by Allan Joyal
The man looked her over. "You must have boarded recently."
Panalope nodded. "Two days ago, same time Kaven did." She put a hand on my arm and leaned back against me.
I nodded to the old man. "I know the shipbuilder who designed and built Gypsy. He and I talked about how we could use this ship. I was always going to crew the ship once it was launched."
"What does that matter?" the man said. "What about her?"
"We need crew," I said. "Master Marrisey said that the ship would most likely take ten men. If you include Panalope we have seven."
"That seems a bit low," the old man said.
Culax stepped up to rescue me. "We've found that we can manage the ship with four men on the sails. In high seas it would be better to have eight, but so far we have had success."
"Why not get more sailors?" the man asked.
"We are going to risk our lives," I said. "We are going to sail west from here tomorrow morning."
"West?" Someone shouted. "But there is nothing to the west."
"I visited the old library at Bishop’s Point," I began.
"They just keep tax records there. How would that make a difference," someone asked.
"Did you ever wonder why all our tax records went to an old library on one of the smaller islands? It isn't even the main one. Everyone agrees that Isla Magestica is the capital or as close as we come to having one," I said.
"What does it matter? Its just where they all store the tax records," the old man said.
"The tax records that were ordered by the Empire is what they store. Back before the Empire abandoned the islands, they set up the library at Bishop’s Point to store all the tax records and official documents for all the islands. The Empire is long gone, but the tradition of sending Bishop Point records of the tax collections has been preserved. My family farm is failing so I had free time and wandered the island I was born on. One day I visited Bishop’s Point and talked to the scholars there. They told me that they have more than just tax records. They have many original documents that were written back when the Empire first came to the islands," I said.
The old man stepped back. He had a surprised look on his face. "You mean that anyone visiting there can find the original survey records for each island?"
"I couldn't say," I admitted. "I never asked for anything like that. I just wanted to find records of how the Empire was able to sail to the islands. There were old blueprints for ships and there were descriptions of a great trade circle. Ships would sail northward along the east coast of the Empire until they reached a place they called Leviathan's Bank. From there they would turn eastward and ride the winds and currents across the ocean. The ships would arrive in the islands just south of the Lava Lands. From there they would travel the islands, generally moving southward until they came to this island, Isla Oerste. From this island they would sail westward and return to the Empire."
"You want to try to find the Empire?" the old man said.
"Or the remnants," I said while nodding my head. "Or just find resources. We desperately need more lumber in the islands."
The old man looked a bit surprised. "That is very wise. But can you make it? That ship is smaller than any galley currently in use."
"The thing has no oars," another man from the islands shouted. "They are using magic."
"Magic," Culax said with a snort. "Even some galleys use sails. This ship has a better sail system. We can sail against the wind and still move forward."
"No ship can sail into the wind," a man said. "Anyone knows that."
"Against is not the same as into," Culax said. "You can't go directly into the wind, but you can sail at an angle. It's not as fast as sailing with the wind, but you do make progress. We used that to get here."
Several villagers stepped back. The old man just stared at all of us. "You are fools for sailing such a ship, but it does not sound like there is any evil involved. Merely foolhardy men and women risking their lives once again. I'm guessing you plan to spend the night. Go and enjoy the hospitality of the tavern. We shall bother you no more."
"But Elder, what about the fact that they have a woman with them?" the man who had grabbed Panalope asked.
"She must be even more foolhardy than the others. If she wants to die, we should not stop her. Leave her alone," the old man said firmly. "Now let them go to the tavern."
The crowd at the shore parted, allowing Hadlor, Lucis, Culax, Panalope and me to head to the tavern. A few young men followed. They said nothing as we walked the short distance to the tavern.
Panalope let go of my hand and then ran ahead to claim a seat at the table Jessop had already claimed. The old man looked up and then glanced over his shoulder at the rest of us.
"Come and grab a stone," he said. "The tavernkeep is probably trying to figure out if he needs to add to the stew."
"Why would that matter?" Panalope asked.
I shook my head. "Panalope, you have a rich father, so you never had to deal with shortages. Meat is hard to come by for the poor people on our island. From what we heard walking up, the people here are suffering through a shortage of meat."
"That happens? I thought people could fish," Panalope said.
"You can, but the schools of fish move around. Right now the best fishing is in the north. There isn't much good fishing in this area of the islands except during the cold season," Hadlor said.
"So?" Panalope asked. "We only ate fish right after a boat came in. My father preferred goat. Why can’t they eat that?"
"Do you hear any goats?" I asked.
Panalope looked around. I could see a perplexed look cross her face as she looked up and down the shore.
"Where are the village goats?" she asked. "This island appeared to be larger than our home island and I don't see one goat."
Jessop set down the carving he was working on. "I can say that you should not ask that question. The villagers will feel insulted that you pointed out they were short of something. Unless you have something to trade."
"Which we don't," I said with a nod. "On that note, can someone explain why the villagers got all upset that Panalope was with us?"
"You mean why they didn't expect to find a woman on a ship?" Lucis asked.
"Is that what the problem was?" Panalope said. "I knew that few women worked on the galleys, but I never heard that women weren't allowed. My father always talked about how the merchants would send their daughters to other islands when they got married."
"They are sent as passengers on large galleys," Lucis said. "And I can't think of a woman who has worked on a galley in the last ten years."
"I can think of one," Hadlor said. He turned to look at Lucis. "I ran into her six years ago on the Lava Lands run. Never knew her name though, just that she captained one of the galleys that stayed in the North Seas."
"I've heard of her," Culax interjected. "Doesn't she look like a man?"
"She's got the shoulders to have been an oarsman, I'll admit that," Hadlor replied. "But she was definitely a woman."
Lucis shrugged. "Fine, they have existed. It's still very uncommon."
Panalope frowned at Lucis. I wanted to say something reassuring, but was still thinking when a young man ran up to the table. "Do you want six bowls of stew?" he asked.
Jessop looked up at the boy. "Why not just bring a cauldron to the table? That would save you time. And bowls if you have any."
"We don't have any bread," the boy said. "The grain was blighted and we can barely feed ourselves. At best I can supply some clay bowls that we made."
Jessop tossed three bent coins on the table. The boy looked at them. He carefully picked one up and examined it. "Do you have anything you can trade?" the boy asked. "We're starving."
"I wish we did," Jessop said. "But we only took on enough stores for our trip. The ship we're on doesn't have the space to carry much cargo."
The boy looked out at the harbor. "It is small," he said reluctantly. "Even a crust would be nice."
; "Sorry," Jessop said one last time.
The boy turned and headed for the hillside outside the covered area. "I hate this part of sailing," Lucis muttered.
"What part?" I asked.
Lucis nodded towards the boy. "The boy isn't lying. The people here are clearly short on food and suffering. I've seen it on many islands. You are right that this trip is needed."
"Why?" Culax asked. "I mean we've been here since the Empire abandoned us. Why would we need to sail to find it?"
"We need trade," I said. "There are things we can produce in the islands, but the farms here aren't holding up. We should trade what we can produce for the things we need that we can't produce."
Panalope was nodding. She put a hand on Culax's shoulder. The man flinched, but then turned to look at her.
"That fits," Panalope said to him. "My father used to comment about how some contracts he kept were becoming harder and harder to keep profitable. He'd talk about how the suppliers were complaining about an inability to produce what he needed."
Culax looked over at me. "She might be smarter than you," he said.
I laughed and nodded. Lucis and Hadlor immediately joined in. Panalope just looked down at the table. I wanted to reply, but the boy came back carrying a stack of stone bowls. "These are all we have," he said apologetically as he set them on the table. "The stew is almost ready."
Jessop nodded and put his carving away. He reached for the top bowl. The instant he picked it up I could see that the bowl was misshaped.
Jessop held the bowl up and examined it more closely. "I haven't seen a bowl this bad in near twenty years," he said in a grumble. "That was back when I still rowed the galleys in the Eastern Lava Lands. A couple of the islands there had to resort to using clay bowls."
"Will it work?" I asked.
"For a short time," Jessop said. "The bowls won't last very long. But the bigger concern is the lack of bread. You only see bowls like these on islands where the grain harvest failed."
Jessop's statement brought a pall to any conversation at the table. Lucis and Hadlor were looking down at the table. Culax seemed to have found a piece of wood interesting. He was intently scraping it with a knife. Panalope was looking back out towards Gypsy.
I turned around and started looking along the shoreline. The crowd that had met us when we first walked off the pier had vanished. A couple of men were working on the wall of a cottage. The simple building was smaller than the farm cottage I had grown up in and in a state of disrepair.
As the men worked a woman stepped out of the cottage door. Her dress was torn in several places and I could see her ribs through one long gash in the side. She had to reach out and put her arm against the wall to remain standing.
The woman appeared to be having an intense conversation with the two men. I was sitting too far away to hear what was being said, but it was clear that the woman disagreed with the men about something.
There was a loud thunk as something was placed on the table. I turned around to see that the boy had returned with a small cauldron. He had lifted it onto the table and was now trying to push it to the middle.
"That's good enough," I said as I stood up. "We'll serve ourselves."
"But," the boy said in protest as I picked up the ladle he had set on the table and started stirring the stew.
"Don't worry," Panalope said. "We're simple folk who don't mind serving ourselves. Get some rest."
The boy stood and stared as Panalope passed a bowl to me. I ladled out a portion of the stew. The stew was watery and had only a few vegetables. Panalope sniffed the steam coming off it as she accepted the bowl back from me.
Hadlor held out his bowl. I accepted it as the boy retreated. "It doesn't look very hearty," Hadlor said as he watched me fill the bowl.
"It's warm and the spices used give it a nice flavor," Panalope said. "But I agree, it’s a thin stew."
Hadlor just grunted as Lucis held out his bowl. I concentrated on filling bowls and returning them until Panalope held out a bowl. "This is yours," she told me as I took it.
I nodded. The cauldron was low, but I managed to scrape out enough stew to fill the bowl. I then returned to the stone chair I had been sitting on.
Panalope immediately started to giggle. "Did you forget something?" she asked.
I looked over to see that she was holding a metal spoon. "Isn't that yours?" I asked.
"I purchased two sets, remember. This one is yours, but you never put it in your pouch. Why don't you start eating?" she said.
I took the spoon and started to eat as the rest of the crew laughed. The stew was tasty, but it seemed to be mostly broth. The few chunks of food I found were tubers. They added some substance and helped hold in some warmth, but the stew was not very filling.
Culax noticed my frown as I finished off the small serving. "We'll have to break out some smoked fish once we are back on Gypsy."
"I'm ready to go back now," I said. "I don't see that there is much to look at here."
Culax snorted. "I'm going to see if there are any free ladies. But you can return to the ship."
Jessop stood up. The old man shook his head as he walked behind Culax. "Ushcail probably wants someone on the ship keeping watch. And remember that we are leaving at dawn, so don't be late."
"I'd never miss it," Culax said. The young crewman had a smirk on his face. "Besides, you all know we need a break before we head out."
"I don't," I said as I carefully stacked my bowl with Jessop's. "But if Ushcail does want someone to stand guard, I'm willing to take the duty. See you back on Gypsy."
I started to walk from the tavern. Behind me Hadlor and Lucis talked about the town and if they wanted to stay and drink. We had not been offered anything by the boy serving us, and they seemed surprised that no ale was available.
When I stepped out from under the thatched roof of the tavern area, Panalope ran up and grabbed my right arm. "My ankle feels better, but I don’t really need to explore the island. I'll go back to Gypsy with you."
Chapter 14: Leaving the Known World
We made the walk down the pier in silence. Panalope seemed to want to speak, but remained quiet. I was looking back at the few battered stone buildings in the harbor.
Gypsy was a few steps away when Ushcail called out. "That you Kaven?"
"Yes," I called back. "Panalope and I didn't want to stick around."
"Jessop bet me that you'd take a watch," Ushcail said. "Are you willing to watch until I return?"
"I'm willing and able to do that," I said. "I should warn you that there does not appear to be much in the way of meat on the island. Our stew was more of a tuber soup. If I didn't know better, I'd say the farms on this island failed a couple of years ago."
"Probably," Ushcail said. "And they are at the end of only one trade route. The island produces little that the larger islands desire."
"Can we do anything for them?" Panalope asked.
Ushcail sighed. "Jessop already went below to see if we have any stores to spare. But if it does take nine days to reach the lands of the Empire, we are already short of supplies."
"We are?" Panalope asked. I felt her hands tighten their grip on my arm. "I thought this trip was well supplied."
"It is," Ushcail said. "We have enough food to make it across the ocean to wherever the Empire was, but not enough to find a way back if we have to go against the current."
Panalope reached out to grab my left shoulder. She spun me around and then leaned forward so her nose was nearly touching mine. "If we don't find food after reaching this mythical Empire you never stopped talking about. I'll find a way to cook you."
"Panalope," I said as I took a step back. "Please don't overreact. We haven't even left the islands yet."
"And yet, we're hungry already," she said with a snarl. "How about you stand on the deck and watch the pier. I'll go help Jessop."
My young friend jumped onto Gypsy and immediately began walking to the open hatch leading to the cargo area. Us
hcail put a hand on my shoulder when I took a step towards the ship.
"As an older and more experienced man, let me advise that you stay on deck and just watch for a while."
"But," I started to protest.
"She's not going to harm you," Ushcail said. "But remember that she joined the crew to be with you, so she's angry. Allow her time to calm down."
I nodded as I turned away from Ushcail. Panalope's anger had hurt me. With a heavy heart I jumped onto Gypsy and then climbed the steps to the stern. I found a spot along the railing and stood watching the pier.
Ushcail looked at me for a moment and then set off down the pier. The afternoon was ending and the mast of the ship cast a long shadow as I watched the captain head towards the tiny town. I could hear some activity in the cargo hold below, but concentrated on watching the pier and looking for the rest of the crew.
I had no real way to measure the passage of time, but the sun had vanished below the horizon before Ushcail returned. Hadlor was with him. The young crewman was asking questions. I heard the name Nereid mentioned, but as soon as Hadlor noticed me he stopped talking.
Ushcail walked up to me once he had jumped onto the ship. "Hadlor can take a watch," he said. "Did Jessop and Panalope not offer to relieve you?"
"Jessop is sleeping near the mast. He's on the starboard side of the ship where he said no one would step on him. Panalope is at the bow," I said.
"Well, get some rest," Ushcail said. "I'll be waking everyone before dawn. We need to be on our way."
I looked over at the starboard side of the stern. Ushcail just laughed. "It is as good as anyplace for now," he said. "Get to sleep."
Ushcail gently pushed me away from the railing. I staggered just a few steps to the far side of the ship. The deck was hard, but I folded my hands under my head and allowed the gentle rocking of the ship lull me to sleep.
"Wake up you lubbers!" someone shouted. I opened my eyes. I was staring at a wood pole and for a moment wondered where I was.
"Captain," I heard a voice complain. "It's barely false dawn."
"And I want the ship moving at dawn," Ushcail's voice replied.