Arrival And Farewell

After sailing a few hours past dark the Nawyet raised anchor and started sailing just before dawn the next day.

The land was still largely the tundra of the north, with rocky soil mostly covered in grasses, lichen, and moss. But the further south they travelled, the more dwarf shrubs could be seen, and Noah suspected they were approaching the timberline.

It was nearly noon when Noah saw a cluster of low stone buildings on a rise as the boat edged around a wide turn in the Radisson River. There had been several ancient watchtowers on the shore, even a few larger buildings that looked like stables or ring forts, but they had all seemed designed to watch over the river. This was a half dozen buildings that appeared to be homes.

“There will be many more of these,” the captain called out to Noah, “this is the outskirts, other people who have explored the shore say that many small groups of these houses stretch around the city proper. We will be at the center, with the large docks, in a few hours.”

He let out a long breath. So close now. “And it’s all empty? I mean, the buildings, not just no people, right?”

“Aye. No one lived in these lands for hundreds of years. When the Ice Islanders and the whalers started using the river there was a surge of treasure hunters, but no one ever found anything. Or if they did, they never said, but for decades seekers of valuables or knowledge made camps and explored the city. All said that the buildings were strangely empty, not just uninhabited but as if everyone carefully packed up and left, leaving very little behind. Certainly no precious metals or stones.”

Noah was still looking at the group of buildings (perhaps a small farming community, an extended family?) but he could tell Captain Amaruq was studying him. Probably looking for his reaction to her casual comment about the lack of buried treasure.

He smiled, she had gently made the same point several times. “I read the same in Anglet. The shipping company records showed a few large expeditions 50 years ago or so. One party had a few dozen experienced diggers and scholars and they stayed all summer but found only midden heaps and some old pottery. They did sketch out the city though, which was useful to me, but I’m sure the investors in the venture were hoping for more than interesting archaeology.”

An hour later the individual houses gave way to two and three-story buildings that dotted the land on both shores. While he couldn’t see much from the river, from his studies Noah knew that the sprawling communities seemed to be self-contained neighborhoods on large, well-constructed roads leading to the city itself. The estimates at the population ranged from 100,000 to a half a million souls, a huge number for a civilization a thousand years ago that left almost no writing behind.

Hannah informed him when they were approaching the city center, and Noah eagerly stood at the bow watching. A few small hills near the riverbank slid by and the tops of a dozen buildings appeared, a few miles south. The steward noted a few towers, a quartet of slender minarets, and a line of paired columns that he suspected lined a major street.

Another half hour, and more tall structures poked above the rolling hills. A very large building was visible, it appeared to have been a dome of some kind, but the roof was clearly collapsed. At least two dozen towers and tall columns were clear now, some damaged, a few seemingly broken off halfway, but all were at least 10 stories tall. Quite tall for buildings made entirely of stone, Noah suspected it was near the absolute height you could feasibly build without using cast iron or other metals which this vanished people had seemingly not possessed.

“The main wharf and quays we use to dock are on the west bank,” Amaruq was standing next to Noah as he made a few notes while studying the buildings.

“That works,” he said, engrossed in his notebook, “I’m interested in the center, and it seems most of those buildings are on the western shore. That’s where the government did its work, and the location of most of the important buildings. The previous explorers called it the religious center of the nation-state and labelled them as shrines and temples but I’m not sure that’s right.”

In his excitement, Noah brought his gear up onto the deck, his bundle of camping supplies and packages of food. The crew jumped in to help, and he did not notice the worried looks.

The Nawyet drifted towards the stone quay Captain Amaruq favoured, the sails raising as the crew expertly brought the boat to rest against some bundles of reeds used to cushion the hull from bumping against the actual stone. Ipellie and Lisa jumped onto the quay and tied the boat down, and they were docked.

His heart pounding, Noah impatiently waited for Ashe and Hannah to get the gangway set from the deck to the stone structure. Finally, they stepped back and Captain Amaruq announced the crew was free for half a day. Noah quickly brought his kit onto shore while a few crew stretched their legs and wandered into the ruins. Next to the quay, unsurprisingly, where several long, low buildings that were clearly warehouses. Some seemed intact, a few were collapsed to varying levels. Just outside the wharf area the city stretched out, 3 and 4 story structures of what seemed to be a commercial area, still and quiet amongst weeds and grasses.

“Everyone, back here in 15 minutes,” Hannah called loudly from the wharf. Noah was eager to get going but realized, belatedly, that the crew was staring at him.

The first mate and captain approached Noah. “Just a few minutes, if you please,” Amaruq said, “I can tell you want to be away, and I want to give you as much of the day as we can, but the crew will want to say goodbye.”

“Of course!” Noah said, “I’ve spoken to everyone but a proper goodbye and thank you would be good.”

Shirisha appeared silently, walking up from the direction of the city. She nodded at the captain and said, “I found a good spot, follow me.”

Noah found himself trailing the three women unquestioningly, and the intimidating mountain tribeswoman took them into the complex of buildings. A series of steps carved into a hill lead to a walkway paved with broad stones, weeds growing between them. Pushing through a jumble of bushes, Shirisha led them to a collapsed two-story building. It looked as ruined as any other in the area, but inside half of the second-floor ceiling remained. It formed a comfortable space under cover, with two empty window frames looking through a sparse bush towards the quay.

“Good view of the river, you can see the quay here,” Shirisha pointed out one of the windows, and Noah looked out and saw the Nawyet a few dozen paces away. “And from this window you can see anyone approaching the path we took. It’s far enough from the river that even if a trade boat docked in the same berth we did no one is likely to come here.”

Hannah approved, nodding as she said, “You could put your tent there, that ceiling looks like it won’t fall any time soon. You can have a small fire and no one would see it from the river, unless you made too much smoke.”

“Excellent Shirisha, this is perfect,” Captain Amaruq said. She turned to Noah and nodded, “I suggest you use this as your camp Noah. You can keep your gear here, and if you stay this would be a good place to await our return.”

The steward looked around, “Yes this is perfect. I’ll keep most of my stuff here, and push into the city as I need to. And I haven’t forgotten your warnings, I will avoid other boats and wait for the Nawyet.”

“Good. If you stay, when we return we will look for you here, although I expect after a few weeks alone you’ll be standing on the dock, jumping up and down with excitement.” Amaruq smiled as she said it.

“Aye, and we’ll all be lining up at the door to your room, so don’t spill your seed with your hand out of boredom here, we’ll drain you dry sure enough!” Hannah quipped, and even Amaruq chuckled.

Returning to the boat, Noah grabbed his gear and was faintly surprised when Shirisha helped him by picking up most of the food and helping him bring it all to his new hidden spot. Without a word she cleared out some rubble and arranged a small firepit in a corner of the room, close to where Noah set up his tent, and he could tell it was a good spot with enough collapsed walls around it to hide the light from the river.

Straightening, the woman rubbed at her shaved scalp and gave Noah a blank look. “The captain is more rare than she knows. Some of the other boats on the river would give you passage, aye, but I have served on two others. Neither captain would see you as other than a rare gift fallen into their laps, and you would be bound and gagged in port so you didn’t think to leave their service. And the crews would be glad to keep you, no matter your wishes. Or too scared of the others to suggest otherwise.”

Her heavy gaze made the hair on Noah’s neck stand, and he wondered how to respond. But with a grunt Shirisha shrugged and continued, “So wait. After we stop at Currielle I will have some gold. Enough to pay you for another tumble if you let me tie you down again. Or I can rent a room in Anglet, and I would pay you for a full night. No beating, just… light slaps. And I will pay for you to shave your body, make you nice and smooth for me.”

“Huh. Well, I don’t think I would want to do anything more… aggressive than we already did. But that’s a discussion for another day, if I stay on the boat or am picked up in a few weeks.”

She grunted again, impassively, and Noah said, “Thank you for your help, and your advice. I would not have thought of a place like this or thought about trying to conceal my camp from passing boats. And I appreciate your warning about other crews, I will avoid them for certain.”

Without so much of a nod of acknowledgment, she walked by Noah on her way out the door, passing close enough to him that he took a half step out of the way despite the fact she was a few inches shorter than him.

Back at the quay, Noah saw the crew milling about near the boat. Suddenly shy, he hung back until Hannah whistled.

Standing off to the side, Captain Amaruq called out, “As I was saying, thank you all for your work. We are here almost a full day early, and this is where we say goodbye to our steward.”

The crew looked between her and the man in question, and Noah swallowed. The captain continued, “We will be here until tomorrow at dawn, when we continue on, so other than the duty watch everyone else is free to do as they please today. If Noah wishes, he can continue with us, and we would be glad of it. If he wishes to stay, he will await our return from Currielle. So, we will see him again, and he has agreed to see to the needs of the crew on the return journey at the least. But, for now, we part ways.”

She nodded at him and he cleared his throat. After pausing for a moment, he gave a sudden laugh and said, “I can’t quite believe I only met you all less than two weeks ago!” Several smiles and chuckles greeted his comment. “I can’t express to you how grateful I am. Being part of the crew has been the most incredible, surprising, unusual experience of my live. I look forward to being with you all again, probably in a few weeks, but thank you for all you’ve done for me.”

He smiled and looked at everyone in turn. Macha grinned back, the twins nodded solemnly, Hyvin gave a few claps, and Fatima made a gesture that looked like a ward against bad luck. He had thanked everyone separately over the previous day, and Lisa gave him a confident nod and called out, “Stay safe, Noah! And don’t make us go hunting all over for you when we come back, stay close to this dock!”

The crew clearly agreed, adding their voices as they called out farewell, so Noah replied, “I will, I know how many days until you might be back and I’ll be waiting.”

He smiled again, a smile that faltered as he saw the Kuniq lasses standing in a group. Ipellie, her hand on Hitty’s shoulder, whispered something in her ear. Hitty didn’t react, and Noah felt a stab in his guts as a tear rolled down her cheek. She looked away.

“Well, I’m off. Thank you again and I’ll see you soon.” Feeling ashamed, he abruptly turned away and walked quickly to his small camp before anyone could ask to join him.