Chapter 64. Oh oh

  Minnie was up and ready to go, but the old guy was still sleeping. It was pretty early but she just wasn’t tired, by her watch it was, ok it was only four thirty. “Way too early still, maybe a couple of biscuits, warm milk and I can go back to sleep.”, she murmured to herself. Sneaking out if the cabin, down the corridor to the mess, then the galley. The biscuits were easy but warming milk meant lighting a stove, which meant messing with kindling and matches. No thanks, she just had it cold, mostly just as good, mostly. She could hear snores, deep breathing, people turning over, but no talking or whispering. Should I go on deck, she wondered, nah probably a bit chilly and already she wanted back in bed as the milk did the trick. Padding back down, sneaking back in, gingerly opening her side and climbing in. Reaching out and finding his solid warm hand, she curled her little fingers around his. His hand moved a bit but he settled as soon as he realized it was her, mumbling a bit he went back to his dreams. So did she, drifting back down…down…gone.

  Will dreamed of ice cubes for some reason, little blocks of cold scattered around, he was walking somewhere and the ice was all around on the ground. He woke with a shudder, glanced at the porthole…blackness, turned over and went back to sleep. Next time he woke he checked his watch and found it was time to get up, port was still dark though and the boat was oddly quiet and muffled. “Oh oh, I think I know what that means.”, he sighed. Opening the closet at the bottom of the stairs he got out his long jacket and boots, it looked a bit odd with his shorts but that was fine, he didn’t mind. Climbing up, and opening the topside door he found that he had been right. Snow. “Oh great, yippee, yeehaw, woohoo, snow.”. He used the shovel, that was still hung by the door, to start clearing a path to the bow. Windy, cold, snow still coming down, he figured it was easily below zero by the ice that had built up on the windward side. Looking towards land there was just white, yesterdays greenery was covered. So was the coal. Splat! A snowball struck him in the back and, as he whirled to find the culprit, saw an innocent little doggo girl looking out to sea. “Oho, me thinks I have found a villain!”. Scooping up several handfuls and creating a giant ball of snow he spent a few merry minutes chasing the laughing little monster around the deck. Finally cornering her near the stern with no escape routes he stalked towards her. “It wasn’t me dad, it was him.”, she pointed behind him, and of course he looked. Making her escape, laughing maniacally she threw open the stairs and fled below.

  “One day I won’t fall for that, not today though.”. Going back down himself, taking care to close top and bottom doors again, to keep the heat in. Then down to the boiler room, started the boiler heating. Not for moving but to provide hot water for the radiators. Coming back up he found three people waiting on him. Percy and Ron, and of course Minnie. “Father, can we go out in the snow, never seen it before?”, Percy asked. “I’ll keep an eye out dad, not too much horseplay with the lil guys.”, Minnie added. Ron just watched with hopeful eyes. “Get some jackets and boots on, Minnie do you mind using your spares?”, he checked with her. Shaking her head she had already pulled out her jackets, boots, gloves, hats and was busily stuffing the two lads into the warm gear. Bundled up and warm it was time to brave the elements. Up they went, Will tagged along just to see how things went. As soon as that first lower door was opened you could feel the cold coming down. Closing that one and opening the top was an eye opener for the two, never seeing this before. Ron reached out a hand and touched the snow. “Watch this!”, Minnie said and quickly formed a snowball and started tossing it up and down in her hand, then threw it at Percy, not too hard and only on his chest. “Aaaarrrrrggghh, why did you do that, it got down my neck and it’s so cold, melting on my fur, Ron get her!”, Percy shrieked.

  The resulting snowball fight didn’t last too long, Minnie wasn’t throwing as hard as she could, she didn’t want to knock the stuffing out of them. Ron got a few good hits on her, making her laugh with delight. Percy was more of a sit on the roof type and just watch, and point out where to throw. That didn’t stop Minnie from nailing him a couple of times. High pitched shrieks turned to high pitched laughter eventually as they got used to the snow. Will was leaning on the rail, in a self proclaimed safe zone, drinking a mug of tea Naomi brought up. It had only been a short while, fifteen minutes or so and they were all back below and warming in the galley. “So are we gathering today dad?”, Naomi asked. “I don’t think so, I didn’t see this coming. Just too cold, too much snow, I know we only worked one day but it’s a day off today then.”, Will said, “Pass the word.”.

  When no one woke the crew up to work today, they knew something was up. Looking out the portholes showed nothing but windswept lake water, it was only when they made it to the galley that they could see the results of the snow storm. What had been green and over grown was now covered in freezing snow and ice. Eventually all the gathering crew were present and Will let them know the news. “Huge snowstorm overnight so gathering is off for today, we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”, he announced. Following that a light breakfast was served, oatmeal with fruit, toast and jam, tea and coffee.

  In the crew lounge three chilly crew people were huddled in blankets, their wet outer clothes were hanging to dry in various places throughout the boat. All the jackets and boots were in the boiler room, warmest place on board and the outer gear would be dried quickly. Their clothes were hung in bedrooms and they were wearing some of Minnie’s onesies. She loved her pyjamas with feet and had happily shared with the boys. Will brought in a tray of breakfast for them all, tea and warm milk, and the three of them ate in relative peace. “That was fun, cold but fun, you guys okay?”, Minnie asked after a few pieces of toast and honey. Ron nodded his head, took a big sip of his tea, “Oh yeah, especially when you made Percy squeak like a baby.”. Percy gasped “I did not, well maybe just a little but that snows cold and it went all the way down.”, he shivered remembering. It was times like this Will wished he still had a camera, the sight of these three little furry people wearing red striped onesies was very special.

  At the moment Percy had borrowed one of Minnies brushes and was carefully working out a couple of snarls in his now shorter fur. Ron was watching and waiting until his brother had nearly got it and with a yowl leaped at him and messed his fur up thoroughly. Percy’s yell of betrayal was epic and he, in turn, tackled Ron and was nipping and twisting his ears mercilessly. Minnie wisely left the room to the fighting duo, she caught up with Will who was nearly at the mess hall. “Those guys are crazy.”, she sighed, shaking her head in sorrow, screaming and yowls could still be heard, then abruptly stopped. After a few seconds the door opened and Percy came out followed by Ron, they walked by Minnie and Will like nothing had happened and headed into the mess. Will shrugged at Minnie who shook her head “Brothers.”.

  With everyone stuck below deck today it was important to keep engaged and busy. The snow was not a novelty to the gatherer’s, rare yes, but not unknown. No one had much interest in going on deck to see the snow so that solved one problem, the other problem was boredom. Card games were organized, same with the games the crew usually played, like charades or twenty questions. Sing alongs, playing music, it was a big boat with lots of space for the children to spread out. The crew quarters, mess hall, the three holds, there was enough space for four times the crew they had on board. Will and Minnie told the story of the burrows and how the people had been relocated. The fully loaded boat toiling through the high freezing seas, the attack by the sharps. “I don’t remember it being that much fun dad, mostly it was kinda boring and then scary.”, Minnie whispered to him during his tale. Will shrugged “I don’t think they want to hear about how many cups of tea I drank in the wheelhouse, or how bad the mess was in quarters. I just told them the fun bits.”. When they got to the bit after the sharp fight, when the young burrowers had given the crew sharp tooth necklaces Will could see an eye roll or two. Pulling the tooth out of his shirt and showing how large and jagged it was stopped that, Minnie showed hers as did Naomi. “Yes, it really happened just like the captain said, but with more than he wants to tell you.”, Naomi took over, “The north is an unforgiving place, wild and beautiful but not for the foolhardy.”. “We’re going back you know.”, Minnie said, “Because they need us, just like you do, might take some of you with. That’s up to dad though, I mean captain dad, just captain, not dad, well not your dad.”.

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  The day passed, lunch then dinner. Staying up later than usual because of the lazy day. “Sure hope it’s back to work tomorrow.”, Minnie yawned as the crew relaxed in the lounge. The five easy chairs arranged in a circle, backs to the hull side of the room. The radiators had help the boat warm and cosy all day and running the boiler used a negligible amount of coal. They had many barrels of purified water stacked in the boiler room to top up the system as needed. Fuel was not a concern at all, it literally fell out of the ground here. “Me too, setbacks like this are costly only in time. Uses up supplies quicker too..”, Will replied. He had been fiddling with numbers, amounts eaten averaged out over days, fresh versus canned or otherwise preserved. Naomi had figured this out as well and suggested setting snares for rabbits or even organizing a hunting party to see if there was any bigger game. When this came up Minnie started vibrating with excitement and started telling Percy and Ron all about hunting with her bow. The bird she had shot became bigger, and bigger, it grew scales and teeth and claws. The small island became a huge forested island with a volcano in the middle. She and Naomi had tracked the bird for days until they found it’s lair. “Where was father while you were hunting, was he with you too?”, Percy asked, quivering with excitement. Ron too, he was sitting cross legged in front of Minnie, just waiting for her to go on. “He was waiting by the shore drinking tea.”, Minnie said with disgust. “He said..go get that bird for my dinner girlies, and don’t come back without it.”, Naomi added sadly. “So we trekked across that island, hacking a trail through the jungle.”, Minnie continued, “Hey, I thought it was a forest, not a jungle?”, Will asked. She just shushed him and went on. “For days, cutting through the trees, fighting off the insects, giant spiders and blood sucking mosquitoes, it was so hard.”, she placed her hand over her eyes, “You go on sis, I can’t.”. Naomi comforted her, then “The mud was thick, nearly sucking us under, I wanted to turn and run but Minnie stopped me. She said remember dads voice…don’t come back without my dinner! So on we went. Finally we found the cave, it looked like a skull, lava dripping out of the eye sockets, piles of bones everywhere of the ones who tried to kill it before us.”. Minnie had recovered enough to go on now. “We sneaked in, arrows ready, trying not to slip on the slimy floor of the cave, water was dripping down from the roof soaking our clothes and hair.”, now she was sneaking around the lounge, avoiding the slime and the bones. Naomi took up the story again “At the very back of the cave, deep in the rock, the only light was coming from the torch’s we had made out of rags and pitch, barely enough to see by. But then we came upon the nest. Not just one dragon, that’s what we were following but two of them. Minnie quietly worked her way to the right, I went to the left.”, they were both stalking the room now. Avoiding the bones and slimy goo dripping down until they were on opposite sides of the room. “Then,”, Minnie went on, “We took aim at the hearts of the monsters, their two heads twisting on the long scaly necks, one with red eyes and the other with yellow, we took aim, sighting down the smooth arrow and let fly!”. With a shriek of triumph the two leaped into the centre of the room and took a victory pose, foot on top of the dying monsters. “What did you do then?”, Percy asked breathlessly. Will answered that one “They brought them back to the boat and I finally had my dinner.”. “Yes, they were very tasty too.”, Minnie laughed. The two hunters collapsed in their chairs. Ron was clapping as was Percy, “Oh that sounds so much fun, can we go next time too?”, he asked. “Of course.”, Will said, “Cause if I don’t get my dinner I get really monstery myself, Rawr!”.

  After the tale of the epic hunt had been talked over the subject of supplies came back up. But only losing one day was fine, the lake was full of fish and they had a few months worth of dry goods aboard. There was nothing to worry about, Will just liked to make sure all the T’s were crossed and the I’s dotted. A final cup of tea, another couple of biscuits and it was time for bed. Biding each and all good night the crew went to their cabins, but Will had his usual chore. Tonight Ron chose to come up with him and held the lantern as they walked the rails, checked the anchors and secured the ship for the night. Will stopped and looked at skies but clouds were covering tonight. It was chilly on deck but they were dressed warmly, boots and jackets and the weather was changing for the better. This was the first opportunity Ron had to wear his new gear, in the earlier snowball fight he and Perce had worm Minnie’s spares. Finding nothing amiss they went back below.

  As Ron went inside his cabin Will stood in the doorway “Night fellas, did you have a good day?”. They both nodded, Percy stifling a yawn. “Well good night then, catch you in the morning.”. Closing their door and walking the few yards to his and Minnie’s cabin he heard Naomi’s “Good night dad.”, as he passed her door. “Night Naomi, see you in the AM.”. Then into his own warm room. With just a safety candle burning the room looked bigger than it was, Minnie was perched in the middle of the bed leafing through a sketchbook. When he entered she looked up “Still snowing and icky?”. “Nope, weather’s easing, temps up and the snows melting. Was just a summer squall, with snow.”, he laughed. Readying for sleep only took a few minutes and soon he was under his heavy quilt. As he usually did he ran his fingers over the thick embroidered quilt, this relaxed him. Minnie bounced around a bit but finally settled and soon he heard her breathing even out as she slept and her searching hand found his own. Feeling this helped him sleep and the next thing he knew was the morning light streaming in the port.

  For once Minnie was awake at the same time, which was good and bad. She took forever in the head, tossed clothes around like a maniac and talked about everything under the sun. Oddly enough he found this endearing as well. Today the subject was getting back to work. “If those kids don’t get to do something today I’ll go crazy, and take the whole boat with me, except for the lil guys.”. Will had to ask, “why not them?”. She laughed “They’re just so cute and cuddly.”. “Aww just like you, a cute and cuddly sailor.”, he told her. Her outfit finally decided on she nagged until he finished up dressing so he could help make their bed. Prepared for the day they exited the cabin, not hearing any movement from any of the other cabins, they went on deck.

  Knowing the weather had changed and seeing it were too different things. Yesterdays windswept snowy world was gone, it was just wet and sunny now. Blue skies, gentle wind and mild seas, gulls flying over the beach, “What a beautiful day, but the tents look a bit low.”, Minnie was looking at shore through her spyglass. “Too much snow I guess, we didn’t leave food ashore so it should be okay, just damp.”, Will replied, “Won’t take long to clean up.”. Hearing stirrings belowdeck they went below. Will found Naomi in the galley, Bree and Rosie besides, starting a full breakfast for today. “Morning captain, kettles on.”, ah such magical words. The gatherers were coming into the mess, finding a spot. Minnie had finally got the two third mates moving, quite unwilling it seemed but they were here, half asleep still. When everyone was present and food started coming out of the galley, including his tea, he stood and got everyone’s attention. “Well it looks like the snows all gone, so its back to work today. After this wonderful breakfast that is, let’s all dig in.”.