The captain pursed his lips and considered, then said, “Well yuz sure wouldn’t fit in at the tavern-yuz don’t seem like that kind o’ girl to me- so’s I would suggest yuz go to the diner and sees if ‘en they might have some ideas for yuz.”
“Where do I find this diner?”
“Well now, I supposen I could point yuz in da right direction since it’s not so’s far from da tavern.”
“I’d really appreciate it,” she said, “You’ve been so wonderful, and I don’t know how I can repay you since I don’t have any money, but I will pay you back once I get some!”
“Well now,” he said, “I don’t reckon any payment is needed since yuz was on our way and haven’t been a bit o’ trouble.”
“Still,” Amanda started, “you didn’t have to pull me out of the sea.”
“Oh now, there’s yuz wrong again; sees we got this here ethic, yuz know. We take aboard every person we find because we’d want the same for usens, yuz know, should we find ourselves left without a ship. We’s know there’s payback fer pickin’ up souls outa the wata, but it’s paid by the wata an’ not the person saved. So’s we don’ expect nuthin from ya but good wishes for safe sailin’ in the future, ya know?”
Amanda nodded and had to accept it as the only answer she would get, and it did make some backward sort of sense.
“Now, my lil’ lady, if you wouldn’t mind givin’ me some peace I’ve gotta concentrate on gettin’ this ship inta that there dock wi’out hittin’ anythin’, and it takes all my ‘tention. I’ll look for ya when we’s are all ready to go ashore so’s I can get ya steered in the right direction like, ‘kay?”
“Oh,” Amanda said, “I’m sorry to have interrupted you. I didn’t realize you were operating the ship right now.” She almost knocked over her chair in her haste and managed to get out the door without too much more fuss and commotion. To her utter embarrassment, she could hear him chuckling at her clumsy departure.
She did not know where to go but back to her room. She would have liked to stand on deck and watch the captain’s skill at docking the ship, but she did not dare stand there for all to see her and possibly tell Petre where she had gone. No, it was definitely better to stay below deck and wait for her escort.
She arrived at her room and sat on the bunk. Since she did not have anything to do but wait, she started to cry. Both Petre and this Captain were operating their ships without any equipment; this did not make sense. Her whole life had turned upside down in a matter of a few weeks, and now she was trying to fit into a society where she did not know the rules or roles of the people. She did not have any idea where she would stay or how she would make money, or how she would eat, or anything. The hopelessness of it all was overwhelming.
She felt the ship brush up against the dock and realized she would have to pull herself together if she hoped to accomplish anything. Amanda quickly washed her face again and finished folding the towel when someone knocked on her door. She turned, opened the door, and came face to face with a skinny young man.
“The captain’s ready to take you ashore, miss. If you’re ready, I can show you the way.”
Having nothing to take with her, she replied, “Lead on then, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be!”
She was led through to the opposite side of the ship, up a narrow staircase, and into the bright sunshine. They walked the short distance across the littered deck to the simple wooden gang-plank without any side rails. She made the mistake of looking down over the edge and stumbled nervously.
The young man caught her arm and cautioned her, “Just look at the wharf on the other side and nothing in between! It gets easier with practice.” He smiled, and Amanda instantly felt better.
The captain was already on the wharf talking with a stern looking man. Amanda stepped forward to talk to the captain when the young man stopped her with a hand on her arm saying, “The captain will be done with the Harbor Master in a minute. You never want to interrupt this discussion because it affects our pay!”
Amanda nodded agreement but realized she had almost made another social blunder from her lack of cultural knowledge. It made her wonder how much else she did not know and how much trouble it would get her into in the future.
As it turned out, the captain was already done negotiating the docking fee and was asking about employment opportunities for his passenger. As Amanda was watching the interaction, both the Captain and Harbor Master stopped their conversation and looked at Amanda appraisingly; Amanda immediately blushed.
The Captain gestured for her to come forward and she stepped into their circle. The Harbor Master asked, “Well now, do you have any record-keeping experience?
She nodded since her tongue felt glued to the roof of her mouth.
“I could use some help logging the shipments from the past couple mesans if you wouldn’t mind helping me out. Of course, I don’t know what I will pay you until I know how efficient you are, but I gave my word to the Captain here that the wage’ll be fair. What do you think? Sound like something you would be interested in doing?”
Amanda could not believe her luck. She had no idea what a ‘mesan’ was, but she was glad to offer her services if it meant she would have an income. She could only nod and smile.
The Harbor Master looked at the captain and said, “She sure doesn’t have much to say, does she! It’s okay though; we have some customers who won’t shut up. It might make for a nice change around the office!” Then to Amanda, he said, “When do you want to start?”
Amanda found her voice and said, “Right now if you’d like!”
“You’ve got a deal miss, just go through the door right there and ask Ceren to show you where the files are located.”
She moved away from the two men as though in a daze. When she opened the office door, reality struck her straight in the face; the odor in the office was overwhelming. It was musty and smelled of unwashed sailors.
She walked over to the only person she saw and said, “Excuse me; I’m looking for someone named Ceren. Do you know where I might find him?”
The man looked up from his desk and gave Amanda an appraising look. She could tell he liked what he saw. He paused so long as to make the conversation somewhat uncomfortable and finally answered, “I’m Ceren, how may I help you?”
“The Harbor Master said you could show me where I could get started on logging the past few…” she paused momentarily as she struggled to remember the word the Captain had used, “…mesans’ files.”
“Sure thing, miss, right this way.” He rose so suddenly he almost overturned his chair.
They must really hate this part of the job to be this excited about my help, she thought as she followed Ceren through the back door, down a short hallway, and into a cramped room full of filing cabinets and general chaos. The foul odor lessened the farther they retreated from the front room. He cleared a spot on the desk by sweeping his hand across the surface, unceremoniously dumping the paperwork on the floor.
Amanda made a move to catch it until she saw the floor and realized it would not make any appreciable difference. Ceren gestured around the room and said, “Every item listed on each of these papers needs to be entered into this patil.”
Amanda did not know what a ‘patil’ was but saw he had gestured toward what looked similar to a computer.
He continued, “Only after all of the items are entered can the papers be filed alphabetically in the filing cabinets. I’d say this doesn’t usually look this bad, but it would be a lie. Captain Ahn never did like this part of the job when he got nominated to be the Harbor Master. He leaves it all here for some poor sap to handle. You should see the scramble of activity for the quarterly audit, which is due to happen within the next couple weeks. The ‘poor sap’ is usually me, so I’m real glad the captain brought you in to help. If you have any questions, I’ll be back at my desk.” He turned to leave.
Amanda felt a surge of panic and cried, “Wait! I’ve never even seen one of these forms before.
Can you go through one while I watch? I’m a quick learner.”
Ceren groaned. “You’ve never done this before? I knew it was too good to be true!”
He sat on the edge of the table with a look of utter despair. “Miss, I can’t teach you everything by just going over one, it’s too complicated!”
“Try me,” she challenged, squaring her shoulders and crossing her arms.
The patil, Amanda discovered, used a basic spreadsheet style program which she found easy to learn. After a fifteen-minute patil tutorial and a few specific inquiries during the initial training, Amanda started making a dent in the colossal paper stacks covering the office. The bills of lading mostly contained similar information, only the quantities changed.
“I think I’ll leave you to your task! Good luck,” Ceren called over his shoulder as he shut the door behind him.
With a moment to reflect upon her situation, she said to herself, I don’t know what’s going on! I thought for sure the ship was heading for Mexico, but nobody seems to speak Spanish. And now, I’ve got a job, working on a computer – which they call a patil – but it’s in English as well. I just don’t get it!
Turning her thoughts back to her new job, Amanda sighed as she surveyed the enormity of the task ahead of her. “First things first,” she whispered out loud as she began to clear a space in which to work; then she organized enough stacks together to allow an empty area in which to sort her finished paperwork. She decided to designate the last hour of each day to file the day’s completed paperwork. By the time she ended work on her first day, she walked out of the dusty office to discover everyone had already left. The doors were locked, and the lights had been turned out.
She had intended to ask if she could make up a cot in the corner of the office since she did not have anywhere else to stay. I guess it’ll have to be okay, she said to herself as she walked back to her workspace and shut the door behind her.
Amanda removed her jeans and laid them on the floor behind the desk; then pulled her sweatshirt over her head and rolled it up into a makeshift pillow. Standing behind the desk, facing the door, she leaned back against the wall and slowly sank to the floor in exhaustion.
Even though she was incredibly hungry, she was too tired to think about it as well as without the means to buy anything. I’ll need to talk to Captain Ahn in the morning about getting an advance to buy some food, she thought to herself. Knowing morning would come all too soon, she curled up on her makeshift bed. For the first time in weeks, she fell asleep knowing she was safe.
Chapter Four
ELDER DEBBON removed his hands from Amanda’s temples. While he already knew about the rules in place for swimmers, he was surprised to find there was no report made about a swimmer being found. He had thought Captain Ahn would have been more responsible in making sure this important detail was taken care of immediately. Elders were always notified straightaway of a swimmer to investigate the origin of the person involved. He had to wonder what Captain Ahn was trying to hide in not following this particular rule.
He looked down at the lovely features of Amanda sleeping peacefully on the bed in front of him. This woman had captured the attention of Petre MacVeen, Captain Issyn, Captain Ahn, as well as himself. He was curious what it was about her which caused so many people to act in a way out of the ordinary if not outright defying the rules set in place for their society.
Thinking he should probably ponder these implications further while also letting the woman sleep, he left the room to get some food from the kitchen downstairs. He had encountered people from Earth before and had never known them to be so disruptive to the Tualan way of life. There must be something different about Amanda, but Debbon could not imagine what.
Debbon sat down at the table with a foxl sandwich in front of him. He ate without tasting as his mind turned over all of the possibilities which Amanda represented in Tuala. Once the food was gone, he shoved the plate away with disgust as he was still no closer to divining Amanda’s influence and he also had not enjoyed partaking of one of his favorite meals.
Without any further reason for delaying, Debbon left the mess in the kitchen and trudged up the back stairway to the guest rooms. He paused for a moment before quietly turning the doorknob and entering the room. Debbon was not sure if he were pleased or disappointed to discover Amanda was still sleeping. If she had been awake, he might have been able to question her to be able to make some sense of why the respected captains were willing to risk their careers to keep her safe.
He sat down at the head of the bed once again. Focusing his thoughts of divining the truth of Amanda’s journey into Tuala, Elder Debbon gently rested his fingertips on the woman’s temples. With his mind connected once again to Amanda’s he urged her to pick up her story where they had left off earlier…
Disoriented, Amanda awoke in a semi-dark room. She had slept soundly until strange, and startling, noises had begun very near her head; she heard people laughing, animals walking, and carts rolling. After a moment’s confusion, she realized the office wall must adjoin the street outside; she now heard the waking routine of the port city.
Her stomach growled as she sat up on her makeshift bed. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and then she finger-combed her hair. Deciding not to wear her sweatshirt, she picked it up, neatly folded it, and placed it on a clear space at the edge of the desk. Since she did not relish the idea of wearing two outfits all day again, she exchanged the shorts she wore for the jeans on which she had just slept.
Desperately needing to find the bathroom, she opened the office door and walked into the hallway. She went the opposite direction from the front office, knowing she had not seen a bathroom the other way. She checked a couple of doors along the hall to find them locked. The last door opened as she tried it; luckily it was also the bathroom.
After she relieved herself, she washed her hands, splashed water on her face, and rinsed her mouth. She carefully inspected her reflection in the mirror above the sink; she noted the dark smudges under her honey-colored brown eyes, the thinner cheeks, and the sallow skin color against her sun-reddened glossy brown hair. She did not feel well either although she was not nauseous; she had not eaten anything to allow her to be so. “Maybe I’m coming down with the flu or getting close to having my period,” she said to her reflection. I don’t really remember when I had my last period, she mused suddenly, it must be the problem. She raised her wrist to her forehead to check for a fever just in case, “Cool as ever,” she said and smiled. Maybe I just need to eat something to get my color back, she thought as she wondered how she was going to come by some food.
As it turned out, Amanda did not have to wonder long about a meal; Captain Ahn walked through the front door holding a paper sack in his hand. “Come up front,” he called to Amanda when he saw her exiting the bathroom, “I’ve brought something for you.”
Amanda hustled to where he was standing behind the counter in the front office. Hoping to get some idea of exactly where she had made landfall, she held out her hand to the Captain and said, “We weren’t properly introduced yesterday. My name is Amanda Covington.”
Taking her hand and pumping it hard, he smiled down at her and replied heartily, “Right you are, Amanda! You can call me Captain Ahn. Take a seat back here with me.” He gestured toward a stool next to him. “I don’t want to intrude on your privacy, but Captain Issyn spoke to me briefly yesterday about your situation. You don’t have to tell me anything, mind, but should you want to, I won’t tell a soul, Captain’s honor!” He held out the paper sack toward her, “I thought you might like something to eat.”
“Thank you!” Amanda replied as tears sprang to her eyes. She took the bag from his outstretched hand. “I was going to ask you for an advance so I could buy some food! I don’t have any money at all.”
“I won’t hear any of it,” he replied instantly. “Captain Issyn told you the rules for picking up swimmers, right?”
Amanda nodded.
“Well, I h
ave rules for pretty women who need help, too.”
“What rules do you have?”
“First of all,” he paused to wink at her, “there will be no more talk of advances for food! This job comes with three meals a day.”
“Okay, I like that rule,” she smiled as she replied. She started to open the paper sack, hesitated, and asked, “What are the other rules?”
“Are you going to eat or just play with the bag? I can talk while you eat,” he replied, urging her to get the food out. “I hope you like glawlets; they’re a pretty common breakfast, but my wife used her special family recipe to make this one for you.”
Amanda reached into the bag, saying to herself, glawlet isn’t a Spanish word, I wonder what else I’ll learn about this culture. She brought out a fresh warm roll filled with a poached egg covered in what looked to be a sausage gravy. She held it up and asked, “Is this the glawlet?”
“It sure is, haven’t you ever had one before?”
“No, this will be my first!” she replied as she leaned over to take a big bite. “Mmm,” she replied as she savored the rich flavors. She quickly chewed and swallowed. “This is amazing! Tell your wife she could sell this and make a fortune!” She had to stop talking since her mouth was preoccupied with eating.
“I’ll certainly pass it along since I’ve told her the same thing more than once. Her reply is I’m biased!” Captain Ahn smiled so wide his cheeks hurt. “There’s a second one in there if you want it. I also put in there a cup of steena tea.” He gestured back toward the bag and asked, “Have you tried it before?”
Amanda swallowed another bite then replied, “Nope, another first.”
“I find it really settles my stomach and leaves me feeling refreshed,” he said. Where did this girl come from?
Amanda sipped the semi-warm tea and discovered it had a sweet flavor with a minty finish, “Very good. I hope it’ll help my stomach; it’s been bothering me for weeks now,” she said as she finished the first glawlet and unwrapped the second.
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