as if this was a trivial and obvious thing. “The pirates tend to dress themselves up in flamboyant clothing and their press-ganged crew are generally in filthy rags. The fires did a lot of damage but with manned pumps we put them out. The Marines then checked the holds and hatches for any further lurking pirates and found one of the holds full of prisoners the pirates had captured. There were eighteen men and two women all in a sorry state and had to be helped up on deck. They had been badly neglected and needed water and food.”

“Where were they from? How had they been captured?” asked Doc.

“We watered and fed them first because they were so weak. The crew members were questioned and it seems that Egremont were now paying double for slaves. These people had been captured from fishing boats and off small, inhabited islands where people had lived quiet lives until these pirates arrived. Once revived these freed people were eager to get their own back and had to be physically restrained from attacking the bound pirates. Two of the women got away and grabbed belaying pins and one got hold of a sailor’s knife and brutally attacked the pirate Captain and his Mate half killing them. There was a lot of blood before the marines pulled the savage women away.”

“Sounds as if they got what they deserved,” said Mont.

“They got more than that. Tell them Ivor, tell them!” piped in Regan.

“Well not sure that I should tell you this. The Admiral was told of this over the radio and he said dispose of them. The old crew of the pirate decided the action for us by grabbing the mate and heaving him over the side. Well, I think you know what tiger fish can do. It was an ugly sight. The tigers rose some twenty meters out of the water in an effort to capture a morsel of the Mate. While we were watching this spectacle with horror and amazement the old crew threw in the Captain and would have thrown in the rest of them if they hadn’t been stopped by the marines.  The sight of tigers tearing away chunks and leaping in the air with them was just awe inspiring and horrific. I hope never to see this again, not with humans as bait. I gave the rest of the pirate band the choice of tigers or galley slaves. They had seen the departure of their Captain and Mate and pleaded to be put in the galleys. Their captives bayed for them to be thrown overboard. I had to get tough and bring back order. Our sailors and the press-ganged crew sailed the pirate now renamed as ‘The Tigress’ back to harbour and we transferred the poor captives onto the galley and brought them back to Barcloy where they are now convalescing in hospital.”

“What’s happened to the ship, The Tigress?” asked Ex.

“It’s in harbour being refitted. The Admiral has commandeered it for the navy and it will be crewed by volunteers. One of the fishermen has agreed to act as Mate on the ship since he knows a lot about sailing ships and I’m afraid you lost your ship’s Mate Sail who was persuaded to take over as Captain.”

 “My loss your gain!” added Sail.

“Just to rub salt in your wounds Sail,” added Regan gleefully, “they took all of your new sails from the Tristiana and the Admiral is now wanting the sail makers to make them flameproof.”

“You Arbigland people have us Homeland people all stitched up then,” said Mont dolefully. “You must think us a bunch of rustic peasants!”

“Not at all Mont but I’m sure you don’t mind us securing our future.”

“We’ll all drink to that Ivor. You guys seemed to have had all the fun whilst we were stuck up to our necks in a dark cave. I hope that’s the lot?” asked Dunston shaking his head in wonderment and some amusement at Sails’ obvious discomfort.

“There is some more good news from Egremont but I think we should let the Captain of the guard tell you all when you get back. The saga is still unfolding and you should have the full update,” said Regan. “Can we get back to Barcloy now and get on with our work?” 

There was a stunned silence as they took all this in and Dunston nodded his head in approval as Ivor and Regan departed with a wave.

47. The Glade

“Well, that was quick and dramatic!”

“You can say that again Sail. You got a pasting there I’m afraid.”

“I can live with that as long as the alterations and improvements to Tristiana are progressing Bank.”

“For your sake I hope so. This Regan guy is quite wiz kid you must admit and it sounds as if he got a good deal for you on the sails and sail cloth.”

“Best deal I’ve had for ages. This sail cloth that they are making here is just out of this world. I would have paid ten times for it it’s that good. I hope I have some sails to test on our way home. You’re going to love the accommodation I’m having constructed in the Tristiana. It’s going to be luxurious beyond dreams. There’s a market for something like that in Homeland and just think of the sales I can close when the client is softened up with the luxury I shall offer.”

“If it’s going to be so good as you say I shall have an exclusive and permanent booking from you. OK Sail?”

“Sounds good but it’s going to be expensive particularly with the crew and catering Bank.” 

“The bank will pay for it and I’ll get a fat profit from sub-contracting back to you Sail.”

“I shall scrutinise the contract extra carefully then.”

“I wish we could get off these ponies. I’m sore and every bone aches.”

“You’re getting soft Bank. At least I don’t have to walk up this hill. Hey, what’s going on between our lovely Miss Isabel and our leader?”

“Well, if you have just noticed that then you must have too much sea salt in your blood Sail. I’ve had my own eye on that gorgeous filly ever since we set eyes on her but her attention was exclusively on Dunston.”

“Yes, I noticed that also Bank. Do you think we have two of our party smitten and spoken for Bank?”

“Nothing like cupids’ arrow to strike in the unexpected heart.”

“Yes, but Dunston and Ex were confirmed bachelors.”

“Maybe but I think this is for real. Here comes Isabel, why don’t you ask her?”

“Have you seen Mont you two conspirators? What are you talking about? You should be admiring the views!”

“Yes, Miss Isabel we are looking at the view but it keeps moving and looking for Mont. What’s he got that we haven’t?”

“You are a tease and a flirt Mr Bank. I need to get Mont and get our lunch. Since we have left Saffron behind in Colvend we have to look after ourselves. Ah, there he is. Mont, Mont come on, you’re going to help me catch lunch. And you two can get a fire going in the glade over there.”

Yes Miss Isabel; straight away Isabel. Do you want me to call Dunston and send him along too?”

“Leave off Bank,” whispered Sail as Isabel rode off with Mont in tow.

Isabel rode up a side track and dismounted, tying her pony to a tree and motioning that Mont also to dismount. She assembled her crossbow and set the string in the notch with the help of a lever and ratchet. She whispered, “There’s a mound just up there and it’s a warren for dog-rabbits. They are quite large so we need to kill about three of them but we only have one chance. If we miss, then they will all disappear underground.”

“OK but how many shots can you get off with your bow Isabel?” whispered Mont.

“Possibly two and you can probably kill one with your knife throwing. Yes?”

“I can throw two knives faster then you can probably reload so I suggest that you fire first and I’ll do my best with the knives. Where is the warren?”

“Just over that rise and these animals like the sunshine so they will be on the hillside beyond trees. We need to proceed quietly,” whispered Isabel and started up the slope carefully. Mont followed and they soon crested the rise and saw what seemed hundreds of dog-like animals with distinctive rabbit-like heads and floppy ears. Mont pointed to an obvious guard dog looking about instead of frolicking and munching the grass, for Isabel to shoot and he picked on two nearby. Mont got his knives out and took aim and heard a twang of a bow string and immediately threw his knife at his chosen target and as if in one motion threw at a second target. Isabel quickly drew her crossbow and fired at a young female who instead of disappearing down the nearest hole, obviously was demanding to know from her friend why their afternoon was going to be spoiled. Well, it was permanently. 

They had killed one large buck and three smaller does which were quickly taken away and slung over the ponies. They congratulated themselves on their skills and followed their noses to the campfire. Isabel cleaned and gutted the animals in a nearby stream as the two midshipmen set up the spits to roast the meat. Instead of going straight back to Barcloy they pestered Isabel to let them come along with the group. Ex their mentor agreed since they had gone splendid job of mapping much of the island and also setting out the plots in Colvend. Their help had been much appreciated so they were allocated a couple of ponies and here they were, amongst the famous and the elite.

Isabel had cut up the carcasses into small pieces with bones sticking out so that each piece had a handle and they would cook quickly. The boys added their own touch by sticking sprigs of herbs into the meat which gave of a beautiful perfume. The meat was good and plentiful and at the end of the meal Sergeant asked Isabel and Mont to have a competition to see how many shots and throws they could get off and hit a target. They marked a tree whilst Mont weighted a few knives that he was familiar with. Each contestant stuck their arrows/knives into the ground and Dunston was the starter. When a feather dropped from a height touched the ground they could start.

It was quite tense and even the birds had stopped their songs for the occasion. The feather dropped and quick as a flash Mont picked up a knife straightened and whoosh as the knife glinted in the air and thudded into the tree. Isabel seemed to be spending most of her time ratcheting the bow string. Her aiming and shooting seem to take no time at all. Mont threw all of his knives and all but one hit the target fair and square. The failed one just happened to hit a neighbour and bounced out. In that time Isabel had fired three bolts with her cross bow but each had hit its target within a penny coin and proved almost impossible to retrieve.

Sergeant thanked them especially Isabel since he wanted to see the fire power of a crossbow for himself. He said he was most impressed and agreed that the guards and the marines should be equipped and trained with these weapons. He dismissed Mont and his knives as brawl room weapons until someone reminded him where his lunch had come from.

Isabel suggested that they walk off their lunch and climb up a hill from where they would get views down to the far seashore. Anything was better than getting back on their ponies and off they went in good spirits. Hugo and Eric were at the top first and they slithered back and told the party that there was a group of grazing gazelles in a clearing below the top. If they crawled up there quietly, they would see these graceful animals. They quietly and noiselessly crawled up the last slope and below them they quickly spied the most beautiful creatures they had ever seen, grazing amongst the trees. They were silvery in colour with indistinct black and golden stripes down their back which shimmered as they glided forward and momentarily disappeared into the background of the surrounding foliage. One had to observe very carefully to see these creatures quietly feeding off grass and leaves.

Hugo nudged Eric and pointed down the line so Eric nudged the next person and so on until everyone had Hugo’s attention. Hugo then slowly pointed to the side of the herd and held his arm out still. They followed his arm and sighted along its line and looked puzzled. Slowly Hugo moved his arm along and they followed with their gaze. All at once a murmur arose as they all spotted their quarry. Gliding in and out of the undergrowth was a golden shape, down wind and totally obscure from the herd of gazelles. The party could see the hunter because they were up and above but the hunted had no idea and peacefully munched their late lunch.

Suddenly with the speed of lightening the hunter struck. It leaped into action and seemed to fly through the air just like Isabel’s crossbow bolt. The gazelles noticed the movement and equally leaped into the air and sped away but their acceleration was already behind the hunter who struck a doe in the neck and knocked it flying but held on with its claws. As the doe hit the ground the hunter was up at its throat tearing away at it with its teeth. It was a quick end. The hunter had succeeded and the kill was clean as could be with the tools available. The onlookers just about managed to restrain themselves from applauding. They had seen a golden leopard invite himself to dinner. They held their breath in awe of what they had witnessed and were now feasting on the spectacle of a golden leopard before them. This was a larger and more magnificent creature then they had seen earlier in their excursion at the arena.

Another nudge from Hugo was passed down the line and the party members reluctantly looked his way. Two arms extended pointing someway behind the kill. The leopard had now started to tear out the guts of the unfortunate animal spoiling its own looks with streaks of blood. Tearing one’s eyes away from the butcher, more quiet murmurs of appreciation were heard as on by one they spotted a hunter in miniature, slowly gliding through the undergrowth towards the kill. The murmurs continued as the group realised that there were two of these creatures converging on their massive mother chopping up their dinner. The cubs quickly set to and chewed at the morsels that were cast their way. Quickly their fur was covered in blood and golden cubs could now be described as red cubs. The mother was now more watchful and frequently raised her magnificent head and sniffed at the air. Something displeased her and she gripped the carcass in her mouth and loped off into the forest and out of sight. The dismayed cubs loped after her playfully bouncing into each other as they struggled after mum.

They sat up and just sat there reliving the scene. What seemed ages later Isabel gave Hugo a kiss on the cheek which coloured him up like the red cubs. That broke the tension and suddenly everybody was trying to tell everybody what they had seen even though they knew that everybody had seen what everybody had seen and they didn’t need further confirmation so in relief they just laughed and whooped until they were sore. They congratulated each other on the sighting and Bank nudged Sail as Isabel gave Dunston a passionate kiss on the lips, not the cheeks, that the others had received.

48. The Road to Barcloy

They wandered down to their ponies trying to relive their vision and slowly plodded off down the path to the main road and onto Barcloy. They had achieved their mission of seeing the Crystal Cave and the Golden Leopard in the wild. They were a little sad since there was no excuse to stay in Arbigland any longer than necessary. Their trip was nearing its end and only the final touches remained. The only people continuing the excitement were Isabel, Hugo and Eric but even they fell into a silence to ponder over the past with the others.

On the horizon two horsemen appeared and again Hugo was the first to spot them. The duo reined in looked their way then expertly galloped down the hill towards them. As the two expert horsemen vied for lead it became evident that their long flowing hair was more suitable for women and as the gap closed Ex shouted in glee and urged his pony into a slow gallop or trot, Isabel followed to greet her cousins and Ex to meet his brides to be. The rest of the party reined in to give them some privacy and eventually the parties met up and exchanged greetings.

The two ladies not only looked pretty on their horses but looked purposeful with crossbows slung over their shoulders and large knives at their belts until one noticed the body of a silver gazelle slung over the back of one saddle and a couple of dog-rabbit over the back of the other. Suddenly one had to sit up and take notice these two sleek creatures had similarities to the golden leopard they had recently witnessed getting the family meal.

They had been all invited to the smithy to stay overnight there and have a meal with the blacksmith and his family and also to meet up with Pippa and Max who lived nearby. How could one refuse? How could one dare to refuse! They plodded on discussing all elements that they had witnessed on their journey and all they had achieved. They followed the main road and soon came across signs of road works. Piles of gravel and stacks of stone slabs were frequent. They came across a laden bullock cart full of river gravel. A group of workmen came into sight. They were the stone masons and labourers laying the road. Giant slabs were laid on beds of gravel and expertly interlocked by the art of the stone mason. A bullock carts wheels straddled the central reservation of grass which gave soft footing for the draught animals. A horse could gallop along this smooth grass quite comfortably or to one side. Every now and again there was a sort of passing place where carts could pull to one side and allow the others to pass comfortably. In wet or dry there was no hindrance to passage. Even the streams were forded on wide platforms of stone slabs.

They followed the impressive road and Ex was congratulated for his initiative in contracting the road. Within sight of Barcloy on the cliff they pulled over to a track which led them to the smithy where they would be royally entertained.

Mont took Dunston to one side and discussed the sighting of the golden leopard and its cubs. He said, “We should do something for the future of these creatures. If we improve the economy and life of these people then more visitors will come and they will want to come and hunt the animals, not just look at them. You know how it is and you could probably list a number of your acquaintances who would pay good money to have a trophy.”

“I agree Mont. I suppose it didn’t pass your notice that the trophy received by your wresting champion was a cloak made out of golden leopard skins.”

“I did notice and it made me ashamed to be linked with such wanton killing. You know how I feel about these things. I don’t mind sufficient for the pot but not for trophies.”

“I agree with you Mont and in my times with you I’ve seen more animals in the wild at close quarters carrying on their lives quietly rather than be driven and hunted down. We have a problem here that is going to be difficult to solve.”

“The wrestling community is going to be the biggest problem. They are hunters by birth and I don’t see how we can change their life style.

“Let’s discuss this with the rest of them and see if anybody has any bright ideas.”

After a simple meal of a venison and rabbit stew accompanied by a medley of local tubers and wild mushrooms. Local fruit and cheeses followed, and Dunston raised the problem of wildlife on Arbigland or at least the threat to it.

“The problem is that bunch of overgrown wrestlers who go out hunting when they are not hugging each other or brewing that hooch,” said Sergeant emphatically.

“Let’s send them all to Egremont,” added Ex.” that would solve the problem with one swipe. But seriously we need to find them something more profitable to do than hunt.”

“I have an idea,” said Sail laughing, “Give them extra supplies of hooch and they’ll be too drunk to chase after animals.”

 “We need something more appealing than that,” said Isabel. “We need to appeal to their manhood rather than getting rid of them by expulsion or poisoning them with hooch!”

“I think we can do both,” shouted out Sergeant,

“Not you too, joining this lot with no brains,” retorted Isabel disgusted.

“Hang on Isabel, You said we should appeal to their manhood,” answered Sergeant. “I agree we cannot just get rid of them but maybe we could entice them away from the mountains.”

“How are you going to do that Sergeant?”

“OK, what’s the manliest and coveted basic occupation in Arbigland?”

“Is this a test question Sergeant? I suppose being a guard is every boy’s ambition but how does this solve our problem,” asked Isabel.

“I know where this is going,” said Ex. “Go on Sergeant and don’t spare the horses!”

“OK, what do you think of this? We form a detachment of Guards and employ these mountain people.”

“Brilliant Sergeant! We pay them good wages so that their families don’t need to hunt.”

“That’s the line. Any more suggestions on this theme? Mont?”

“Yes, and if we employ them to guard the countryside and i.e. visitors, future tourists to the island we can make them into glorified country rangers.”

“But won’t they just return to norm and start trapping these animals to sell as trophies?”

“We can set them bonuses so that every time a visitor sees a designated animal, they get a payment.”

“And a stiff penalty if they are caught trapping or even in possession of a skin or head.”

“Now we are getting somewhere Sergeant.” said Dunston.

“Let’s get rid of the current leopard cloak for the champion,” said Mont.

“Yes, let’s strike a special medal and chain in gold for the winner.”

“Brilliant Bank. Let’s do that as our recognition of their skills and send some recruiters in to get some to join the guards,” said Dunston.

“Get somebody to work on the current and former champions. If we entice them to join, then we are three-quarters of the way there.”

“OK guys we have a format,” said Dunston. “Let’s sleep on it and discuss and construct an implementation plan tomorrow.”   

Halfway through their meal Pippa and Max appeared followed by their parents’ all carrying baskets. The baskets were full of chukka eggs and choice cured meats from the chukka tails. Max introduced his parents to the Assembly members and Max´s father thanked them profusely for looking after their son and daughter so well in the time away from Arbigland. The feast continued well into the night.

 

49. Last days in Arbigland

The meeting chamber was full with officials, guards and Assembly members exchanging news and gossip. Dunston allowed the hubbub to continue for awhile and announced that in the interest of brevity and since they had a particularly long agenda that this would be a closed meeting and kindly asked the general populace to leave and only the officials, and Assembly members to stay.

Their first job was to elect a new Governor from the Council members present. In this one-off case Dunston suggested that the Assembly members should have a vote and it was agreed unanimously. Two candidates put themselves forward and a third was press-ganged unwillingly to stand. That was Regan, The Town’s Treasurer. Dunston asked them to introduce themselves and describe how they would govern Arbigland and their ambitions for the Island. The two candidates gave a fair presentation but were totally overshadowed by Regan the Treasurer. As Dunston commented there was a lot of Bank’s influence in his speech but he kept spoiling his chances by telling them that he didn’t want the office since he had never been happier than in his current position of Town’s Treasurer. Bank agreed and Regan happily withdrew his nomination. The vote for the other candidates was swift and the former Chief Councillor before Bonard’s time got the majority of the votes and was quickly sworn in. 

The new Governor, Dalbeatie asked Dunston to continue Chairing the meeting and they proceeded with the nitty-gritty elements with haste. Quick decisions were taken on each item and a review date set. The permanent Council members held their own in the discussions and only required a few prompts and suggestions from Sergeant, Bank and Ex. Ex announced that he would be setting up home here in the future and hoped to be an advisor if they needed him. That was welcome news for the community and since his engagement to the blacksmith’s daughters was now common knowledge, they welcomed the fact that he wasn’t going to take the girls off the Island. At this point Sail was seen nudging Bank and whispering.     

  

The Admiral and the Captain of the guards were invited to attend the meeting and the idea of recruiting the mountain people was proposed and accepted, The Captain offered that many of the current guards and marines had served for a long time and would welcome a change. The Admiral demanded that until the problems with Egremont were totally resolved then these men should remain as reserves. This was accepted and Bank suggested paying them a retainer if they turned up for training at determined intervals.  One of the Councillors primed by Mont no doubt raised the matter of protection of the mountain area from over exploitation from logging, mining and hunting. Eventually they agreed that a designated area should be turned into a National Park where these activities would be restricted and only allowed under licence obtained from the Town Council. One of the Councillors put forward a proposal that the Golden Leopard and the Silver Gazelle should become part of Arbigland’s National emblem and make these animals a protected species. This proposal was enthusiastically adopted to Mont’s obvious pleasure.

The Admiral Zoltan was then asked to give his report on the developing situation with Egremont.  He told them that they had been in touch with Anton the Envoy and he was developing a substantial power base as a moderate and the Admiral had decided to send Anton more gold to assist him in spreading his message in Egremont. Since the current Governor was unpopular particularly that his coffers had been dented and tithes from Arbigland stopped he wasn’t able to pay for the favours and support from his cronies. They had got used to regular bribes and were changing allegiances. The Admiral stated that with greater financial support Anton could be persuaded to become Governor and an alliance could be formed based of cooperation and both Countries could reduce their forces of aggression and just rely on Policing rather than protection from outside aggressors. Sergeant reported that on their return to Homeland he would propose that both Countries become Protectorates and any aggressor or unruly Governor would have their wings clipped. The Council agreed to fund Anton’s efforts to be elected Governor of Egremont. 

The meeting broke up and the general populace were allowed into the Council Chamber to hear from their new Governor and what had been proposed. The Admiral and Captain of the Guard invited the Assembly members to formally inspect the fleet and the Guard Regiment. The changes in the fleet were significant. The galleys were sparkling and no longer the smelly hulks. The rowers looked in better shape and had monitors who looked after their needs with water and food. Sanitation was organised so the bilges were clean and the rowers were regularly allowed on deck to shower and exercise. The three cutters sailed by in formation and showed off their paces. Finally, the Admiral took them to inspect their new acquisition, the pirate ship, renamed ‘The Tigress’.  She was larger than the Tristiana but with smaller sail area. The shipwrights from the Tristiana and the Mate who was now the new Captain, were redesigning the rigging to give the ship an extra fleet of speed. The cannon had been replaced by the new rocket tubes and the cannon had been re-sited to provide a broadside when required. The bilges had been cleared and cleaned up and the iron pigs given over to the blacksmith and the balance achieved with stone boulders from the shore. The Admiral hoped that at some stage he could get rid of the loathsome galleys and replace them with sailing ships of this type. His main aim now was to have the ability not only to see the pirates off but to chase and capture or destroy them. With hopeful changes in Egremont, he hoped that it would no longer be a haven for pirates and then trade would flourish in these waters.

50. The New Tristiana

The shipwrights took the party over to the Tristiana. The decks were covered with wood shavings and materials. Only the rigging looked familiar. The aft portion of the ship had been completely changed with an addition of a large cabin structure and a wheelhouse above. From the new cabin which was being furnished as a state room they could descend by a wide staircase to a large open cabin which would serve as the main dining room and meeting room. Leading off were luxurious cabins or suites decked out with the finest furniture and upholstery. The place was still in a mess but the shipwrights assured them that the main elements had been finished and only the finishing touches remained, about a days’ work they assured them. 

The group were impressed by the changes but were despondent by the fact that this was another step nearer to them leaving for home. They stood on the deck looking back at the town which was now transformed to a busy place with people bustling and trading in the square. Washing hung out of the windows reminded them of the bunting for the fiesta on their arrival. That seemed so long ago. Sergeant suddenly turned to Dunston and confronted him. “Right Dunston, what’s your future plans now we are about to return to Homeland?” he demanded as the rest of the group turned and looked on in interest.

“What do you mean Sergeant?” replied Dunston.

“You know. What are your future plans Dunston?” joined in Ex.

“I don’t know what you mean guys. I don’t have any specific plans after this.”

“That’s the problem Dunston,” continued Sergeant, “you don’t have any specific plans when you should.”

“We agree Dunston. You need to make some fundamental decisions quick”.

“What fundamental decisions are you talking about?” questioned Dunston.

“For once we have to spell it out for you Dunston. You can’t be so thick?”

“Yes Dunston,” said Ex authoritatively. “Have you popped the question?”

“What? With Miss Isabel?”

“Miss Isabel! Miss Isabel” mimed Bank. “Of course, with Isabel you fool! Surely you are not planning to abandon her here, are you?”

“Well er..”

“No ‘wells’ Dunston. You must make a decision now or you will regret it and if it’s the wrong one we will just have to abandon you instead.”

“Are you lot forcing me into something?”

“Dunston, you two are besotted with each other. It’s plain to see. Even her father has agreed in principal but he can’t announce the bans until you pop the question stupid!”

“Just go and do it Dunston and put us all out of our misery.”

“Look guys, this is my life and I choose the shots,” uttered Dunston.

“But Dunston, we are all gunning for you, we are all there for your best interest!”

“Yes Dunston, this is the best deal you have ever had and we don’t want you to lose out.”

“Look Dunston, it’s time you shared your life with someone who really cares for you. She cares for you and don’t let her down and don’t let this great opportunity pass you by. We care for you,”

“Yes Dunston, we care for you,” shouted Bank and grabbed him by his arms. “Tonight, we are having a celebration dinner and Isabel and Ex’s two ladies are preparing it for us. After the toasts and all the brouhaha, we want you, no we insist that you propose to your lady on bended knee and do the right thing for you and her.”

“Don’t think about it just do it and you will make us all happy.”

“Yes Dunston, thinks about yourself. It’s time you had somebody special to look after and look after you!”  

Suddenly a deep gust of wind swept all the shavings and loose wood chips off the deck exposing a clear pattern on the newly revived decking. It was like a clean sweep and everybody could see that a weight of doubt had been lifted off Dunston’s shoulders. Bank gripped him and congratulated him. The others gathered around and patted him on the back and shook his hand. A happy mob of conspirators left the ship plotting the next move on the chess board of life.

51. The Celebration

The Council Chamber had been filled with all the tables and chairs to overflowing and filled with guests from all over the island. Everybody who was anybody was there, The Councillors from Colvend, the two wrestling champions, Harald the mine manager, blacksmith and all the important people in Barcloy. Even the open windows and doorways were crowded with people looking in and enjoying the atmosphere. An impromptu band struck up in the square which was filled with the locals in their best taking part in the celebrations. Many had come prepared with baskets of food and drink and others who were less prepared rushed off home to rustle up some fare to share. The fishermen had come prepared and set up barbeques on the quayside and the smell of fires and grilled fish pervaded the air.

Pippa and Max arrived accompanied by their mother carrying large baskets full of parcels wrapped in decorative bags. These were presents to the Assembly members. Each of the men got a small but well-crafted canvas bag and a large bag was handed to Tess. When they opened them, they found to their delight a handsome belt of chukka leather whilst Tess received a beautiful, embossed handbag made again out of soft chukka leather. There was much hugging and kissing in appreciation. Pippa’s and Max’s mother announced that their chukka farm was to provision the Tristiana with a wagon load of cured chukka tails and eggs for their journey back to Homeland. Pippa whispered to Tess that their Uncle Toka was again building them a second boat but it was being kept secret from their parents and they promised not to be so foolish in the future as to sail out to Crab Island. Max hoped that when he got older his parents would allow him to go back to Homeland to finish his education and his dream was to become Captain on a large ship and sail throughout our New World.  

A continuous chain of food started being passed up from the kitchens and onto the tables until they were groaning from their weight. Flagons of wine and beer followed until the whole place seemed awash. The new Governor stood up and banged the table to call attention but was just greeted with a wave of cheering and applause. Eventually he borrowed Banks’ pistol and fired in the air. The sudden explosion in the confined space suddenly had everybody’s attention and he started to speak. 

“Welcome to all of you here and out in the square and especially our visitors from Homeland. They are our special guests and have transformed our lives. I have a long list of their doings but I have unfortunately left it behind in my chamber so my speech will be short. We all thank them for their valuable work and welcome them to our fold. One of these fine fellows,” pointing to Ex, “has already been snared by our beautiful girls and we will see more of him in future. We thank them all for their valuable work and before we commence our banquet let us thank the providers and the workers. Guards! Please invite the ladies from the kitchens who have worked so hard so that we can toast them in style.”

The ladies including Isabel were ushered in and led up to the platform of the high table to massive applause. “Thank you, ladies, and before I propose a toast I would like our old Governor Dunston to come forward and say only a few words.” Dunston climbed over the table and the Governor arranged him in a special position and signalled for him to begin. Dunston fell on his knee and uttered, “Will you marry me, Isabel?” No one heard the reply because the whole chamber erupted in applause and we can only assume the answer was positive in that the couple were seen in a deep embrace. A shout of, “Give her the ring! Don’t forget the ring!” brought a semblance of order as Dunston fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a silk pouch. As he placed a large gold ring on Isabel’s finger the whole chamber erupted in applause and even the people outside who got the message started to sing the local wedding song and the whole chamber joined in.

Places were found for the ladies and the Governor clanged the Council bell for the feast to begin. It soon got stuffy in the Council Chamber and soon tables were carried and set up outside and people outside came in so that it became an extended feast. An appointed band started to play which was an invitation for people to rise from their cramped seats and dance. One may wonder that on such a special occasion the happy pair rarely danced together, as people took Isabel and Dunston off to dance with them. Even Ex had trouble finding his two fine ladies. If Egremont were to counterattack this was the moment. They could have sent in a small sailboat and taken over the island because the people were just incapable of defending themselves as the night progressed. It was early morning before the band gave up and collapsed on the steps and the noise subsided apart from some wild singing and tuneless snoring. Isabel and Dunston managed to find each other and joined Ex and the sisters at a table for a quiet drink and deep discussion.

52. Plans

   They gathered around the breakfast table late next morning, somewhat worse for wear but generally happy. Dunston and Isabel appeared and got a cheer and more congratulations. Bank started the discussion off about their future plans.

“Ex, what are your plans? Are you staying here or are you intending taking these two delectable ladies back to Homeland with us?”

“Well, we have made some provisional plans with Dunston and Isabel, haven’t we?” nodding to Dunston but Isabel replied. “I’m going to send Dunston back with you, on the understanding that you don’t lead him astray and that he will be back here within six months, after he’s set something up in Homeland.”

“You Bank have always been pushing me into setting up a Travel or Adventure Company and that’s what I’m going to do,” answered Dunston.

“At last! You should have been doing this ages ago, making a fortune and introducing more people to this adventurous life of yours. I’ve got space, in my office for your outfit. In fact, you can have it all, including some staff. I need bigger premises anyway.”

“Thanks Bank, I might need that but I’m not sure I can afford to start that big.”

“Dunston with all the publicity you and we are going to get, you’re going to have people begging to take them on an adventure and this is going to be the prime destination,” added Mont.

“Too true Mont. Dunston, my office manager will help you set up your office and that. All you need to do is recruit your guides and set up the trips.”

“Thanks Bank, thanks guys. I told Isabel that I could count on your support.”

“Dunston, I have over a thousand customers and over a hundred staff who would jump at a chance of a trip or holiday with you.” said Sail. “Also, we could combine these adventures with a sail out here on my luxury yacht and you can do the land bit of getting them stuck in a cave or eaten by a chuka.” They all laughed.

“Dunston and I are going to set up house up on the promontory just below the lookout place and overlooking the sea. I’m going to oversee the building.”

“Isabel, make sure that you make it big enough for us to come and stay and also for your paying guests.”

“Yes Sail, it will be big enough for you all any time but we are going to build some lodges in the nearby forest for the paying guests and also set up a sort of campsite for the more adventurous ones.” 

“Good idea Isabel. That should keep you busy whilst Dunston here is away.”

“What are your plans Ex?”

“Much the same as Dunston’s except we are building something on the other shore along from the smithy.”

“Dad and my uncle agreed that we should set up a second chuka farm further along the coast in the next bay. It will also breed turkeys and our variety of ostrich which you probably haven’t seen yet but their meat is delicious plus their eggs.”

“That sounds a good idea Orlanda. So you and your sister Rosalind are going to become farmers?” asked Sergeant. “I just can’t see that!”

“More like entrepreneurs!” added Ex. “They are going to open the restaurant again in Barcloy and set up a fish processing and smoking plant.”

“I suppose you are just going to luxuriate and grow old gracefully Ex?” added Mont.

“No, No!” added Rosalind. “He is going to set up an engineering company here to improve the efficiency in the mines and workshops so that they can produce healthy surpluses to trade with Homeland.”

“That will keep him out of mischief for a while Rosalind but I also want Ex to look after the Trading Company and the Commercial Bank I’m setting up here,” said Bank. “This will provide you lot and anybody else here with loans and funds to carry on businesses successfully.”

“We don’t want to change things too much around here,” added Isabel. “We want to maintain a good and happy life Bank.”

“And so you shall my dear but a little extra money will just help that along and oil the wheels of happiness. The Trading Company will be part owned by the Town Council and will ensure that the businesses here are not exploited by unscrupulous traders.”

“Talking about protection,” interjected Sergeant. “I am going to arrange back home that Dunston become the Homeland Envoy here to look after the interests of the Protectorate and you Ex will be his lackey and Chief Advisor on the economy. That should work. We would have to send over a few more people to advise and develop things but as Envoy you can control them Dunston and get rid if they get too intrusive.”

“Hey guys, we are missing out on the most important element here. What about the wedding? Are we invited or are we going to be snubbed?” asked Doc. 

“Snubbed? Don’t be ridiculous Doc,” answered Isabel. “You will be taking invitations back with you for all the Assembly to come here and enjoy the wedding with us. Everybody, Rosalind, tell them what you are planning!”

“We plan a joint wedding and it’s going to take place in the clearing overlooking the sea where you saw the silver gazelles and golden leopard.”

“That’s a way out of town Rosalind?” interjected Sail.

“What Rosalind has planned,” added Orlanda, “is a city of tents and marquees to accommodate us in style and we can watch the sun come up in the morning and the gazelles feeding below. It will be idyllic.”

“Listen Orlanda none of us will be up to see the sunrise after the party. More like to see the sunset!” added Bank.

“Well, we are hoping that you might stay there some time and enjoy our hospitality and show your friends our island,” added Rosalind.

“That’s fabulous girls but I only have one ship ready to bring the party over.”

“You’d better get your skates on then Sail and get some transport arrangements made and be quick about it.”

“Thanks Mont! That settles it! I was thinking about of refurbishing a few more ships when I check out what the interest is like in the new Tristiana but I’m decided now. On our way home we will be calling in at Bayland to drop off Hugo and Eric. By the way where are they?”

“Sleeping it off I presume! Where do you think teenagers should be at this early hour after a party?”

“Well, I’m going to check out some of the wrecks and hulks that we rejected as being too big for us. I’ll buy them make them seaworthy and sail them to Arbigland for refitting.”

“You’re not going to do that yourself Sail are you?”

“No, I’ll rope in the Boson for that task and get some craftsmen as crew as we did on our way here.”

“Look Sail, I’ve booked up the Tristiana for the next year or so. I’ll give you an advance and my bank will finance the rest.”

“Thanks Bank. Talking about finances, how are we doing on this trip? Have we anything left in the pot still or will you require further contributions?”

“Look guys, do I look worried? No! Even if we were short, I wouldn’t come begging. This has been a trip of a lifetime for me and it would give me the greatest pleasure to fund the whole thing but I have to disappoint you in that. I think we will have a surplus. Don’t get excited, you’re not going to see a refund! That’s going into the wedding pot and I shall be around pestering you lot and those back home for a substantial contribution to that pot, so start saving!”

“Hey Ex, somebody dumped a bag of gravel in my room and said it was for you.”

“Oh, good I’ll collect it later.”

“What do you want with a bag of gravel Ex?” asked Mont.

“That bag of gravel is a bag of gold to me Mont.”

“Come on explain or I’ll throw it away in the harbour!”

“No, you wouldn’t if you knew it would buy Sail all the ships he needed and more.”

“What? A bag of gravel?” asked Sail. 

“The contents are from the gold mine, from the spoil tip. You saw how inefficient their methods were for extracting gold. The manager said about sixty percent and I say less than fifty.”

“What you mean that fifty percent of that bag is gold? Come off it Ex!” said Doc.

“No stupid. You heard the manager Harald say that they extracted about a full bar of gold a day, on good days. Well, I say they leave another bar in the spoil they’ve worked that day and dumped.” 

“Oh, I see you are going to reprocess that spoil and get another bar out of it but won’t that be expensive?” followed on Doc.

“Yes and no but by doing it chemically I can extract the gold at a cost of half a bar then I extract some silver, then some lead, then some zinc and then some manganese and so on which when it’s all extracted and separated will be worth the other half of the gold bar it cost me, any questions?”

“OK clever clogs, where are you going to process all this?”

“Initially, in Homeland and then when I have perfected the technique I’ll do it here.”

“Yes, but how are you going to shift sufficient quantities back home?”

“By ship! As bags of ballast on any ship that’s coming here; they will bring iron and coal here and take back the spoil for me.”

“I’m not carrying coal in my ships,” shouted Sail.

“It will be in nice clean white bags Sail so don’t get upset!”

“You are going to clean up and make a fortune here,” added Bank rubbing his hands together.

“There is certainly a fortune to be made in spoil and tailings but at some stage I shall have to pay for this spoil and our Treasurer drives a hard bargain so both Arbigland and my family will benefit.” 

“Well Ex if you need a partner or funding then come along to my bank.”

“I shall treat that bag with the deference it deserves in future.”

“Talking about gold, what’s happened to the dust and nuggets we found?”

“It’s been refined and all melted down,” interjected Isabel. “I got a message from Jaya that her dad will be giving all of us a coin that he has had struck at the mint. There was sufficient or at least the miners added and made sufficient to make a ‘Dunston’ each for us.”

“What do you mean by a ‘Dunston’ Isabel?” enquired Bank.

“Simple, you know the standard gold coin here is a Crown, well five Crowns make up a ‘Dunston’, if you didn’t know. The coin has been struck with a handsome profile of the previous Governor of Arbigland,” answered Isabel giving Dunston a kiss.

“So, our beloved leader has been immortalised by a gold coin. Well, I never?”  

“What will you be doing when you get home Sergeant?” asked Orlanda.

“Nothing quite as exciting as Ex, Sail or Dunston but Mont and I shall be setting up a contract to manufacture those windup radios that we tested and used successfully here and I have plenty of things to arrange with the Homeland Government concerning Arbigland such as appointing Envoys and Advisor Representatives. Of course I shall have to bring them here personally, otherwise they might get lost. I also have a couple of weddings in far away places that I have to prepare for,” answered Sergeant with a smile and got an appreciative hug from Orlanda.

“Only me left to discuss now,” said Doc, “I shall go back and appoint some medical staff to come out here and treat you all after the wedding celebrations. No, seriously you need more than just first aid here and some experienced physicians would go a long way to improve your lives here. What we should discuss is the fate of our midshipmen, Hugo and Eric. I must say I have enjoyed their company and their ingenuity.”

“We promised to return them home,” answered Ex. “I know they don’t want to do that.”

“They want to serve on my new ships,” added Sail.

“I would love them to stay here and entertain our new guests and visitors,” added Dunston. “They would be an asset anywhere but they are still young and their parents have to guide them and direct them still.”

“I know what we should do,” added Sail. “You’ve all seen them on the cutters. They both love sailing. We should contribute and buy them a sailboat in Bayland and on our return to Arbigland for the wedding we can call in and just see where their heart lies.”

“I hope you’ll bring them here for the wedding,” said Isabel sternly.

“We’ll get them a boat and talk to their parents and provide them with future options and let them decide,” said Dunston emphatically.

“I agree,” added Ex and looked around for further confirmative nods. “It’s down to you Sail to get them a decent boat but let’s keep it a secret until we get to Bayland.”

A guard came in and announced that a miners’ delegation had arrived and they would like to make some presentations to them all in the Council Chamber. Dunston replied that they would be ready in ten minutes and told the guard to get the two boys up and ready. The Chamber was full of well wishers, some even from Colvend district who had made the long journey including Saffron. The mine manager Harald and a group of eight miners were on the platform and invited the Assembly members plus the midshipmen, Saffron, Isabel and the two guards that had accompanied them on their trip. Harald introduced the miners and described the novel method of digging for gold by kicking one’s feet as employed by the visitors. He was proud to present them with their findings in gold, a Dunston each.

He then went on to describe the turn of events in Colvend and the mines and each of the miners had the opportunity to tell the locals here how their lives had been changed. Some had opted to be full time farmers, some miners, some fishermen and others to do things part time. They were all happy with the outcome and had formed a self-help cooperative to help setup their homesteads. The mine had provided a supply of tools and materials and the Council had provided initial provisions if required.

In appreciation the miners and towns’ folk had clubbed together and struck a medal in gold to mark the occasion. They were here to present them to the visitors. The presentation was done by the head of the new Miners Union amid much applause. The miner’s delegation were asked to meet with the new Governor and the Town Council to hear of the changes that were being introduced in Arbigland and the proposals for the future including a new Constitution which would result in elections in a years time. They were also told about the forthcoming wedding from local gossip. Saffron who having been forced to marry into a Boyar family was in a cleft stick in that the other members of the family not in prison had been given a plot and she wasn’t strictly entitled and was effectively homeless. Orlanda and Rosalind quickly came to the rescue with an offer of a job and partnership in the restaurant they were reopening as Head Chef and suitable accommodation arranged.

The two midshipmen were gloomy and miserable about having to depart the next day. They had made friends and a number of girls were mobbing them trying to cheer them up. The Admiral took pity on them and gave the two lads permission to sail the cutter and take the girls out into the harbour. Dunston and Isabel borrowed horses and took some people to view the location of their new house and buildings whilst Ex, Bank and Sergeant sought out the Treasurer, Town Clerk and the Governor to sort out the nitty-gritty with setting up of a Trading Company and Commercial Bank in Barcloy. The Treasurer immediately asked Bank if he thought Sail would be willing to take charge of the shipbuilding and repair facilities in Barcloy and organise them into a proper run company. The Governor said he heard a whisper that Ex was going to set up a fish processing plant and smokehouse and could Bank persuade or influence this to be a joint venture with the town and the local fishermen. Sergeant added that the fishermen should unite and form a cooperative that would fund them with boats, equipment and control the sale of their catch. He would arrange to send someone to advise on Union matters and also someone on Co-operatives. Sergeant also suggested that the craftsman ought to band together and set up Guilds to protect themselves and more importantly to set standards of workmanship. He stated that if they wanted to trade then a quality standard would set them apart and they would be more likely to get repeat orders and commissions. All this was noted down by the Governor and the Treasurer. The meeting finished and they went off to finalise their packing and Ex went back to his two ladies.

53. The Departure

The plan was to depart early morning before too many people were about but that plan was scuppered by the Admiral insisting on a formal send off. The navy were to escort them out and the fishermen, in their boats, were going to join the flotilla. At the last moment there was also a problem with the crew that they had hired. They knew that the Mate had taken on the Captaincy of the Tigress, the old pirate vessel but now others had changed their mind. The Navigator had been offered a position by the Governor to complete the mapping of the main island and all the seaward approaches. He had also met a lady and she had stolen his heart. One of the shipwrights had also given in to cupids’ arrow and decided to stay. At least in his case Sail was able to make him an offer to start on arranging the shipyard to receive another schooner for refit. One of the sail makers was originally from Egremont and asked to be dropped off there to join his family. Fortunately, there was no shortage of replacements but some very fast decisions and packing had to be done. One of the galley slaves who had been released begged to be the ships cook and another four fishermen signed on for a year’s contract to work for Sail. Two boys were taken on as cabin boys to be trained up to look after guests and a trainee navigator was found eager to hone his skills. 

The Boson was promoted to Mate, Hugo to Boson in training and Eric was assigned to help the Navigator and the rest of the party would act as deckhands as befitted them. The Tristiana was loaded up and provisioned with the finest that Arbigland could offer. Since the new cabin space had eaten into the hold and cargo space only a limited amount of furniture was taken aboard that Bank had ordered for himself. The schooner was armed with two rockets and a harpoon machine. These would be used to ward of any pirates and to catch the big fish for the table. The captain’s wardroom, on the first deck, that had been newly constructed and this was palatial beyond dreams. Below deck there were ten large cabins and crew quarters as well as a dining area and galley for the ships cook or chef. The cabins were beautifully appointed and surprisingly spacious nothing compared to the cramped quarters they had on the outward journey. All the fittings on deck had been upgraded to brass and the woodwork had been edged with black iron wood. Even the decking had been given a decorative edge. All the spars had been varnished to a high degree and the cordage tarred. All the blocks had been replaced and greased so not a squeak was heard when the sheets were adjusted. The sail area had been modified to take account of the new deck cabin and wheelhouse. Everyone agreed that it was the smartest ship on the seas. Even Captain Sail was proud of his creation.

After much hugging, weeping and waving the Tristiana cast off and made its way slowly to the harbour entrance trying to sail clear of the fishing boats and craft that had managed to float and follow them out. The flotilla was led by the three galleys and the Tigress, then the three cutters and the Tristiana. Amongst this was a mass of smaller boats. The decks of the galleys were a mass of town folk, all waving and cheering as they sailed out of the harbour entrance and left some of the smaller craft behind in the calmer waters. Slowly the mate ordered more sail and the Tristiana forged ahead passing the flotilla and waving the last goodbyes. As the schooner reached the first galley it was in full sail and with some adjustments surged ahead proudly with a fine turn of speed. Soon the flotilla was a mere spec and only the high mountains peered over them and even these receded below the skyline and they were out in the open seas flying before the wind and only the two navigators plotting their position using the three compasses and Doc’s new gadgets.

Their bearing was for Egremont to drop off the homesick shipwright and they would be there in the evening if the winds held.

“Small craft ahead!” shouted the lookout high up on the mast.

“Craft ahead,” acknowledged the Boson on watch.

“Craft on our bearing, approaching fast.”

“On our bearing!”

“Crew of three visible. Cutter type.”

“Three on cutter”

“Cutter recognises Tristiana and heaving to.”

“All hands on deck!” came the command and whistle, lower Main and slacken Fore! Prepare to received guests!” as the schooner expertly came alongside the cutter and a line thrown. A second line was thrown to help a seaman climb up onto the schooner deck and who announced himself from Egremont, with a message for the Governor of Arbigland. Sail acknowledged the messenger and replied that they were not returning to Arbigland and were on the way to Homeland. He asked after the situation in Egremont and was told by an excited sailor that there had been a coup and the Governor had been overthrown and a new Governor Anton appointed to a cheer from the bystanders. Sail ordered the cutter to continue to Barcloy with the good news and they would sail into Egremont harbour that night to congratulate the new Governor and allow the sail maker to disembark.

The sail to Bayland was slower since the winds were light and not always favourable in direction. Mont and Sergeant experimented with the harpoon and to the dismay of the ships cook, commandeered a couple of water barrels as targets. Hugo and Eric enjoyed the task of retrieving them in the ships sailboat until even that paled. Instead, Hugo suggested that they tow the barrels behind the sailboat to give the gunners a more realistic moving target on the understanding that their aim got better. With a few refinements to the machine, they managed to hit the target too frequently and had to stop through lack of spare barrels. The harpoon tended to split the barrels open and destroy them so the fun was over, though Sergeant managed to harpoon a sword fish that was a little too curious and got too close for its own good and ended up served as a main course. The lookout was henceforth to report sightings of swordfish as well as anything else worthy of a shout. Eric managed to keep the cook well supplied with fish from a line he trailed with six smaller hooks. The fish were abundant and the cook was for ever telling Eric to stop.

They arrived in Bayland harbour which looked just as depressing as before but at least Sail checked out the hulks with an eager eye. Hugo and Eric were dressed up in their best uniform and sent ashore, back to their parents. Dunston and Bank set off to find the old Captain and pay him for his ship and Sail took a local fisherman on a sail in the harbour to check out the wrecks and hulks. Dunston and Bank found the old Captain but he was in a very bad state. Eventually they found his family of wife and daughter who were living a paupers life in a filthy garret. They handed the money over to them to start a new and better life.

That evening Hugo and Eric came down to the Tristiana with invitations to dinner at the house of the Chandler and his wife. There had been a lot of rejoicing in the household at their safe homecoming. Sail announced that he had found four schooners and a brig suitable for his purposes and was in negotiation with their owners. He hoped to buy two and hold options on another two. After a sumptuous meal Sail and the Chandler were in deep discussion and drawing up contracts on provisions and chandlery to make the chosen ships seaworthy to reach Barcloy for a refit. Eric and Hugo spent the evening telling their mother and two little sisters about the adventures they had been on and insisted on Mont, Sergeant, Tess and Ex telling their tales. They also managed to get Ex and Dunston to invite the whole family to the wedding in Arbigland. On leaving, Sail insisted that the two boys were up early to see them off at the quayside.

The Tristiana was provisioned and Hugo and Eric carted huge log like shape to the quayside. This was a present to Mont and Sergeant. An indestructible target made out of baulks of balsa wood strapped together with iron hoops that they had made up by the local blacksmith. It was light, floated well and saved them the wrath of the ships cook. This was loaded onto the ship amongst much laughter and ribbing. Sail then announced that the ship’s company had a return present for the boys. He announced solemnly that since they needed to improve their ship-craft they all had chipped in and bought them a boat to practice their sail craft on. The ships bell rang and the Mate expertly swung out in a sleek sloop from behind the Tristiana and hove to at the quayside throwing the painter to Hugo.

Sail engaged more crew including a Skipper, Mate and Boson and more deckhands. The original Boson was left behind to Skipper the Brig back to Barcloy for refit and then to collect two more schooners that Sail had bought. This held up their departure but allowed Hugo and Eric to show off their paces in the sloop to the delight of a number of girls and admirers. They embarked that afternoon with a sloop in escort to the harbour entrance and pulled away amidst much waving, back to Homeland and new plans and expectations.

THE END