The Case of the Captain's Hair (The Wolflock Cases Book 1)

by Rhiannon D. Elton

  "Thanks," he grumbled as he picked himself up and dusted off his trousers.

  "You'll be thanking me again in a moment," the other boy winked and looked down over the edge, watching the crewmen.

  Wolflock suspiciously looked at the boy and then saw the sail rise up before them and fill brilliantly with wind, making the boat creak and lean forward.

  He looked to the shore and saw Myna waving even more frantically at him (She'd known that he would want to watch the ship take off) and he waved back one final time. The crew were running around with ropes and untying the sails, letting them drop like beautiful white fans and catching the wind, pulling the whole ship as forward as the anchor would allow. The crew were shouting to each other and seeming a little disorganised. The secondmate came back on deck and took the wheel on top of the dining room that they had emerged from, shouting orders and steering the ship away from the shore. The other three sails were unfurled and their magnificence was reflected in the water below. Two men gripped a huge circular device and begin winding it, pulling the anchor from the depths of the river. The whole ship powerfully began moving forward and Wolflock noted the ropes that untied the sails, the ties to the masts and where they all attached to, as well as places where other ropes could be attached for other purposes. The ship increased in speed and began blazing upstream, slicing through the waves and travelling quickly up the centre of the broad river.

  "I'm Mothy. What's your name?"

  "Wolflock Felen. Pleasure to meet you Mothy," he smiled genuinely, thankful for Mothy's knowledge about the ship.

  "It's really amazing isn't it?" he exhaled in awe of the ship and the view of the river.

  "It's definitely fascinating," Wolflock agreed and took in the shore opposite either side of them. "How long will it be until we get to Mystentine?"

  "How did you know I was going to Mystentine?" Mothy asked in surprise, "And I heard the first mate saying that it will be a month until Silver Lake and then another month by carriage to Mystentine."

  "I'm glad it will only be two months, although I think it will be very cold by the time we get there." Wolflock paused for a time, but Mothy was still waiting for his explanation. "I knew you were going to Mystentine because you're young, you're alone on the ship, you aren't running around with the crew and you had your whole life in the bag by your bed. You also looked innocent and full of wonder. The only place you could be heading from here with all of that is Mystentine. You could be going for a new career, but it's more likely you're going to study because you're young."

  "Amazing!" Mothy gasped and looked happily astounded, "That's fantastic! You have a gift in that brain of yours!"

  "I think it's more like a different way of seeing things," Wolflock shrugged, but felt a little happy that someone was finally happy with his observation techniques.

  They stood in an excited silence for a long while, staring at everything that passed and watching the crew work. Wolflock was beginning to wonder when the passengers would be allowed on deck when they both felt a strong hand grasp their collars.

  "Oi!" came a gruff voice, "You ain't s'pose to be up 'ere!"

  One of the crewmen had come up to watch for rocks and other ships and discovered their hiding place.

  "Aw! C'mon Grogen! He wanted to watch the launch!" Mothy complained as they both tried to struggle free from the man's monsterous grip. He was clearly a Corshman, obvious from his sheer size, and his grip didn't slacken for an instant.

  "Tell ya what," he smiled a little wickedly, "You 'elp me cook later, and I won't take this to the Cap'in."

  "Deal!" Mothy grinned and was released.

  "What!?" Wolflock's jaw dropped, "Wait! I didn't agree to that!"

  "'E agreed for ya!" Grogen laughed heartily and dropped them both.

  Wolflock scowled and picked himself up from the floor again.

  They had to climb down because Grogen took up the whole crowsnest and as they were ushered back to their rooms Mothy smiled brightly to Wolflock.

  "What's the problem? It's just setting the table and serving food. Nothing too hard."

  "Isn't that staff business?" Wolflock retorted a little coldly as he was under the impression he'd be a high class guest upon the vessel.

  "Well we did do the wrong thing. It's only a night though. He could have asked us to do it all week."

  "THEY'RE doing to wrong thing by keeping us shut up down here!"

  "Are you always this stubborn?" Mothy laughed

  "Are you always so cheerful?" Wolflock frowned icily.

  "Yes," they both answered at the same time and broke out into fits of laughter.

  Wolflock had to admit that Mothy's happiness was certainly infectious.

  After returning below deck the boys spent the rest of the day together in Mothy's room, talking about the things they'd seen in the crowsnest, forgetting that they were to help with dinner until Grogen came and collected them at sunset.

  "C'mon ya little blighters! Time to work."

  The kitchen was located towards the back of the dining room and was mostly hardwood and cast iron. There was a huge cauldron and a sizeable bench.

  "The most important thing about cooking here is not getting the fire anywhere out of this area, or else the whole ship could go up in smoke," Mothy said in his normal bright tone.

  "Mmmm...." Wolflock hummed nervously, "And... ah... how do you keep it from setting the ship on fire?"

  "Haha! Oh you're funny, Lockie!" Mothy chuckled merrily.

  "Put these one," Grogen grunted as he tossed two dirty aprons at them. Wolflock tentatively copied Mothy who threw the waxed apron loop over his head and tied it around his waist.

  "Aye Mothy, you start chopping and ya friend can set the table, the utesils are in 'ere," he said as he kicked the cupboard to his right.

  "Yes... set the table... ummm...." Wolflock had paid attention to the beautiful silver and gold ware at his own home, but the brass crudely formed forks and knives and wooden bowls hardly resembled the finely crafted ones he was used to.

  "This is a bowel, aye?" he asked, holding up one of the wooden objects.

  "That's a cup," Mothy laughed and pulled out some flatter objects, the forks and knives, "This is a fork and this one is a knife. Put this on the middle and these two on the right."

  "I know how to set a table," Wolflock lied indignantly.

  "Oh! I thought that you may never have had the oppurtunity to do it before," Mothy said as if it were a privelage.

  Wolflock stared after Mothy who began chopping up vegetables so quickly and efficiently that Wolflock thought he was dancing with his hands this time.

  He resentfully laid out the table and kept a close eye on the fireplace, but also keenly watched what Grogen and Mothy were doing. Grogen seemed to just be stirring the cauldron and talking while Mothy continued to chop spices and vegetables, keeping some in bowls and some in the pot. When Wolflock had finished setting the places he stood by Mothy and closely watched what he was doing.

  "Want to try?" he offered the handle of the knife to Wolflock.

  "I.... uh.... I don't..."

  "You've never prepared food before?" Mothy asked gently when Grogen began singing to himself.

  Wolflock's face flushed and Mothy knew everything he needed to. "Just copy me," he whispered and handed another blade to Wolflock.

  For the next hour Wolflock copied Mothy as best he could while Grogen chuckled to himself, thinking of how the rich boy was learning from the one who only had the clothes on his back.

  "So why are you on cooking duty, Grogen?" Mothy ask as Wolflock's pace began to increase.

  "I didn't wanna be out there. The Cap'in won't come out of his cabin and the first mate is run over with problems. Normally the Cap'in and him share it all, but now he's going under. Swamped cause the Cap'in is shut up. Only the first mate knows why and he ain't telling no one."

  "How long has that been going on for?" Wolflock asked quickly, excited by the mystery.

  "'Bou
t a two weeks now. Just after we picked up our last few passengers at the crossing halfways between here and Corl." Grogen answered thoughtfully.

  "Who boarded then?" Wolflock asked quickly, already developing a plan in his mind.

  "I don't remember. We've been so busy that I haven't been able to meet the new folk on board." Grogen stopped his stirring and thought for a while, "You'd have to ask Slavidus, but he's so damn busy..."

  Wolflock hummed thoughtfully, but already he'd developed a plan that he would execute later to discover why they were all being locked up below deck.

  Mothy looked at Wolflock curiously, obviously seeing the wheels turning in his head, but before he could ask about it the passengers began flowing into the dining room.

  "It ain't ready yet!" Grogen groaned and grabbed a bag of hempseed bread, "Quick!" he growled, pouring the bread into Wolflock and Mothy's arms, "Pass these out and get the water and cups for 'em!"

  "Aye aye!" Mothy grinned and Wolflock followed him as they passed out a piece of bread to each person who sat down.

  Mothy seemed to know where everything was, so Wolflock simply followed him, which also stopped them from running into one another with jugs of water and clay cups.

  Soon the dining room was filled with light, chatter and the smell of the soup, urging bellies to growl. Wolflock's legs were aching from not sitting down for several hours and he was so hungry that he could have eaten three bowls of the bland soup. Grogen used a large wooden ladle to spoon the soup into the clay bowls that Mothy had taken out and the boys began distributing the meals quickly.

  With two bowls in hand, Wolflock had the excuse he needed to begin asking the passengers when they arrived. First he served the two dark skin ladies, acting as pleasently as possible.

  "Evening ladies!" he smiled widely and placed the bowls down slowly, "Having a nice trip I hope."

  "Vhy sank you," said the bulkier one to his right, "Ze trip vas nicer vhen the captain joined us more regularly."

  "Enjoy your meal," he nodded and returned for two more bowls, eliminating two of the passengers from his list immediately.

  It was scarcely thirty seconds before he had two more bowls and was serving the couple he had seen earlier.

  "Good evening," he said pleasantly, "I trust your trip is going smoothly?"

  The man looked up a little suspiciously, but the lady pleasantly smiled, "Why thank you. We haven't seen you on board before. I'm-"

  The man started coughing loudly and obviously, looking angrily at the lady.

  "I'm Wolflock. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I got on at the Plugh dock. Where did you get on?"

  "At Corl-" She started and was cut off again by the man's coughing.

  "I hope the soup helps your illness," Wolflock lost a little of his pleasantness through his distaste at the man's rudeness. But even with the man's rudeness, Wolflock was after someone who had gotten on at the last dock, which was not Corl.

  By the time Wolflock got the next two bowls, Mothy had already served the other half of the table and was starting at the opposite end from Wolflock, making him hurry a little.

  "Evening," he smiled brightly at a young man and woman who were talking casually, "How is your trip going?"

  "Beautifully," said the man, who had one bright green eye and one brown eye and a slightly tanned complexion, "Although I truly wanted to do my work on the deck..." he finished with a dramatic sigh.

  "I heard that it was something to do with the captain not emerging," Wolflock shrugged, mimicking the man's disdain.

  "Veluse and I only saw him once when we boarded with Tanni and her daughter," said the lady gently, smiling pityingly at Veluse's dramatic actions.

  "How will I ever pay the Captain if I cannot paint his image!?" he gasped and swooped his hand to his head.

  "I see..." Wolflock half smiled awkwardly and backed away while the pretty brown haired Yifi calmed Veluse down by not responding to his actions.

  He dashed back to the kitchen area where Mothy had already collected the last two bowls.

  "Oh! I'll take those. You've already done most of them. Let me serve the last two!" Wolflock offered eagerly and swiftly collected the bowls.

  "You must really want to meet the passengers," Mothy smiled brightly and took two more bowls from Grogen and two slices of hempseed bread, "I'll be waiting for you!"

  "Thanks," Wolflock said in mild surprise. He started to wonder in the corner of his mind if he'd made a friend.

  He made his way back over to the table and saw the lady and child sitting quietly eating their bread. They had been the last to come to dinner.

  "Hello again!" Wolflock smiled softly and put their bowls down, his arms aching a little as he'd never actually done more work than carrying books to read in his family's library.

  "Merry meet!" piped up the high pitched voice of the young girl, "I'm Tinni!"

  She jumped up on her seat and stretched out her hand in an overt display of friendliness. Her mother didn't seem to mind as she was lost in her own thoughts.

  "An enormous pleasure to meet you Tinni," Wolflock chuckled and shook her hand back with a mock formality, "How is your journey progressing?"

  "Very, very well! I've made two friends now!"

  "How very lovely. And how are you ma'am?" he softly touched the mother's shoulder.

  "I will be fine once we get to Silver Lake..." she sighed and picked up her spoon but didn't begin eating.

  Clearly the conversation was over, so Wolflock bowed to Tinni, who giggled happily at his formality, and joined Mothy at the very end of the table.

  "You don't strike me as the "merry meet" type. Why were you talking to everyone?" Mothy asked through a mouthful of vegetables.

  Wolflock fiddle with his spoon delicately in his long fingers.

  "Well, the Captain has been locked in his room since the last stop right?" he said in a low tone.

  "Aye..."

  "So that means that whoever got on at the last stop has something to do with that. And now I've discovered who I need to examine more closely so that we can get the Captain out and about again and I can spend the rest of the trip on the deck watching all I can," he finished quite proudly and took a few mouthfuls of soup.

  "That is very clever," Mothy hummed, "But you could have just asked me. I've been on the ship since it started its journey and I know everyone on here."

  Wolflock choked a little and frowned.

  "Thanks for telling me..."

  "Why are you doing it anyway?" Mothy asked with a sideways glance from his food.

  "So I can get out on the deck more regularly. This journey will be horrendously boring if I'm confided to the second level," Wolflock answered as if it were obvious.

  Mothy's mouth twisted a little in distaste at Wolflock's selfishness, but he shrugged and accepted him and his un-altruistic ways.

  Dinner was soon finished and the first mate came in towards the end, annoucing that there would be no music or dancing this evening as the instruments were packed away and would stay that way until his workload decreased. There was a great sighing and groaning, but he would hear none of it, ushering everyone from the dining hall. Luckily for Wolflock and Mothy they were able to stay longer as Grogen quickly explained that they had "offered" to help him clean up. They were both given half barrels and scrubbing brushes made from wood, sap and the course fur of a riverbank creature they had never heard of called a marmuti.

  "They compete for river space with us in the summer," Grogen explained as they scrubbed the bowls, "But in winter the waters get too cold and they stick to the shores. We'll see their collony in abouts a week."

  "You'll see the colony. We'll all be in our rooms," Mothy sighed fakely, unable to keep his smile off his face, "Unless of course you let us out..."

  "Haha. Nice try kiddo! We'll see. If you help me I'll help you," he winked and pulled out a half dried leaf and some herb, rolled it and lit it off the coals under the cauldron and smoked while he watched the boys.finish h
is work. Wolflock initially thought this was quite lazy, but as he looked longer, he noticed that Grogen looked incredibly tired and weary, the skin on his face sagging from exhaustion and his muscles straining to keep him upright. The sweet smelling smoke wafted around them and out of the window and Wolflock began feeling tired. Mothy's eyes were bright still, but closing slowly.

  Finally they finished scrubbing the bowls and laid them out to dry, threw the dirty water overboard and slumped off to bed.

  "If you go and do any more mischief tell me," Mothy yawned and leaned on the wall outside his room, "Can't have you getting into trouble without me."

  Wolflock chuckled in agreement and they both collapsed on their beds and let the lulling rock of the ship send them to sleep.

  Chapter 3, The Silver Ice Hair-less

  The next morning Wolflock awoke and combed his hair with his fingers in the reflection of the window until he was relatively presentable. There was no washing bowl or cloth to clean himself with, so he poked his head out and knocked on Mothy's door to see if he had one.

  There was no answer so he slid the door open slightly and saw Mothy was in the most awkward sleeping position he'd ever seen. He was belly down with one leg hanging out of the bed, one arm against the wall and the other bent over his head, and he was snoring loudly.

  "Mothy?" Wolflock asked gently and got a louder snore in response.

  Wolflock rolled his eyes and walked down to the end of the hall towards the first mate's quarters to see if he could find a cloth and bucket. He walked down the stairs at the end of the hall and found some dirty cloths but they looked like they were for cleaning dirt off the windows rather than purifying a face. The rest of the windowless hallway consisted of several hammocks, barrels and firewood and another lot of stairs going down into the hull For some reason his eyes went underneath the stairs and he saw a strange iron grate. His curiosity grasped him and he hadn't cleaned himself, so getting a little more dirty wouldn't hurt. Kneeling down under the wooden stairs he looked through the dark grate and saw a little light at the end. Glancing around and seeing no one he jiggled the grating and found it was attached with a hinge and came loose easily. The small tunnel was big enough for him to crawl through and he saw tracks from where someone else had been there within the last week judging by the marks in the dust. From the size and shape of the marks it was likely to have been Mothy. He slowly went through so that he didn't make the wood creak around him. He got to the end of the tunnel and found that the light was coming through an identical grate vertically above him and leading into a bright room. He climbed up the wrungs to the grate and opened it as quietly as he could. Like the secret stairs that Mothy had shown him, the grate opened up under a table. This table was much smaller and round and a long white cloth with silver trimming. He listened for a few moments and all he could hear was someone sniffling several metres away. He peeked out from under the cloth and saw a man with a very high collar with his head down on a desk and a Captain's broad black and silver hat beside him.