by Allan Joyal
“Jessop,” Ushcail called out. “How is the tiller?”
“The ship wants to turn to port, but I can hold our course,” he said.
“Captain?” I asked.
Ushcail finished coiling the rope and then turned around to face the bow of the ship. “I was checking to see if I could get a gauge on the strength of the current. There are a couple in the islands with close to the same power and speed.”
“Will the ship be able to escape?” I asked as we continued to sail almost directly away from the shoreline.
“We can definitely escape, but I wouldn’t want to try to sail against the current here,” Ushcail said. He set the now coiled rope down on the deck. “Can I get everyone to gather at the stern?”
I walked over immediately. Panalope gazed out over the water for a moment longer before turning to join me. The rest of the crew took their time heading to the stern, but finally joined us.
I decided to head to the starboard side and lean on the railing. Panalope looked around and joined me as Ushcail moved to stand opposite the tiller. He turned to look directly at Jessop.
“You needed us?” Hadlor asked.
"Its more that some things need to be talked about, and it looks like we have a moment where we can rest," Ushcail said.
“Does this have something to do with Kaven’s silly theory that the Seres will try to take the ship from us?” Culax asked arrogantly.
“Not silly,” Ushcail said. “Actually my only question right now is how many of them might try. This ship has already proved its value.”
“So we’ll return with some new goods and tales of a land far to the west of the Isles,” Culax said. “How will that make the ship valuable?”
“It can go where no galley would dare,” Ushcail said. “And just the fact that we found something will have the Seres looking for a way to be the only one to control Gypsy. After all, if they are the only ones able to sail and obtain more wood, they control the Isles.”
“Which is why I’m not sure I can return to stay,” I said. “But we saw those ruins. It will take time and effort, but we can use the walls as shelters while building our own homes.”
“Why?” Culax said.
“We can build a trading station there. We’d have a building to store goods for trade while Gypsy and any other ships we build are out. A few people would remain there, watching the goods and trading with Ron and his people. We’d also want a small fishing fleet. The rest could be on Gypsy and the other ships we build,” I said.
“Other ships?” Hadlor asked.
I smiled. “Of course. Look we’ve seen the great forests lining the shoreline. If we can bring Marrisey out, he’d be able to build a much larger version of Gypsy. We’d be able to carry more goods on each trip.”
“It would take more people to man it,” Culax complained.
“So?” I asked. “I’m sure that we can find people from the Isles who would welcome joining us. Also we’ll want to make a run to the west along the coast to the south. Ron and his people say that there are humans, but they are far to the west.”
“Why?” Lucis asked.
“Because those people might include some who could join us as well,” I said. “After all, right now we are six men and one woman on a boat. That isn’t enough to make a village successful.”
“Are you inviting your sister?” Panalope asked.
“Her and Garnge,” I said with a nod. “He knows baking and can probably make all the hard biscuits any sailor would want to crack his teeth on.”
The others laughed at that. “What about your sister?” Lucis asked once the laughter died down.
“She knows how to run a farm and a farm house. We’ll definitely want some farming near the village to help provide the grains we’ll need. We’ll have to see about clearing the land,” I said.
“Next you’ll say you want us to do that,” Culax complained.
“Not that, but we do need to turn,” Ushcail said. “Everyone get to the sails and prepare to come about to starboard. Jessop, I want us to be running parallel to the coast if you can manage it.”
“What about the current?” I asked as I jumped to my feet.
“Haven’t you been watching?” Jessop asked. “We appear to be leaving the worst of it.”
I rushed to the sails. The wind was out of the north west, so everyone lined the port side ready to untie lines and then duck under the sails to rush to the starboard side and reset the sails.
“Everyone, this should be our last turn for a while, so let’s make it a good one. Jessop, easy on the tiller, we can be gentle on this turn. Main sail first boys, start to turn,” Ushcail shouted from just to my left.
I sprang into action releasing the boom and pulling it to the port side of the ship. The ship tilted for a moment as the sail luffed in as the stern turned directly towards the breeze. Panalope came and stood on the other side of the boom. She put her hands on it and pushed hard as I continued to try to get it to move. It gave and shifted a couple of hand’s-spans.
The sail caught the breeze and the ship started turning faster. “Get the foresail,” Ushcail shouted as I grabbed the lines for holding the boom in place and raced to find a free cleat.
The boom fought me a bit, trying to continue to move to port as I secured the lines to the starboard railing. I could hear grunts from my fellow sailors as they fought the foresail.
“That’s good, let’s gather at the stern again,” Ushcail shouted as I finished tying the final knot. I checked the lines to make sure that everything was taut and then made my way back to the stern, ducking under the boom as I moved to the port side of the ship.
“Now what?” Culax complained.
“We’ll break out some food and drink in a moment,” Ushcail said. “Meanwhile, I want everyone’s thoughts about turning that harbor and ruin into a village.”
“I love the idea,” Panalope said happily as she wrapped her arms around me.
“You would,” Culax said grumpily. “Your master came up with it.”
“He’s not my master,” Panalope said. “And I like the idea because I can see the wisdom. My father is a powerful merchant in the Isles and he talks about the need to have secure ports where he can store goods. With that nice harbor, that place is perfect.”
“A perfect ruin,” Hadlor said sadly. “There will be a lot of work to do.”
“True,” I said. “But we might be able to get some help from Ron and his people. We should ask when we meet with them in three days.”
“How can they help?” Culax asked.
Ushcail put a hand on the man’s right shoulder. “Culax, if you think I’m not aware of the payments you accepted, you are wrong. Marrisey is aware as well and will happily give you a set of blueprints for a ship identical to Gypsy.”
“What?” I asked.
“Culax has been paid by Sere Uthrain to help the man obtain a new ship,” Ushcail said calmly.
“What? How dare you accuse me!” Culax shouted while getting to his feet. He was still rising when a boat hook caught him in the shoulders and dragged him back down to the deck.
“Its not an accusation if its true,” Jessop said quietly. “Do you really think we didn’t know that you worked for the Sere?”
“I don’t work for any Sere!” Culax shouted in protest.
Ushcail sighed. “Culax, I don’t know why you are trying to deny it. I’ve already made it clear that I’ve known for a while. You are safe for now. You are a good sailor, and as long as you work the sails I won’t have you thrown overboard. However, when we do return to the Isles, it might be wise to leave the ship and never return.”
Culax looked upset. “I can’t do that.”
“Sure you can,” I said. “I’m sure we’ll even stop on an island where you will be able to find a galley captain willing to take you to your home island.”
“Easily,” Ushcail said. “Culax’s master controls Isla Ixmia. Just about every galley returning from the Lava Lands stops there.”
“So your mother is from there?” Lucis asked.
“My mother died when I was two along with the brother I should have had. My father won’t talk about it, but I’ve been told something went wrong with the birth,” Panalope said sadly. “No, this is his second wife.”
I could see the momentary pain cross Lucis’ face as he thought about what Panalope said. I put an arm around the young lady and looked over at Ushcail.
“So Captain, what should we be doing for now?” I asked.
“How confident are you that we can turn the ruin into a functioning village?” Ushcail asked.
“We’ll be disturbing ghosts,” Hadlor mutted.
Jessop started coughing. Everyone turned to look at him and found him smirking. “If you want Nereid to remain interested in you, you’ll never talk about ghosts near her. The merfolk have clear opinions on the belief some people have in ghosts and spirits.”
“Why?” Hadlor asked.
“Something to do with magic,” Ushcail said. “I guess ghosts and spirits can exist, but they disturb magic fields and are easy to notice. Also very few people leave ghosts behind when they die.”
“I didn’t notice anything the last time we were there,” I said. “The ruin felt empty. If there is any kind of vengeful spirit there, it was not bothered by our visit.”
“Yes, but that was a visit. You are talking about fixing up houses,” Hadlor said.
“Actually other than maybe a warehouse and a tavern, I think we should look into tearing down the ruins and rebuilding completely. At least in the long term,” I said. “But the first thing we need to find is if there is a fresh water source there.”
“Well, it looks like it will be about two days before we get there,” Ushcail said as he turned to look toward the shore. “The current is definitely slowing us down as we sail southward.”
“I’m beginning to wonder if the circle route wasn’t used because it is faster for a larger ship,” Jessop said. “Gypsy here cuts through the water very well, but a bigger ship might struggle against the current.”
“But the current runs the length of the coast,” I pointed out. “Or at least it appears to. Any ship trying to sail along the coast to the lands where humans still live will fight this current.”
“Maybe,” Ushcail said. “We’d have to sail it to find out, and that is not something we have time for.”
“What do we do with the traitor?” Lucis asked suddenly.
I turned and found that Lucis and Hadlor had moved to grab Culax’s arms.
“We’ll drop him off once we reach the Lava Lands. I know of a couple of places the galleys still stop regularly. We can even leave him with something so he can pay for transport back to his owner,” Ushcail said.
“I’m a free man!” Culax shouted.
“Free men don’t lie about their allegiance,” Jessop said firmly. “Free men don’t plan on betraying their fellows.”
“I wasn’t going to betray you!” Culax shouted. “Sure I promised the Sere he could have Gypsy. But I was sure this trip would fail and you’d need to sell it. How was I supposed to know that the idiot over there was going to help us find all of this?”
“It was the goal,” I said quietly. “And our legends made it clear that human life did not start in the Isles.”
“It sure seemed like it was going to end there,” Culax said. “And had I not accepted the Sere’s demands, my wife and daughters would already be dead.”
“I hate blackmail,” Ushcail said bitterly. “But that doesn’t change the fact that we aren’t going to be able to trust you once we return.”
“Can we do something for him?” Panalope asked.
“We need Gypsy in order to return here,” I said. “And I don’t have any drawings of how Marrisey made this ship. Right now we can’t give him anything that would matter.”
“What about wood or a promise he could have Gypsy once we build a better ship?” Panalope asked. “After all, there is plenty of wood available.”
“I can’t promise that,” I said. I turned to look at Ushcail who smiled.
“We might have time for two full circuits of the route you’ve discovered before the storm season arrives and we have to keep the ship in the harbor for safety,” he said. “If Marrisey can produce a new ship quickly, perhaps the Sere can get his ship sometime next year.”
“Marrisey won’t have many helpers,” I said worriedly.
"Maybe Sere Uthrain will be willing to wait a couple of years," Ushcail said. "After all right now he has nothing."
"He'll probably insist on having his people on Gypsy," I muttered.
"Of course he will," Ushcail said calmly. "And I'll allow one to work with us each trip. They can even visit the shipyard you plan on setting up here so that they can see how close we are to having a ship built to replace Gypsy."
"Won't they want the new ship?" Panalope asked worriedly.
"Of course they will," Jessop said. "But how would they get it."
"Won't they be trying to capture us? That's what the High Guard attempted," I pointed out.
"It's hard to stop a ship on the ocean. You can try to trap a ship in a harbor, but we won't be landing often, and we won't spend a night in any port," Ushcail said. "In fact I'll probably have you drop me off and then sail back out of the harbor."
"But you could be captured," I said.
"Jessop knows the route and we've proved that this ship can be sailed with just a couple of people," Ushcail said. "I wouldn't like being captured, but it has happened before."
"And he has his own way of escaping from a harbor," Jessop said with a laugh.
"Like he'd be allowed near the water," Culax said with an angry snort. "Sere Uthrain might not believe all the rumors, but he knows that many sailors respect Captain Ushcail."
"Not enough that he didn't believe he could get you to betray him," I said calmly.
"I had no choice," Culax muttered.
"Neither do we in what we are going to do," I said firmly. "Captain, how long until we reach the harbor we found this morning?"
"Probably two days," Ushcail said. "The current here is powerful and even with the steady breeze we are moving much slower than we were when we sailed north and had the current pushing us."
Panalope started pulling on my arm. "Kaven, we won't solve the problem tonight. How about we go forward and sleep. Perhaps you'll come up with a solution later."
I nodded as Panalope and I stood up. The others smiled knowingly as she led me down the steps to the middle of the ship and then pulled me forward to the bow looking for a place to lie down and rest.
Chapter 24: Can This Be Home?
Two dawns later we finally spotted the expanse of stone where we had first met Ron and the rest of his band. The area seemed peaceful as we slowly made our way southward.
"I thought you said it would be a day!" Culax shouted as we saw the stone. "It took two to get here."
"I said the current was powerful," Ushcail said with surprising calm. "And it's not like we are going to be dead if it did take a bit longer. This way we at least learned a bit more about why the ships sailed the route they did."
"You mean?" I started to ask.
"A larger ship might be even more affected by the current. It is possible they ran a circle route because it was faster than trying to sail southward," Ushcail said.
"How would that work? We sailed west and still found the current!" Culax snapped.
"They probably knew when to turn and head southwest," I said absently. "That would allow them to miss the current or most of it, but still return to the Empire. There are probably more ruins south of the harbor we are heading to."
"Probably," Jessop said. "I can imagine that with the right magic it would be easy to navigate the ocean and the harbors were probably used by the local farms as trading centers."
"Why not have one at the mouth
of the river?" Culax asked.
I pointed at the huge expanse of stone. "Perhaps that's why there is that block of stone. If wizards were fighting over the region, I could see one using a spell to destroy a village that wasn't supporting him."
"You mean?" Culax asked.
"I think that the expanse is all that remains of the city that rested at the mouth of the river," I said with a nod as I helped adjust the foresail.
"What about the harbor?' Panalope asked.
"Probably was a base for fishing," Jessop said. "The sheltered harbor would protect fishing ships from storms. As I remember it was the first place that had a good harbor north of that strange forest."
"That makes sense," Panalope said as we sailed on past the stone expanse. "So you think it’s a good harbor?"
"Nope," Jessop said.
I heard Panalope gasp in surprise. I looked back at Jessop and noticed that the old man had a huge smirk on his face. "I think it’s a near perfect harbor," he said.
Panalope screamed in anger and frustration. "Kaven!" she shouted.
Hadlor and Lucis were laughing. "Girl," Lucis said merrily. "He did get you good."
"He's not supposed to hint that I'm a stupid girl," Panalope said with a pout.
The young woman moved forward. She approached me as I fought with the foresail. "Aren't you going to say something?" she asked me.
"I'm happy to hear that it’s a great harbor?" I said tentatively.
“Kaven!” Panalope screamed out. “That wasn’t what I wanted.”
“It’s all you are going to get today,” I said. “At least while we are sailing. We can talk more once we reach the harbor.”
“That’s going to take forever,” Panalope said with a pout as the stone expanse finally vanished behind Gypsy.
“Not too much longer,” Ushcail said. “We can see the bluff from here.”
“Still won’t be quick,” Culax complained. “We’re barely moving.”
“Could we try tacking away from the coast for a while and then tacking back?” I asked. “We’d probably hold more speed if we weren’t going directly against the current.”
“We’d still lose way,” Ushcail said. “The current is pushing us northward while we try to sail south. The only way to avoid the problem would be to get out of the current.”