⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵...(Toor ay ???)...
[Last time...]
The elder native motioned for them to follow and with a surprising speed, turned and jogged up the pathway leading to the village. Half of the natives followed close behind him while the other half fell into line behind the crew of the Silverton. Boy Errislravenhill raised a cautious eye as they marched in line behind her until all disappeared into the jungle’s edge.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[Next morning, on the deck of the Silverton…]
The Silverton rode easy on the gentle waves as she sat at anchor, a quarter mile off the coast of Pemba Island. Warrant Officers Ickied and Curie were busy running the men through their morning duties when a flapping of wings overhead caught their attention. In a moment, the big messenger pigeon Groober soared over their heads and landed on the portside rail…
“It must be a message froms th' shair crew!" Curie said as he took hold of the bird and untied the message, “Keptin Sairrr! A message froms shair!”
“Wussatt?! A message?! Brings it haur cheil an' let's hav a swatch at it!" the Captain yelled from the bridge.
The young Officers hurried up the poop deck stairs and presented the message to the Captain who stood looking landward with his arms crossed in front of him.
“Gang oan, reid it!" He said abruptly, not taking his eyes off the island.
“Aye Sairrr,” Curie replied as he unrolled the message and read…
‘Dears Keptin,
Ahh hav approached th' broker at th' Liconi village silvers booth an' conveyed mah intention tae seel. He said tadays he will pay seventeen hunder an' tois coppers per silver oonce. Ahh await yer instructions."- Warrant Officer- Act’
“Seventeen hunder an' tois coppers per oonce?!” The Captain boomed, “Wa that's eleven coppers less than spot price yesterdays! Script me a message cheil!"
“Aye Sairrr!” Curie relied as he dug a pencil out of his pocket and turned the message over to its other side, “Ready Sairrr…”
“Dears Officer Act,
Ye teel 'att silvers broker tae shove 'att up his erse! We'll bide fur anither day!"
Curie glanced at Ickied with a grin as he quickly wrote the message down and rolled it up.
“Sends it aff!”
“Aye Sairrr.”
[Down in the lower hold…]
Tipper was busy sweeping the main corridor when he heard the moan. It was a deep sighing kind of sound, a sound of misery. He looked down the corridor and saw the brig. Again the sound filled the corridor and he walked down towards the door slowly.
Inside, the Jinn was lying on his cot, holding his injured leg and rocking from side to side.
“Ur ye alright cheil?" Tipper asked as he carefully peeked through the bars.
The Jinn sat up quickly and said something in Arabic slowly…
Tipper tilted his head and tried to decipher the meaning, but to no avail. Then the Jinn motioned as if he had a cup and was in need of water.
“Water? Dae ye need a bevvy ay water?" Tipper asked innocently.
The Jinn then nodded his head quickly in answer.
“Weel, Ahh dornt hink there's harm in 'att..." He replied as he put his broom down and went for a cup of water.
Watching the boy closely as he left the corridor, the Jinn limped across the brig and grabbed the broom handle and pulled it through the bars.
Limping back, he wedged the wooden handle on the edge of his cot and stomped on it with his good leg, breaking the handle in two, with the longer segment sporting a sharp, jagged edge. He then hid both pieces under his mattress.
Two minutes later, Tipper was back with a tin cup of water and slowly slid it through the bars on the floor. The Jinn got back up, limped over and taking hold of the cup he downed it in three gulps.
“Clammerin' clams, ye waur thirsty!" Tipper exclaimed as he turned around and looked for his broom, “Noo where'd Ahh pit mah broom! Ahh swaur Ah left it 'er somewheres!"
Not finding it, the boy shrugged and skipped on down the hallway and disappeared up the galley stairs.
The Jinn smiled an evil smile as he pulled his weapon out from under the bunk. The point was sharp but he began to rub it quickly back and forth against the iron slats of the brig, honing its edge into a deadly point. Satisfied that it would suffice, he limped back to his bunk and slipped back it under the mattress.
[Back in Liconi village…]
Officers Act, Endrikdegrote and Bnfl4sun stood at th edge of their makeshift camp on the east side of the village. A hot broth of potatoes and fish was simmering in a pot hanging over a campfire. Seamen Oifeellucky, Hemanwithnoname and Eaceandwar were tending the fire while boys Olarphasing and Errislravenhill sat nearby, counting the silvers.
Just then, Groober came soaring in and landed on the head of Eaceandwar…
“Jumpin jellyfish! Is their ne'er a warnin' wi' thes beest!" she cried out in a startled voice.
Laughter erupted amongst the group as the seaman gathered her composure.
“Haw! Haw! Yoo're jumpier than a bairn lassie mucker!" Errislravenhill said as she smiled at her.
“Swatch yoor gob!” Eaceandwar warned as she untied the message.
“Reads it mate…” Officer Act ordered.
“Aye Sairr,
It says...’Dears Warrant Officer Act...blah blah blah, tells 'att silvers broker tae shove it up his erse! We'll bide anither day. – Keptin’
”Haw! Haw! Haw! Hee! Hee!” The whole crew laughed heartily as they listened.
“Is 'att whit yoo're gonnae teel th' silvers broker Sairrr?!" Petty Officer Bnfl4sun asked with a grin.
Officer Act smiled slightly as he took a drink of grog before answering…
“Och aye, but nae in sae mony words…"
More laughter ensued as the group began to discuss their plans for the evening. Meanwhile, forty feet north in the jungle, two men parted the palms leaves in front of them and peered over at the camp.
“Well what do we have here soldier, but a group of old friends!” The man in the tattered officer’s uniform said in low tone as he eyed the crew from a distance, “And they brought a good batch of silver too…”
⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵
"If yoo've bin sailin' oan th' mighty Silverton fur mair than a scuttle months, there's nae doobt in yer min' who 'att 'Dancin-Diggery' is! An' ye can bit he's up tae nae guid!" 😄 -Keptin
Toor suggestions sae far:
- Doha of Qatar
- Djibouti, Africars
We need at leest thee mur suggestions afair we tak' a vote! An' remembers mates, there's nae place in th' whole wide warld 'att we cannae gang! Ahh've sailed th' seven seas an' beyond, an' Ahh'm nae plannin' oan changin' onie time suin!" 😃- Keptin
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
🗝 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), 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)
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), 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.