Chapter 3. Very Bad News Indeed.

  Well this is a fine pickle, Will thought, he was in his office, thinking hard. The day had started so well, but the last half an hour not so much. The message on the pigeon was bad news, very bad news. And as much as he admired the idea, the amazing idea the lads in the north had, he couldn’t think of that right now. He had a decision to make, no that’s wrong. This was not his to make. It was just a matter of when, to find the right time. As if there could be a ‘right’ time at all. He stood up, thinking time over. There was an awful job ahead, the time was now.

  Minnie was in the crew lounge, Uma sleeping on her small lap. It was easy to forget she was only ten, she fit in with the crew so well. But the day and the food had tired her a bit. Percy and Ron were waiting upon deck for the supply wagons. The door opened, Will came in, closed the door carefully behind. “She’s sleeping?”, he asked. Minnie nodded, “We gotta tell her yeah?”. Will sat heavily in his chair and wiped his hand over his face, “Yes, I’m not keeping this from her…you let the lads know what the note said?”. This time Minnie nodded sadly, “I did, they were both a bit upset but you know them. We…the three of us, feel things differently I think, than you do.”. Will knew this to be true, the pack, the family was all important to his three furry companions. Once they had accepted you then you were one of them forever, but it could take a while to get that inclusion. Until then, until you were one of us, part of the pack, they were friendly but didn’t really care past a certain point. When the boys were still cats, before they came here, they had always been social. Minnie had been a friendly dog to most of their friends and family, strangers they met while walking were treated politely. However only a couple of the family were loved. And so it was here, those personalities were about the same. So, while sad at the news the note carried, it hadn’t really affected them. Minnie more so but…ahh all these pondering were getting him nowhere, time to get to it.

  “Can you wake her up Min.”. She nodded and started to gently rub Uma’s back, tickled her face until the little one sleepily opened her eyes. “Auntie, is it supper time already? Oh hello captain…what’s wrong, why do you look sad.”. Will sighed, “Sweetie, the note the bird carried had some bad news.”. The girl straightened in her chair, held Minnie’s hand tightly, “Bad news? Did something happen? Please tell me.”. Will went on, “Remember when your parents jumped in the water and Mason and Arnold saved them?”. Uma nodded slowly, “Yes.”. “Well, they were okay for a while but then the coughing sickness came on, came on so fast and…I’m so sorry sweetheart but they passed away about two weeks after we left.”. At those words the little girls face crumpled and she collapsed into Minnie’s strong arms, heartbroken sobs wracking her small body. All Minnie could do was hold her tightly and rock, giving what comfort she could. A few minutes passed, Will felt absolutely awful and totally useless, he didn’t bother saying anything, experience had taught him to let grief take its time, let the tears run their course. She didn’t need him blathering on right now, Minnie was all she needed. Catching Minnie’s eye he pointed up, she nodded, “We’ll be up when we can.”.

  Will left, after closing the door he rested his head against the solid wall of the corridor, a few tears were brushed away. He had known Katya and Therd for a couple of years and even if they really didn’t spend that much time together it still hurt. The young couple were the first he met in that faraway land, they had trusted him instantly, welcomed him into their family. Is this why Naomi stopped getting close to people? Realizing how fragile life really was, how different they were now, destined to heartbreak after heartbreak as all they knew would be gone. Year after year losing friends, loved ones. It still surprised him how quickly she and Julian got together, knowing she would outlive him. Her situation reminded him of an old movie, not a great one but some parts…. A group of immortals living different lives throughout the endless centuries. One line from one of the movies soundtrack, ‘Who wants to live forever?’, when the hero was burying his elderly wife while he stayed the same through the years. Very sad, now this was what he and his family faced, losing everyone while they go on.

  A couple of knocks above pulled him out of his thoughts, one of the lads letting him know the supplies were here. Pulling himself together he went on deck.

  The wagons were here, waiting at lands end. Ron came up beside him, Percy on the other. They both hugged him tight, “I’m sorry for the loss of your friends, they were both nice people.”, said Ron.

  Percy added “I did like them, I didn’t know them well but I’m sorry they passed.”. “Thanks lads, I just wish the first time we got a letter on this world it had been good news.”. That brought a bit of a laugh from both, “The pigeon letter is a good idea, have you heard of it before?”, Percy asked. They started walking towards the waiting carts, Will nodded at the question. “Oh yeah, homing pigeons have been around a long time, bit of a shock to see them here.”. Reaching the end and Ron climbed up on the first wagon, the driver was familiar but Will couldn’t remember her name to save his life. “Um, hello there, how are you today.”, he asked, still wracking his brain for her name. Ron saved the day for him, “How have you been Eva, been too long since we saw you.”. Yes! That’s my boy. She chatted on with Ron about this and that, he showed a genuine interest in her life as she carefully backed the heavy wagon down the pier. Reaching the Rose the three made quick work emptying the heavy load. Not bothering with the cranes anymore, except for dropping one or two preloaded pallets into the hold. As soon as this cart was empty Eva drove to lands end and started backing the second one as well. “Why do you do both, can’t the other guy go backwards or something?”, Percy asked. Eva sighed, “He’s getting on a bit and won’t go near the water. I know I’m fine with you all but he just can’t bring himself to.”. Will thought it might be something like this, but he guessed it didn’t really affect the older drivers life that much. Only in this situation did it matter, and this didn’t happen too often. The second wagon was unloaded just as quickly, Eva thanked and escorted off the pier. Then the three of them headed back to the Rose, time for a crew meeting.

  A few fresh items needed storing in the ice box first. That appliance was useful again, there was always ice around this time of year. Even if it wasn’t terribly cold or snowy in town the mountains still had way below freezing temperatures. So those folks were busily making ice blocks and shipping to Newton, not everyone used an icebox but a demand was there. There were a few dozen blocks stored in the lowest, coldest spot on the boat too. It was nice to be able to have eggs and milk a few days longer than normal. When all these tasks were taken care of the three headed to the lounge. Will wanted to see how Uma was and to have another read of that note, but he stopped in his quarters first to change. It was a bit cooler than he liked, too chilly for shorts anyway. He could hear talking before he opened the lounge door, a good sign, and inside he found Minnie and the boys talking with Uma.

  Sitting down he said, “I’m very sorry for your loss Uma, your parents were good people and good friends.”. She nodded sadly “It was my fault they were in the water, now it’s my fault they got sick.”. Minnie stopped her there “There’s no fault sweetie, it’s true there are consequences to your actions but none of it’s your fault.”. Will could tell she wasn’t convinced, only time could heal…no that’s not right. Nothing was going to heal a loss like this, time would dull things but never heal that wound. Seeing the other three had things in hand, Will took another look at the pigeons note.

  Captain, I hope this note finds you.

  Arnold and I are fine.

  Uma’s parents passed from the coughing

  Sickness. Family is fighting.

  If you can get back here it would

  Help. We are sending nearly a

  Hundred of these notes.

  Mason

  Pretty straightforward stuff. “Hey, we have a choice to make right?”, Minnie said. Will nodded, but the choice was pretty obvious, to him at least. “We’ve just done a long gather for both communities, we can be there in three weeks to a month, Iceland that is.”, Will said. Percy looked at Ron, he shrugged and nodded at his brother, “We should head north then, like father said, we’ve done our duty here.”. Uma’s eyes widened, “You’d do that, go back so soon.”. Minnie patted her shoulder, “Of course, you’re crew and more importantly family.”. So the decision was made, heading back north tomorrow.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  The rest of the evening passed, if not quickly, but pass it did. Ron cooked a few grilled cheese sandwiches, those and as assortment of pickles, was fine for dinner. The little girl slept fitfully, waking a few times and always finding someone sitting with her. Will at first, while Minnie took a break, then one of the boys. But always someone there, never waking alone. Plans were made for travelling. Extra supplies would be needed, they usually carried enough for whatever was going on at the time. The resupply just brought aboard wouldn’t last for the trip up, much less coming back. Even if they didn’t stay it still wasn’t enough. In the morning Will would get Ed to let the council know they needed more, much more. For now it was an early night, not really all that early to be honest, it was coming on to ten. Minnie was staying with Uma of course, so Will went on deck first. His last check of the night, all was good. The stars were bright, a few clouds scudding across but there was a feeling in the air. Will had a feeling they’d be steaming into bad weather.

  The next day proved him right, the deck was spattered with wet snow. Not any great buildups but definitely a snowy presence. Looking down the pier Will could see no Ed yet, “We might take a walk down to the carters inn, see if he’s there.”. “Let’s give him a bit longer, it’s early yet you know.”, Minnie shivered out. Will agreed, they were both on deck, wearing long coats today. “The darn weather changed overnight, it’s gonna be cold and rough going north.”, Minnie sighed. She was looking at the far horizon, a mix of grey and white clouds, “There’s going to be snow there, before we get even a week away.”. A whistle interrupted their weather woes, to show Ed had shown up without them noticing. “You want to go get him, or should I.”, Will asked. Minnie just laughed, in two bounds she was down at the end of the pier, talked with Ed for a bit. He tied the horses to a hitching post, threw a blanket over each horse and turned to Minnie. Will couldn’t hear what was said but next moment she had picked him up like a baby and was back on the Rose in a couple of jumps. Landing on the deck beside Will she carefully placed him down, he looked at her in wonder, “I didn’t even have time to scream, not that I would but…wow.”. Will clapped him on the shoulder, “Just do it in a manly fashion.”.

  Below the kettle was on, the radiators were keeping the cool at bay. “Let’s sit in the lounge,”, Will said on the way down, “We’ve got a bit of news for you.”. Getting comfortable with a cuppa it didn’t take long to tell Ed all the news, and their decision to scoot north. “Would you take a message to the council, let them know we’ll need more dry goods, canned stuff…the usual.”, Will asked. “Of course captain, of course.”, Ed sighed, “How sad, I lost an uncle to the coughing disease. He went from hale and full of life to passing in a week.”. Hmmm, there’s lots to be said for penicillin, Will thought. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure how to grow it, just that the first penicillin was discovered growing on a moody cantaloupe. This was one of the things that had to be discovered and developed naturally, no short cuts. Besides, Will just didn’t have the knowledge, if he tried mucking around he’d probably kill someone. He’d introduced a couple of sanitary improvements, the water filtration system he used now, or the hand washing routines that everyone on board followed. But they were pretty minor things. This community was definitely a clean one, nothing like a comparable town in his old world. London or NewYork in the 1880’s were basically open sewers, sanitation wasn’t even a passing thought. When reading about those times, or watching a documentary he often wondered how humanity had survived. There were always certain parts of civilization that were ‘mucky’, horse powered civilizations had a certain odour. Not a horrible one but it was definitely there. Newton had crews roaming the streets cleaning up the road apples, but it was an ongoing task and…”Hey Ed, what do the cleaning crews do with all the horse poop?”. “Wow that was random pop,”, Minnie laughed at him, “We were talking about supplies and stuff.”. Will shook his head, “Sorry, I was just having a think about stuff.”. Ed was pretty used to the way the crew was and just smiled, “No worries captain, it’s all composted and passed out for fertilizer to anyone who needs it.”. “Not in town though, wouldn’t it be too stinky?”, Minnie asked. “There’s a big poop farm way outside town, they have their own carts and drivers, they come in and pick up the product every day.”, Ed explained. “Well that sounds fun.”, Percy’s voice came from the doorway. He, Ron and Uma had come in just as they were discussing the manure farm. Ed turned to Uma, “I was very sorry to hear about your parents, we don’t know each other well but if I can do anything for you please let me know.”. Will shook his head, the people here were just good, he was a lucky man to be here.

  Ron had worked out a rough list of needed supplies based on a three meal a day menu, plus a couple of snack or coffee breaks. Then Percy went through his various notebooks of what was on hand, added the supplies dropped off yesterday. Then took into consideration the barrels they left for the people of Iceland, just to help through the cold times. Also adding in what Mason and Arnold might require. Then factoring in a good emergency percentage, in case of circumstances they couldn’t control but could prepare for. “Holy moley lads,”, Will was leafing through the notebook Percy gave him, “This is some fine work, you’ve taken care of every detail, everything we might need.”. Minnie was reading over his shoulder, “Were you up all night? I mean…just wow, you guys are great.”. Ron shrugged, “We knew you needed it soon, it didn’t take too long. Perce has lists of everything, I had Naomi’s menus so there you go.”. Percy sat beside Uma, “Are you okay, we have to talk about this stuff, I don’t want to upset you.”. She smiled at him, “That’s okay uncle, being busy takes my mind off stuff.”. Will laughed, “We’re gonna be pretty busy today sweetie, it’s a long way to Iceland and we’ve got lots to prepare.”. Minnie had a thought, “Are we going to Laketown to tell the folks there, or leave from here?”. Oh yeah, good question, Will thought, “It’s five days to Laketown, a day there, five days back here, that’s adding nearly two weeks to the trip.”, he said out loud, “I just don’t know, take a vote. Raise your hand if you want to go to Laketown first.”. No one lifted a hand, “Right, I guess that’s sorted. We leave tomorrow morning.”.

  Ed was dispatched to council house, getting things rolling on that end. He assured Will there’d be another big supply by the afternoon, a few wagons of trade goods. “If I don’t make it back until close to dinner time, how about I bring something from Big Blue? It’s fried chicken Friday!”. Will laughed to himself as he watched Minnie take their young friend back to his carriage. Asking the crew if they wanted chicken for dinner was like asking did a bear poop in the woods, the answer would always be yes. Now it was time to prepare the boat for a long trip north.

  Digging out the winter gear from the storage room on the lowest deck, hanging them up in the closet by the stairs. Checking all over for holes or ripped seams, inspecting their gloves and masks, hoods and scarves, boots and liners. Everything was good. The kindling and wood for the galley stoves were in good shape, easily a couple of months, that was an easy fix though. A trip ashore would refill that easily. There was a good supply of lantern oil and candles aboard, more was coming, along with a dozen tubs of grease for the engine room. One thing Will had asked Ed to pick up for them was another pump, and several lengths of canvas hose. “Why we need another one, we have two, and a spare.”, Minnie remarked. “Yes, but I had a think about snow and how much builds up on deck sometimes, right?”, Will said. They were on a tea break in the mess hall for now, actually only Will and Ron had tea. The others had warmed milk. “If we pump water from the lake we can blast the snow off the deck a lot easier than shovelling, salt water won’t freeze on the deck unless it gets super cold.”. He could see they were thinking this over, “But I like playing in the snow while I shovel.”, Minnie finally came out with, “Its a good idea though.”. Percy agreed, he didn’t like the cold much and anything to spend less out the better.

  It was back to work then. Since the gathering crew quarters weren’t being used for this time extra supplies would be stored there, the bunks were fastened to the deck and ceilings but the canvas curtains were taken down and stored for the duration. Each crew cabin had a few extra blankets just in case of extra chills, or for wearing around. There was lots to be said about sitting in your favourite chair wrapped in a blanky. The wood bin outside the wheelhouse was filled, the small stove inside was usually used for tea, but up north it helped with keeping warm too. Will was ticking off each chore as it was done, mostly what was left were the supplies. Hopefully showing up soon, usually the teen crew was here to help put away, this time it was just the four of them. However, as long as it was on board it could be put away while travelling.

  Will checked the time, five thirty. The five of them were sitting in the wheelhouse, keeping an eye out for the delivery. “They’re gonna roll up the sidewalks soon and put the town away.”, Minnie grumbled. “Can’t do much about it sweetie, things get done here on their time.”, he answered. But as soon as he said that, three wagons rolled into sight. And were they ever loaded, these were the heavyweight carts and stuffed to the brim. Behind them was Ed’s carriage and two black carriages filled with their friends. Not the councillors, just Dave and Sam, Gemma and Evelyn and of course John. The crew headed down, to start escorting the carts down. It was Eva again, who backed the heavy wagons down the pier. It took longer this time to empty the various crates and bags, not too much longer though. Minnie had spied something in Ed’s carriage, several wooden boxes, a few wisps of steam escaping from them. That spurred everyone to work just that much harder.

  The last empty cart drove off, the three drivers bidding them “Safe journey.”. Then the last evening at Newton started, good food and good friends. A sad reason to go but looking forward to the trip. Will could hardly wait to get on the water again.