Forever Young The Beginning

by Gerald Simpkins

  The next day dawned and soon after, Ian saw two fishing craft within one hour. They were generally on the same course as Tico was. About noon, came a cry from the crow’s nest “Land ho! Dead ahead! Land ho!” They had seen three fishing vessels since sighting the other two earlier that morning, all headed a bit to the west of Tico’s course. Ian thought that he might have missed Marseille by a few miles. They kept their heading and as they came closer, they didn’t yet see a city. He altered course to the west and they continued on, parallel to shore until the lookout cried out “Port of Marseille to starboard, Port Marseille to starboard.” Within the hour Tico dropped anchor in the port of Marseille.

  Chapter 8

  Ian shouted “Lads, we all need a bath.” He was answered with a chorus of “Aye!” as the men began to strip off their clothing. Soon the cargo net was lowered and the men were all swimming and cavorting, diving off of the bowsprit. Li and Ian took their clean clothes off of the line they had rigged and went to kindle a fire in the galley to roast a sea bass they had caught.

  After they had all eaten Ian said “We need to find the harbormaster and present the documents Cap’n McCloud gave me. He can help us find what we need, and God willing, maybe even a vessel bound for Barcelona. We could send word to the Cap’n that we made it in one piece.”

  “Aye, Ian, and maybe tell that bonny lassie that you’re still alive too?” At this everyone had a good laugh including Ian.

  “It seems you’ve found me out after all” he replied laughing with them, as Li and Tom slapped him on his back. Then he said “No need of you laughing too hard Tom. We’ve all seen you making calf’s eyes at Celita.” There followed a chorus of ‘Ooooo’s from the rest. Tom blushed red as a beet, as all the rest of the men bellowed with laughter.

  Ian flagged a passing fishing boat and got a ride to shore, taking Tom and Lorn with him as translators. By the time the day had ended, he had made arrangements for a sail maker to come to take measurements for a new set of sails for the foremast, and had contracted with a marine salvage and construction firm to begin repairs on Tico.

  Visiting the Harbormaster, he had presented the documents that Angus had sealed in wax and oilcloth, allowing the Harbormaster himself to open them. A brief explanation followed and the Harbormaster recognized the chain of title and cleared them for anchorage, declaring that he would enter all of the information in his log book. He also intended to tell his brother who owned the local newspaper to interview them because of their saving the Spanish ambassador’s daughter and surviving the storm. Ian bought a small dory so they could get to and from Tico and set watches for the coming night.

  ***

  Elsie’s Cloud rode at anchor in the harbor at Barcelona. Her longboat had carried Angus and the ladies to the main pier, adjacent to the harbormaster’s office. Armando had accompanied them as interpreter. They were accorded royal treatment by customs and the harbormasters office once the facts of their arrival became known.

  That night as they sat to dine at the Vasquez home, Alandra’s mother stood and announced a toast to the brave men of Elsie’s Cloud for their part in returning her daughter and Celita safely. She announced that every member of Elsie’s crew would receive a golden doubloon, a new white shirt with each crewman’s name, and a dark blue pair of long seaman’s pants. She told Angus that his gift would arrive with the others before they left port. They all drank a toast to the safety of the crew of Tico and that all would go well for them in Marseille. Alandra was smiling and talking courteously, but Angus could see that she was distracted with worry about Ian’s fate. Sitting next to her, he reached out his hand and warmly clasped hers. Their eyes met, and he said “I worry too Alandra, but know this; Ian is among the finest sailors I know. In my heart of hearts, I know that he’s already in Marseille.”

  ***

  The next day they moved Tico to the repair wharf before eating breakfast. The new mast was lying nearby ready for the carpenters who were due to come today as well. Soon the sail maker’s son arrived and looked at everything. The carpenters showed up and soon the repairs were underway. Ian told all of the crew except Lorn they could go ashore for the day, but to check in by early evening. He needed Lorn for a translator being as he could speak French.

  That evening, the crew had returned and one of them had a crude map of the Marseille water front area. Ian went over it with them. He then gave three of them flasks of scotch whiskey saying “Now lads, this ain’t for drinking. If ye get adventurous with some French lassie this evening, be certain to wash yourselves well with this when ye are finished. It’s a mite hot, but you’ll be glad you did it. You can get the rot here as well as any place else we’ve been and Lorn here can tell you more about that than I can.” At that all laughed at Lorn’s expense as he said red-faced “Aye! And once was enough for me!” The scuttlebutt was that he had such a misadventure once in Liverpool. With that they departed. Li stayed with Ian and they had a quiet supper and an uneventful evening.

  The next day, repairs were resumed on Tico. A wooden gantry with large sheaves and windlasses overhead was rolled into place along the twin repair piers, pulled by four draft horses.

  First they pulled out the broken stump after the carpenters had drilled out the dowels that fastened it to the step below deck. Then the new mast was picked up and carefully lowered into place using two men on dual windlasses. Before noon it was stepped and the carpenters were below deck drilling it to receive dowels. Ian stayed with Tico the whole day….only stopping to eat when the carpenters did.

  In late afternoon, a well-dressed man approached the workers and began to ask questions. They pointed him towards Ian. The man approached Ian and made an inquiry. Ian replied in halting French that he would have to fetch a translator, and called for Lorn to join them. It seemed the man owned a newspaper business in Marseille, and wanted to do a story about their adventure. Ian left Lorn to it and went back to observe the fitting of the mast and its fittings. It was nearly ready for the sails to be fitted tomorrow.

  He and five of the crew took a dunk in the harbor and dressed, wandering towards better looking areas that Ian had memorized from the Harbormaster’s map. They came at last to a sizeable place with a name that Ian couldn’t make out, and stood outside deciding whether to go in, or walk around some more.

  Across the street and a few doors down was a figure in a dark red hooded cape, watching them. She observed the group of men curiously. Then it dawned on her that these might be the group the whole town of Marseille was gossiping about. In particular, she noticed a tall dark complexioned one. Seeing that the others seemed to defer to him, she could hear them speak and could even make out his voice from the voices of the others. She had been methodically working up and down the streets and alleyways of Marseille for three days searching for her little brother. Watching until they went into the Blue Oyster, she waited a couple of minutes, then walked across the street and went in.

  Ian felt an odd prickly sensation at the base of his skull. It was as if his hair was standing up on his neck. He reached back to scratch and rub it to confirm that nothing like an insect was back there. It went away as he passed through the door to the inn. Inside, he and his friends found a large table and each ordered a tankard of beer. The serving wench returned with their order shortly. A heavy-set man with a florid face accompanied her who introduced himself as Henrique Pronovost, owner of the Blue Oyster. He asked if they were the Scotsmen who had saved the ambassador’s daughter and Lorn answered in the affirmative. So he said that the first round was on the house and then with a loud voice, he got everyone to quiet down for an announcement. He told the guests who it was sitting at their table and there was a goodly round of applause.

  About that time, Ian again got that prickly feeling on the back of his neck. Somewhat red-faced, he stood up and waved his hand while looking around at everyone. He noticed a beautiful woman in a dark red cloak looking at him from
near the entrance. She had honey colored hair with golden highlights, a creamy complexion, sensual lips, and lovely wide-set gray eyes. He stared at her a brief moment, then for not wanting to appear to be rude, he turned around and sat down, thinking what a beautiful woman, and what beautiful eyes! Their table was then surrounded by curious patrons wanting to know details of the whole affair.

  Ian and his friends never had to buy one round of drinks that night, but he stopped after the third one. Lorn did the talking for them and a comely wench had soon seemed to attach herself to him. It wasn’t an hour before she was sitting in his lap now and then, and he was surely enjoying it. Ian leaned over to Rob Woolsley, oldest one there at age forty, and told him to take Li and one other to go with Lorn if he left the place with that woman. Ian and two others got up and said their thanks and goodbyes to the friendly patrons. He looked about for the girl with the gray eyes again while leaving the place, but she was nowhere to be seen. They made their way back to the Tico without incident and Ian took first watch with Tom. The night passed uneventfully.

  ***

  “Weigh anchor and unfurl all sails!” Angus commanded. Elsie’s Cloud was under way. He and the crew of Elsie had said their goodbyes that morning. Alandra’s mother had made good on her gifts to every crewman and had presented Angus with a fine personally engraved pistol. They had included one for Ian too. Included in the delivery were the same gifts of shirt, pants, and a golden doubloon for each of the rest of Elsie’s crew in Marseille. Angus was glad that Alandra’s mother included his men at Marseille. That would reinforce to Alandra that they were indeed alive and help to relieve her depression. She had made a brave show of it, coming down to see them off and hugging Angus, the officers and Mustafa goodbye.

  Alandra’s father was believed to be still in France at the king’s court, however shortly after Elsie sailed, another ship arrived from Marseille with a note for Captain McCloud. Since Elsie had departed, the note was taken by courier to the Vasquez home. It was carried quickly to Alandra who cried tears of joy to learn that Ian was alive and well in Marseille. She was now sure that he’d find a way to come to Barcelona when he could to see her. She was seen by her mother to be laughing while talking to Celita. Her mother took note of this development with more than a little concern.

  ***

  Four days later the sail maker’s son arrived with new sails for both masts for Tico. His crew came along in short order and they got to work.

  Ian’s crew came back for supper, and he had already started baking another fish he’d caught scarcely an hour before. Li fussed and took over that job, and soon had several other things cooking for them. After supper one of the crewmen said he’d found a stone cutter, and that piqued Ian’s interest. He had won some rough diamonds in a wrestling match while in Cape Town. Dubious about their worth, he wanted an expert opinion so he resolved to go there tomorrow.

  That night he dreamt that he was in mortal danger and was fighting for his life against a demon from hell. A woman with beautiful gray eyes came to help him and he awoke with a start but the cabin and ship was quiet. He lay there until dawn and then went out to the end of the pier for a swim. After breakfast he set watches for the day, then taking his rough diamonds he walked into the city. In one of the better districts he eventually found the stone cutter’s place where Lorn had said it was.

  He went in and in his bad French, introduced himself to the owner, a small Jewish man of some sixty years. The man’s face brightened and he said speaking a bit slow in English “We’ve heard about you Monsieur, please let me get my wife.”

  After being introduced they chatted pleasantly for a few minutes, and soon Ian was giving a sketchy story of the pirate encounter, punctuated by ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’ as Reza took in each detail. At times Solomon stopped his examinations to chime in with her. Ian was amused and felt genuine warmth from this delightful couple.

  “Monsieur McCloud, these are a mixed bag of stones. Three are good quality gemstones for center settings. The others would make good stones for peripheral settings. I can buy them or cut them for you, or I can even tell you where another stonecutter is in Marseille”

  Ian opted to sell them and got a handsome price in gold. He thanked them both and made his way back to the ship, his bag of gold added to the one already about his neck. As he drew near to the wharf area, he again felt the warm prickly feeling on his neck and looked about in vain. It persisted until he reached the area of the marine salvage docks, then he heard Tom shouting his name. He looked and Tom was running toward him shouting “Elsie’s here, Ian, Elsie’s here!” The prickly feeling seemed to fade as Ian ran for the dock.

  Chapter 9

  As Ian looked out into the harbor, there was Elsie at anchor, and her longboat heading their way packed full of many of his crewmates with Angus standing in the bow, waving. Quickly he ran to the very end of the docks with Tom to await the longboat, and saw that they were all wearing new white shirts and long dark blue pants.

  As soon as it neared the dock Angus threw the line to Ian who caught it and quickly fastened it. The aft line was secured by Lorn nearly as quickly and Mustafa leapt from the boat, throwing himself into Ian’s arms, hugging him close. Ian got him in a bear hug, swinging him around in a circle twice, laughing all the while, and tousling his hair. Then he sat him down and hugged his Uncle Angus, as they slapped each other across their backs heartily. Armando was next with a bear hug that Ian returned laughing. Burly chief boatswain MacCarr nearly crushed the breath from Ian’s body. There were laughs and handshakes and hugs all around, everyone wanting to speak at once.

  Ian held up both hands, laughing “Lads, ye are balm to these eyes of mine. And who are ye all dressed up like the Royal Scottish Navy?” That elicited a chorus of laughter all around. All waited respectfully then for Angus to speak. “To the Tico lads and we’ll see her repairs and then hear of their voyage.”

  It was a warm reunion and all were interested in hearing the details of Ian and the other surviving the storm. Later Ian took Angus and introduced him to the Harbormaster who had by now heard of the famous Captain McCloud. Off and on, Ian thought that he felt the prickly feeling at the back of his neck during this time.

  Ian turned to Angus and asked “I almost forgot… did ye get my letter?”

  “Nah lad, I dinna get it.”

  “What became of Alandra and Celita?”

  “Ah, lad. They’re home safe now. Alandra could hardly be comforted but surely she’s long since gotten your letter.”

  Angus had informed Ian that the original owner had agreed to buy Tico back without the cargo. Ian resolved to write a letter to be carried back to Alandra in Barcelona.

  They ate supper aboard Elsie’s Cloud. Li was glad to get back into his own galley and made them a meal as good as any had eaten in a year. Local pastries were served afterwards. Many were eagerly asking about the sights to be seen. Ian promised them that they would go to the Blue Oyster for ale and would see some sights. The officers ate in the officer’s mess and the crew ate on deck wherever they could find a place to sit. It was a happy time.

  Supper being finished, Angus set a watch on both ships, but then deferred to Ian regarding the watch on Tico. The watches set, the group numbering thirty one, walked into the city.

  As they rounded the corner leading to the Blue Oyster, they saw a throng of people standing out front of the inn, and could see smoke coming from the entrance. They ran to see what could be done, and Ian got Lorn to shout at the crowd and tell them to find water and buckets. Lorn shouted then to help form a bucket brigade, and they did so. It stretched to a well located some two hundred feet away. Ropes were brought so as to be able to draw several buckets at a time. Two watering troughs in front of the building were being emptied and handed in a line that went through the doors. The fire was soon put out in the kitchen thanks to the quick response of the sailors and the others standing by.

 
; The owner came out and thanked Ian and Angus enthusiastically. Had it not been for them he said, he would have surely lost his home and business. The mayor had arrived by then, hearing of the tumult. He also was quick to thank them realizing that it was possible that it could have turned into a real fire and might have consumed several buildings.

  Ian spoke up “Well lads, it is a sure thing we won’t be drinking ale here tonight.” Lorn said “I know a place not far from here. We can be there in less than ten minutes.” Angus said “Let’s go then. By Heaven I’m thirsty enough now to even tolerate French ale!”

  They arrived at a large building with a red dolphin painted on its front façade. The sign said ‘Red Dolphin’ in French. The place was easily twice as big as the Blue Oyster, but was in a seamier more dilapidated part of the city, and closer to the wharf district. Ian again felt prickly about the back of his neck and turned about, looking intently in the shadows under the trees nearby. He saw a figure in a dark red cloak as he was swept through the door by his eager shipmates.

  The prickly feeling passed as they came into the Red Dolphin. They found their way to a corner and spread themselves about, occupying five tables. Soon a trio of wenches was taking orders and the men began to have a round when Angus stopped them by clanking on his cup with his dagger. “Lads, let us raise a glass to the crew of Tico for an example of fine Scottish seamanship in getting her here safely. To Ian McCloud and the crew of Tico!” A chorus of ‘aye’ and a few of ‘Hear-hear’ followed as they drank. The owner of the establishment came over and introduced himself as Erin LeBlanc. A large and muscular man, he easily topped two hundred forty pounds and was taller than Ian by three inches. As if sizing them up, his dark eyes darted everywhere. He said that he assumed they were the men who rescued the ambassador’s daughter from the pirates and that they were welcome. Angus confirmed that with a nod and a few customers came over to question him. Ian translated as best he could until Lorn parted the curious crowd with his girlfriend in tow, and began to translate.