by Allan Joyal
Lucis pointed up and to the west. I looked up and could see that the roof of this building was still standing. “There is a cistern on the roof. It looks like it catches rainwater.”
“So you opened up a channel that allows water to reach the fountain?” I asked.
“I guess,” Lucis said. “But that isn’t what I wanted you to see. Follow me.”
He turned and walked to the south. I suddenly realized that the courtyard was only about half the length of the front of the building. We stepped through another still standing archway and found another roof-less chamber. The only difference was the rusting iron posts embedded in the ground. The posts were forked at several points and a couple of rusted bars sat across a couple of the forks.
“What?” Panalope asked.
“Racks for drying fish,” Lucis said. “This building is near all the small docks. It looks like the fishermen could bring their catch here. The courtyard probably was a small fish market, and this was where they dried and stored fish that did not sell.”
I looked around. “And it shouldn’t be too hard to fix up. What about the rest of the building?” I asked.
“The walls need some repair, and the roof has fallen in. The cistern stands because it’s on a solid platform at the back of the building,” Lucis said.
“Can we fix this up?” Panalope asked.
“We have two days before we need to sail back to meet with Ron and his friends,” I said. “We can look around. We still need to find if we have land we can farm. Fish is nice, but we need more than just fish to survive.”
“Tomorrow,” Ushcail said. “For today, let’s get rest. Tomorrow and the next day we can explore some more.
Chapter 26: A Friendly Visitor
Ushcail led us back to Gypsy. Everyone quickly found a place to lie down and sleep. Part of me wondered about how safe we were, but nothing happened that night. We spent the next day exploring the area around the town everyone was calling New Hope.
We soon found that the areas that had clearly once been farms had grown over with trees. Hadlor and Lucis were upset, but I could see a lot of promise if we cut the trees down, and for now the trees would provide a valuable trade good to take back to the Islands. We just needed some way of cutting down the trees.
The stones of the ruins were often too big for us to move. Panalope and I worked on creating a map showing areas we thought two or three people could make repairs as well as areas where we needed to find some way to lift and move the rubble in order to make buildings useable. So far the only even partially intact building was the tower we had visited on our initial exploration. However, it was clearly meant to guard the approach to the town from the north or west and not as a regular accommodation.
The tower up on the heights guarding the harbor proved to be unstable. No one tried to enter once we climbed the narrow and overgrown path to the area. Jessop suggested that we find some way to salvage the brazier and mirror we could see on the roof of the tower, but we did not have any way to reach it safely. It was another item to add to a growing list of improvements and repairs.
“How many people will we have?” Panalope asked two days after we had arrived in the town. We were starting to put away our gear in preparation to sail to the river.
“I’m not sure. Right now I know of at least seven people who will probably live here as soon as we can move them here. Lucis and Jessop could have wives who want to move as well,” I said.
“I haven’t found someone, but if you fix this place up, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of offers,” Lucis said. “Who are you counting on?”
“Pana and me,” I said. “Then my sister and Garnge from our home village. Finally I expect Marrisey and his two apprentices. I can’t remember if they have wives. I’m also thinking we should invite Syrina to bring a group of her people.”
“They don’t trust humans,” Ushcail said.
“Everyone here will know them,” I said. “And even if they later decide to set up a colony in the depths, I’m sure you want your wife near you.”
Ushcail smiled. “That will…. Who’s that?”
Ushcail was looking to the Northwest near the tower. I turned around to see the stocky brown haired woman who had brought the deer when we had last met with Ron. She waved and approached. I could see that she had a sling dangling from her right hand.
“What was her name?” Panalope asked. “She is part of Ron’s group isn’t she?”
“I thought we didn’t meet until tomorrow,” I said. “Her name is Lenoir, I think.”
The woman nodded. She pointed to the setting sun and then waved her hand until it pointed to the east, near where the sun would be in the early morning.
“I think she’s trying to tell us that Ron will be at the river early tomorrow,” I said. I pointed to Gypsy.
Lenoir just smiled as she approached. She walked past us and approached Gypsy. She seemed completely relaxed around us.
“That is one confident woman,” Ushcail said as Lenoir slipped the straps of her sling under her belt. She stopped only a few steps from Gypsy and knelt down while taking off her pack.
Once the pack was on the ground Lenoir reached inside and pulled something out. I caught something brown. She held it out to Jessop. The old sailor took it and held it up to examine it.
I started to walk towards him when Lenoir used her left hand to grab something from what she was holding in her hand. She held it up to her mouth and used her teeth to tear at it.
Whatever she had was clearly some kind of food. She started chewing as she held out the bundle to Hadlor and then Culax.
“I want to try some of that,” Panalope said. She ran ahead of me as Ushcail and I stood watching the interplay occurring on the dock.
“How can she just walk up like that?” I asked.
“She doesn’t appear worried about the men,” Ushcail said.
“Well, I have to admit the men have been very good around Panalope,” I said.
“They have, but Jessop or I would have thrown them overboard had they done anything. Panalope is very clearly yours,” Ushcail said.
“I think its more she’s decided that I am hers,” I said as Panalope finished a piece of whatever Lenoir was offering. There was an exchange of gestures and then Panalope took a few pieces and ran back towards Ushcail and me.
“I think she wants to try sailing with us,” Panalope said. “And you have to try this. I don’t know what it is, but its good.”
I took a piece of the strange brown colored substance. It was a piece of something stringy. The texture was rough. I put a piece in my mouth and tried to tear it with my teeth.
The food held up against my teeth for a moment and then parted. It was tough to chew, but a surprisingly strong flavor filled my mouth. It had a bit of a burn to it and I started wondering if I should run to the fountain in the courtyard to grab a quick drink.
“What is it?” I asked after swallowing a piece.
“Some kind of dried meat,” Ushcail said. “But not a type I recognize. Perhaps from the creature she killed a couple of days ago. There was a lot of meat there.”
“She seems happy to offer it to us,” Panalope said. “But I’m trying to figure out how she guessed we’d be here. Sadly, I can’t speak with her right now.”
Lenoir smiled. She picked up her pack and jumped onto the deck of Gypsy. Another pantomime started. It appeared she insisted on storing the pack on the ship.
“What do we do?” Panalope asked.
I looked at Ushcail. “We’re ready for tomorrow, correct?”
“We even can have some fresh fish if we start early,” Ushcail said. “I just wish we had a fishing net. This boat could set up a net rather quickly.”
“Would we be able to pull it in? And where would we put all the fish we caught?” I asked.
“You don’t challenge the captain with sensible complaints,” Jessop called out. “It will confuse him.”
Ushcail laughed. “It’s a good point. We’
d need a larger boat if we want to use nets to fish with. That might actually be a concern. Did we find anything that looked like a place to build a ship? One of the things we talked about was that possibility.”
“No,” I admitted. “But we can probably set something up on the north end of the harbor. We have space. We’ll just need help moving the stones.”
Lenoir looked over at us. We had walked to the end of the dock and were standing next to Gypsy as it bobbed in the harbor. She looked at the ruins and then held up her hands.
“I so wish we spoke the same language,” Panalope complained again.
“I know some…” Lenoir said slowly. She added something more, but I failed to recognize the words.
“What?” Panalope asked.
“I’ve noticed that she appears to recognize some of what we say,” Ushcail said.
“It’s nothing like the language Ron and his people use. And she speaks that,” Panalope complained.
“Not same,” Lenoir said.
The accent Lenoir spoke with made the words almost impossible to recognize. It seemed like she was talking extremely fast. However I looked over at Ushcail.
“I think she’s saying that the villagers we met use a different language entirely. But that the language of the Empire did survive at some level. Our version and the version Lenoir knows have drifted enough that she can barely understand us. And she probably only remembers a few words well enough to speak them,” Ushcail said.
“How?” Panalope asked.
“We hear it in the islands,” Jessop said. “The people living in the islands closest to the Lava Lands use short versions of many words. They are used to having to call alarms quickly, and the language has changed. There are islands in the east where few galleys visit. They have developed their own words for some of the foods we find elsewhere.”
“Like?” Panalope asked.
“The red gourd that is filled with seeds,” Ushcail said.
I paused and thought. “I’ve heard of one, but no one on the island grows them. What about it?” I asked.
“The most common name is a pomegranate,” Ushcail said. “But they are also called Dragon Bulbs, Blood Gourds and even Vermillion Apples. It depends on which island you visit.”
“Would those make a good trade good?” Panalope asked.
Ushcail looked surprised. “They do travel well. I never thought about trying to obtain a bunch. The natives of the islands with the largest groves never seem all that interested in trade.”
“I’m sure we can interest them in something,” I said.
Lenoir had been sitting on the steps to the raised stern of Gypsy. She seemed to be trying to follow the conversation. The young woman had a relaxed smile on her face.
I heard the grumbling of an empty stomach. Ushcail stepped back and then laughed.
“We’re out of anything fresh, so why don’t we pull out a barrel of salted fish and some of the cheese. We can have a relaxing feast before we rest. I’d love to launch early so we can try fishing in the current while heading to the river,” Ushcail said.
“What about her?” Culax asked. He was pointing at Lenoir who continued to sit on the stairway and just watch everyone.
“I do wish we could understand her better,” Ushcail said.
“I listen,” Lenoir said. She then leaned back against the stairway and closed her eyes.
I jumped onto the ship. Culax just glared at me as I walked over to the trapdoor that allowed access to the hold. I opened it up.
“A barrel of fish I can definitely find. Anything else?” I asked.
“Just that and a wheel of cheese,” Ushcail said. “We don’t really have time for much more before the sun goes down.”
“Two days spent searching the ruins,” Panalope said. “And we found no treasure. We really didn’t find much of anything.”
“Too bad we can’t ask Lenoir,” Culax said.
Lenoir opened her eyes and looked at Culax. She noticed me and winked just before I jumped into the hold to find a barrel of salted fish. I found myself wondering just why she had arrived a day early and joined us.
Chapter 27: Return to the Salt Flats
I woke up the next day when Panalope kicked me in the thigh. “Get up,” she said far too cheerfully.
I opened my eyes and rolled onto my back. Panalope was standing above me. I noticed that she had somehow washed out her clothing. Her long brown hair sparkled in the first light of dawn.
“It’s only dawn,” I said.
“Ushcail is waking up the others,” Panalope said. “I could send Culax to wake you.”
I sat up. “No thanks,” I said quickly.
As I started to rise Panalope handed me several more pieces of the dried meat that Lenoir has passed around yesterday. She added a pair of small loaves of bread. The bread was soft and tore easily when I bit into one.
I chewed my breakfast as Panalope ran over by the hold. She came back holding a mug filled with liquid. “Just water,” she told me.
“Which is fine,” I replied.
“Culax complained,” Panalope said nodding towards the bow where Culax was working to bring in the anchor.
“He’d complain if some Sere was handing him a small chest filled with coin,” I observed. “Where’s Lenoir?”
“She got up before the sun rose and headed into the ruins. Ushcail said we can’t wait for her,” Panalope said.
“Will she be safe?” I asked worriedly.
Jessop was standing at the tiller. He pointed towards the shore. “She might be tired, but that would be it,” he said as he pointed at something.
I turned to follow his gesture and could see Lenoir walking towards the ship. She was carrying several dead animals in her right hand. The woman waved with her right hand as she approached.
“We can’t cook anything,” I said worriedly.
“Prepare to push us free,” Ushcail called out. “Kaven, get a boat hook. You’ll need to push the bow away from the dock so we can start making headway.”
I rushed to the mast to pick up a boat hook. Hadlor smiled at me as I ducked under the boom and made my way towards the bow.
“After today we head back to the islands,” Hadlor said. “You’ve proved that this ship will work.”
“We need more wood so we can make more ships like this one,” I replied. “And we have no idea what we’ll get in trade from this trip. We need to find goods we can trade for the lumber we’ll need to make ships.”
“We’ll see,” Hadlor said as Lenoir leapt from the dock. She landed just forward of the mast. The woman bounced to her feet and headed towards the stairway she had sat on the night before.
“Kaven, start pushing!” Ushcail shouted. “You can stare at the pretty girl later.”
“He can do that with me only!” Panalope replied. “And the stern line is free.”
I used the boathook to push against the stone of the dock. The bow of Gypsy moved away from the dock. As I pushed I walked towards the stern, continuing to push the ship away from the dock.
“Helm to starboard,” Ushcail called out. “Let’s start moving with the wind.”
I looked up and realized that the bow of the ship was pointing to the northwest. The morning breeze was a gentle push from the west. The sails were filling as the ship began turning to face the harbor entrance.
“I’d hate to try to dock in this wind,” Lucis muttered. “And going up river will be nearly impossible. We’d be heading directly into both the wind and the current.”
“Let’s concentrate on getting out of the harbor,” Ushcail ordered. “Once we’re in the coastal current, we’ll break out the fishing gear and fish until we reach the river.”
The crew jumped to get the ship out of the harbor. I returned the boathook to its usual storage against the mast and joined in trimming the foresail as Gypsy glided out of the harbor. We turned to the north and then reduced sail.
Panalope and I met at the railing on the port side once Ushcail said
the sails needed no more adjustment. The rest of the crew pulled a number of long poles and string from the hold and began setting up to fish.
“Are you worried?” Panalope asked me.
“About?” I responded. I was trying to guess our speed. It looked like we were sailing along faster than a man might run, but it was hard to be sure in the dim morning light.
“The trades,” Panalope said. “If we don’t get enough, Ushcail might back out.”
“We need the food,” I replied. “And wood is so valuable back home that I really doubt that there is any trade that Ushcail would turn down.”
“But how can we have anything for Ron and his people?” Panalope asked.
“It sounds like they wouldn’t mind fish,” I said. “And if we do populate the harbor we can probably handle the salt harvest. If that saves time and manpower for Ron and his people, they might welcome that.”
“How do you think of these things?” Panalope asked.
“I’m surprised you haven’t,” I replied. “Your father was the merchant.”
Panalope looked surprised. She stared at me as Gypsy continued to sail northward.
Lenoir came over and leaned against the railing just to my left. She seemed to be watching for something.
“I so wish we could talk to her,” Panalope said.
“I listen,” Lenoir replied.
“Yes, but you don’t understand!” Panalope shouted.
“Kaven, make sure your friend doesn’t anger Lenoir!” Ushcail shouted.
Lenoir was still watching the shoreline pass. “I’m not sure anything will upset her,” I replied. “She’s just gazing at the shoreline.”
“What was the shouting then?” Ushcail asked. The man ducked under the boom and made his way to the port side of the ship. “I thought nothing would upset Panalope unless you caused it.”
“I want to talk to Lenoir, but she doesn’t understand a word I say!” Panalope snarled angrily.
“Understand some,” Lenoir said. “Your words, like, but not like.”
“What?” Panalope hissed.
“I think she’s saying that she recognizes what we are saying sometimes. The words are similar enough for some reason,” I said.