⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵...(Toor ay ???)...
[Last time...]
There was worry on everyone’s faces as she slowly started to sift her tied hands through the sand behind her back. In a moment she found what she was looking for, a broken piece of clam shell that a hungry gull had left.
Using her right hand, she struggled to get enough play in her bindings to grip the clam shell and motion to Officer Bnfl4sun to scoot close…
…………………………
[In the longboat, two hundred yards off the eastern shore of Pemba Island]
Warrant officer Ickied held a steady rudder for shore as the hot afternoon sun baked the rowers in its heat. Straight ahead, pulled up under a grove of palm trees at the edge of the jungle, he could see the first crew’s longboat, tied and blocked above the high tide mark. Further east, he could see the smoke of a small camp fire still willowing up through the branches of the tall palms.
As the longboat finally approached shallow water, Ickied gave the command to stow the oars…
“Oars up! Ower th' rail, aw ay ye! Min' yer muskets!"
Standing Officer Yprecious was the first to jump into the sea, grabbing hold of the tow line. Petty Officer Ishyculture was next giving a hand while the rest of the crew followed.
Dragging the longboat up to the high tide mark and blocking it next to the first boat, they paused to reorganize their equipment.
Ickied scanned the shoreline. Everything seemed to be in order; the boat was undamaged, there were no signs of a struggle or anything that would indicate trouble. Yet still, he had an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“Alright men, let's move inlain, towards 'at reek. Single file, an' keep yer een pealed fur onie movement!"
The crew nodded silently as they all filed in behind him and made their way into the thick jungle.
[On the far western edge of Liconi Village…]
Sitting behind a small hut was the French Caporal Chief and three armed Legionnaires. The small chest of silver was emptied out on a canvas bag and its contents stacked in neat piles…
“Forty ounces of silver!” The Chief resounded triumphantly, “That’s enough for us to head to the city of Chake and buy a small sailing craft big enough for us to get to Zanzibar! Once there, we can reunite with legion base and I can finally report everything that has happened.”
“When do we head out?” His Sergeant asked.
“As soon as we can stow this silver and gather our belongings! It won’t take the Captain of that warship long to send out a search party. We need to leave Liconi immediately!”
[Back at the camp…]
The evening’s fire had all but burned out by the early afternoon. Seaman Errislravenhill had worked herself to exhaustion with the clam shell during the night but to no avail. The heavy rope that the French soldiers used was too thick to cut with a dull instrument. Falling on her side she finally gave up and rested as the heat of the day began to take its toll.
Meanwhile, Standing Officer Bnfl4sun had worked his gag out of his mouth and down under his lower lip, freeing up his mouth for speech…
“Don’t exhaoost yerself in thes heat lass! Th' Keptin is sure tae send anither shair ceilidh! We huvnae sent a spyug back tae th' ship in tois days. He'll ken somehthin' is wrang!" He assured as he struggled to get to a more comfortable kneeling position.
“Ummf! Aaugh! Ummmm!” Errislravenhill protested in her usual fiery manner.
It was then that the sound of cracking twigs and muffled voices could be heard due east of them! Officer Bnfl4sun swung his head around and cocked his ear to the noise…
“That cannae be th' soldiers...they went west! It has tae be someain else!" Bnfl4sun reasoned as he tried to straighten himself taller on his knees, “Tar hail?! Is someain thaur?!"
Ickied stopped in his tracks at the sound of the call! Obviously it was someone from the ship and he cupped his hands and yelled back, “Tar hail!! Whaur ur ye?!”
⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵
"Zanzibar Islain has bin under th' control ay th' bludy French fur some time noo. It is th' main islain in th' Tanzaniar archipelago ay Zanzibar. Stone toon, part ay Zanzibar City, is an auld trade center, wi' mosques an' windin' lanes. Th' hoose ay wonders is a former Sultan’s palace wi' a clock tower (nothin' loch 'Big Ben' ay coorse...) . Th' auld fort noo hooses a cultural center an' a stone amphitheater. Undergroond aqueducts feed hot water tae th' Hamamni Persian baths. Nae a bad place tae git oot ay th' win', If it wasnae fur th' presence ay th' Frenk army!" 😠 -Keptin
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Toor suggestions sae far:
- Doha of Qatar
- Djibouti, Africars
"Tois toor sugestions isnae nearly enaw tae hav a vote! Git aff yer arses mates an' sends me yer replies! An' remembers, there's nae place in th' whole wide warld 'att we cannae gang!" - Keptin
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🗝 Sassenach Vocabulary fur 'lain lovers':
afair (before), Ahh (I), aiblins (perhaps), anyain (anyone), arse (butt), 'att (that), aw (all), ay (of),
bairn (baby), bark (news), barnie (fight), baur (bare), bevvy (drink), boss (empty), braw (fine), brine (ocean),
caller (fresh), cannie (careful), ceilidh (party), cheil (man), clootie (cloth), coothie (friendly), crease (ass), cutie (short, quick, small)
dae (do), donner (walk), dunnae (do not), dug (dog),
een (eyes), enaw (enough),
gang (go), gart (made), gezz (give), gin (gun), glaikit (stupid), gob (mouth), greit (cry), guttin (hungry)
haur (here), heem (him), hen (girl)
jeekit (jacket)
kent (knew), kinn (know)
law (low), loch (like)
mah (my), mair (more), min' (mind), mingin (filthy), mirk (dark), moggie (cat),
nae (no),
onie (any), oot (out), ootwith (outside)
poke (bag), pure (really),
quine (lady),
radge (mad, dangerous),
Sassenach (Highland English), scran (food), shair (shore), spick (speak), strang (strong), stoaner (hard, tough), stoat (excellent), swatch (look)
thes (this), thrang (busy), toon (town), tossel (private part)
ur (are, or),
wa' (why), wabbit (tired), waesucks (horror, pity, or sorrow), wee jimmy (young boy), whieest (quiet), wooldnae (wouldn't),
yak (eye)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Confused? Ascared? Seasick? Need a private chat with the Captain?" - joshua.slane@aol.com
References
Pictures from: www.freeimages.com, www.pexels.com, pixabay.com, steemit.com an’ www.google.com/maps. Data loosely interpretted froms: www.wikipedia.org an' sometimes finely crafted reit from th' author's extensiff personal experience an' such.