⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵...(Tour of "High Island")...
[Last time...]
”Brings 'att spyug up haur!” The captain called out from the bridge.
”Aye Sairrr!”
As Commander Galligan took the message and read it, the captain wrinkled his brow...
”Flamin’ flappergills! Th' commander is deid!”
”A high offense…” Galligan replied soberly.
”Aye…it is! Thes.. coulds mean war!”
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[On the Great Lake Ontario, a hundred yards north of Main Duck Island...]
The die was set. The trap was shut. The eighteen French sailors looked on solemnly as the three longboats swiftly broke water away from shore and headed north. First Mate Louis could contain himself no longer and ran to the waters edge…
”There will be a bounty on captain Slane’s head! The whole of France will be hunting him! I swear it!” (Translated)
Warrant Officer Errislravenhill didn’t need a translation. She knew a curse when she heard one. She'd heard many. But what bothered her most, was when a man cursed will all his heart and all his soul! Those kinds of curses somehow had a way of coming around to bite you.
[On the main deck of the Silverton…]
Junior Petty Officers Ahdiyari and Innowbooster barked out their orders as a group of seamen gathered near the portside rail and readied the boat hoist stations. Ammasitta and Evo manned the middle hoist station and eyed the approach of the longboats patiently.
"Do ye think we lost onie men in th' fight?” Seaman Evo asked as he shielded his eye from the sun.
“Ahh don’t knows, but thaur waur shots fired an' shootin' an' screamin'! Ahh ne'er saw such a barnie in aw mah years in Bali!”
”Damn th’ Franks!” Evo cursed as he spat over the rail.
~ ~ ~ ~
As the first of the three boats neared the great hull of the Silverton, the captain himself was front and center to greet them.
”Bring it in! Come aboot!” He called down as Errislravenhill and Petty Officer At-elvis waved their hats in the air!
”Ahh’m damned glad nothin' happened ta 'er!” The Captain said quietly as Commander Galligan stood next to him.
”Aye, an' 'att goes for me as well!” He added.
No one would know how relieved he really was. His heart nearly stopped mid-beat hours before when the shooting started, and he couldn’t explain the cold, empty feeling he had inside- not even to himself!
But there she was, smiling and standing up in the lead boat as her men stowed their oars and grabbed the throw lines and pulled the boat in tight to the hull.
Galligan caught her gaze, and for just a second, there were only two people on all of Great Lake Ontario that sunny afternoon... Warrant Officer Errislravenhill and Commander Galligan Blair.
Errisl’s eyes never left his until the thump of the rope ladder beckoned their exit.
⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵
Vocab fur lainlubbers:
aff (off)
arse (ass)
barnie (fight)
cannie (careful)
cheil (man)
coopon (face)
deid (dead)
doon (down)
fa (who)
gang (go)
gin (gun)
greetin' (crying)
haur (here)
jawbox (sink)
loch (lake, like)
lug (ear)
mair (more)
nae (no)
naw (now)
noo (now)
ower (over)
poke (pocket)
puir (poor)
reit (right)
spyug (bird)
thes (this)
uir (our)
ur (are)
wark (work)
whaur (where)
yak (eye)
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"Ta claim yer prize, simply send me a spyug wi' yer home port address to: joshua.slane@aol.com (Yoo've got ta trust yer Keptin!)" 😉-Keptin
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"Hmmm...jist shy o' breakin' th' Cycle low! Tomorrow will tells a tail o' suspense an' so forth! 🤨 -Keptin
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References: - Pictures from: www.freeimages.com, www.pexels.com, pixabay.com, steemit.com, GSM- Fractional buffalo, Wikipedia an’ www.google.com/maps. Data loosely interpretted froms: Wikipedia, an' sometimes finely crafted reit from th' author's extensiff personal experience an' such.
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"Confused? Ascared? Seasick? Need tae gab with th' Keptin?- Skelp th' 'Reply' button muckers!