Red changes her plans

To Julien it was clear that Red was not pleased when she read the Captain's note, but under the circumstances she seemed agreed with his logic. As a ship’s officer no doubt she’d had plenty of experience with having to change her plans quickly and Julien was impressed with how easily her procedure shifted to take advantage of the extra help and new timeline. The contents of the cottage were sorted into three piles, a small one that would come with her and Cindy on the schooner, a larger pile consisted of belongings that would stay in the cottage and a final pile not quite as large as the second but substantial all the same that had to be stored in a barn of a neighboring farm.

Julien was put to work carrying the assortment of clothing, kitchen pots and pans, great sailcloth sacks stuffed full and even two door chests down to a small boat no more than four meters long. The last few feet of each trip involved wading through the gentle surf that washed the beach so he removed his boots and rolled up the cotton pantaloons above his knee but even with his best efforts he was soaked to the waist by the time the last bag of bedding was passed over to Red who stowed the great pile tightly on board. As he worked he was aware of Red evaluating him, he carried the heavy chests through the surf pleased with the chance to impress the new Sailing Master with his strength. The effect was ruined though when he lowered the first of the chests onto the side of the boat causing it to rock dangerously and putting a small dent in the smooth curved wood of the side. All the same, by the time the boat was loaded Red seemed to have come to a decision.

"I'm sending you with Cindy to one of our neighbors. Kurt's as trustworthy as anyone out here, you can ask him about taking care of Davies' horse." Red hopped off the skiff into the surf holding the sailboat at its stern.

“I was going to make the trip with Cindy in the morning, but the wind is fair…” Red scanned the horizon and clouds overhead “ … and should stay true at least until dawn.” Nodding to herself briskly she called to the blonde girl taking apart a bamboo rack that stood downwind of the little house. “Cindy!” The girl looked up and trotted down to the water’s edge with a good natured smile.

“Yes Aunt Claire?” Julien tried not to stare at the length of brown leg that was visible through a slit in her flowered skirt, but the girl was pretty and unlike James he had no attachments to anyone at home.

“I want you and Julien to take this stuff to the O’Malley’s this afternoon.” Cindy face burst into an even wider grin.

“Really?!” She asked, looking earnestly at her aunt. Red nodded.

“Remember she’s loaded way past what’s safe and Julien here is still a lubber -” Red turned to face him “ sorry Julien” but he just shrugged in agreement. “So no hot-dogging.” Continued Red looking sternly at Cindy “Keep her sail reefed and keel well down. You two should be fine.” Julien stepped further up the slope heading for his sword belt and boots.

“Take your boots lad, but leave that pig sticker with me.” Red told him even before he got to his sword. “On a boat the size of this all you’ll do is tip everything into the drink if you try to draw that. Besides, the only thing that can hurt you on this day trip is a rogue Kranderkill, and nothing short of a five centimeter deck gun would help you in that case.” Red unhooked the rapier from the weapons belt before handing him the tooled leather strip.

“Take this though, it will help keep your pants on.” Julien tried not to flinch at her words, she must have noticed his too frequent looks at her niece. “Go on now” she chided the pair “get back here tonight and we’ll have a feast with the rest of the food.”

And so, five minutes later he found himself squeezed into the narrow space between the mast and bow of the small sail boat watching the foam curl and feeling the land breeze on his left cheek. Cindy sat at the far end of the skiff working the sail and rudder by herself confidently. Occasionally he glanced back at her, but from his position it was nearly impossible to get a good look at her because of the sail. Talking was difficult as well. Two or three times she yelled to him, once to point out a pod of dolphins that followed them for several minutes another time telling him to keep still when he tried to shift his long legs into a more comfortable position.

Thankfully in little more than hour Cindy rounded a point and set her course for a long pier that extended from a grassy pasture into a sheltered cove. A small farm sat high on the hill above and Julien could make out several acres of wheat and another of some kind of bean growing on the slope. Looked like as good a place to leave Davies' horse as any. He just wondered if the O'Malley's would be as agreeable as Red and Cindy had been.

It seemed that the folk who lived on the isolated holdings on this side of the island were all pretty friendly. Two of O’Malley’s sons and a youngster in her teens helped haul Red’s possessions up the long slope in a small hand cart. It took longer for them to catch up on Cindy’s and Red’s plans than it did to unload the boat. Kurt O’Malley agreed to board Davies’ horse and refused to take a copper bit for it.

“So long as I can teach my boys to ride on him and this Mr. Davies can wait for a handful of weeks to get him back I’ll keep him here with my goats safe and sound.” Two mugs of ale and a plate of cookies later the pair of them were sent off with a basket of fresh eggs and a bowl of bright blue prickleberries sitting under the center thwart. Once out of the cove, Cindy patted the seat next to her at the back of the boat and said with an inviting smile:

“Come on back here Julien, I’ll give you your first sailing lesson.”