Send Julien to Red

Back aboard the ship he called Julien and James into his cabin. The two men were less nervous than most new recruits would be if they were summoned to the master's cabin, but Brenan didn't need fear from his crew he needed men he could trust.

"I assume one of you can ride?" He asked confident that most gentlemen could ride far better than he.

"We both can." Julien answered confidently.

"Julien is a wizard in the saddle, but I can ride better than most." James concurred.

Brenan explained his plan to have Julien ride across the island and tell Red to meet Brenan and his crew on the North-East corner of the island. It will save us two days and as much as 100 crowns. Julien was eager to volunteer, after a day of looking like a clumsy idiot learning the ropes on the schooner, a chance do something he did well must have been particularly appealing.

The only surprise they had was when he explained that Julien would be using one of Davy's horses.

"Uncle Davy?" The two asked in surprise, and after a brief conversation it was determined that the same man who had sold Brenan the schooner had known James and Julien's grandfather far before he met Brenan.

"Good, then here you go." Brenan said as he pulled out three of his remaining crowns and handed them to Julien. "I'll write Red's orders right now, and the two of you can go pay Davy and Joanna a proper visit."

A glance at the boys was met with willing nods. "Now that we have a position, it won't feel like we are trying to use him to help us out." James said and Brenan saw some sense in what they said. "You boys stay and visit if Joanna invites you, and I'll bring these over once they're done.

Later that evening at Davy's comfortable little house, Brenan finished sipping the beer that sat at his table.

"Good." Brenan turned to James "You are welcome to come back and bunk out onboard, or you can have one more night of soft beds. But I'll need you at the pier first thing in the morning. If Ambrose brings the load down early, we'll have plenty of time to stow all the cargo and go over a few things before the evening tide. Brenan saw the look of distaste that crossed Davy's face at the mention of the shady merchant, but Brenan ignored it and thankfully Davy let the matter drop as well.

It was dark by the time Brenan got back to his new ship, one of the crew had left a lantern hanging near the gangplank, but he didn't see any other activity. He was still approaching the ship when he heard a cheerful greeting from above.

"Hi C-captain!" Brenan could barely make out the form of a man sitting on the boom of the mainsail, but it was easy enough to recognize the slight stutter in the welcome.

"Good evening Tyler." Then out of curiosity "Were you waiting for me?"

"That, and we thought we should have someone on watch, just in case." Brenan smiled, this was exactly the type of crew he wanted. Most ships didn't bother keeping watch when they were in a secure port, but with Sasha on board and the Veertor agents looking for her, who was to say which ports were secure anymore.

"Good." Brenan smiled, "is your brother going to relieve you at any point?"

"Yep, he's g-got the second watch. Then I g-guess I get the d-dawn watch." Tyler was too far away for Brenan to see his face, but he couldn't detect any bitterness in Tyler's voice as he told Brenan that he'd have to pull a double watch tonight.

"Tell Kyle to wake me for the last watch, I've got some thinking to do anyways." By now Brenan had climbed the gangplank. "You boys were right to be cautious, let's take a few more precautions." Brenan lifted the gangplank from the pier with a impressive show of strength, and then blew out the lantern that hung by his side. "I'm guessing you don't need that to see, do you?" He asked the Lantian above his head.

"Not much." Admitted Tyler.

"Good, then it would probably help anyone trying to get aboard more. We'll leave it like this." Satisfied with the safety of his ship, Brenan climbed quietly below deck to find Kyle talking to Sasha and Michaels. The three were drinking tea and discussing the worst food they'd ever eaten while at sea. The gunner was trying to convince the others that he had known a cook who could soften shoe leather in lye and spice it up so it tasted just like beef.

"Let's hope we never have to try that." The three were startled by Brenan's comment, but soon all four were chatting together in a relaxed manner that would never have happened on any of the bigger ships that Brenan had sailed on. With a crew of only eight, it seemed impossible to avoid a more casual relationship between officers and crew. That was fine with Brenan as long as everyone on board knew whose orders they had to follow.

"Good night everyone, busy day tomorrow. We have cargo to load and we'll sail on the evening tide. So get some sleep."

Brenan headed for his cabin aware that he didn't know how they were going to work out the sleeping arrangements, and decided he didn't care all that much. Closing the door he settled into his wide captain sized bunk with a contented sigh. After his past two nights of sleeping first out under the stars and then on the floor of Red's cottage, sleep came easily.

He awoke sometime latter with a quiet knocking on his cabin door.