Synopsis

A story by H J Macey. E-mail h.macey@sky.com

Working title, 'Pirates.'

Synopsis

This story is set in Perth Westen Australia in 1963 and is of out of work legal professionals, who applies for a driver-secretary job in a seedy magazine. They are propelled into a world of a three hundred your old league of Pirates, that was formed to fight slavery. Over the intervening three hundred years, they have fought for the rights of persecuted people. Their leader is a three-hundred-year-old Dorean Gray. Who back in 1663 was captured by Madagascan slaving pirates, when at the age of ten he was sailing with his father and mother to India, for the East Indian trading company. He had been marooned on a strange volcanic island, whos radiation gave the fruits and vegetables growing their longevity properties. This prolongs the life to those that eat them, where one year of ageing is actually ten years in normal peoples lives.

 

Third Island east of Madagascar E 63% by S 20% an Island called Rodrigues is the Island I have picked for my home Island in this book, it has an encircling reef with a narrow entrance through it to the Island.

 

 

Home Island

 

 

 

Two hundred year ago, Pedro Martinez died in a sea battle, now the photo of Peter Martin has been sent in with a job application. It's an uncanny likeness to Pedro Martinez, and the thought of reincarnation is razed, by his old allies and friends.

 

This book is in progress

Chapter one how it all started

In the year 1663, a trading ship was on its last leg of a voyage from England to Calcutta India. Onboard was a clerk named Benjamin Horace Gray, aged forty-five who was destined to take over the position of head tallyman at the new trading office, recently established there for the East India Trading company. With him was his young wife Annabelle, a striking lady of twenty-five, and their ten-year-old son Dorian.

 

Benjamin had started working for a trading company his father already worked at, he was then aged ten and he worked as the office run-about. He then steadily worked his way into the office fabric, with his keen ability to learn and readiness to do any job that had to be done. He became good with figures, and by the age of fifteen was regularly seen down at the wharf, assisting the tallyman there. At twenty he was one of the head tallymen himself, a well-liked and trusted member of the firm. With his employers planning for him to rise higher, on the management side. 

 

His position in the trading firm gave him monetary rewards, and status much higher than his fathers and at the age of thirty, he moved them to a finer part of London. Where they mixed with a higher class of people, one such family of lesser funds than them had a young daughter. That caught Benjamin's eye, though only ten at the time, she was well developed and stunning to look at. Benjamin visited the house every week and gained the affection of the young lady.

 

For five years, he attended her, and at the age of fifteen with her father's permission, a happy Benjamin married the lovely Annabelle. Dorian was born nine months later, to his adoring parents who lavished love and affection on their son. For there had been problems with the berth, and Annabelle could have no more pregnancies. The first four years of Dorian's life were spent with his doting mother, smothering him in love and the fear of him being hurt if he ventured out.

 

Benjamin saw his son being mummy coddled, was afraid of Dorian becoming a sissy-boy and bought him a pony and taught him to ride. Other manly activities Dorian was encouraged to take up, and by the age of ten Dorian was a confident outwardly going young boy. It was at this time, Benjamin's trading company merged with others to form The East India Trading Company. With Benjamin being tasked to open a trading post in Calcutta, the first of many planned.  

 

A trading ship was commissioned, to undertake this initial voyage to set up a trading route to India. With stop's to replenish stores, and to deliver and load goods for commerce. This ship was also to transport Benjamin and his family, a journey that could take up to six months or more depending on weather and speed of the ship. The adventurous Dorian was encouraged by his father to work aboard the trading ship as if part of the crew.        

 

The young Dorian revealed in the ship's atmosphere, and among the rough company of the sailors and had been taken under the wing of the ship's Captain. In the months that followed, he was teaching the young boy how to read a compass and the stars to navigate by. The sailors taught him rope skills, his father didn't know and to his mother's dismay some of their broody language. As well as some sea shanties, his mother also disapproved of.

 

 The boy's father had encouraged the arrangement, as it was giving the boy a healthy life experience, away from the pampering of the mother. The boy was benefiting from it mentally and physically, as in the five months they had been aboard the boy confidence had grown considerably, and so had his physic.  

 

After the long uneventful journey around Africa, they were on the last leg from Cape Town. They were in the Indian Ocean, approaching the island of Madagascar. The morning after sighting the island, two sets of sails were sighted, on a tack to intercept them. The Captain altered course, to take them further east towards Sumatra. Trying to put distance between them and the other ships. Only they were smaller and much faster, and by nightfall had gained on them considerably.

 

If the captain could not lose them in the darkness of the night, they would be upon them by morning. The full moon did not help them, and he manoeuvred to head south when the moon was hidden by clouds. Only his heading was anticipated, and the ships were closer by a league when the moon bathed the sea in silvery brilliance once again. In the early dawn, the Captain gathered his men, and the Gray family and gave them the deadly realisation of their situation.

 

"They're the slaving pirates of the Arabian Sea's, we will be fighting for our lives soon. Those of us they don't kill will live the rest of our life in slavery. For they will sell us to the Arab Saltines along the red sea coast, and they are cruel masters. We are not fighting men, and we have few weapons, but there is no way of avoiding this affray."

 

Then taking Mr Gray by the arm, he pulled him to one side and said. "I'm afraid your wife will be stripped bare, and go to the highest bidder at the slave market Sir." Then he thrust a dagger into Mr Gray's hand saying, "only you can decide the fate of your wife Sir". Then taking young Dorian by his collar, pulled him to his cabin and locked him inside. Arming himself and his crew with pistols and cutlasses, they awaited the inevitable fight that was about to happen.

 

The captain was right they were not fighting men, and the fight was almost over as soon as it began. There were no deaths among the crew, as most of them were clubbed unconscious. When the pirates swarmed over the sides of the freighter, from the two pirate vessels, that with practised manoeuvring. Sandwiched the freighter between them, so they could storm the ship from both sides.

 

From his hiding place in the captain's cabin, Dorian saw the ship's crew overwhelmed three to one. The captain never fired his pistol, for he was clubbed from behind as he sighted along the barrel at the pirate captain. Dorian had seen his father dragging his terrified mother, out of Dorian's sight as two pirates went to grab her.

 

After the short fight was over Dorian was found in his hiding place, and dragged out by the scruff of his neck. That was when he saw his dead mother, in the arms of his butchered father. For he had stabbed her with the dagger the Captain had given him. Benjamin Gray had died saving his wife from a fate worse than death itself, and he was shot several times. In an attempt to stop him denying the priests, of such a valuable prize as she.

 

The pirates had taken Dorian as part of the crew, cabin boy no doubt because of the seaman's clothing he wore. The shock of seeing his parent's lying dead had stunned him into a shocked silence, he felt numb staring at them but the tears that fell and his anger did not register with the pirate captain at all. If it had he may not have decided Dorian would make a fine cabin boy for himself, and would not have taken him from the freighter to his ship.

 

With the freighter crew bound and put below, a pirate prize crew sailed the freighter back to the Red Sea Coast. To sell the goods on board the freighter, and the crew into slavery. While the two pirate ships sailed on in search of more bounty. The pirate captain's English was limited to just a few words, like 'you' 'here' 'food' 'drink,' and if Dorian wasn't quick enough a swift kick from his boot would emphasize his words.

 

For two days they sailed eastwards towards Sumatra and came upon two small fishing boats. The hapless native crews found themselves in the other pirate's ships hold, bound and destined to be sold. That pirate ship now with a full hold, departed for their home port. Leaving now only one ship, to hunt for more slaves. Dorian had been busy while nobody was watching him, he had found his way below decks to the stern of the ship. Where he had been working on the steering pulleys and ropes, trying to cripple the ship in some way so he may escape in the confusion.

 

He would have to pick his time right, he would have to be near shore to swim for it. Maybe at night so he could slip away in the darkness, he had also been in the depths of the ship and identified some weak planking. If he could get a leak started, it might help in his escape. He had also found a sack of coconuts, he could use to stay afloat when the time came to leave the ship. Until then he would have to injure the mistreatment of the Capitan.

 

Chapter two

Chapter two

 

In the following weeks, Dorian busied himself with sabotaging the ships steering and planking. Being careful not to render any of it useless, before he was ready to escape the ship. In this time the pirates had raided several coastal villages, to secure food and water and a few more captives. Dorian knew not where they were, but wherever it was it was hot and humid and the captives could speak no English.

 

A fact Dorian found out when he was sent down to the hold to water them, and tried in vain to question them. The Captain had a map on the wall of his cabin and Dorian looked at it one day when he took the Capitan's food to him. The Captain was not there, but looking at the map meant nothing to Dorian. He had seen a map like it, in the Capitan cabin on the merchant ship.

 

That Captain had shown him where India was on the map, but looking at it now didn't show Dorian where they were. The only clue Dorian had to their whereabouts, was where the pirate Captain had left his pencil and compass dividers. That was in among, a large group of Islands far south of India and off to the east.                          

 

Dorian could study it no longer, as the Captain had returned for his meal. Dorian knew they were not far offshore, for the routine of the ship had been the same each day for the past week. As they were sailing in between a group of islands, it was not safe to sail at night in waters they did not know. So they moored at sunset and got underway at sunrise unless they came upon something of interest to them, they had raided another small coastal village.

 

They then spent the night drinking and raping the women, while their menfolk were tied up helpless, with some young men waiting to be put aboard. They had left in the morning just after sunrise, with five more young healthy men in the hold. Dorian wasn't allowed ashore, with the landing party and had to watch what happened in the village from the ship moored close inshore. With the rest of the crew left on board, and missed his chance to slip away in the mayhem.

 

For days now each morning, they had headed towards the rising sun, now in the afternoon, the sun was on their right-hand side. Then with them passing between two landmasses, they altered course towards the setting sun. Though much southerly than they were, Dorian surmised they were heading back towards their home waters. Now he has to complete his destruction of the steering gear and put his escape plan into action before they reached their home port.

 

Dorian had started a leak in planking at the stern of the ship and had almost destroyed the housing for the heavy shackles that connected the steering cables to the rudder arm. That night he went down again to finish his work but did not notice he was followed by a curious sailor. He had climbed onto the steering gear and was about to start work when the sailor attacked him. Dorian was no match for the sailor and was soon overpowered, then he was dragged to the Capitan.

 

As they climbed the companionway to the upper deck, the wind and waves began to rise. The Captain ordered the crew to take in sail, as the wind increased in ferocity. The sailor with Dorian was told to tie him in the Captain's cabin, he would deal with Dorian when the storm abated. Only the wind rose higher as did the waves, and the storm soon turned into a raging gale. In the darkness, the ship was tossed about like a cork, and more sail was taken in.

 

The morning brought no rest bite from the waves, they even seemed higher than in the night. About midday, an almighty cracking sound was heard and the ship heeled over and turned broadside onto the waves. The steering arm Dorian had almost cut through had given way, and the ship was uncontrollable. With no steerage, the ship was at the mercy of the wind and waves, all the lives on board were in peril. There was only one person to blame for this, and he was tied in the Captain's cabin.          

 

There was no time to deal with Dorian now, the safety of the ship was paramount. With all sail taken in, sea anchors were deployed to slow the ships drift and keep them steady. They could do nothing about the way the ship was tossed about, they could only make sure they stayed safe and not get washed overboard. For two days they endured the wild seas before the wind abated, and the seas calmed somewhat. Now they could inspect the damage Dorian had inflicted, and ponder how to fix it.

 

For the whole time of the storm, Dorian had been tied to the mizzenmast that passed through the Captain's cabin and had suffered badly with motion sickness. On his return from inspecting the damage below, the Capitan tore off Dorian's shirt and flogged him with a length of rope. With some of his anger spent, he left Dorian hanging unconscious as he held a meeting of his men. They had to do emergency repairs somehow out here in the open sea, that wouldn't be easy with the high seas that were running at the time.

 

What to do with Dorian was another question, keelhauling was a punishment no one survived. He had already had fifty lashes, his back would be scared if he survived any other punishment they gave him. Selling him, didn't sound enough punishment for what he had done. No, a long lingering death, was what the sadistic Capitan thought fitting. Getting the ship seaworthy, was the uppermost priority at present, Dorian's punishment would have to wait.

 

The seas were still wild after the two-day gale, although the winds had dropped it still drove the crippled ship before it. Drifting sideways the waves tossed the ship from side to side, making it difficult to move about let alone work with any accuracy. At night the clearing skies allowed the Capitan, to gauge the direction the drift was taking them. He declared to his frighted crew, they were in the open waters of the Indian Ocean.

 

The drift was taking them west towards their home waters, with hundreds of miles of open water. When the seas calmed they would repair their ship and sail home to safety, most seamen were afraid of the unknown. The earth was flat and if you sailed too far from land, you fell off the edge of it. Mists covered the rocks that sank ships, and sea monsters lived in the middle of the sea. As the night faded and the sun rose a huge wall of mist was sighted, and it was in the direction the drifting ship was headed.

 

Most of the crew panicked and prayed for deliverance, the rest of the crew turned to their Capitan for guidance. If the seas were calmer he would have lowered the longboats, and towed the ship. Only the waves and wind would have swamped them, more sea anchors would maybe slow the drift. They wouldn't stop it, the ship was destined to enter the mist. So the Capitan broke out the grappling poles, they used to hold onto a captive ship. He then ordered his men to stand at the gunnels, and keep watch in the mist for any rocks that appeared and fend off with the poles.

 

Chapter three

Chapter 3

 

It was eerie in the mist, only the sound of waves lapping against the ship, and the wailing of frightened men could be heard. Dorian had regained consciousness, and although racked with pain. Watched through the cabin windows, as the terrified crew were swallowed up by the mist. To become shadowy ghostly figures; only to disappear completely twenty feet from the cabin window.

 

For long moments they strained their eyes in the mist, then just as quickly as they entered they emerged into the sunlight, and a new panic gripped them. Less than a mile away was a reef, beyond that an Island that was not on the charts and the ship was still drifting toward it. As the reef drew nearer, the Capitan realised the ship was caught in a maelstrom that flowed through a gap in the encircling reef. The rising tide was flooding through the gap quite fast, taking his ship with it.

 

The top of the reef encircling the Island was visible above the seas, only where the sea rushed through the gap was no reef visible. The Capitan estimated the ship would pass through the gape with ease, only the depth of the water at this part of the reef worried him. He quickly told his crew to brace themselves for a collision with the reef, and the possibility of a violent heeling of the ship when the ship struck the reef side on.

 

Some crew members lased themselves to the windward gunnels, some to the masts while others wedged themselves where they could hold on for dear life. When the reef disappeared from view, the Capitan yelled a warning just before the ship struck the reef and heeled to starboard. The ship shuddered, as the sound of her bottom could be heard scrapping over the reef. Then she righted herself, to bob about in the rushing waters inside the reef that was now a lot charmer.

 

Now, much relieved at their survival, the crew looked over the sides of the ship, and down into the clear blue waters beneath them. They were in a channel in the shallow lagoon, swept clear by the inrush of the sea at the rising tides. It filled the inner lagoon that the reef surrounded, and made this trench their ship was in, sweeping them down towards the entrance of a bay. They busied themselves with the sea anchors, manoeuvring them to the stern to bring the ship heading around.

 

The effect was almost immediate, stern onto the rushing water the ship slowed its wayward drift. With less of the ship, to push against, and with the drag of the sea, anchors slowed her considerably. They entered the bay at an estimated four knots and then slowed to wallow in the deep water in the middle. The Captain shouted orders and his crew lurched the longboats, then taking ropes from the bow and stern towed their ship sideways towards the gently sloping shore.

 

Dorian could guess what the Captain was doing, he had seen small ships careened at low tide on the River Thames. The Captain was going to careen his ship at low tide to inspect her bottom and see what damage the reef had done to her. When the ship's keel grounded, the lines were made fast ashore, and adjusted as the tide rose. As they waited for the high tide, they unloaded the goats and pigs they had taken from the villagers.

 

Tethering them to feed and fatten in the lush undergrowth, between the beach and the wooded forest. The captives were shackled and showed how to tend the ropes, so when the tide turned the ship would lie on its side. While they waited, the Captain took four of his crew and a longboat and rowed out of the bay. While they were gone the tide turned, and the ship slowly keeled over as the tide went out.

 

On his return the Capitan detailed his crew off to do different jobs, three were detailed to oversee the captives. This included Dorian; they were tasked with cleaning the hull with long scrappers to remove barnacles. Two men were made cooks and butchered a goat, to be roasted to feed the men. Two were detailed to go with the carpenter, to find suitable wood for repairs.              

 

While others were sent out to forage for anything edible, and to search for fresh water. The tide would take hours to recede, which meant it would be midday or after before, the tide turned again. The first of the men to return had found water, a small stream flowed into the bay up on the left where it flowed down the rocks from the high ground. They took a few of the captives, with water bags to carry the water back.  Dorian was not one of them, he remained firmly bound.

 

With the tide low enough now to exposé the keel of the ship, the Capitan examined her bottom. There were scrapes and gouges in the planking, but no serious damage to her hull. The reef had scrapped the hull of barnacles, as the ship had dragged over it. Much relieved the Capitan put his captives to work, cleaning the rest of the hull of sea growth. They would turn the ship on the next high tide, to finish scrapping her bottom.

 

All afternoon Dorian and the captives worked to clean barnacles from her bottom; the returning tide was lapping at the ship's keel by the time they finished. The other side of the ship would take longer to clean, as the reef had not scrapped that side of her hull. The captives and Dorian were once again bound to poles driven into the ground and guarded by two crewmembers. As the rest waited for the ship to float, they could turn her so she would careen on her other side.

 

During the night in the darkness, some of the pegs holding some of the animals must have worked louse. In the morning, some goats and pigs had disappeared, their ropes and pegs missing too. The Capitan sent a search party to search for them, while the others continued searching for food and collecting water. When the tide allowed, the captives and Dorian were made to scrap the bottom of the ship again, only this time it would take two tides to clean her hull.

 

Again at high tide, the Captain took the longboat out of the bay, to return as the tide turned again. He was angry the search party found no trace of the missing animals and took his frustration out on Dorian, beating him with a length of rope. The next day there was still no sign of them, and Dorian was beaten again. With the scrapping of the hull finished, they would float her off the beach at high tide. They planned to leave the Island on the midday tide, the following day.

 

Over the last two days, the tide had steadily moved higher up the beach. Now the ship was floating in deep water, they moved the animals and Captives back onboard. Dorian was stripped and tied up in the Capitan cabin and suffered the drunken Capitan's abuse again during the night. In the morning with two of his crew, the Captain took the naked Dorian ashore. The day before’s high watermark, they drove wooden stakes into the sand and tide Dorian spread-eagled to them.

 

Chapter four

 

With the tide lapping at his feet, they left him to drown and be eaten by the fish and crabs, as the tide flowed over him. He watched helplessly, as the two longboats towed the ship from the bay. Then as it disappeared around the headland a shadow spread over him, and he saw a naked old man undoing his restarts. As he sat up he saw there was a naked old lady with him, and between them, they helped him off the beach.

 

Up over the grassy plain above the beach, and through the undergrowth they climbed higher up the wooded slope of the hills. Then the ground levelled off to a fertile plateau, which could not be seen from the beach. Although fatigued and in pain, Dorian had to smile. For fenced off on the grassy plateau, were the pigs and goats that had wandered off from the pirates. Or had they been helped to escape just as he had?

 

At the edge of the clearing, stood a simple wooden building made completely from bamboo. It had only one room that held a crude table and chairs, a bed in one corner and an array of things Dorian could not work out there use. He was helped to the bed, and the old lady broke a large green leaf. The green gel she squeezed from the leaf she applied to Dorian's back and the rope welts, that the Captain had crisscrossed his back with when he had lashed him.

 

The cooling and soothing effect of the gel was almost immediate, and the old woman's hands had a calming feel and Dorian drifted off to sleep. How long he slept he would never know, but he awoke refreshed and almost pain-free. It was a bright day and the sun shining through the door told him it must be a new day. As he looked around him he saw on the table beside the bed, a woven bowl full of exotic fruits.

 

They were delicious and he gorged himself on them until his belly was full and his hunger satisfied. As he finished the old woman came into the building to check on him, in her hands another green leaf. Smiling she broke it and extracted the green gel, and sitting on the bed beside him applied a fresh coating to his back. The young Dorian felt a little strange, at having this naked woman attending him.

 

He had never before seen a naked woman, his mother had always worn full-length multi-layered dresses that hid her body. Here this woman thought nothing of his or her nakedness, as she sat close to him to tend his wounds. The thought of his mother brought a tear to his eyes, that flowed as he pictured his parents lying dead on the deck of the ship. As he sobbed the old lady put her arms around his shoulders to comfort him, not knowing the reason for his tears.

 

For long moments she held him, her tender embraces comforting him and easying his pain. And tempering his anger at the pirates who had taken his beloved mother and father away from him. Calmer now he looked at the lady holding him and tried to smile. She smiled letting go of him, she again tended his wounds. When she had finished she beckoned him outside, to where the man was working on his patch of growing ground. Where green plants grow in abundance, in well-worked fertile soil.

 

The two of them happily jabbered away in a tongue Dorian could not understand. He had so many questions to ask like were there other people on the Island, did other ships call here so he could get passage to India. When he had come out of the building, he saw the sun in the sky beyond the entrance to the bay. In the last three days, it had passed over the Island from that direction to set on the other side.

 

When the old couple had brought him to their home, the sun was high in the sky above them. This was a new day but how long had he slept, it seemed like an age, not just a day. He gave up in frustration and just listened to them, trying to match words with their actions. He picked up a crude digging spade and holding it up said "spade", the old man smiled and said "paddo."

 

It would take some time, but Dorian thought he had found a way of learning their language. They all smiled when Dorian thumbed his chest saying "Dorian," then pointing to the old man said "you"? The old man and woman looked at each other, and then turning back to Dorian said "YOU"! Dorian shook his head, this wasn't going to be easy, but he couldn't give up. "Dorian," he said again patting his chest smiling, as he held out his arms to the man.

 

Dorian then smiled with what he thought was a success, when the smiling old man seemed to grasp what Dorian was doing. He smiled broadly tapped his chest and said "Matto" and then turned to the woman saying "Seeua"! Dorian's happiness seemed infectious, as he smiled and danced about the old couple did the same. Then Dorian continued touching things, and Matto gave them names.

 

Then Matto took Dorian on a tour of the plateau. There were tropical fruit-bearing trees and bushes that Matto picked from and handed to Dorian to eat. As he leads him to where a small stream flowed from the high country, then down to the cove where the pirates had landed. Following Matto, Dorian climbed the gently rising ground beside the stream, through the wooded slopes to the summit.

 

Where the last hundred feet or so was a baron and rocky hilltop, Dorian stood and had a three-sixty view of the Island and the reef that surrounded it. He could also see the gape in the reef where the ship had been drawn through by the rushing water. He also saw the circling mist curtain that hid the Island from view, for anybody beyond it. From this vantage point, he now knew why the pirate Captain had taken the longboat out of the bay at the top of the tide.

 

 At slack water, he could sound for the depth of the water at that point, to know if he could get his ship over the reef. As Dorian surveyed the scene before his eyes, he pondered his escape from the Pirates. It had not gone as he wished, but he had got away from them. What to do next to get back to civilisation, he did not know but at least he was free.     

 

Back down at the plateau, Seeua had made a type of bread, that they eat washed down with fruit drinks. The bread was still warm and had a coconut flavour to it; after they had eaten Dorian watched Seeua make another. To the water and flour, she added flakes of dried coconut then mixing it into a dough, she worked it with her hands until it was just right. It was then partitioned into equal sizes, and taken out to an oven Matto had built from the rocks lying all around.

 

Matto was calling him, and Dorian followed him down to the cove, and round to where the beach turned into a rocky shore. Out on the rocks, Matto located a length of what looked like a rope. Pulling on it Matto pulled a bamboo cage from the water, in it was crabs and lobsters. Matto quickly captured them, putting them into a fishing net bag he had brought with him. Replacing the cage, he pulled on another rope, and Dorian saw large blackish-blue shellfish attached to it.

 

Matto selected the largest of them and returned the rest to the water. Smiling Matto climbed off the rocks with his bag, then led Dorian to a long smooth black rock laying alongside the other rocks. Putting down his bag, Dorian was surprised to see Matto turn the rock over. It turned out to be a small one-man black canoe, that blended in with the black volcanic rocks. In the canoe were ores and a fishing net, the net was made from thin vines that were the same as Matto's bag. 

 

The canoe would not be safe beyond the reef in the wide-open seas, but in the quieter waters within it, it could be used for fishing. Dorian wondered if he could get Matto to show him how he made it, so he could build a bigger one, one he could sail away in and back to civilisation. It was not made of rock although it looked like the volcanic rocks around them, it was too light to be and felt slippery when he touched it and lifted it off the beach.

 

Matto thought Dorian wanted to take it on the water when he saw how interested Dorian was in it. Dorian shook his head and put the canoe down, "how you make"? Dorian asked to no avail. Matto looked bewildered at Dorian's words, Dorian would have to find another way of finding out. The inside of the canoe was as smooth as the outside, but as Dorian rubbed his hands over it he was sure he felt ridges in long straight lines. On the way back to the plateau, he pondered what it could be.

 

Dorian's first full day of freedom had been fulfilling and tiring, in the evening air as dusk fell they sat and ate their bounty from the sea. The fire they cooked from was fired by wood, the illumination was by big black candles that gave off a great glow and a plume of smelly smoke. When Dorian inspected one, he saw they burnt like white wax candles with a pool of melted wax at the middle. Only this black candle looked like and felt like the canoe on the beach. When they went to bed later, the old couple climbed onto the large bed with Dorian.

 

Chapter five

When Dorian awoke, Matto and Seeua were already up. Matto was nowhere to be seen whereas Seeua was around the side of the hut, washing vegetables in an upturned turtle shell. The water running from a bamboo pipe, Seeua pulled a plug from when she wanted water. The bamboo pipe ran elevated off the ground by supporting bamboo poles towards the river at the end of the plateau. "Where Matto?" Dorian asked, and a smiling Seeua pointed in the direction of the river.

 

Dorian saw him in the distance beside the bamboo pipeline when Dorian caught up with Matto; he seemed to be inspecting the pipes. It was only then Dorian realised how the pipeline had been made. Matto had shaved the outer layer off the bamboo pipe, at one end and shaved the inside of the other. A tight fit when pushed together made sure of no leaks, this was what Matto was checking on at the moment. When he had finished, he led Dorian over the lower peek of the hill.

 

Down they climbed through the wooded slopes towards the other side of the island. Leaving the wooded hillside behind them, they walked over slowly sloping grown. Dorian saw the sea before him, and the reef with waves crashing over it. The water between the reef and the island was a charm shallow lagoon, hardly ruffled by waves. One thing Dorian did notice, the ground he was walking on was getting hotter the nearer they got to where Matto was leading them.

 

With the ground hotter still Dorian smelt an acrid smell, then before them he saw a black bubbling pool of what looked like tar. The edges of the pool where the tar had cooled, was hard and shiny just like the canoe and candies. In a row stood some bamboo pieces tide around with a crude string, a thin piece of bamboo resting on top had a length of string tied to it that hung down the centre of the bamboo tube. Untying the string, and pulling the bamboo halves apart, Matto revealed the candles he had back at the hut.

 

That revelation revealed to Dorian the construction of the canoe, the straight lines and the tiny bumps was a cage of bamboo covered with this hardened tar. The shoreline was over half a league away from the tar pool, the tar would harden too fast to build a boat that far away. It would have to be built here by the pool and then transported down the sloping ground to the beach. It was where Matto must have made his canoe, and then paddled it around the island to the cove.

 

Now Dorian had to convey his plans to Matto, he would need his help to make his plan succeed. From where they stood, Dorian could see bamboo growing in thick patches on the lower slopes. They would have to cut them down and bring them to the pool of tar, build the boat then get it to the water. He again knew he could not build it himself, Matto would have to help him. 

 

He had to take Matto back to the canoe and try to explain he wanted to build a canoe for himself. Only, one that was much bigger, one he could sail away in and get back to the people in England. His grandparents would love him as his parents had, he had seen them often as he had grown up. They were kind and loved their daughters baby, and had taken him on outings. He would find a way of getting home to them, and tell them of his mother's death.

 

Matto had started to reassemble the bamboo halves and the strings down the middle of them. Picking up a long bamboo pole that had a large round bamboo-section attached to it, he dipped it into the molten tar and filled the standing bamboo sections he had assembled. When he had finished he gathered up two of the already made candles and handed them to Dorian, then picking two up himself, he turned to walk in the direction of home.

 

The candles were not heavy, but their size meant you couldn't carry more than two comfortably. By the time, they got back to the hut Dorian's arms ached, and he was glad to put them down. The old lady fussed over him when she saw him rubbing his aching arms, and produced more of her green gel to smooth away his pains. She also had food for them to eat, and bright tasty fruit drinks to fill their bellies.

 

Dorian thanked her by kissing her hand, a thing he had done with his mother, after seeing men kiss her hand in greeting. Seeua patted his head, Matto slapped his shoulder pointing to the cove and saying 'et platoa.' Then led Dorian towards the wooded slope, that led down to the inlet the pirates had entered. Dorian eagerly followed as he saw Matto heading for the rocks, Matto kept the canoe.

 

On the beach, Dorian smiling started to lead the way to the rocks and the canoe. When he reached the canoe, he turned it over and smiling lifted the ore from inside it. Standing at one end, he took two giant paces along the length of the canoe, six feet maybe he calculated. Matto looked at him inquisitively, as Dorian took another eight paces.

 

Thirty-feet should be big enough for one to handle. With the ore, Dorian draw a line in the sand where he stood then moved back to the canoe, looking at Matto he felt the canoe then tapped himself. He did it twice, then with the canoe ore, he drew a line either side of the canoe and onward to where he drew the end line.

 

Then he sat in the make-believe canoe and using the ore, he pointed to the entrance to the bay and paddled with the ore. Matto had watched intently but in silence, now he moved towards Dorian shaking his head. It seemed he understood what Dorian was trying to tell him but he didn't agree with Dorian. Matto took the ore from Dorian and took two paces away from him, then with the ore, he drew another make-believe canoe with joining lines between them.

 

He was telling Dorian he needed a twin canoe to sail the seas beyond the reef, Dorian now knew he understood him but would he help him build the boat. Matto looked at Dorian as he put the ore back into the canoe, and took out a bamboo staff. The end of which had been split into four, and sharpened to make it into a spear. Then walking into the water he repeated the word's he had said back on the plateau, 'et platoa.'

 

Holding the spear in both hands across his body, Matto walked into the water to his waist and looked into its depths. In a short time, he had made several thrusts with the spear. Until he finally raised it from the water, with a flapping fish impaled upon it. Two more fish were caught before Matto put the spear away, and Dorian lifting one fish to say to a nodding smiling Matto, 'et platoa.' That night they eat, et platoa that Seeua cooked.

 

As she cooked Dorian sat with Matto and drew twin canoe's in the dust on the floor. Only to have Matto take over, and add masts and sails and bigger hulls with platforms between them. Dorian recognized the boats Matto had drawn, they were similar to the boats the Islanders had in the islands, the pirates had sailed through. As they raided and pillaged the villages among the islands, but why didn't Matto have such a boat, he was surely from the same place.

 

Matto seemed to understand Dorian's needs, as he sat beside Dorian drawing plans of a boat capable of open water sailing. There was still the language barrier, but Dorian was sure he had Matto's cooperation. As they sat and eat the fish Matto had caught, then laid their heads down to sleep. Not that Dorian slept much, with his mind mulling over the things he had seen on the island so far. There was a lot more of the island to explore, Matto had only shown him a small part of it so far.

 

In the morning after a meal of fruits, Matto took Dorian out into his growing field and gave him a tool to hoe between the plants growing there. Then they picked fruits from the bushes and trees and cut tall golden grass. That Matto took the seeds from and showed Dorian how to grind into the flour Seeua made the bread from. In the late afternoon, they cut bamboo poles and carried them back to the hut.

 

Where Matto started building another room beside it, maybe somewhere for Dorian to sleep on his own. Seeua had taken the husks from the coconuts and had teased them into soft fluffy balls. One of the things Dorian had not recognised in the hut, turned out to be a primitive weaving machine. After spinning the husk balls into long soft threads, Seeua weaved a cloth that she filled with more teased husk balls. That they put on his bed when it was finally made, inside his room.

 

It took days to build his this room and the furniture, such as bed chair and table. As they spent morning times in the fields, doing all the things needed to feed them. With their work done there, firewood was gathered and stacked for Seeua to use. All the time Seeua fussed over Dorian's wounds, that had almost completely healed under her tender care in the week that had just past.

 

Now after their work in the fields, Matto lead Dorian to the bamboo stands to cut bamboo, and take to be stacked by the tar pool. Many suns rose and set before Matto started to lay out the bamboo poles, that would be the backbone of the boat he would build for Dorian. With tools made from the volcanic rock, he drilled holes in the bamboo in witch to hold other bamboo poles. Apling molten tar, that hardened held them into place like glue.

 

Bracing them and tying them into position, the boat took on the shape of the skeleton of a dead whale. Dorian was shown how to strip long strips of bamboo from bamboo poles, to be woven between the rib cage of the boat. Making it look like the baskets Seeua used to carry fruit in, and all the while many full moons came and went. Dorian had fallen in with the routine of life with his newfound family, for he had become fond of this kindly couple.

 

Tolling in the fields, and gathering food for the needs to survive, occupied most of his mind. He still wanted the boat but his need for it had started to change, the death of his parents was a recurring nightmare. He was now earring on the side of revenge because of it, and he seemed to have the heart for it. In the time since his escape from the pirates, he had matured, and his working in the fields had helped his physic a lot. His muscles firmed up, and he had grown an inch or two

Chapter six

With no mirror, Dorian could not see how much he had grown, or how his features were changing into that of a young man. Day followed day in an unending stream, and the first hull of the boat was taking shape. As strip's of bamboo were interwoven between the ribs of the hull until both sides were full from keel to gunnels. Now they had to lay the hull on its side, to coat the inside and out of it with molten tar.

 

To make the hull they had propped it upright with bamboo poles, to hold it stable as they worked on filling between the ribs. Now Matto built a high four poled frame over the hull, and with homemade ropes and pullies lowered the hull onto its side. It was hard work and took a whole day to achieve, they would return in a day or two to coat the inside of the hull with tar. Matto had other work to do besides Dorian's boat, he had to tend his crops and livestock.

 

Dorian could not complain, they had saved him from death and taken him in, to freely shear their food. In a way, he was feeling guilty, after all, they had done form him, he was planning to sail away and to leave them. With that in mind, Dorian accepted the slowness the boat was taking to be built. Like everything Matto did, he did it right, and up until now the hull he had them build, looked very steady and stood as tall as Dorian did.

 

There would be plenty of the boat out of the water to make it seaworthy, and plenty of room inside to carry all Dorian needed. All he had to do was follow Matto's instructions, and his boat would finally be built. Though it had taken many full moons to get this far, and they had not fully completed one hull yet. There would be many more full moons before the second hull would be ready to be tarred, and then they still had to build the deck and mast.        

 

Dorian was woken early one morning by Matto and bewildered followed him out of the hut. Only to realise Matto was heading towards the tar pool and the hull of his boat. With a little more enthusiasm, Dorian hurried on behind him. At the tar pool, Matto picked up the bamboo pole with the bigger bamboo-section attached to it. Then without putting it into the tar, demonstrated that he wanted Dorian to pour the tar into the hull, for Matto to spread with his pole that had a crossbar.

 

Starting at the furthest end of the hull, Matto got Dorian to pour a full container of tar at the deepest corner of the hull. Because they had laid the hull over, the inside of the hull was almost level. Using his T-shaped pole, Matto spread the tar out evenly and had Dorian running to keep up a steady flow of tar. It took all day and into the evening to completely cover the inside of the hull, and a weary Dorian followed Matto back to the hut that night.

 

Dorian slept well but his body ached in the morning, from all that lifting and carrying of the tar. When he did stagger from his room it was late in the morning, and Matto was hard at work on his plot of land. Seeua had long since stopped tending his wounds, but seeing him now bent over and aching she reached for her green leaf cure-all. Dorian was thankful for her attention when the aches and pains disappeared, and he could finally help Matto in lesser strenuous work.     

 

Matto made no move to return to the tar-pool for two days when he did, he woke Dorian before down again. They arrived at the tar pool as the sun was rising, then spent the whole day working to cover the outside of the hull. With the outside of the hull being higher in the air, Dorian fond it harder work than doing the inside of the hull. Seeua saw him returning home at the end of the day, and then spent time massaging green gel into his back and anywhere that ached.

 

Two days later they were back at the hull and spent all day lifting it upright, then lowering it onto its other side. Two weeks later the hull was fully coated inside and out and was propped upright ready and waiting for the other hull to be made. Many full moons would rise and wane before the second hull would stand beside the first, ready to have the cross beams and decking to lock the two hulls together.

 

 With a coating of tar to seal the decking to stop water seeping into the hulls, Matto indicated he wanted the boat down in the water. The next day after securing the hulls to poles he had driven into the ground, to hold it from slipping away. Matto used long bamboo poles to liver the hulls off the ground, to place short pieces of bamboo under them. With the hulls now on bamboo rollers, Matto placed bamboo poles on the ground for the hulls to roll onto.

 

He put as many poles as he could between the hulls and beach, they would have to move others down as they needed them. Most of the morning had been taken up doing this, and Dorian could see Matto wondering how far to go down to the beach. With sign language, Matto had said they were going to paddle the hulls around to the bay. Where being closer to their hut, they would finish off the deckhouse and mast for the sails which were being weaved on Seeua weaving machine.

 

Indicating to Dorian to hold the rope attached to one hull, then looped around the pole in the ground. Matto picked up his rope and released the knot, and gently paid out some of his rope nodding to Dorian to do the same. At first, nothing happened, until Matto lifted his leg and kicked the hull by him. It was enough to start it moving, and slowly Dorian and Matto paid out the rope.

 

Foot by foot, the hulls crept slowly down the slope until they had used almost all the rope. Matto tied his rope off to holt the hulls moving further, then sent Dorian to replace the bamboo rollers the hulls had come off, in front of the hulls again. While Dorian was doing this Matto drove two more bamboo stakes into the ground, and gave Dorian back his rope after putting several turns on the stake. Then transferring his rope to his new stake, he gave the hull another kick to send it on its way.

 

Late afternoon the hulls were a hundred feet from the beach when they again run out of rope. Matto secured the hulls and driving in two more stakes secured the ropes to them, then he indicated it was time to go home. Dorian had to agree they had done well today, leaving the hulls here instead of on the water, meant they would not drift off if a storm was to rise. This coastline was far too exposed, to have the boat moored here. 

 

Plus, they had no hope of paddling around the Island, before darkness fell if they were to put the hulls in the water now. Without a word or sign-language, Matto made the hulls safe by securing them to the two new post's he drove into the ground. There would be enough rope now to get the hulls below the high tide mark, the hulls would then float on the midday tide in two days. Giving Matto and Dorian, six hours to row the hulls around the end of the Island into the bay.

 

With two of the largest and longest bamboo's they could find for the mast's, and enough bamboo poles stacked on the deck, to build the deckhouse. There might not be a need to return to this side of the Island, to finish the boat off. There were pockets of bamboo off to one side of the bay, but nothing like the quantity you could find here. If they did need more, they would have to return and float a raft of some back to the bay.

 

As for now, they would have a day doing Matto's other work before returning to the hulls.

Chapter seven

The sun had just risen as they reached the hulls, giving them a full day of sunlight to get the hulls in the water and around to the other side of the island. The last high tide had left its mark on the soft white sand, in a line of driftwood the tide had left behind. They would have to get the hulls beyond this mark for them to float, and the soft sand was making it hard to do this. As the hull's weight moved onto the bamboo poles, they sank a little in the sand.

 

On the hard grassy slopes above the beach, they had rolled under the hulls as they moved forward. Now as they sank the hulls slowed their forward movement, until they stopped altogether. Matto and Dorian had to attach the ropes to the other ends of the hulls and tug the hulls bit by bit the rest of the way. Luckily the outside skin of the bamboo poles had a slippery texture, as did the black hardened tar they had coated the hulls with.                                              

 They achieved their goal just as the water was lapping at their feet, maybe an hour before high tide. Now they climbed onto the hulls and had something to eat, as they waited for the tide to flout them off the beach. Dorian must have dropped off to sleep in the warm sun, for when he awoke. Matto was quietly propelling the hulls through the shallow water with one of the long bamboo poles, and Dorian quickly followed suit.

 

The shallow waters inside the reef were as clear as could be, and Dorian wondered at the many brightly coloured fish he could see. Along with the turtles, there were triangular fish with long tails. Some fish were so brightly coloured, Dorian called them rainbow fish. Some fish jumped out of the water when they were chased by other fish, and looked like they were flying before diving back into the lagoon. Where they would dart about, then leap into the air again.

 

Matto had made two long steering ores, that were pivoted between the hulls and joined together by a bamboo crossbeam. Ocasanly he would adjust the angle of the steering ores, by adjusting the rope he had tied to them. Dorian watched as he did the adjustment, and found it a simple example of friction that held the ores in place. With the rope tied to each ore and past around a post on each outer hull, then back and forth between two posts in the centre of the hulls.

 

The tension of the rope caused friction between the two posts in the centre of the hulls, holding the ores where Matto had placed them, to steer the course he wanted. It was obvious Matto was no stranger to this type of boat, Dorian asked himself why in the years he and Seeua had been on the Island, hadn't he built one for himself. Even with the language barrier, Dorian had got the feeling Matto wasn't building this boat with Dorian to sail away himself.

 

He tended his crops and livestock as if he intended to stay on the Island, the boat seemed a side attraction to Matto. Something he enjoyed doing with Dorian, something he was enjoying doing with another person other than Seeua a friend maybe. It was the same feeling he had with Seeua, she had mothered him from the first day they rescued him. Even now she greeted him with a hug each time he and Matto returned from their wondering about the Island.

 

Dorian was surprised, at how easy it was to propel the hulls through the water with the bamboo poles. Looking through the clear water, he could see the shadow of the hulls moving over the multi-coloured corals on the shallow bottom. The beach they had launched the hulls from, had long since been left in the distance. Then the beach became a shoreline of mangrove trees, with a wooded forest behind it that stretched up the higher slopes. 

 

Then they were moving along a rocky coastline, where the land rose steadily upwards to the highlands, where Dorian has stood on the hights to take in the whole visiter of the Island.  They must have been on the other side of the island, opposite the bay and Matto's home. Still, the land rose higher above them as did the sun, it had past over the Island just after they had left the launch site, almost at high tide, just when Matto had planned.

 

Dorian had watched the tide rise and fall, while they had built the boat, and was beginning to understand the tides. There were two a day, but their arrival varied from day to day by a small amount. Then the tides varied in the height they were, according to the fullness of the moon. While they had built the boat, the tide came partway up the beach. While at other times, it almost reached the low grass-topped dunes that divided beach from grassland.

 

Matto had watched the tides rising, and had indicated to Dorian that today's high tide would be the highest. The tides to follow would begin to be lower until the tide and moon changed again. As he watched the Island slip past them, Dorian tried to calculate how long they had been paddling the hulls. They had left at about midday, it must be mid-afternoon by now, giving them about three hours of daylight left to get to the bay.

 

If it took that long, it would be low tide when they entered the bay at almost darkness. One of them would have to stay on the hulls all night, as the new tide came in just to tend the ropes. They would have to be taken in as the tide rose, so the hulls would be left high and dry at the highest tide mark to work on, where only the highest tides would float the hulls. Steadily they rounded the end of the Island, with Matto giving the steering ores small adjustments.

 

When the entrance of the bay came into view, they were in the shadow of the island and the last of the ebbing tide was flowing out of the bay. The island encircling reef was high out of the water, and the entrance through it which the pirate's ship was swept through was visible. Plus the water pouring from the lagoon could be seen in turmoil as it thundered through the gap. The nearer to the bay entrance they got, the less water rushed out of the lagoon.    

 

The deepness of the entrance channel was now too deep for the bamboo poles, they had used in the shallow lagoon. Abandoning them Matto and Dorian, used the rowing bamboo poles Matto had made from two sizes of bamboo. Matto had cut an arm's length, off the large bamboo trunk they had cut down for the mast's. Spiting it in two had made two scops he had attached to two poles, which they now rowed the hulls into the slack waters of the bay.       

 

The inside of the circular bay was like a crabs claw, with each side of the entrance being sheltered from the frequent storms that suddenly rose out at sea. The right-hand side was the best anchorage, as a finger of land there curled slightly into the bay. Giving excellent shelter if a wind should rise without notice, which they did from time to time. The left-hand side was less protected and had a rocky shoreline, and was where Matto kept his small canoe and his fishing traps.

 

They entered the bay as twilight was falling, and headed for the sandy beach the pirates had used. Matto had already driven two posts into the grassy bank there, for securing the hulls too. When they heard the sound of the hulls grounding, Matto lept from the hulls into waist-high water. Then wadded ashore taking the end of a rope with him, which he had already tided the other end to the hulls. By the time Matto secured the rope to the posts ashore, the hulls were firmly aground.

 

Matto waved to Dorian to indicate he was going home, as Dorian pulled in the slack of the rope and secured that. Before settling down to have a meal of fruits, that they had picked on the far side of the island and stored on the hulls. Then he waits for the tide to turn, and his night vigil to haul the hulls up the beach to the high watermark. It was pitch black when the tide turned, though as the moon and tide rose, the bay was bathed in bright silvery moonlight.

 

Slowly the hulls moved up the beach inch by inch, as Dorian steadily hauled in on the rope. Until with the moon high in the heavens, high tide was reached and Dorian tided off the rope one last time. Now until the deckhouse was built and the masts were stepped in place, the hulls would remain high and dry. Only then would Dorian and Matto take the twined hulled boat, out on a trial sail in the shallow lagoon where he would learn to sail her.                                     

chapter eight

The deckhouse soon began to take shape, after Matto had stepped the marts into place. With the hulls at the highest reach of the tides, they would not float again until the next full moon. With them firmly aground, Matto built a solid framework over the hulls and used the horizontal beams to host the masts up so they could be dropped into the housing Matto had made for them. With the ropes holding the masts in an almost upright position, wedges were hammered in to secure them.

 

Now they built uprights for the deckhouse to aline alongside the masts, so the masts would be held firmly in place by the finished deckhouse. Using the framework they lifted the poles for the roof of the deckhouse onto the uprights. Laying them two bamboo poles deep across and lengthways, they made a soiled roof to the deckhouse that held the masts in a firm grasp. Now the rigging had to be made, to hold the mastheads in place and to raise the sails.

 

Seeua had been spinning the husks of the coconuts into twine, then weaving it into several squares. Which she joined together to make two large squares, and one triangular sail. Strips of bamboo were made into small platted hoops around the rope from the masthead to the bow of the boat, then fastened to the triangular sail. They would hold the foresail to the rope when pulled aloft, and the square sails were lashed to bamboo poles for the mainsails.

 

They were almost ready to trail the boat under sail, a few more tides and the hulls would float again. They had floated twice since they had brought the hulls, from the other side of the Island. Since then there had been tropical storms, lashing the Island for days at a time. The storms had delayed the finishing of the boat but In two days, it would be a full moon again meaning the hulls would float at midday.

 

Matto had dived into the shallow waters at low tide and secured a rope to a rocky outcrop, so they could secure the boat in the deeper water. With the boat afloat all of the time, Dorian and Matto would be able to sail the boat in the spacious bay. Before taking it out onto the shallow lagoon, for long training sails around the Island. Two full moons past before Matto, with sign language and the few words they had taught each other, said Dorian was ready to sail away.

 

From the goats and pigs, they had eaten Matto had made water carriers from internal organs and pig skins. Woven baskets were filled with fruits and vegetables, and cooked and dried fish were wrapped in banana leaves to keep them fresh. All were stored in the forward ends of the hulls; a living area was in the after-end of the right-hand hull. Spear canvas ropes and bamboo poles were in the left hull, just in case of repairs being needed.     

 

From an upturned turtle shell in the hut, Matto filled two pigskin pouches with small shiny round balls. Each time Matto pulled flat seashells from the ropes by the rocks, Dorian had seen Matto place the balls in there, after he had cleaned the shells out before cooking them. Dorian had seen these shiny balls before; his mother wore two strings of them around her neck. Dorian could remember holding them and playing with them; when his mother nursed him when he was smaller.

 

One last thing Dorian received only this was from Seeua, with her finest yarn she had woven a fine cloth. From it, she had made Dorian a male Polynesian sarong, which she gave him as she and Matto went with him to say their goodbyes. After many hugs, Matto took Dorian out to the twin-hulled boat in the small black canoe. Only to return to stand with Seeua, to wave their goodbyes, as Dorian manoeuvred his boat with long ore and rudder out of the bay.

 

As he slipped through the entrance, Dorian turned once more to see them waving him goodbye. Then he felt a light breeze as the boat entered the lagoon, and hoisted his triangular foresail to let the wind drive the boat through the water. With the long ore no longer needed, it was safely stowed and Dorian steered the boat towards the brake in the reef. This was the first time he had been this close to it and tightened his grip on the tiller.

 

Now the tide had turned water was spilling out of the lagoon, and into the open ocean and the boat was caught up in its flow. Dorian had to keep a steady course to stay in the centre, away from the jagged edges of the reef. He had no fear of grounding, the pirates had sailed out and their draft was much deeper than his. The daggerboards that hung down between the hulls and gave the boat stability, where only four feet at most; compared to maybe twenty feet the pirate ship had.

 

Happily, Dorian watched the top of the reef slip by him, as he passed through the gap. The vast ocean now lay before him, and it was a calm ocean with a light breeze driving a long low swell northwards. Bringing the boat about he put the wind on his rear, and adjusted the foresail to maximise the wind. Then he hosted the mainsails, and was surprised at the speed his boat was going when the sails were set as this was the first time, he had all sails up.

 

With no charts or compass, it was guesswork for Dorian to know which way to head to find civilization. He knew if he kept the rising sun and moon on his right, he would be heading northwards. From his memory of seeing the charts on the merchant and priests ship, he knew of the vast landmass to the north. Reaching that he would sail along the coast until he found a port, to enquire his whereabouts.

 

With his course set, he tethered the tiller and sat for a meal, as he passed through the curtain of mist surrounding the Island. Once more back into brilliant sunshine, Dorian looked behind him, Matto and Seeua's Island home had vanished. It was hidden from the outside world, by the mist that rose from the sea. It had been Dorian's fault the Priests had stumbled onto it, would he be able to find it again in this vast ocean.

 

Dorian had a simple sailing plan, during daylight hours and good weather, he would sail with all sails up to make as much progress as possible. At night he would travel slower under the foresail only, taking short naps during the day. This way if he came across the land in the night, he would hear the sound of waves on the shoreline. Until then Dorian settled down to long lonely hours, maybe days of boredom scanning the sea for land.

 

On the second day, Dorian spotted a white speck in the distance and altered course towards it. Closer still the speck turned out to be a ship's longboat, it's bow was smashed and splintered. The white canvas cover was lousily tided but propped up like a tent over the longboat. Dorian had dropped his mainsails and quietly closed with the longboat, then dropping the foresail he manoeuvred his boat alongside.

 

Using the long ore, Dorian hooked the longboats gunnel and pulled it alongside. His action brought movement on the longboat, as a young man stumbled from under the canvas. His startled face staring at Dorian, as he wielded a dagger in defence. His sudden appearance also took Dorian by surprise and there were a few tense moments, as both of them, looked at each other suspiciously.

 

"My name is Dorian," Dorian said as he broke the tense silence, holding out his hand to the young man. As the tension drained from his face the young man lowered his knife, "Lars Nordman" he replied in a thick accent, that Dorian recognised from his times down at London docks. "Are you from Holland?" Dorian asked taking his hand and helping him onto his boat.

 

"Yes, and you are English yes?" Lars asked in his best broken English, now openly friendly. As Lars climbed aboard he tethered the longboat to Dorian's twin hulls, so it would not drift far. "Please, have you water, I have been adrift for four days?" Lars asked as he looked over Dorian's boat. "Yes of course," Dorian said reaching into the deckhouse, to retrieve a pigskin water carrier.

 

"There are fruits and dried food in the forward cabin?" Dorian said indicating he should go down and help himself. Dorian sat and had some fruit himself, as he watched Lars tuck in with relish. "What happened to put you adrift in a smashed longboat?" Dorian asked as Lars chowed on the cooked dried goat he was enjoying. "Four days ago we were attacked by pirates, I was standing on the seawards side of the longboat when a cannonball struck it.

 

The next thing I know is I'm in the water beside it, and my ship and the priests are moving farther away. There was nothing I could do but watch them disappear into the distance, I tried to put up the sail, but the sea rushed in through the smashed bow. So I made a tent and hoped wind and tide would take me somewhere, but here you are my saviour, where are you heading for?"

 

Dorian saw the bemused look on Lars's face when he answered, "I don't know Lars, I have no chart or campus, I have no idea where I am or where to go!" Then Lars sat sipping water and eating as Dorian recalled his parent's death, then his capture by the pirates. How he escaped death on the Island, when Matto and Seeua rescued him and how they built the boat. "Ther's a small boat's campus on the longboat but there's no chart's!" Lars said smiling.

 

He climbed back onto the longboat, in a locker in the stern of it he pulled a wooden box. Opening it he revealed there was a campus set into it, then he handed it to Dorian. "The canvas cover sails and ropes are worth savagings Dorian there's nothing much else," Lars said as Dorian took the box from him. With the salvaged stored away, they set the longboat adrift then Dorian reset his sails.

 

Lars used the campus to set a course to the north, and hopefully friendly India. "What are your plans when we get back to civilization?" Lars asked as they sat in the afternoon heat, in the shade of the deckhouse. "Don't know now, when Matto and I were building the boat, I wanted to get back to England and my grandparents. Only now I'm not so sure, they were old when we left them, and I'm not sure how long that was."

 

"Building the boat took a long-long time as we had no proper tools, the hulls were woven from bamboo and covered with tar. Nothing is holding the boat together but strips of bamboo bidings, and handmade rope made from fibres from coconut husks. The sails are made from the husks as well, I never did count the full moons I was on the Island. I only know I had my tenth birthday just before the pirates attacked, and that was March 1963." 

 

Dorian put down the coconut he was drinking from and looked questionably at Lars, as he, in turn, smiled at Dorian shaking his head. "That can't be right Dorian! That would make you thirty-one years old, it's 1684 now and you only look thirteen or fourteen. I'm fifteen myself if your right you would have been on that Island for twenty years." Lars said laughing making Dorian feel foolish, "no Lars I'm not wrong my birthday is the 25/ March/ 1653."

 

"Okay Dorian I believe you though it doesn't make sense, we have just made friends lets keep it that way." Dorian nodded lifting his coconut saying, "to friendship Lars Nordman, I am Dorian Gray and I'm pleased to meet you." He said clinking his coconut against Lars coconut laughing, "now what are you going to do when we reach land?" Dorian asked as he adjusted a sail so the wind filled it better.

 

"Good question Dorian, all I have is what I am wearing. I don't know what's happened to the ship I was on, all my worldly goods were on it. I run away too sea at twelve after my mother died, I haven't been home since just moved from ship to ship. Will have to look for a new barth to feed me, or become a beggar." Lars answered a little lightheartedly, but his eyes showed he was far from being jovial.

 

In the far east, the moon had already risen as the sun quickly dipped towards the western horizon. As the light faded, Dorian made his first decision as Capitan of his boat. "I'll take the first watch, Lars go get some sleep in a dry soft bed." Lars made no offer of argument, "I-I Capitan," he just said smiling and made his way below.

 

The moon was high in the sky when Dorian heard Lars moving about below. When he appeared on deck he had a two half's of melon in his hands, as he bit into one half, he handed the other half to Dorian. "I've never tasted fruit as tasty as you have Dorian, is it all from the Island you were on?" Lars asked when he had finished the mouthful he was consuming, then sitting beside Dorian he asked.

 

"I wonder how many knots we are doing, the wind has picked up hasn't it." It had indeed in the last hour or so. He had thought of shortening sail, but as the sea was still slight he had let the boat run. "Yes Lars, we are making good headway, thankfully we still have a full moon and a cloudless sky for full visibility. Unless the sea changes and get higher, we will let her run before the wind. The quicker we get somewhere the better, I'll get some rest".           

     

 

Chapter one old start Chapter one

this was the  old Chapter one the old start of the book

 

As Sera opened the front door a rush of hot air greeted her, "Strewth!" It was hotter in the house than it was outside at this time of day.  They could not afford to run the air-con at all now, as their savings had dwindled so low. Being only three in the afternoon, they would have to wait an hour, before opening all the windows and doors to cool the house down.  Every day at four o'clock at this time of year, the Freemantle Doctor would blow in from the Indian Ocean. To bring a cooling breeze, that would bring down the temperature of this old timber-and-asbestos dwelling.

 

They were in the oldest part of Armadale town, alongside the railway track. With their part-time jobs merger pay, this was the cheapest place they could find to rent.  They had to give up their shared house a year ago, in the affluent suburb of Mount Pleasant. That they had rented, together for almost two years. It had been a financial agreement, not a romantic one, which Sera had agreed to. When she had transferred from Adelaide when her firm purchased the Perth office.  Peter was already renting the house, with a male colleague that had moved on when the firm ownership was transferred to the new owners. Sera's arrival was advantages to Peter, as he offered her temporary accommodation until she could find her own.

 

She never did look for new accommodation as they got on so well both at work and on social occasions. Sera had kept them to their agreement of the house-sharing routine, except for that once, at the annual office party trip up the Swan River. They had visited all the wineries along the river, and they both had too much to drink, as a result, Sera had woken up in Peter’s bed. It had been an awkward moment for them both, especially as they both had no recollection of what happened. (Did they or did they not ?) was the question.  It never happens again, and they never talked about it.

 

What happened after the office party, convinced Sera to start looking for a place of her own, which is when their jobs folded and they had hardly any severance pay. Suddenly there was no income, but they were sure they would find work soon. The months went by; no matter how hard they tried, they could not find the work they had trained so hard to do. 

 

With the rent eating into their savings, after a year they had to come to the decision. That was to move to the outer suburb of Armadale, where they had found this much cheaper old rundown two bedrooms home.  That was only $75 a month each instead of their previous rental cost of $150 a month each; it was just affordable on Sera’s current salary.  The part-time job Sera had at Hungry Jacks Burgers in Armadale was only paying her a total of $25 for four hours a day, three days a week (Thursday Friday and Saturday).

 

Peter had also found a weekend job in a restaurant in the city for a total of $20 (Friday and Saturday only).  Sera could not stand it when the customers would feel her bottom when she served them on their tables. She was also repulsed at the suggestion to undo two buttons of her uniform shirt, to show more cleavage that would entice the clients to leave greater tips.  Both jobs, however, gave them some relief on their food bills. Although burgers were not Sera preferred diet, Peter did bring home a better variety of leftovers at the weekends.

 

Their expensive cars to run had to go, and now they had to use the free shopping buses. Which the Carousel shopping complex in Cannington, ran free from all over the Perth suburbs to the shopping centre. To catch one back, you had to show a valid till-recite to show you had purchased something that day. Sera and Peter would find them in waste bins, to go on into the city from there.

 

 

Sera herself had just returned from the city after yet another unsuccessful job interview,  she was again downhearted, with answering the same questions and getting the same, unhelpful response at the end of each interview. 

 

 

"We are really looking for a junior, I'm afraid you are far too qualified for this position."  This had been the excuse given, nearly every time they had gone for a job. Since the law firm Peter and she worked for, had to cut costs by reducing the current workforce. It followed some discrepancy at the main head office. There had been no real explanation of the incident, or why they had to go it was just a case of last in first out, and Sera was the last to arrive at the Perth office.

 

That had been almost two years ago, now no one seemed to want a twenty-five female graduate lawyer, and Peter's job as a legal document analyst seemed already oversubscribed in most law firms. Now she was very weary; hot and sweaty, and in need of a shower to cool her body, and to rid her of this unpleasant, sticky feeling she had. She went into the bathroom, and under the temperate water, that cascaded from the showerhead, that the November sun had heated in the underground pipes.

 

She emerged with a towel around her, carrying her smart business suit, after hanging the white blouse shirt, and her smalls she had washed out by hand.  Now in a light cotton dress, she went out onto the patio, to sit in the shade of the banana trees, which Peter had already sat under. He was just in shorts, looking at a magazine. That she was not at all happy about when Sera saw what it was.

 

"Peter how could you; we are squirming and striving to make ends meet, and you buy a three dollar sex magazine, so you can look at naked girls!" She said looking daggers at him, as she got into the shade.

 

"Didn't buy it found it in the trash can when I was looking for a shopping recite, its two months old. It's not all pictures Sera," Peter said a little hurt; at her thinking, he would waste money. Though he was glad to have found it, it gave him a little escapism for a little while.

 

 

"There's a job advertised in here Sera, sounds quite good, listen? Independently wealthy businessmen require live-in chauffeur valet, and personal secretary must be prepared to travel extensively. Knowledge of legal papers would be an advantage, but not necessary as in-house training will be given." Peter finished and looked up at Sera, who was all too ready to put the dampers on it.

 

"Ha you've got to be kidding, and mental to apply to that. It's in a sex magazine Peter, what's he going to train you to do." She said defiantly, fanning herself with an old magazine. She had looked at, time and time again. Then she closed her eyes, waiting for the doctor to come.

 

Peter was studying the advert again and looking at the final entry date. It had to be in by this Monday, he still had the time he thought. Nothing ventured, nothing gained his old dad used to say, travel accommodation, money in his pocket what had he to lose.  He did not have to take the job, he would apply for him and Sera just to see. They wanted a recent un-edited photo, with the application form. Un-edited did that mean a frank photo; he had one of Sera naked sunbathing.

 

She did not know he had it, she had been sleeping at the time. He had taken it one weekend when they still lived in luxury at Mount Pleasant.  He had been off fishing with a friend and had returned earlier than expected. She had been in the pool, naked and had fallen asleep on the floating chair. He just could not help himself when he saw her; he just had to take that photo.

 

He took a photo of himself with his Polaroid camera, and then fill out the form adding both their names then sealed the envelope. It was Friday so he would drop it off on his way to the restaurant tonight, at the mailing address in Adelaide Terrace.  Sera did not have to know about it unless they were offered the job, then she could decide for herself.

 

Sera wondered if Peter was feeling alright when he appeared dressed in his waiters uniform. It was only four fifteen and he was ready to leave for the city, he normally left at five to start work at six.  Sera had given him the till receipt, she had used today that would save him time getting the bus, from the Carousel to the city.

 

He had not been this keen to leave before, she normally had to remind him it was time to change. She too just worked the six to ten busy shift, she would be hurrying home when the drunken crowd came out of the pubs at closing time.

 

 worked the six to ten busy shift, she would be hurrying home when the drunken crowd came out of the pubs at closing time.

Chapter 2

Dorian sat in his office on the twenty-fifth floor, of the Gray International Institute building, on Adelaide Terrace, in the heart of Perth City Western Australia. Dictating his speech, for the up and coming United Nations meeting. When he and his secretary looked up at the door, as it burst open, to see Lars rushed into the room. He was carrying a sheet of paper in one hand, and waving two photos in the other saying.

 

"Sorry Dorian but you have to see this, it was found in the mailbox this morning. Tanya was going to discard it, as it should have been submitted before today's date.  I couldn't believe my eyes when she showed it to me," he said excitedly, moving to Doran's side.

 

Lars was one of Dorian's oldest allies, they had seen many conflicts together. Only Dorian had never seen him, this emotionally excited before. He had seen him in the past, standing on the deck of his ship. Bellowing orders, with smoke and musket balls all around him, as cool as if he were ordering a round of rum, for his crew. It had to be something special, to get him worked up like this.

 

Dorian held out his hand as Lars got to him, taking the photo he studded it. Then he sat up in his chair taking a closer look at it. He looked up to his left, to the large painting hanging there.  It had been painted centuries ago and showed three figures in the seventeenth-century dress. The two men wore doublets and hose, and the lady a frilled lace bodice, with a full-skirted dress, of' tinsel sattern.' Each held a rapier sword in the right hand, held downward and crossed to show unity.

 

The left-hand figure was a younger-looking Dorian, in the middle was Pedro Martinez. His left arm was around Countess Isabella Mendez, the granddaughter of Juan de Carvajal of Plasencia. She was also Pedro's devoted lover and confidant, who had worn black ever since to mourn his passing. That day Dorian remembered all too well, and the sight of it now flashed before his eyes.

'Dam you Pedro, wait for us to join you!' Dorian had yelled in his mind, as he watched Pedro's light frigate, the Isabella, joining in combat with the bigger pirate ship.  While Dorian himself tried to close the range with his ship Celesta, trying to bring his cannons to bear on the Carrack.

 

The bigger heavier Celesta was under full canvas and heeling thirty degrees to starboard, her lower gunports almost awash, but she was a knot or so too slow.  The Dutchman could fair no better, only Pedro's Isabella was fast enough to overhaul the Falcon of the seas.

 

Pedro's ship, The Isabella, was woefully outgunned by the Falcon of the seas; by a ratio of two to one, he had twenty to their forty. Pedro could only bring to bear ten cannons, on the port side on one deck. Whereas the Falcon had twenty on two decks both sides, but both being on a port tack.  Isabella's guns had to be elevated up, the bigger Falcons guns could rake the rigging and upper deck from above Isabella. The battle had gone as Dorian had feared, and though valiant, Isabella was no match for the Falcon.

 

Pedro and his men fought with courage, in the hour-long engagement, but it had been hopeless from the start, and Pedro and his men were too brave to turn tail.  Then suddenly Isabella's mizzenmast was carried away by a cannon shot, to fall onto the quarterdeck. The rigging and canvas, falling over the side into the sea to act as a sea anchor. Isabella quickly lost-way and veered to port, cutting across Celesta's bow.

 

Dorian and the helmsman hurriedly altered course to port, to advert running down the Isabella. It gave the Falcon the advantage, to turn tail and run.  Dorian had no option but to give up the fight, there were men in the water. Isabella was badly damaged, he would have to deal with the Falcon another day.

 

The Dutchman had fired a salvo after the retreating Falcon, but they had fallen short so they too joined in with the sea rescue. With a ranting Lars Nordman, shaking a fist, and yelling obscenities from the forepeak of the Dutchman. They gave up the chase, to render aid to their comrades.

 

The Falcon was running under full sail now, lengthening the distance between them, asDorian brought the Celesta about and reduced all sail.  Hove to alongside the stricken Isabella, they pulled men from the sea. Cutting the rigging loose, to get the mast and tangled canvas off the men trapped under it.

 

Pedro and the helmsman were badly injured, when the cannonball struck the mast behind them. The splinters of wood had impaled them both, and Pedro had been mortally wounded.  Dorian and the ship's doctor, sat with him for two days. Before Pedro finally slipped away to the afterworld, and they buried him at sea. Then from The Isabella, came a rush of air, as if she had shied heavily. Water began rushing in and she started to settle as if to fallow her captain to the deep.

 

They salvaged all they could, the painting Dorian was now looking at, from the grand master's cabin, along with a box of love letters for Countess Isabella.  Dorian again looked at the photo, then up at Lars.

 

"An uncanny likeness, but could it be Lars, could it really be?" He asked, with a faraway look, and Lars beside him still looking at the painting said.

 

"That's not all Dorian his name is Peter Martin, in Portuguese that is Pedro Martinez. Look at the photo, and at that birthmark on his right hip. That is too much of a coincident, wouldn't you say.  I will set up a surveillance team, and do some background checks. When we know more about him, I will be sending him an invite for an interview. We will have a closer look at him when the time is right with Doctor Garrick.  He has also applied for a girl as well, her name is Sera Godard."

 

"Doctor Garrick had tended Pedro's wounds many times and seen him without clothing, almost as much as Isabella has. If anyone; he will know if it is he," Lars finished, finally turning away from the portrait. Dorian looked again at the photo and then handed it back to Lars.

"Ok see to it Lars but don't breathe a word to Isabella, she mustn't know about this not yet. Not until we have looked deeper into the possibility, that this is what this appears to be, and that it is possible! Inform only those that need to know, and utmost secrecy must be maintained!"

 

Chapter 3

Sera and Peter had the Sundays papers, spread out on the floor. They were scanning the job adverts', for any type of job. That would get them back to work, and the careers they had trained for. The priority, of course, was legal, then banking and lending establishments. Building companies dealt with mortgage finance, so there would be legal paperwork.

 

They would make a list of possible jobs, then sit down and weed out the no's from the maybes. However, there would be more no's than maybe's. Because half or more would be repeated listing of jobs listed in the week before paper. Sera and Peter would have applied, for the best of them already.

 

It had become a Monday morning ritual after Peter had walked to the neighbouring suburb of Westfield. Where he plucked the Sunday edition, of the West Australian paper from a dustbin before the paper recycling truck did its rounds of that suburb. The few dollars they saved, by raiding a dustbin would be used on phone calls, if suitable employment were found on offer.

 

There was one job on offer in Kelmscott the next suburb towards the city, a few miles along the Albany Highway.  A tax accountant wanted a secretary for his growing business. The salary was negotiable and was dependent on what skill level the applicant had to offer.  At nine Sera was at the corner phone box, dialling the number and scouring an interview at two PM.         

 

 

After their meagre lunch of leftovers, supplied by the Little Italy restaurant in the city. Sera dressed in her business suit and headed for the little rail station a short walk away. She did not notice the fit-looking woman leaving a car, a few houses down the road. Who followed her onto the raised platform, of the narrow gauge rail link, to the city in one direction, and Fremantle in the other.

 

It was more a tram than a train, with three small old rickety carriages. That had wooden slatted seats, a conductress and a driver.  Sometimes on such short journeys as this, Sera might be off before challenged to pay. However, in the past, Sera had brazed it out and waved an expired weekly ticket. When the conductress had looked at her, from the end of the carriage.

 

On this occasion, she was not bothered at all. As the young woman conductress, was far too involved in talking to a young man. Who looked like he could be a footy player, as he had the physique for it?  Sera was confident she hadn't been observed, getting on or off the train at all.

 

Only she herself did not see the fit lady, getting off with her to discreetly follow her, to the Kelmscott shopping complex. That had an array of small shops and business, on the outer sides of the big building.  This was where Sera found the premises', of the accountant she was searching for. 

 

The interview did not go well, in fact, it did not really start.  She had noted the look he gave her when she entered the premises, in her smart business trouser suit. As he is a fortyish looking man, leaning on the desk of his very young receptionist. Who looked like she should be still in school, as she was still in a short-skirted school type uniform?

 

He welcomed her after Sera had introduced herself to him, and he took her through to his office. Then it was that first question, he asked as he closed the door, that put her off the job, and him as a boss entirely.

 

"Do you have more fashionable clothing to wear in the office? You look like you're going to take someone to court, instead of helping them to save money on their income tax? We like to make people relaxed when they're here, a nice looking girl like you should wear something pretty." He said with a smile, that was more of a leer than anything.

 

Then his expression changed completely when Sera unzipped her black leather document case. Placing her corporate lawyer's decree, she had pulled out in front of him. She could then see by his face, she was most likely more qualified, to do this job than he was. She knew then the interview was over, as that fashionable remark had meant a sixty's mini's skirt.

 

He may have needed a secretary, but he wanted one as window dressing. Not one that would tell him, he was fiddling people's taxes to make a living.  He looked lost for words, as she stood to retrieve her document. He just spread his hands while shrugging his shoulders, as she put it back in her case and re-zipped it, then giving him her lawyers look said.

 

"I would amend that advert of yours; to say bimbo required it would stop professionals' like me wasting their time in replying to your advert."  She already had her hand on the door handle, and he didn't even get up to see her out, showing her just how much of a gentleman he was. If she wasn't so upset, she'd have felt sorry for the young girl. Who sat in full view of the front window, showing almost all of her legs, as she sat at her desk chewing on gum, waiting for the phone to ring.

 

Her early reappearance from the building took the fit lady by surprise. She had sat at the table in the window of the 'little cake shop cafe' next door. To have a coffee and cake, as she waited for Sera to re-emerge, she was about to get up when Sera stopped to look behind her.

 

"Sera!" she heard someone calling her name. Turning she saw Robin an old work colleague, smiling walking towards her. He was in shorts, and a colourful shirt obviously not at work.  She had only seen him in business attire before, and he looked less frightening now. Oh, he was a nice guy but had always been business-like. Except with Cathy, one of the secretaries at that law firm they had worked at.

 

"Hello Robin nice to see you, but I didn't know you lived out here and how is Cathy?" She asked her mood quickly changing, as he kissed her on the cheek.

 

"You mean Mrs Jenkins, she's at home unpacking we just got back from Bali this morning. I've just changed our money back," he said smiling widely, at her wide-eyed look.

 

"You married her then, they had bets on in the office that you would!" Sera said giving him a kiss back and holding his hand.

 

"Yes, we slipped away for a weekend in Bali last year, but I had to marry her first before we could share a room Sera. Not that anyone believed me back at the office," he said now laughing and looking more handsome to Sera for doing it. She had always liked him back then when they had worked together. He could be a stickler for protocol, but he was funny when they were socialising.

 

"Fancy a coffee Sera, if you have the time that is, you look like a lady on a mission?"  He asked, holding out his hand towards the little cafe, and the fit lady at the window table averted her gazes from looking at them.  Sera looked at her watch and nodded as if checking to make sure.

 

"I'd love to Robin, I have plenty of time," she said as if she had anywhere else to go but home.  Anyway, it would be a change for her, to talk to someone other than Peter, not that he was boring as such. Only now she could talk about something totally different with Robin, for she had been out of contact, with the outside world for over a year so to speak. It would be nice, just to catch up and hear about old friends.

 

He held a chair for her to sit at a vacant table, that was next to the table a fit-looking lady, sat quietly observing them.  Then he sat as the waitress, and came to take their order.

 

"It still is cream no sugar Sera, and how about a Danish, I seem to remember, you had a weakness for them!" Robin said smiling, as Sera gave him a shocked look but she said nothing, as the waitress wrote down his order.

 

"Saw you coming out of the accounts next door, don't tell me someone finally severed him with a writ. I nearly went in there myself, to short him out after Cathy did some tempting for him. A few months back he suggested she should stay back one night, to do some extra personal secretarial work."

 

"Cathy said he wasn't worth the bother, he didn't actually say sex it was just the way he said it, that suggested that's what he wanted."  Robin stopped talking, as the waitress came with their drinks and a plate of two large Danish's. They had a crust of white icing sugar on them, which made Sera mouth water, it had been some time since she had had this luxury.

 

"My they are huge, bang goes my diet, Robin!" she said smiling and breaking a small piece to pop into her mouth.  Then she closed her eyes, to pull a face to murmur. 'Delicious', much to Robin's delight, as she pulled that face of sheer bliss. He had witnessed that look before when they had popped out for a coffee break. In that coffee shop in Hay Street, two blocks down from their office.

 

If he hadn't had Cathy, Sera would have been his choice of a girlfriend.  Intelligent fun to be with, and quite pretty when she didn't have her attractive business face on. Like now with her twinkling eyes, and smiling lips as her face happily light up. The fit lady quietly noted the relaxed demeanour of the two, as they looked and smiled at each other, chatting over their coffee.

 

"We bought a place here on the new Clifton hills estate, nine months ago. Cathy works from home now, she'll be sorry she missed you, you must come around for a visit.  Are you and Peter still?"

 

"Shearing, yes Robin," Sera said interrupting Robin. It sounded more fitting than 'living together' did, because people always thought that meant, sleeping together. Sera had in the past, vehemently made clear to all in the office that was not the case, between her and Peter.

 

She didn't, however, tell Robin, they now shared a rundown nineteen twenties, wooden house. In the oldest rundown part of Armadale, instead of the modern nineteen sixty home.  That they once had, which Robin obviously assumed they still did. Like he had assumed, she was on some legal business now for some city law firm, and was out here in the sticks serving warrants.  

 

She wasn't about to enlighten him, of the fact that she and Peter were almost destitute. Scraping the bottom of the barrel so to speak, and down to their last dollars to pay the rent. She couldn't afford to pay for the coffee and cakes, they were having now if Robin found out, he had left his wallet behind.  She had desperately wanted this job, but she was too proud to sell herself that way.

 

Though none of that showed, on Sera's smiling face as she looked at Robin. Holding up his hands laughing, to shield himself ageist that 'shearing', interruption she had just made. Again the fit lady made a mental note of that remark, it would be added to the report, she would later make.

 

"Old Sam retired Sera, and he hasn't been replaced, they didn't replace Cathy either when she left after we moved out too here.  Apart from that the firm is just about the same, I'll tell them I've seen you. They will be glad to hear you're doing fine, and looking as good as ever," he said putting his hand on hers and giving it a gentle squeeze.  That jester didn't go unnoticed, by a certain person.

 

The coffee and cake were gone, and Sera looked at her watch.  She wanted to cry out and end this masquerade, but that would bring sympathy from Robin. He would know of the disappointment she was feeling, and the emotions welling up inside her, threatening to burst into floods of tears.  He had seen her glance at her watch and pulled a card from his wallet.

 

"Here take my card; my home number is on it, give Cathy a ring when you're free. She would love to meet up, for coffee or just a girly chat." He said standing as she did and gave her a peck on her cheek.  Then he watched her leave the cafe before moving to the cashier, to pay for their coffee and cakes.

 

Sera glanced back through the window, as she moved away from the door, to see Robin with his back to her, as he paid his bill. She quickened her step to move, quickly into the shopping arcade. To linger where she could see Robin when he left the cafe to go to his car. She didn't see the fit lady enter, to walk past her then linger by the information board. 

 

Something Robin had said about Cathy temping, had registered in Sera's mind. She suddenly realised she may have to lower her sights, on the type of jobs to go for. There was an employment agency office, in this complex called 'spare hands'. They supplied staff for all types of work, maybe she would find in there something better than working, in that smelly burger joint.

 

She saw Robin move to his car and drive away, totally unaware she herself was under squinty. Now he had gone, she moved back into the sunlight and down the pavement, to the shop in front of the agency. She was greeted with a friendly smile, from the lady behind her desk, and a look of interest, as Sera unzipped her document case.

 

"I'm in need of employment, here are my qualifications but I'm open to anything you have to offer. I have my own typewriter, so I could work from home. There is no phone in my rented apartment, but there is a neighbour that will take messages for me. Or I could ring here if that's okay, I have no car at the moment, so I am restricted in my ability to travel."

 

Sera rattled off her availability to carry out any working assignment. As the lady looked at her array of impressive credentials. Then smiling up at sera, she pushed back her chair to stand up. 

 

"If you'd like to take a seat, I'll have a word with my manager. I'm sure he wouldn't want you to leave, without talking to you himself." She said indicating one of the chairs, on the sidewall, before knocking on a door, at the rear then entering it. Sera sat nervously inspecting her nails, as a fit lady steamily scanned the job vacancies in the front window.

 

"Miss Godard please come through, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. I'm at a loss to know what to say, I've never had someone with your qualifications asking for a position before. I have nothing suitable to offer you now. Although my secretary has said, you were open to other types of work. Although I may have a contact that might be of interest if you can give me a few days."

 

The manager said when he invited Sera into his office and sat looking over her documents again, with a very interesting attitude. 'Should have come to see him before', Sera thought as she waited for him to finish. She could almost hear his mind, searching for possibilities, in which to use her talents.

 

"I may, and this is only a thought, have an idea that might be of interest to you. Some of our clients may benefit from your legal knowledge. You could work from these premises, as an advising legal consultant. If clients have problems, they could bring them here for your appraisal. Paying you a one-off fee for your time, would you consider such an arrangement?" He asked, looking up at her, noting a look of interest on Sera's face.

 

Sera was quite taken with the idea but didn't want to ask what fee she could ask for. Or what percentage of that fee, he would take as a commission. That would have to be discussed and agreed on, if the idea got any interest from his clientele, in the meantime, Sera herself had a thought. 

 

"Would it be possible to do some secretarial work, as an added service between the consulting ones from the same office?" Sera asked a little apprehensively, as he hadn't mentioned it himself. An office to work from, wasn't in Sera's mind when she started today's search for work. She could catch the rattler here and back each day, much cheaper than travailing on a bus to jobs, in other suburbs around Perth.

 

"I don't see why not Miss Godard, but let's see what interest we get first. I know of no other agency offering, what we are about too. I have no idea how it will be received if it is received at all, we will have to wait and see. Now if you could call me; say on Thursday morning, I may, and I mean may have an idea if it will work. Until then I'm afraid, it's a waiting game," he said shrugging his shoulders and smiling sympathetically. Then giving Sera his hand over the table, to signify their meeting was over.

 

He gave her his card, as he saw her outside the door. Sera walked away from this interview, a little happier than she did from the accounts office. The fit lady followed at a discreet distance until Sera moved onto the platform of the rattler train. Satisfied Sera was heading home, the fit lady retraced their steps, back to the accountant's office. She had a short conversation with the young receptionist, then used a public telephone box, to make a call to her superiors. 

 

Chapter 4

As Sera left the house Peter once again, scanned the job vacancy's columns, there had to be something in here he could do. He had spent years in college and university, training to be a successful man in the legal business world. 'You'd have been better training to be a bricklayer,'  he thought and in pure frustration thumped his hand onto the wooden floor.

 

As there was a building boom going on at the moment, the papers were full of vacancies for building contractors. Peter had gone to one builder, for a job as labour, they had laughed at him when he had to fill out a form with his work history. They gave him a brick carrying hod, with ten bricks in it, then told him to run up a ladder, with it on his shoulder.

 

Needless to say, he failed the test miserably, as he didn't even get off the ground. It was a humiliating experience, which he did not want to repeat. So though numerous, those adverts were not considered at all. It looked like he only had one talent, and that was sniffing out loopholes in legal documents. Not the most sought-after job, at this very moment it would seem, as no one wanted anyone.

 

He was still depressed when Sera came home, full of hopeful enthusiasm. Telling him in detail about her conversion, with the manager of spear hands. She had had a thought, on the way home on the train. Peter might be able to offer his skills, in the same way as Sera, in a freelance capacity. They could work from the same office; at their next meeting, she would put it to the manager.

 

Tuesday Sera and Peter did the rounds of the shops and cafes in Armadale again. Just in case, something had turned up. A few more days part-time would help, just two-day permanent work would give them some spare cash for miscellaneous items.

 

As they and their shadows went about the town, a man carrying a large tool case entered the house, at a hundred and nine railway parade Armadale. Swiftly, he set about doing the job he was sent there to do. He was finished well before Sera and Peter returned, and there was no evidence he had ever been there at all. 

 

Wednesday Sera came back from the phone box, a little depressed. As the manager of spear hands, had nothing yet to offer. He was still full of enthusiasm, over their planned project. He had made pleasing sounds, at Sera inclusion of Peter's skills into the bargain. He was still hopeful that their proposed adventure would succeed. He would still continue to promote their scheme to all his clients and even other agencies.

 

Thursday they again had Wednesdays West Australia paper, spread on the floor. It had come from the same dustbin, as had the Sunday's addition. Only this time Peter had company, on his walk to Westfield and back, at seven in the morning although he didn't know about it. When the man returned to his car, he gave his report over the radiotelephone.

 

Midday Friday, Peter went out to check the post box, as usual not expecting to find anything other than junk mail. He stared suspiciously, at the brown business envelope he found in it. As it was addressed to him personally, not to the occupants as normal, but to him in person.  

 

'Private and confidential, for the attention of Mr P Marten only' it read. He was still looking at it when he entered the house, and his worried inquisitive look caught Sera's attention.  

 

"What's that Peter?" Sera asked as she saw him aimlessly wandering in the front door. As if he was spellbound, gazing at the envelope in his hand as if frightened it was going to explode. As he looked up at her, he was slowly shaking his head.

 

"Don't know Sera, I'm afraid to find out," he said, turning the envelope over. Looking at the back of it, he studied the writing there. He then looked shocked at Sera when he had, and in a disbelieving voice and a look of bewilderment said.                                   

 

"It's from the Gray International Institute, on Adelaide Terrace in Perth. That’s where I dropped that application form off last Friday. It was for that job in that magazine," he slowly said staring at Sera. As what he was, saying slowly registered to Sera, her expression changed from curiosity to disbelief, and a little angrily razed her voice to ask.

 

"You applied for that job in that sex magazine, oh my god Peter you are an idiot. Oh my goodness, you're not going to open it are you?" She said as Peter toured off the end of the envelope, to pull the letter out, and open the sheet of paper, to read what it said.

 

"We have an appointment at eleven on Monday, for an interview lasting four hours. We will have a free lunch break of an hour, from one until two. Transport will be provided from your address at ten, returning you to your home if required by five. Remuneration for your time will be five Dollars per hour; there is no need to call this office if these arrangements are acceptable."

 

Peter read from the letter, and looked up at Sera who he could see was processing, the meaning of the words he had just spoken.

 

"What do you mean 'WE', give me that?" she said, snatching it from his grasp. Then she read it for herself, her eyes going wider as they travelled over the lines of typing. Until she finally came to a conclusion, she didn't like what she had just read.

 

"Why is my name on here, it says Mr Peter Martin, and Miss Sera Godard. Are corduroy invited to attend an informal meeting, at the above address on Monday the fourteenth of November 1963? To ascertain if they are suitable candidates to join other applicants, selected to be considered for the posts as advertised." Sera said, giving Peter dagger-like looks, as she read it again, aloud.

 

"You applied for me as well you sod, and what do they mean by suitable. What do you have to do, to make yourself 'suitable' may I ask? Well, I won't be there for them to find out, they're not getting a look at me, it's not as if they know what I look like is it." Sera's voice trailed off somewhat, as she saw Peter's face and the look of dread, now showing on it.

 

"What! Why are you looking like that for Peter, *** Peter why won't you answer me? ***Peter! tell me what's wrong, *** I'm getting angry Peter now tell me." Sera said now stamping her feet, as her temper rose. Peter now visibly cowering, slowly moved back towards the front door, where he hoped he could make his escape.

 

"They asked for a photo, I sent one of you when you were asleep. You didn't know I had it, so I didn't ask you. I didn't really think we'd hear back from the advert, that's why I never told you." Peter rambled on, still slowly backing up, he knew he'd have to run when she realised the truth.

 

"I was asleep when you took it, when and where did you take it then Peter?" Sera asked, taking a step towards him. Still not sure, she was guessing the real reason he hadn't told her he had it. The look on his face was leading her to only one concussion.

 

"When we were living in Mount Pleasant, I went fishing and came back early. I found you asleep on the floating chair; I had my Polaroid camera and took your photo." Peter said taking a bigger step back, as Sera's face took on the image of a banshee.

 

"I was naked Peter, is that what you're trying to say you took one of me naked, and you sent it to them." She hadn't raised her voice at all, but the tone made it sound more terrifying. The sight of her lips curling into a snail had him turning, and bolting for the door. With a growling Sera, in hot pursuit of a terrified Peter.

 

He emerged from the house looking over his shoulder, to leap from the veranda. Traversing the four wooden steps completely, to land on the path heavily. He staggered a few steps, before finally regaining his balance, as an angry Sera stamped her feet, on the veranda above him. Growling and tearing the invitation, to tiny shreds' as she yelled at him.

 

"You're dead Peter Martin, your dead. Dead do you hear me, I'm going to tear you to pieces when I get hold of you!" She roared at a frightened-looking Peter and was overheard by a couple sitting in a car. They had turned off the engine, that kept the air conditioning going. So the car would stay cool, as they watched the house.

 

Then they had to wind down the window, letting in the hot air so they could hear clearly. While Sera still ranted and raved at a terrified peter, who now stood out in the blazing sunshine. They smiled as they looked at each other, and the woman said.

 

"A domestic in progress wonder what that’s over, that's not just a lovers tiff Fredrick. That sounds like, she has found out something he hasn't told her. Now that invitation was to be sent out today, just check with dispatch to see if it has been?" She said smiling at her companion, who pulled the radio microphone from the dashboard. 

 

"Surveillance car six, to dispatch over." *** "Dispatch receiving, surveillance six over." *** "Surveillance car six Requesting information, regarding surveillance on railway parade Armadale subject. Please confirm the subject's invitation has been sent, as we have a developing situation here." The driver said into the microphone, as he watched Peter begging Sera to calm down. Then dance away as another flower pot, was thrown at him for his effort, and a few more nasty words were screamed in his direction.  

 

"Come in surveillance six over." *** "Six receiving over." The driver said trying not to laugh, as Peter danced away from another missile thrown in his direction. As the woman beside him, quietly egging Sera on.

 

"Surveillance six, we can confirm the subject's invention, was sent out for delivery by mail. It was scheduled to be on this morning postal round, due to be delivered by noon today. Is that all you require on the subject, or is there any additional information you require." The lady at control said over the radio link, and there was a short silence before the driver said.

 

"Surveillance car six, you might want to include a medic, on tonight's surveillance team. The main subject may need medical assistance if the lady subject gets her hands on him." The driver said, with unmistakable laughter in his voice.

 

A dark limousine pulled up behind surveillance six at four-thirty pm, it had two male occupants. They joined the couple in the surveillance six and spent several minutes with them. Before they returned to their own vehicle, then as surveillance six drove away. They left seven to carry on with the surveillance of the house at a hundred and nine railway parade Armadale.

 

Chapter 5

Although Sera had calmed somewhat, Peter was still outside apprehensive about trying to enter. He was now on the veranda out of the sun, still trying to negotiate safe passage for himself. He had to reach his bedroom, so he could change into his work clothes, for his shift at the restaurant, tonight.

 

"Sera please I'm sorry, let me in I've got to change we need the money, I have to go to work tonight. Look I did it because we are both desperate, we need something soon, or we'd be sleeping on the beach. You don't have to take the job if you don't want to, you don't even have to go if you don't want to!" He said taking a step back towards the edge of the veranda, as Sera appeared in the doorway.

 

"Alright, Peter I've got to work as well, but don't you think I've forgiven you. You shouldn't have taken that photo, let alone given it to someone else. When you see them on Monday, you can ask for it back." She stood aside to let him pass, but he looked at her suspiciously. So she came out of the house completely, and he hurried to his room.

 

Sera herself hadn't yet changed into her hungry jacks uniform, her shadow for tonight observed. All week the men had sat and watched the house, but only last night had Sera emerged. Dress in her red and gold uniform, and be followed to the burger bar where she worked. The other man had sat watching, until Sera and her shadow returned at eleven.

 

The two men were taken by surprise when Peter appeared dressed as a waiter. Then headed towards the town centre, and followed by one of them. Just after five-fifteen, Sera appeared as she had the night before. Dressed as she was then in red slacks with braces and gold blouse, to be again tailed by her shadow up to Hungry Jack's burgers.

 

Peter's shadow reported in when he and Peter, reached the restaurant in Perth. He was told to stand down, as was Sera's shadow when he reported her at her workplace. They were satisfied, Sera and Peter would only return to their place of residence at the end of their shifts. After five days of surveillance, they were now sure of their subjects' daily routine.

 

Or to be precise the lack of one, it had soon become apparent to them all. That Sera and Peter were struggling to find their normal work, having read the dossier on the pair. They knew of their qualifications and burger tossing was not Sera's. As for waiting tables, that was not Peter's preferred occupation.

 

Before these two had taken up their surveillance duties tonight, they had seen the tapes from the surveillance cameras. That had been played back to them as part of their briefing and had seen and heard the heated exchange between Sera and Peter.

 

They had also seen the photo in question, on previous briefings as had surveillance team six, and saw no reason for Sera to be so upset. It wasn't that revealing a photo, and in fact was quite flattering, though Sera having never seen it would have no way of knowing.

 

Surveillance team six were back on station, Saturday morning at ten. Then at ten-thirty, they had a radio message, informing them their subjects were now up and about. They were not expected to venture out any time soon, as they had not dressed in outdoor clothing.

 

Although the monitoring team at their base, could see and hear inside the building. Surveillance team six outside could only sit and wait, for either one of the subjects to appear. They only had the base to inform them of the continuing tension inside.

 

"I got some steak off the chef last night, as well as those eggs Sera. We can have them tonight if you like, with that French salad I brought home." Peter said as he poked his head into the kitchen, to see Sera frying eggs for breakfast, and noting only one plate out with toast on.

 

It looked like he would have to cook his own, but was it safe to enter with that frying pan in her hand. She hadn't acknowledged she had heard him at all, or that he was even there in the room. Was she just giving him the silent treatment, or would she turn on him again at any second?

 

Peter moved cautiously into the kitchen and placed two slices of bread into the toaster. While keeping a wary eye on Sera the whole time, he wasn't taking any chances she could flare up at any moment. She had really frightened him yesterday, he had never seen her like that before.

 

She had moved away from the cooker and now sat eating her breakfast. At least she had left the frying pan for him to use, and the carton of eggs by the cooker. When the kettle whistled he made his tea then put his eggs on his toast.  

 

He was about to sit, then thought it better to have his breakfast in his room. As he didn't like the way she held that knife when Sera looked up sternly at him. The girl monitoring the live surveillance feedback at headquarters, gave a rye smile as he quickly exited the kitchen.

 

All morning he stayed out of her way, by busying himself cleaning the backyard. While Sera did her cleaning and the washing of her underthings, to be hung out to dry. When Peter finished making that dust cloud, with the electric mower.

 

Anyway, it was too hot to be out there in the open after midday, under the shade of the banana trees was the place to be. It would be nice to have the water spray on, to cool the air but hose pipes were only allowed Tuesdays and Thursdays.

 

As Sera had spread herself out, in the shade of the tree on her lounger. The only place Peter had to sit in the shade was right next to her. He was glared at when he tried, so it was on the veranda then.

 

Again that evening they were followed to their work place's, then left to work as their shadows went off duty. That night Peter was restless, as he heard sounds that could be Sera creeping upon him.

 

Sunday lunchtime he had had enough, of tiptoeing around her and stood defiantly in the doorway of the kitchen. As she stood at the cooker doing something with the burger meat, she had returned with last night. It was smelling much better than just what burgers did, but the knife she was dissing the onions with looked dangerous.

 

"Look Sera I'm sorry I've upset you, but I did for all the best reasons for both of us. Yes, I should have told you, but I needed a photo of you to send in. It was the only one I could find, and it was a nice one of you sleeping. So you can do what you need to do, I'll not move. Only can we stop this bad feeling between us before it turns into something worse, and we end up hating each other!"

 

"It might not have been the best thing I've thought of, but there is a free meal and some pocket money if we go tomorrow. The letter said five dollars an hour, that’s five times what you make an hour last night. In five hours we'd have fifty dollars between us, I'm going I can't afford to miss this handout, and neither can you."

 

"You know I'm right Sera, you have to admit that. You've got to put your pride to one side, we need that money, and it's not like we're being offered the job. It's just an informal meeting right, we don't have to agree to anything, do we? If they want to pay me to go to another one, I'll go to that one too." Peter said, his words making him believe in himself, as he stood tall in the doorway.

 

Sera had turned from the stove and was looking at him in a new way, he didn't look as weak as he had. Over the last year, he had lost self-confidence in himself. His inability to find work, and provide had sapped him of his independence. He now seemed to have new energy, a new determination. It gave Sera confidence in him and it showed, and the girl monitoring noticed it too.

 

"Alright, Peter I'll go with you, but only for the money. It was advertised in a sex mag,' has someone hired an office in that building, just to make it look more respectable? Whoever he is he's got my photo, and that’s all he's seeing of me. It's going to cost him twenty-five dollars, to see me in my business suit. That’s going to be at arm's length, he'll get no closer to me than that."

 

"I might even demand payment before he starts asking his questions! I've got a few for him myself to start with. One is what happened to his last secretary and driver, and how long did they stay with him. How many has he had in the last year, I bet he gets a high turnover of staff."

 

Sera said; and the girl at her monitoring station smiled, as she typed down the conversion. On the teletype machine on her desk, that was linked to the one in the grand master's office. It was on the twenty-fifth floor of the Gray International Institute building.

Chapter 6

At precisely ten am, a stretched black limousine pulled up outside the house. Peter had been looking out of the window, in anticipation of their transport arriving. He had not expected to see such a luxurious vehicle as this, and the smartly dressed uniformed female driver who stepped from it. To stand by the passenger's door, ready to open it for them.

 

"It's here Sera she's waiting for us," Peter said grabbing his jacket and moving quickly to the door. As Sera came from her bedroom clutching her black document case, again wearing her business suit with her hair tightly done up in a bun. Giving her that executive look of the lawyer she once was and wanted to be again if only given the chance.

 

The sight of the car and driver, made her wonder if her misgivings about the authenticity of the advertiser were justified. She had pictured him in a dirty old raincoat, holding it open to expose himself. This was definitely not what she had expected, as they drove smoothly to the city. The female driver suggested they help themselves, to whatever they wanted from the drinks cabinet.

 

The twenty-minute drive was done in silence, as Sera had held her finger up to her lips when Peter went to speak. She then shook her head and nodded towards the drive, as if to say not in front of her. So Peter never said how much he liked the car they were in, or how smoothly it was driven. He just sat looking out the window as they drove into the city.   

 

They pulled into the underground parking area of a tall building on Adelaide Tec. Pulling up next to the lift, where they were welcomed by a young man who was expecting them. He escorted them up to the main foyer, and to the large reception desk. Where two burly security men, that looked as if they were from the island of Samoa welcomed them.

 

A seated lady asked their full names and date of birth, then took their photos. A plastic identity card with their photo was printed, placed in a holder and pinned to their lapel. Then they were shown to a waiting room, where a young lady offered them drinks.

 

"Coffee cream no sugar miss Godard, and white tea one sugar Mr Martin?" She asked but didn’t wait for a reply, which made Sera and Peter look at each other. The young lady was soon back, with the drinks and two Danish pastries that weren’t offered or asked for. Making Sera look at Peter, again in a questioning way.

 

They had just finished their drinks when they were led to an interview room and asked to wait again. Shortly a woman came with two folders, two writing pad, and two envelopes. The folders were placed on the other side of the table, the two pads, and pens in front of Sera and Peter. The two envelopes were handed to Sera and Peter themselves, and the lady turned to leave.

 

Sera opened the envelope and found twenty-five dollars in it, then looked inquisitively at Peter. Who was also holding twenty-five dollars in his hand, and he was looking as shocked as Sera. The lady was just about to close the door when Sera stopped her by asking. "Excuses me, can you tell me how much longer before we are interviewed?" the lady smiled and stepped back into the room.

 

"Not long now Miss, but if you wish to leave you may leave the envelopes intact at the main desk. The pads are for you to record your meeting, and to jot down any questions you may wish to ask. Now if you will excuse me I have other things to attend to." She said smiling and waited for a second, then when neither of them said anything she left.

 

Again Sera looked at Peter then leaned over the desk, and thumbed open the folder flap. It exposed a photocopy of Sera's passport and beneath it one of her driving licenses. There were other sheets of paper, which they contained Sera could only guess at. The only thing she did know was this was a dossier of her, the other must be Peter's and she sat down shocked at the revelation.

 

The room now took on an air of foreboding to Sera, as it now looked like an interrogation room. Like the ones, you see on the TV, where police interview suspects. She looked around the room, to see if she could see any hidden cameras. Which of course there wouldn't be, would there I mean no?

 

Then she looked at the frosted glass upper walls, were they two-way glass. Could someone be studying them on the other side of it, her imagination was running wild now. This was not what she had expected, the shabby man in a raincoat hadn't materialised. She was going to put him in his place if he had, but now she was way out of her comfort zone.

 

She turned to Peter half rising from her seat, as she was about to suggest they should leave. Only the door opened and two smartly dressed lady's entered, smiling at them they went to the other side of the desk. Then held out their hands to introduce themselves to Sera and Peter.             

 

"Hello, I'm Tanya Regalado, head of human resources. This is my colleague, Maer Kassman sorry to keep you waiting. An earlier interview lasted longer than anticipated, so shall we get on with your's?" Tanya said opening Sera's folder and sliding the top two pages to one side, before reading from the third.

 

"Sera Louise Godard, twenty-five date of birth eighteenth of January nineteen thirty-eight. Place of berth St Margaret's hospital Grays in Essex, United Kingdom. Daughter of Mary and John Godard, fathers occupation car mechanic, arrived Australia fiftieth June nineteen forty-seven."

 

"Sera Louise Godard graduated with a law degree, from Adelaide University in nineteen fifty-nine. Transferred to the Perth office of Manard and Comings, when they took over the firm of Mitchell and sons lawyers in nineteen sixty-one!"

   

"That is correct, isn't it Miss Godard?" she asked a stunned Sera. Who could only nod her head and quietly answer 'yes,' and sit wondering what she had let Peter lead her into? As the lady listed a summary of her entire life, and still in a state of bewilderment. Agreed that the information was a true, and accurate account of Sera's life to now.

 

Then it was Peter's folder that was explored and declared he was thirty-three and noted he hadn't wandered far from his birthplace. Which was the rural town of Wagen, some seventy miles north of Perth? Peter the son of a commercial Macadamia nut grower, had two older brothers. Peter had gone to college to get a law degree, while his brothers went to learn agriculture to take on the farm.

 

It had only been a week since Peter had answered the advert in that magazine, and now Sera was listening to Peter's whole life story. Which she knew none of before, they even knew of Peter's grandparents, that arrived in Australia seventy-five years ago. They had come from the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, off the coast of South America. They, in turn, were descendants of immigrants of Portuguese ancestry.

 

'Who were these people?' Sera thought as the information kept coming. She had been in courtrooms in the past, confidently putting forward the case for her client, but here now she was unsure of her surroundings. Here now in a mild state of shock, at what was being revealed about her's and Peter's past life. She felt panic because she was not in control of the situation she was in, and her mind was still in a state of flux when she realised the woman was now talking to her.

 

"With your past background Miss Godard, we would suggest our legal department rather than as a secretary. You have the qualifications and we have seen your security report, which would qualify you to be offered such a secure position. Of course, that would be subject to further in-depth interviews, and of further consultations, if you decide you would indeed like to join us."

 

"At the moment as it is almost lunchtime we could retire now and resume in one hours time. You can spend the time enjoying a meal in our restaurant entirely on us, and reflect on our meeting so far. So then we will see you in an hour's time, Miss Godard Mr Martin." Tanya Regalado said holding out her hand and indicating the door, signalling the meeting was over for now. 

Chapter7

As Sera and Peter exited the interview room, one of the barley Samoan security guards was waiting for them. His size draft Peter and Sera, and although he seemed friendly his size did intimidate her. As she looked up at his smiling face, he said please follow me, and lead them to the lift, and up to two floors to the restaurant and lounge area.

 

He then indicated they should help themselves to whatever they desired, after handing Sera and Peter a tray. He took one himself to piled exotic fruits and colourful drinks on it, before moving to an empty table. Sera followed his example but not in so much a quantity, whereas Peter went for tiger prawn starter and a crayfish main. As he was not dieting today, he followed it with a banana split dessert. 

 

Sera felt obliged to sit with their guide, though she would have preferred to sit alone with Peter. They could have discussed what had transpired in that interview room. It was still unsettling her to know, they knew so much about them in such a short time. In the past she had known the time and effort, it took her in preparing for a legal argument for the courts.

 

Sera watched their guild munch through half a Melon, two other fruits and two tall glasses of a rainbow mixture of fruit juices. Then he returned to the serving counter for more delights, giving Sera the chance she had wanted to talk to Peter.

 

"Peter who are these people, and how did they find out so much about us. I thought we were meeting a man about this so-called job, I didn't expect this amount of organisation. There some sort of global conglomerate wouldn't you say, what do they want with us?" The question was left hanging as their guild returned, with a large bowl of fruit and ice cream.

 

Peter didn't seem perturbed at all, he was wiping his mouth after finishing that tasty crayfish. When Sera finished talking, he didn't have time to answer because the Samoan had returned. So he just pulled his banana split to him and prepared to devourer it. As Sera watched him, he ate as if it was his last meal. Then he got up, to fetch another dessert of passion fruit and cream.

 

What struck Sera was there was no staff manning the counter, just staff clearing tables of used plates and things. With no cash tills to take money for the food, it seemed it was all free. As the food was taken from the serving counter, more was put out to replace it. Were all the people eating here members of staff, did they all work in this one building?

 

When their guild had finished his meal, he just sat smiling at Peter consuming his second dessert. Then in perfect English, he asked if they wanted to relax in the rest area. Or take a stroll around the balcony walk that surrounded the building. Peter wanted to sit, to let his food settle in his stomach.

 

"I'd like to walk if you don't mind mister?" Sera said with enough emphasis on the mister, to make clear she was asking his name.

 

"Felu Tui Miss Sera Godard," he answered with a very friendly smile and indicating he also knew her name. Then holding out his hand, he directed her to the door to the balcony. Witch at the front of the building on Adelaide Tce was just three stories high, whereas at the rear it was almost six. The downward slope of the land the city was built on, gave a fine view of the river Swan.

 

"May I ask, how long have you worked for the Gray Institute Felu?" Sera asked as casually as she could, trying to sound friendly and smiled up at him. He returned the smile, but his answer left her a little bewildered.

 

"I'm afraid that would be classified as the present Miss, but feel free to ask me in say a month's time if you are with us then!" Again he had his beaming friendly smile showing his pearly white teeth, and although his answer sounded rather officious, It was said in a kindly way, and Sera was warming to this big friendly person.

 

With the circumference of the building complete, they found Peter summed in a comfy chair. He was still bloated from all he had eaten and would have been happy to stay there. Only it was time to resume their meeting with Tanya Regalado. So they accompanied their guild back to the interview room, where Felu Tui left them to wait. As soon as the door closed Sera was asking Peter, questions he couldn't answer.

 

"Have you any idea what we are doing here Peter, they are suggesting I go into their legal department. They haven't said anything about what you're being offered, and you're the one that applied for this interview. I've got a funny feeling this is something it's not what it seems to be, what does The Gray's International Institute do anyway, I can't say I've heard of it?"

 

She asked these questions of a vacant Peter, who just looked at her unable to answer. As he wasn't shearing her sense of foreboding. To him, they had just confirmed, they were talking to the right persons that they wanted to talk to. The ones who had applied for the advertised positions, no more no less as far as he was concerned. There was no drama at all, he was sure all would be explained in time.

 

Peter was saved anymore of Sera's questions, as the door opened and a smiling Tanya came into the room. Followed by an equally happy-looking Maer Kassman, nodding to Sera and Peter in welcome she asked.

 

"Did you find the food to your liking, Felu informed us you eat heartily." She said still smiling, and directing her question to Peter, then turning to Sera said.

 

"I'm sure by now you have some questions to ask of us, you were I'm sure rather surprised at the amount of knowledge we had of you. You wouldn't be if you knew we deal with all things ascertaining security."

 

"Information is a keyword here, we use it to gain the rights of depressed people. As a lawyer yourself, you will appreciate, to know the law and rights of individuals is one thing. Getting them justice is another matter entirely. If you decide to join us, you will be on the front line trying to achieve this. We have many teams in many counties, dedicated to gathering knowledge and Information."

 

"Your job would be to use that information and knowledge, to help persuade rulers and governments. To abide by international human rights agreements, to achieve this you would be required to travel to wherever you are required to be."

 

"All food accommodation and travel will be provided, a monthly allowance given to cover out of pocket expenses. If you do join us you will want for nothing and can look forward to a long and fruitful life, doing a job and service you have been trained to do. Now you must have questions to ask, we will answer the ones we can, the others will be answered when the time is right to do so."

 

Tanya said leaving Sera a little overwhelmed with what she had just heard, she wouldn't just be back in the courts. The way Tanya had put it, Sera would be in the high courts in different lands. She would be arguing international law on human rights, not just disputes between employee and employer, or landlord against tenants as she had before.

 

It was her wildest dream come true, something she had spent all those sleepless nights studying for. A real chance to show off her legal augment skills, it excited her but only one question came into her head.

 

"Peter applied for this interview, out of a seedy magazine. I really only came here, to get the photo he sent to you back. This is not what I expected at all, this has been a total shock to me, and I am flattered at your high opinion of me. I have a feeling I would be a fool, not to accept your proposal. Even as I have no knowledge of your organisation, I feel I should accept and I do Miss Regalado." Sera said to a smiling Tanya who was opening her zip-up document case, to pull out the photo in question.

 

"Here's the photo Sera, and it's not as bad as you thought it was, in fact, it's quite flattering, to say the least. You could show it to a modelling agency, or give it to an Army unit as a pin-up for their barracks wall?" She said with that smile still beaming, and laughter in her voice.

 

"I am glad to be able to accept you into our ranks, though now you will have to undergo some medical tests so we can make sure of your health. As you said Peter was the prime applicant, he had been less sceptical of us than you have been. It was thought you had to be convinced more than he was into joining us. Peter has other assets we wish to explore, he is being offered a place with us if he accepts with that in mind. He will go onto other more in-depth interviews with higher executives, where he will find there is a place for him here."

 

Peter was already nodding his head, as Tanya Spoke. "Where do I sign," was all he said, and from Tanya's document case, she pulled two sheets of paper. Which she placed in front of Peter and Sera, and they both signed their names to them.       

 

Leaving the interview room they were taken in different directions, Peter went to the doctor's examination room. Where he had to strip and be thoroughly examined by the doctor, and samples of his bodily fluids were taken. He and Sera past each other, both dressed only in a dressing gown as they swapped places. As he was lead by a female security guard, to the X-ray and outro sound scan room.

 

Sera accompanied by Felu who she now meekly followed, to the doctor, for an extensive external and internal examination. The doctor was very pleasant and much more thorough than any other doctor she had visited before. He examined her, and then took fluid and blood samples from very personal places. That was highly embarrassing, as Felu was still in attendance guarding her and carrying her clothing.

 

Then it was back into the interview room, where Tanya informed them their personal belongings were on the way to their new abode. Where they too were now going to be taken, to settle in and explore their new surroundings. Their induction into the brotherhood would take a few weeks and would continue in the morning out at Secret Harbour. They would be staying at the Brotherhood's Australian base headquarters.  

Chapter 8

Exiting the lift in the buildings underground car park, Felu leads them to a big black van. That looked like a mini-conference room on wheels when they opened the door and entered. It had plush horseshoe seating with a table, that dropped out of the sliding door when it was closed to form a desk. Tanya busied herself with a folder of paperwork on it, as the van glided along Mounts Bay road and onto the Stirling Hwy towards Fremantle.

 

The big day van travelled smoothly along the highway, steadily travelling southwest quite fast. They drove over the Swan River where it flowed onto the docks, then out past Fremantle itself, then on and through Rockingham. Felu had sat in silence since they had left Perth, but as they were leaving Rockingham, he smiled at Sera on seeing her fidgeting to say.

 

"Not long to Secret Harbour now Miss, it's just out of Port Kennedy." Port Kennedy, was the outermost limit for residential building. The land for thirty miles along the highway from there, and before Mandura, was government-controlled land. Five miles inland of the shoreline, was heavily wooded with spruce and pine trees. Lining the highway along the thirty-mile stretch of it, and was a project of sustainable wood production.

 

A few miles along the road was a turning into the forest, that had a big sign saying 'No unauthorised entry forbidden.' The van slowed down and turn into it, half a mile down the track was the timber mill. They drove down between the stacks of cut timber, and the sawmill itself.

 

The men working there took no notice of the passing van and just carried on with their work. Sera looked at them as they were driving past, not one of them looked up at them. They were soon back in between the trees again. Heading away from the mill towards the sea a few miles away, where the land rose steadily as they emerged from the treeline.

 

Up they climbed onto the pluto before them, where there was a high fence and a security style control point. Where they were stopped by uniformed men and had their ID's checked before the barrier was raised to allow them access. Then closer to the coast, they slowly descended and a large crescent inlet could be seen in the distance. It had a narrow seaward entrance, that would make this a safe natural harbour.

 

As they draw nearer dockside buildings took shape, into long warehouses and multi-stories office blocks. Crans could be seen along the dockside, where ships would be unloading. As the road started to wind down towards the sea, Peter pointed to a point beyond the warehouses. Where he could see the mastheads of a sailing ship, on the other side of them and looking at Felu asked.

 

"Is that what I think it is Felu, is that the toptrygallants of a three-masted sailing ship?" Felu smiled and nodded his head looking at Tanya. Who had also registered Peter's use of the right terminology, for the masthead rigging that held the topsails? Though they never said anything to Peter, Tanya made a note of it in her notebook, and a question readily formed in her head.

 

"Have you been on a sailing ship before Peter, you seem excited at seeing one?" She asked noting his eagerness to see the ship better, as they came around the end of the buildings.

 

"No, but as a child, I always dreamed of being a Pirate. I had vivid dreams of being on sailing ships, climbing the rigging and setting the sails. As the ship tossed about like a cork in heavy seas," Peter said turning around to look at the ship. That was now a little behind them and looked like it was in its own little dry dock, on the other side of the docks.

 

"That is the Celesta she is over three hundred years old and was one of the first ships the brotherhood acquired. I'll take you over to see her if you wish," Felu said, and got an approving nod from Tanya. They were driving along the dockside now, past an old tramp steamer that the crans were unloading, and Tanya pointed to it and said to Felu.

 

"Captain Jake is back, we will take Peter to meet him tomorrow." Peter glanced at the rust-stained ship as he heard Tanya speak, but his gaze returned to the lovely lines of the Celesta. They were heading out of the docks now, driving along the gently curving road. That ran alongside a golden beach, that stretched all the way to the entrance to the bay. Halfway to it stood a large high long white building, that looked like the largest hotel Sera had ever seen, and it stood alone. 

 

As they got closer Sera saw carabiners on the beach, with straw roofs and straw topped beach umbrellas, that gave shad too many beach loungers and picnic tables. There were many sun worshipers on the beach, and swimmers in the sea splashing about. To Sera, they all looked trim and healthy, even the older generation there seemed agile as they walked from one place to another. Only Sera could see no children playing, or the things they would enjoy playing with.

 

Closer still the building towered over fourteen stories high and was the size of a city block. With what looked like hundreds of balconies, the size of them suggested they were balconies of apartments instead of just hotel rooms. The big central entrance opened into a large reception come lounge area, where Sera and Peter followed Tanya and Felu to a reception desk.

 

"Oh for the time being Sera, Peter we have you shearing a two-bedroom apartment. Arrangements are underway to rectify that, in say a day or two. Seeing you were already liv* sorry shearing, we thought it better you stayed together until you were fully inducted into our society. That shouldn't take long, seeing you seemed to have fully committed yourselves to us already, Peter seems at home already don't you think Sera, I'm sure you will feel the same soon Sera."

 

Tanya said handing them a plastic electronic card key with a number on it, obviously to their new home for the time being at least. Sera had caught Tanya's hesitated referral, to their having shared in the past. She had heard her start to say living, then change it to shearing. Tanya's expression had not changed at all, but there was a new twinkle in her eye. As she had looked at Sera when she changed the word and Sera had to wonder why.

 

She and Peter followed Tanya and Felu to the lift, which took them to the fifth floor. Then to the door of their new home, it was spacious inside and well furnished. With a large living space, and French windows that lead onto the balcony. A small breakfast kitchen that was well stocked, as Tanya displayed by opening the cupboards to show them. The bedrooms were large and airy, though there were no outside windows. The bathroom they had to shear, was tasteful and was also full of the necessary toiletries.

 

On their beds were cardboard suitcases with their clothes, that had been brought from their Armadale home, and Sera wondered who had packed her underthings so neatly. There was a phone on the stand in the living room, beside it a booklet detailing where everything was in the building. What time the meals were served, and in the case of an emergency where to go. Tanya after showing where everything was, moved to the door calling for Felu to join her. As he had smilingly accompanied Sera on her tour of the apartment.

 

"We will leave you to settle in and explore your new surroundings, come Felu we will meet you at ten tomorrow in reception. Until then if you need if anything just call down to the desk, it is always manned." Tanya said ushering a smiling Felu out, even though he was twice her size she was in charge. As the door closed Peter wandered onto the balcony, looking into the distance at the sailing ship, in its own little dock and sheds .

 

"Sera this may sound weird but I know that ship, I'm sure I've been on it before," Peter said turning to Sera, as she put the kettle on to make coffee. "That Felu likes you, he hasn't left your side since we met him, he's a big lad isn't he," Peter said smiling at Sera, as she turned to pull a face at him. "He's just being friendly that's all," she answered but she had noticed he had been really close at times.

 

They had their coffee, then started putting away their things. When Sera had finished, she started changing out of her business suit and decided a shower would be just the thing. A dressing gown was hanging behind her bedroom door, so after removing her underclothing she was about to reach for it when the door opened, and a startled Peter stood looking at her.  "Peter," Sera said angrily covering herself with her hands, as Peter hurriedly retreated out the door.

 

"Sorry, Sera I thought you were still putting your things away, just wanted to ask when do you want to go down for dinner it's six-thirty now."  He said through the partially open door, feeling his face glowing at the sight he had just seen.

 

"Do I need to put a lock on this door, Peter, or are you going to give me the privacy I need?" Sera replied opening the door now she was wearing the dressing gown, and brushing past him on her way to the bathroom. "I hope there's a lock on this door," she said opening it and looking at the privacy bolt mechanism to secure it from the inside.

 

'Thud' went to the door as she slammed it, 'clunk' went the metallic sound of the mechanism being shot into place. "We will go when I've had my shower and dressed," she shouted through the door and Peter heard the water running for her shower.

Chapter 9

 

A few heads turned as they entered the dining room, then Sera saw a hand razed and waved a few tables into the room. Tanya introduced them to the others sitting with her, then handed her and Peter a menu. It was almost like the dining hall at Adelaide Terrace, only there were chefs who would cook your choice of meal. Or you could just pick a ready prepared one, off of the servery counter.

 

It seemed Tanya had gathered those sitting at the table purposely, so Sera would meet like-minded colleagues. That she would most likely work with later when she got to that stage in her training. It was then she recalled something in that advert Peter had read, it had said in-house training would be given and she had scoffed at it. Now as she sat chatting no information came from her new companions, about the corporation she had now joined.

 

She did try to steer the conversation in that direction, but no one took it up. She did, however, note several glances at Peter, from some at their table and those around them. They were quick glances from most, like when you think you know someone but aren't really sure. Some were really studying looks, from some middle-aged persons.

 

Peter seemed unaware of them, as he had got into a conversation with a really tanned woman. That Sera thought very muscularly, and she caught some of their conversations as they were talking about that sailing ship in the harbour. It seems she is part of the crew that looks after it and was intent on giving Peter all the information he wanted on it. Peter looked like he was enjoying, talking about the three-masted ship, he had so admired as they drove into the docks.

 

The very fit looking woman, also told him she was a crew member of the old tramp steamer. The one they had seen unloading at the dockside, and she was looking forward to introducing him to Captain Jake in the morning. She was very friendly towards him, and he seemed to like her close company as well.

 

After dinner, there was a choice of venues for entertainment within the building complex. Or there were beach bars and music, in one or two cabanas on the beach in front of the building. There was also a bus to Fremantle for the nightlife there. Only Tanya had already intimated that they were kind of confined to Secret Harbour until their probation/induction period was over.

 

Both of them had not been out on the town for a long time, and Sera watched Peter enjoying himself. He happily danced a crazy dance on the beach, with some of their newfound friends. The drinks as their lunch and dinner were free, and Peter, as he had at the evening meal.  Was again overindulging, and was in danger of having a hangover in the morning.

 

Sera was more self-restrained, but she too had not indulged in drinking for a long while. The few she had were making her lightheaded, and when she woke at eight in the morning she was fussily headed. At first, she knew not where she was, then vaguely remembered them staggering happily through their door. They had supported each other, as they giggled their way into the apartment.

 

She urgently sat up and looked about her, and was relieved to find Peter was not there. For the incident of the office party, flashed through her fussy mind. She wondered if they had repeated that encounter, as she was unable to remember undressing for bed the night before. As she was now sitting up in bed naked, and she needed coffee to clear her head. Wrapping herself in her dressing gown, she gingerly ventured out of her bedroom and felt immediate relief.

 

There half on and half off of the settee was Peter fully dressed, still in a drunken slumber. Where he had obviously fallen and laine all night, much to Sera's delight. The Knowledge that she had not again been compromised, and not again slept with Peter while in a drunken state was a relief.

 

Showered and dressed and a hot coffee, took away Sera's fussy head. Then at nine-fifteen, she prodded Peter's still slumbering body, then quickly stood back as he woke in a frenzy. Not knowing where he was, had him thrashing about wide-eyed and confused. Then focusing on Sera he asked. "What happened where did everybody go, oh my head who hit me?" Peter asked trying to hold his head still as it was still spinning.

 

"You did, you idiot, went to heavy on the grog last night. You're not used to it Peter, you drank far too much." Sera said looking down on him, wallowing in self-pity but did not confess. She too had woke confused and bewildered, and somewhat fuzzy headed.

 

"Come on is almost half nine, we're meeting Tanya at ten-thirty. You shower and change, I'll meet you in the cafeteria. I want to see what they put up for breakfast, I've been on a diet for far too long. It will be a change from toasted burger buns," Sera said tapping her tummy. Peter suddenly realised she was wearing a short light summer dress, and she wasn't quite Sera today.

 

"God you look nice Sera, haven't seen you in that before. You look radiant," Peter said honestly, dragging himself off the floor. Where he had fallen when Sera woke him up, his aching head thumping as the blood pounded through his veins. Sera blushed slightly at the compliment, it had taken her by surprise they hadn't been seeing eye to eye lately.

 

It was true, being out of work had brought them both down. The inactivity, the no purpose of their lives. Plus being under each other's feet, all the time had made them almost invisible to one another. Sera mostly wandered around the house in her dressing gown, hair tied back out of the way. No makeup to speak of, she wouldn't waste it, it cost too much. Anyway only Peter was there to see her, so why bother. She had made her business face-up yesterday, she had her pretty face on today.

 

"Shall I wait for you, or go on down Peter?" Sera asked slightly overwhelmed, by Peter's remark and the way he was looking at her now. She had planned to go without him, but his kind words had made her feel nice. The last time she felt like this was when she was having a pleasant cup of coffee with Robin Jenkins in Kelmscott. That was a week ago, his friendly smile and presence had made her feel nice then, and so had his charming compliments.

 

'Now if I had shared a house with Robin,' 'No,' put that out of your mind he is married!' Sera said to herself, getting slightly flushed at her thoughts. Looking at Peter swaying to his bedroom, as she watched him take off his shirt.

 

"You go on Sera I'll catch you up, oh have you any aspirin. I've got a brass band playing in my head." Peter said, turning and looking like a lost puppy dog. Sera suddenly had a surge of puppy love; or was it the mother instinct in her coming out.

 

"Oh here I have some in my room, I'll get them for you." She said turning back to her door, then handing them to him as she returned. "Thank you," he said entering the bathroom to take them and have his shower.

 

Felu stood as Sera entered the dining hall, his big frame far too obvious to miss. Then again he stood as Sera walked towards him, with her tray of food he held out her seat. So he would be guarding her again today, Sera thought and also saw Peter's Samoan lady guard. Sitting by Tanya and Maer, and the woman Peter had been so friendly with last night.

 

"Good morning Sera, I've been told you and Peter enjoyed yourselves last night. How is Peter this morning, I do hope he is able to join us." Tanya said with a big smile, that was also etched on the face of Peters friend of the night before.

 

A few minutes later Felu stood again, to wave as Peter entered in casual slacks and shirt. Peter waved back and went to the serviery for his breakfast. He was greeted at the table with a firm handshake, from his friend the night before and smiles from the others.

 

"Sorry have I kept you waiting, but I woke up late," Peter said as he sat. All at the table had empty plates in front of them by now, though Sera was still drinking her coffee. She had just finished her rockmelon breakfast and looked tiny as she sat next to the big Felu. Who's ever-smiling face betrayed the friendliness of his race, now they were no longer headhunters.

 

"There is no hurry Peter, today is just an informal day. It's for you to get to know your new surroundings, and meet some of the people you will be working with. Rachal here will be taking you to see the Celesta, and the tramp steamer Tiki Maro." Tanya said looking at the smiling Rachal, the friend Peter had had last night.

 

"You're going to like Captain Jake Peter, he has some wild tales of the sea. I can't wait to introduce you to him," said Rachal her beaming smile showing her pearly white teeth. That was framed in her dark-skinned face, and Sera seemed to detect an underlying meaning to Rachal's words.

 

"We're going aboard the Celesta?" Peter said enthusiastically. Popping the last of his steak and egg breakfast into his mouth, and emptying his coffee cup. As he gave Rachal a big thank you smile, and Sera thought he had taken to her as if he had known her for years. He had definitely come alive, in the last twenty-four hours it seemed.  

Chapter 10

The first stop on the tour was the warehouses, where all the goods, the Brotherhood used, were stored after being shipped in from all over the world. With most of the food stocks coming from the home island, they were told they would be going too when the steamer next set sail.

 

There were four large warehouses in total, one was a combination of a deep freezer and cool storage. One had all manner of clothing and bedding in boxes, piled high in racks with just enough space between for a fork truck to operate. A third had tents and emergency sanitation equipment, with a vast array of tools for digging and building.

 

The fourth warehouse they bypassed completely, with no explanation whatsoever. Then they found themselves walking up the gangplank of the steamer, as the dockyard cranes were still unloading it. Rachal approached a deckhand and asked him a question, and the deckhand gestured towards the stern of the ship. They followed Rachal, as she beckoned them to follow.                                                

 

Rounding the end of the superstructure, they came onto the stern of the ship. Where several men stood, looking at some winch like machinery. Three were in grubby overalls, and one in a navy blue jacket and white officers cap. From what Sera could see of him, he was in his forties and had a white beard. Rachal indicated for them to wait, as she went to speak to her Captain.

 

Rachal approached the four men from their right, and the Captain turned towards the sound of Rachel's voice. When she got near to him, and she held the Captains gazed as she spoke. Sera could not hear what was said from where they were standing, but when Rachal finished talking. The Captain looked their way, with an open-mouthed shocked look as he started towards them.

 

"Captain Jake, this is Sera Godard and Peter Martin. They have just joined us, the grandmaster wanted you to meet them as soon as possible. He will be here himself in two day's time," Rachal said before the Captain could speak. With a bewildered look the Captain took another step towards them, with his hand outstretched to Peter. It was in his movement that Sera realised he had a wooden leg, as he threw his wooden leg out, then brought his other leg forward.

 

"Peter Martin is it now?" the Captain asked inquisitively in what sounded like a Cornish brogue. In a very questioning manner, as he looked closely at Peter. From his accent and mannerisms. Sera pictured him wearing a bandana and carrying a Pirates cutlass.  She could also see Peter looking at the Captain as if he was trying to remember if he had seen him before. Rachal broke the mood when she informed the Captain.

 

"We're going over to the Castela Captain would you like to join us, you know her better than most. Peter has shown an interest in her since he first saw her yesterday, I promised him last night I would show him over her?" When Rachal finished talking, they turned towards the gangplank to leave the ship. As they neared it a dark-skinned man in a blue jacket and white hat, stepped from it onto the deck of the ship. He stopped abruptly as he saw them and the Captain approaching.

 

"Pedro!" he said with an astonished look, and the Captain quickly introduced him to them.

 

"This is my first officer Joshua Standfast, Joshua met Peter Martin and Sera Godard. They have just joined the brotherhood, I'm going over the Castela to show them over the ship. The Tiki Maro is yours, for the duration." He said putting a hand on the man's shoulder, as Joshua still looked strangely at Peter.

 

"Dorian will be here in two days for a meeting of senior hands, we will know more of what is afoot. Until then carry on as normal, the starboard stern winch needs replacing." The captain continued patting Mr Steadfarst's shoulder, then stood aside to invite Sera to be first onto the gangplank to go ashore.

 

She smiled and nodded to Mr Standfast as she passed him to step onto the gangplank, but his eyes were still on Peter. As she turned her head back to see where she was going, a smiling Felu came into view standing at the end of the gangplank waiting for her to descend.

 

They would have to drive around the perimeter of the inlet to reach the other side of the docks. Where the Castela was in her own dried out basin, but she wasn't the only craft on that side of the crescent-shaped inlet. There were several small fast looking boats tied along the key side in front of a long two-storey building. All the boats were white, and all six long hulls all looked the same and didn't look at all like fishing boats.

   

Coming out of the working dock area, there was a marina with pleaser craft moored in neat rows. With many sailing Dinges on trailers, parked by a chandlery shop. A little further on there seemed to be a race track, where sedan cars were driving fast. Going into skidding turns, or manoeuvres to spin around to drive in the opposite direction. It looked great fun, as clouds of blue smoke rose from spinning squealing tyres.

 

They passed a large open space, that looked like an obstacle course. Where a large group of men were climbing over tall wooden fences. Swinging from ropes over water obstacles, and sliding down ropes from tall towers. All wore black clothing and all looked very fit men, and Sera took her eyes off them to look at Felu. Only Felu sat looking straight ahead, and Sera didn't ask the question in her mind as their big black van drove steadily by.

 

 

I have stopped the story here, for the time being, as I am contemplating a new start to the book, I was going to get Captain Jake to tell Sera the story of how the brotherhood started with Dorian being captured by Pirates and him being marooned on an Island. But thought it better to start in 1663.

 

 

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 11.03.2018

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