Chapter 7. Reunions

  The Rose slowly pulled up to the end of the pier, the one they’d worked so hard at for those weeks. The oak planks were clear of ice and snow, tie ropes, bumpers and bollards were in a new looking wooden box at this end. At the lands end Will could see the cairn fire still burning, in fact this was what guided them in the last few miles. The smoke smudge spread across the sky well before the coast came into view. Looking further along he could see fires from the village sending up drifts of smoke, but the wind was taking those fast and spinning them off and away. The inn was brightly lit, torches burning outside. As the sun was only just setting those hadn’t been there long and even as they watched, the inn doors flew open. Several figures tumbled out, waving at the ship as she approached.

  Will was ready on the deck, as Minnie slowed the Rose he sprang to the pier and tied the ship off, bumpers in and safe. The constant chuff of the stack ceased, making him and all the crew, shake their heads as that noise was gone. The vibration stopped as well, from the constant engine motion, the ceaseless back and forth that drives the prop shaft. The weather was still bad, or maybe it was just normal for this part of the world. But compared to Laketown it was bad. The thermometer on the ship, on the bulkhead by the wheelhouse, was pretty accurate. At least Will thought it was. To be honest there was nothing to compare it to, so maybe it wasn’t but who knew, or cared really. It was just something to gauge the weather. When they were in the middle of summer, near Laketown the thermometer had a reading of ninety. That seemed fair. Now it was reading minus thirty five, and it was terrifically cold, and that was fair too. It was just a number really but it was what they had.

  Dressed in his thick snowsuit, big boots, wool gloves and over mitts, mask up, goggles on, scarf on top. The cold had no power over him or the rest of the family, as they joined him on deck. Dressed the same it was easy to get Percy, Minnie and Uma mixed up. They were pretty well all the same size and general shape. Minnie had come up with a solution though, a brilliant clever solution. It took her all of ten seconds to think of it and then another minute to implement the fix. She took a bucket of paint, a brush and drew their initials on the back of their gear and on the left breast, dusted the wet paint with some powdered rock and called it good. Then, just so they all looked the same, she marked Will and Ron’s too. It was still hard to believe that little Ronnie, who used to sleep inside his moms shirt, was now the same height as Will. Over the past months his legs started to resemble tree trunks, they were so muscular. Same with his arms and chest, Will had confused him once a while back by calling him ‘Arnold’. It meant absolutely nothing to anyone aboard and led to a long long discussion about actors, body builders and weight lifters. Will thought Percy might have been jealous of his brother but the opposite was the truth. He mentioned it to the smaller brother one night, while it was just them in the wheelhouse. That he still might grow to equal Ron. Percy laughed, “I love him and I’m proud of him, and if he’s happy the way he is that’s great. I like being stealthy, and being able to do this.”. He leaped at Will and gave him a thorough hugging, “Let’s see Ron do that without squashing you.”. Will couldn’t help laughing, Percy had always been the more affectionate lad. It was good to know there were no ill feelings between the brothers,

  So now here they were. Heading to the land end, there were a few people waiting. In fact three were running out onto the pier to meet them. The smaller one turned out to be Oona, she tackled her sister and they went down in a heap. Crying and laughing at the same time, “I missed you so much.”, they said at the same time. The others were Mason and Arnold, greeting them like long lost friends and family, shaking hands and hugging, “It’s too cold out here but its so good to see you all again.” Arnold shouted against the wind. He pointed to the inn and they walked as quickly as they could. Uma and Oona clutching each other like they never wanted to let go. It didn’t take long until they were inside the warm inn, doffing their gear. A fire was crackling away in the huge fireplace, easily warming the big building. Will looked around, curious to see how the place was lasting. They only finished the building a few days before leaving and he really hadn’t spent much time here. But he didn’t get a chance to snoop around as the door opened and several bundled up people came in. Removing their hats they turned out to be Tor, Din and Cal. Will sighed, here we go.

  It was a good thing the inn was a large place, Arnold thought. While for the past few weeks it was usually just the two of them, now there were twelve people seated around the big table. The chaos of the last few minutes was settling a bit, thank goodness. This was the first time the Obb family were all here since the loss of the parents. Tears were shed, many hugs for comfort but there was definitely an elephant in the room. And it looked like that was going to be talked about…now. Minnie had been the one to open this particular can of worms. “Guys, I’m really sad about Katya and Therd, I liked them lots.”, she started, “So don’t take this the wrong way but, are you gonna make Uma stay here now?”. There it was, right out in the open. No messing around, no shilly shallying, just boom! The three brothers looked at her, then at each other. Tor nodded at them, “Of course not. Ma and pa allowed her to join you, I’d never go against their wishes.”, with those simple words it felt like a ton was lifted off the crews shoulders. “Is she still welcome, did you come back to bring her here?”, Cal asked. “No, we got one of the messages the lads sent, purely by accident.”, Will explained. He went on to tell the tale and the decision to come up north again. “Thank you captain.”, Tor replied, “We held off the ceremony as long as we could, it’s good timing you got here today. The chambers prepared and we’re sending them tomorrow.”. Hmm, lots he didn’t understand there but…. “Is there anything we can do, help with to make the load lighter?”, Will asked. “No, but thank you.” Tor replied, “Having all the family to say goodbye is a wonderful gift.”.

  The three brothers chatted for a while longer then started getting dressed to leave. “Tor, can I stay with Uma tonight?”, Oona asked, “I’ve missed her and we have so much to talk about.”. Tor looked at Will, who nodded, “Of course, we’ll gather here tomorrow morning and go to the chambers from here, all right?”. “Thank you brother.”, both little ones said, then giggled. It had been too long.

  Minnie and the boys were talking with Mason and Arnold, about everything. However the time trip was not mentioned. No use bringing it up, it hadn’t affected these lads at all. So they talked of the return and how the boys parents took the news of them staying. Of gathering voyages for Newton and Laketown. And of course about Naomi leaving to start a family. The two young men told of their adventures, “Just a couple of exploring trips, then the weather turned bad.”, Mason said. They continued for a couple of hours then decided to head for the Rose for a bit of dinner. Taking a quick peek outside told Will it was even worse than earlier, so full gear again. He noticed Oonas outer wear was very like their own. He mentioned it to Mason, he nodded, “The northers really like what we wear so they copied it as much as they could.”. Makes sense, Will thought. “Everyone ready?”, he asked, and out they went.

  The bulk of the inn protected the little group for a few moments but soon they were out of the lee and the wind hit them. It wasn’t a full out blizzard but it was getting there. Good thing the pier was only a hundred yards away, and the wind was at their back. For safeties sake Ron held the little girls hands, Will held onto Minnie and Percy. A few minutes later they climbed aboard the ship, then quickly below. Will had to ask “Were you the ones to clear off the pier?”. When the boys nodded, “No effects from the water then, none at all?”. The answer was nope, no problems. “Okay, I just needed to know, on the way back Rosie and Terrance both had close calls.”. So the story needed to be told of course, then more tales were swapped. While this was going on Ron, assisted by Will, had decided on a meal. Meatloaf and camp taters, a very easy dish but everyone loved it. As the evening went on, Uma took her sister to see her room, when they left the mess Will noticed something. When they first met the family the girls were identical, oh there were a couple of differences in their faces. A freckle here, or a mole there, Uma’s eyebrows were a bit thicker. Other than that they were the same. Now, as they walked by Will and out the door he could see Uma was at least three inches taller. He made a note to talk it over with Minnie.

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  The hour was getting late, Will offered the lads to stay in crew quarters but they both passed. “I’m nervous about leaving the fire for so long, I banked it but…and if it gets too cold stuff will freeze.”, Mason explained. “Fair enough.”, Will said, “So we’ll meet up tomorrow then head to the, wherever the ceremony is held.”. Arnold nodded, “It’s good to see you all again, even if it only been a few weeks.”. The two lads left, Will joined them on deck, just to see them home safely. He checked the lines and went below, the weather really was frightful. Closing both sets of doors, putting the draft bolsters in place he went back to the mess. “Lads I’m off to bed, good night.”. “Night father, us too, been a long day”, Percy replied. Wills next stop was Uma’s room, he knocked and Minnie answered the door. “Hey pop.”. “How’s everything in here, got all you need?”. He could see the girls were ready for sleep, “Night captain.”, Uma called. “Night sweety, night Oona, see you in the morning.”, he stepped out, Minnie followed. “Everything really okay?”, he whispered quietly, very quietly. She heard of course, “Settled down, they had a couple of things to work out but it’s okay now. I’ll tell you later.”.

  Opening his cabin door, after bidding her good night, was a relief. The day had been long but the drama he expected never happened. Once more the good folk of this world surprised him…no not surprised, that wasn’t right. It was more than that . Even after being here for three years he was still a product of his world. Sometimes he was sure the people here were going to act like the people of his home world. And they just didn’t. Time after time he’d been wrong in thinking they’d react this way or that, but nope. Today was no exception, he’d been sure there was going to be a confrontation. He was a lucky man to end up here. Getting changed into sleep clothes he fell on to his bed, not going under the covers just yet, he planned to wait til Minnie came in. They had a few things to talk about.

  So much for that idea. When Will opened his eyes next it was day, at least the little bit of light in the porthole said so. He was under the quilts now, either by Minnie covering him or burrowing into them while sleeping. Feeling around the dim room he found her, in her usual nest, curled up and snoring still. Moving as quiet as he could, he visited the head, threw a long robe on and left the cabin. No one else was stirring so it was the usual, making tea then doing a bit of paperwork…journaling and so on. Keeping a record or where and when, what happened and so on. Julian would have a hard time keeping up with all the information that would be dumped on him soon. Sitting back in his chair he wondered what the upcoming ceremony was about, he didn’t know much about the northers customs. Noting the time he figured it was time to rouse the rest. Knocking on doors to wake the crew didn’t take long, Minnie was pretty quick today. Then she was off to check with the twins, see how they were today.

  Will had a feeling the ceremony, whatever it was, would be cold, so he dressed accordingly. Long underwear, then warm woolly pants, cotton under shirt, and woolly sweater. His snowsuit would be on top of this, he figured to be okay if any time was spent outside. After dressing he found Ron in the galley already, working on breakfast. Light today, which really meant no fried food. Toast and oatmeal fit the bill, and it was quick and easy. Percy rolled in a few minutes later, looking fit and ready to take on the world. Then, with much giggling and whispering Minnie brought the twins in. They too were dressed already. “Morning all.”, Will said as they came in. “Hey pop, you slept like a rock last night.”, Minnie said while buttering her toast. He shrugged, “I don’t remember much, I was sleeping.”. She paused, mid jamming, “No kidding.”. Uma laughed a bit, then whispered to her sister, “I think the captain was dreaming he was a steam engine again, he was snorting and puffing like one.”. Well…Minnie sprayed juice out in a belly laugh, narrowly missing Percy who dived to escape, Ron was coming out of the galley with a fresh order of toast, one foot slipped in the juice, he managed to keep his balance but he fired the plate of toast toward Will, he held up his napkin as a shield, slices falling around like snowflakes, if snow was made of lightly browned whole wheat. For a minute everyone was stunned then burst into laughter.

  After the toast incident, which would be enshrined in history, the crew was at the stairs, ready to go on deck. Dressed in their snowsuits and every piece of exposed skin covered, ready for anything. Good thing too, when the got on deck it wasn’t exactly a blizzard. Just the aftermath. A literal ton of snow covered the deck, it took Will and Minnie on one door, Ron and Percy on the other, forcing them open. Being careful not to splinter the doors into flinders, but using them as shovels and push the drifts back. Then edging out, grabbing shovels and brooms from inside the stairwell. Uma and Oona were kept back, while the crew trundled back and forth pushing the heavy wet snow over the side. Even with their enhancements it was still a bit of an effort to push several hundreds of pounds in front of their shovels and scoops. Then lift it up and over into the blue depths. Fifteen minutes working, with the wind howling, boat rocking from all the movement, and the occasional snowball from the twins. Just to keep things fun. Then it was down to the pier, that was clear, mostly, too open and windy for the snow to accumulate.

  Their antics had been noticed, a group of at least twenty were waiting at lands end. Mason and Arnold of course, the rest of the Obb family and a few familiar faces. Arno and his family greeted Will sombrely, “Welcome back captain, pity it’s for this.”. Will shook his hand, the man had been a pain when they first met but had mellowed and become a friend over time. “I’m afraid I don’t know your ways, of saying goodbye to one’s that have passed. Let’s us know what to do.”, he said, having to speak a little louder than normal, the wind was rising a bit more. Arno nodded, “I will, but it’s a short simple thing. Our friends have gone to the ice, now their remains must follow.”.

  As they were talking the group was walking towards the village, fifty yards or so from the shore. The rough path Will remembered was now a broad road, banked on each side by a four foot rock wall. He pointed, Mason saw and answered, “Keeps pests out, not the wolves but they’re not a concern anymore.”. The trees along the wall were doing a fine job as a windbreak and normal conversation was easier now. Minnie overheard about the wolves, “What pests then?”. Arnold answered, “The wild boars, they were attacking all along here until we built this, they can run fast but can’t jump more than this.”. He held his hand at knee height. That brought a laugh or two. “Aye, the rotters were everywhere for a while but we thinned them right quick.”, Arno added, “Now we rarely see them, they learned to avoid the village and shore.”. Din turned with a huge smile “Was good eating for a while, roast piggy for dinner every night.”. Percy had a question though, “What keeps them out of here?”, he gestured at the path, “There wasn’t a gate.”. Arno laughed, “That’s where have to thank Mason, did you notice the ground when you started on the path, the…what’s it called again lad?”, he asked. “My uncle called it a cattle grid, bars over a hole, the pigs aren’t smart enough to step on the bars.”, Mason replied.

  The village gates were coming closer now, many changes here. What Will could remember of the first burrows were nothing like this. Then it had been a clearing with several chimneys sticking out of the ground. The people had lived very close together, communal everything. Now there were many cottages, still sunk into the ground but not all the way. Minnie looked around, “Is there like a lot more of you now?”. They were standing inside the gates now and Tor answered that. “The Eld kept the people at a certain number in the old place, but here there’s more of everything so since we arrived many babies have come.”. Savva nudged him, “Ours will be here soon, by thaw.”, he said with a smile. “Congratulations you two, very happy news indeed.”, Will said to the young couple. They were well inside the village now, heading to the far end, but ducked inside a larger cottage for a rest and a warm up.

  A large round building, reminding Will of a yurt, about twice the size of the other dwellings. A stone fireplace in the centre of the room, putting out plenty of heat. Several chairs and tables stacked here and there, the room felt unused, or at least un-lived in. “The Eld meet here, but it’s a good place for a sit down and a warm drink, if you like?”, Arno mentioned as they sat and removed hats and gloves for a bit. A few minutes passed as the chill left them, it wasn’t bad as their winter gear kept nearly all the cold out. Then redressing they left to continue the journey to…well that wasn’t clear yet.