CHAPTER 5
A CRUEL BRANDING
Dawn was breaking with golden splendour at Thompsons Creek and the few early-morning clouds were high and scattered when Mayor Lion, Iscariot Snake and the black boar arrived to send the Serendipity on its way. But the sleek Clipper Ship was still in drydock and far from ready.
At first, the Mayor was impressed. ‘Harry Possum did all this… alone?’ he said with awe. Then he turned to Assam and a cloud swept over his face. ‘We wanted this ship ready to sail at first light. Please explain yourself, Mr Tortoise.’
‘I, I, I,’ spluttered Assam, cringing before the lion. All the work teams had stopped and were silently watching. This made the encounter even more terrifying.
‘Well?’ said the Mayor impatiently.
‘I, I, I.’ Assam gulped. ‘I, I have no excuse, sir. Despite being late, I know you’ll find that the work is of a good standard and I think you’ll…’
Iscariot Snake darted forward so his diamond head was level with the Mayor’s. It took enormous courage for Assam to continue standing when every instinct urged him to hide in his shell or run screaming from the ship. But he remembered the shame he felt when the human had called him a coward and the Mayor had ridiculed him in the front of everyone at Town Hall. The humiliation was almost too much to bear. And Stanley Horse had forgiven his cowardice so freely, which just made it worse. So he resisted his instincts and lifted his head instead, come what may.
‘You will agree, sir, that this kind of incompetence should not be tolerated,’ said the big snake, hissing slyly. ‘The Hammer is ready to depart and Joint Admiral Fairweather is counting on the Ghost Fleet to be in close pursuit. Her whole plan depends on…’
‘I’m aware of that,’ said the Mayor, turning sharply. ‘What is it you propose, Iscariot?’
The big snake drew back and arranged his coils. ‘The tortoise should be replaced by someone more capable, someone who knows how to get the job done quickly and efficiently.’
‘That’s you, I suppose?’ said the Mayor, eyebrows raised.
‘Thank you, sir. I’m flattered. But no, I didn’t mean me. There is one who stands among us who has proven himself infinitely worthy of taking the tortoise’s place as Admiral of the Ghost Fleet, someone who will brook no further delay.’
‘Well?’ said the Mayor as he looked around. ‘Who is this worthy successor?’
Iscariot Snake drew back so he was level with the black boar. The boar shied away, ears twitching.
‘Him!’ said the Mayor, incredulously. ‘You must be joking…’
‘Now consider,’ said the snake. His words seemed to drip like honey. ‘Captain Boar had the Happy Trader ready to sail at dawn as ordered, unlike…’
‘Yes, but he didn’t need to finish building it first,’ said the Mayor.
‘But if he had that task, I’m sure he would have managed without any difficulty… unlike the tortoise. I think Captain Boar has more talent than…’
‘A talent for stupidity!’
‘Now, that’s a little unfair, Mr Mayor,’ said the snake. ‘He may not have your sharp mind and finely honed oratory skills but he does have an instinct for action and a single minded determination to get the job done.’
‘Action, yes. But thought, no. A good leader needs both,’ said the Mayor. He looked over to Assam who was shaking but still standing. Assam thought of protesting but decided it would be safer to remain silent.
The Serendipity’s shiny new deck hissed like sandpaper beneath the big snake as he swung about to face the Mayor. ‘Surely even you act without thought sometimes, sir. And who could blame you? Our instincts run deed and our natural hungers exert a greater force on our choices than we are usually prepared to admit.’
A change came over the Mayor. He stared at Iscariot like a fish at the end of a fishing line.
Iscariot looked meaningfully at the Mayor. ‘But at the end of the day, one is redeemed by the good one does, is one not? It’s all about balance. The end can be made to justify the means and, in time, the details of any nastiness are simply forgotten. Captain Boar may have “a penchant for acting without too much thought” as you once said, but now that the Serendipity is within a hair’s breadth of seaworthiness, more action and less thought is exactly what we need. Nothing should stand in the way of the Ghost Fleet leaving as soon as possible and Captain Boar—or should it be, Admiral Boar?—is clearly the better choice to lead the Ghost Fleet to certain victory.’
The Mayor looked past the snake to the boar who sat on his haunches looking confused. Then he looked critically at Assam who withered under his gaze. The great lion sighed. ‘Very well, let the boar rise and the tortoise fall.’ His head hung low and he looked suddenly older. ‘Please step forward Admiral Boar.’
The boar stood stock still, his beady black eyes darting back and forth between lion and snake as if he didn’t understand or couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
‘Well, Admiral Boar?’ said the lion impatiently.
‘Thanks your lionship… and snakeship,’ the black boar said as if coming out of a trance. He hesitantly approached the Mayor but stopped short. ‘I will get the sailing ship sailing forthwith and now. Don’t you worry. We’ll catch those pirates and teach them.’
The great lion turned back and looked at Assam with big, sad eyes. ‘Thank you for your work on the Serendipity, Mr Tortoise. I can see that the task was difficult and the work is of a good standard but this is all about timing. I would like you to take command of the Happy Trader, effective immediately.’ He turned to the boar. ‘Admiral Boar. You have the Serendipity.’ He became serious. ‘Just get out there as soon as possible, Admiral. And be on your guard, pirates can be tricky.’
Once the Mayor had disembarked, the snake had a quiet word to the boar before following. The boar nodded and grinned as if there was an understanding between them.
The work crews whispered together in small groups as they watched the lion and snake pass between the barrels and bags of supplies still to be loaded then enter onto the path leading back to town, the enormous snake easily keeping pace. Two armoured rhinos who had been standing sentinel at the edge of the clearing jogged behind them.
When he thought no one was watching, Assam quietly slipped in to the shadowy space between two empty packing crates and withdrew into the safety of his shell.
‘Assam Tortoise! Come out here forthwith and now or I’ll split you open like a clam!’ bellowed the black boar, short tusks flashing.
Assam didn’t move he just blinked with terrified eyes, heart pounding so hard he feared it would leap from his chest. The boar seemed to have grown larger now that he was an Admiral. His snout, grizzly scar and scimitar tusks filled Assam with the horror of impending doom. The whole world had contracted down to this tiny moment.
Nearby was a smouldering ship’s forge; an iron basket on a pedestal filled with red hot coals. Using a forge and a pair of bellows, a skilled ironmonger could make iron malleable enough to be shaped. The boar pulled free a white hot poker. ‘Out now or else, coward!’ he shouted, loud enough for all to hear.
Horror crossed Assam’s face like a chill wind as he realised what the boar had in mind.
The boar heaved aside one of the packing crates and inserted the white hot poker between Assam’s shell and his stumpy tail. It hissed and smoked and Assam smelt burning skin before he felt the blinding pain. He screamed, leapt into the air and ran shrieking down the deck, narrowly avoiding a hippopotamus carrying open paint tins, a dripping paint brush clamped in its mouth. The hippopotamus tottered and teetered as it tried to regain its balance, paint spilling. It knocked over a ladder causing a gibbon to leap free into the rigging. Assam ricocheted off a net full of bananas waiting to be lowered into the hold and cannonballed back the way he had come, animals leaping aside. He didn’t slow when he collided with a troop of lemurs with black and white striped tails heaving aloft a canvas sail. The lemurs were unable to hold onto their load, which careened violently back to
the deck. A camel leapt clear just in time but only to crash into the hippopotamus with the paint tins, white paint sloshing in all directions. One of the tins was dropped and hit the deck bottom-first causing a fountain explosion that rained down on the camel and hippopotamus. Seeing them coated head to hoof in paint proved too much for the lemurs who, judging by their riotous laughter, thought it the funniest thing they had ever seen. They rolled around on the deck clutching their hairy, black bellies and slapping and hugging one another with long, hairy arms.
‘Laughter will not be tolerating!’ screamed the boar. ‘Get back to work and get that thing up where it’s supposed to go, forthwith… or else!’ He brandished the hot poker at the lemurs who fell instantly silent.
Assam had come to rest on the other side of the deck from where he began, burned bottom throbbing painfully. He had curled tenderly into his shell and was hoping he wouldn’t be noticed.
The boar glared and Assam then stepped onto the central cargo hatch and addressed the volunteers in a loud voice. ‘Attention you lazy lot! We leave in two hours. If we are late this poker will be repeated on each of your backsides. Lateness will not be tollerating. Do I make myself understood enough?’
At first there was only silence and blank faces, then Cecil Sloth stepped forward, baby daughter on his back and a hammer held lightly in his claws. ‘Excuse me sir, but there’s no way we can be ready in two hours.’
‘Did Mayor Lion make you in charge? Are you defying me, sloth?’ the boar said with a snarl.
‘No, I’m just saying…’
‘Would you like to feel this thing like the tortoise?’ said the boar, waving the hot poker at Cecil. ‘Or maybe your furry daughter?’ There was an evil gleam in the boar’s beady eyes.
‘Owy,’ said Elsie, her eyes wide like dinner plates.
‘No, sir. But…’ said Cecil, backing away.
‘Enough!’ screamed the boar. ‘I am in charge now and you will do what I say, or else. The Mayor made me the boss, not you!’ He scowled at Cecil. ‘Now go and hit things with that thing or whatever you do.’ He gestured at the hammer. ‘And you lot,’ he yelled, glaring at the lemurs still sitting on the deck near the fallen sail. ‘Put that up there like you were going to and no more laughing. Fun will not be tolerating!’ He turned to the camel and hippopotamus still dripping with white paint. ‘Clean up that up or I’ll make you drink it. The boar looked ashore. ‘And you there! Yes you, elephant. Come over here. When you’ve finished that, you can smash the wall and let the water in so we can float. Then you will go down to the quay and bring up the Happy Trader.’
‘You want me to pull the Happy Trader up the Rio Grande?’ the elephant answered. It was Reginald Elephant and he sounded confused, as if he hadn’t heard the boar correctly.
‘We will all leave together. I wish to say some words and sentences before, so the ships will need to be here.’
‘Up the Rio Grande, and up Thompsons Creek?’ Reginald asked, dumfounded.
‘Yes. Are you stupid? Shall I use littler words?’
‘No, I understand. It’s just that…’
‘Enough talk! Did the Mayor make you the boss? No. Then get to work… or else.’
‘What does Assam Tortoise have to say about this?’ Reginald asked.
‘What’s he got to do with anything?’
‘Well, isn’t he in charge?’
‘Not any more. I’m in charge now. I’m the Admiral and he’s just a captain. He does what I say.’
‘By whose authority?’
Cecil Sloth crossed over to the railing and looked down. ‘He’s right, Mr Elephant. The Mayor and Iscariot Snake were just here. He’s made him Admiral of the Ghost Fleet, and Assam the captain of the Happy Trader. They’ve been swapped around.’
Reginald was silent.
‘And you can take Assam Tortoise with you to his ship,’ said the boar. ‘He will drive the Happy Trader up the river while you pull it.’
‘I see. Of course I am happy to help but may I make a couple of suggestions?’
‘Yes, what?’ said the boar with an impatient grunt.
‘The Serendipity’s upriver, Sergeant… I mean Captain… I mean Admiral. That means we’ll have to pull the Happy Trader against the current. She’s a big ship and the tide is going out,’ said Reginald.
‘I know it’s a big ship. I’ve just spent the whole night loading it with supplies. Do I look stupid?’
‘No, not stupid. Let me explain. Because the tide’s going out, the Rio Grande will flow faster, making the current even stronger than usual. In addition, the rain has made the path by the riverbank treacherously muddy. It will be slow and difficult all the way here only to have her turn around and sail back. Don’t you see?’
‘Scared of a little hard work, elephant?’ asked the black boar with a superior tone.
‘No, not at all. Nothing gives me more pleasure than hard work. I am merely mentioning these difficulties to show you that I understand what will already be obvious to you: that it would be better to take the Serendipity downriver, through the Heads and into Lunar Bay. There, in the shelter of the bay, both crews could hear your speech before departing. Or better still, why not write out your speech and have Assam read it to the Happy Trader’s crew and then meet in the Gulf. It will save hours and be less risky.’
To Assam, it looked like the boar was wavering; that the elephant’s arguments were persuading him to change his mind. Then the boar stiffened with resolve. ‘Thank you for your thinking but I know important things I can’t say; things of a conventional nature, that is. So go and do what I said, forthwith and now!’ He grunted and stamped a trotter and turned away to show he wasn’t open to further discussion.
From the raised cargo hatch the boar glared at each worker through narrow eyes until everyone suddenly became busy doing whatever it was they were doing. ‘You there!’ he called to the lemurs. ‘Take the tortoise down to the elephant. And you there,’ he called to someone else. Assam couldn’t see who. ‘You do things to wood, don’t you?’
Cecil Sloth sounded startled. ‘Are you speaking to me, ah… Admiral?’
‘Answer my question, sloth!’ demanded the boar. He dropped from the cargo hatch and confronted Cecil who took a step back, Elsie dipping behind. ‘Well do you or not? Or are you just a stupid?’
‘Yes, I am a carpenter,’ said the sloth, hesitating. He stepped aside to make way for Assam who was being carried ashore by the troop of lemurs.
‘Good. You will carve the thing that goes on the front of the boat. Before we leave.’
‘The masthead? But there are more important things I have to do. Can’t that wait until we’re underway? I still have to…’
‘Are you the boss? Did the Mayor make you the boss? No! I will tell you what’s important and what’s not,’ said the boar, scowling. ‘Don’t think, just do what I said. Is that clear enough for you?’ He brandished the poker, which didn’t look hot any more.
‘Meany,’ said Elsie Sloth.
‘That’s a rude word, Elsie,’ said Cecil over his shoulder. He turned back to the boar. ‘Yes, sir… Would you like me to carve an eagle or jumping dolphins? What would you like the masthead to be? Did you notice the mermaid and turtle on the Happy Trader? That was one of mine.’
Admiral Boar assumed a fearsome stance and lifted his head proudly. Scattered rays of golden sunshine fell warmly upon him in the still air. ‘Me, of course,’ he said. Behind him, the lemurs carried Assam down the gangplank and off the Serendipity.
A Girl called Admiral Fairweather Page 5