(Untitled)

[stoicsidekick]

The trouble with scheduling a sail in the tropics was that one never could know what sort of weather awaited one. Bush might have woken to a storm-tossed morning, one that would have demanded he postpone the trip with the Doctor lest they get swept out to sea. But any such worries had been in vain. The morning was calm, with just enough breeze to

Comments

[cryptogam]

"I am quite well, thank you, Lieutenant." He had made some effort to make himself presentable, as he knew Navy officers were punctilious about such things; he had shaven for the first time since Friday, and his clothes were more or less clean. He knew he still looked somewhat wan, but he would put it across to being ill or somesuch.

He carried with him his notebook, a pot from the kitchen for specimens, and a book on tropical fish that the bookshelf had been kind enough to give him. Despite how low he had been of late, he was very much looking forward to the expedition.

"Do I have permission to come aboard, sir?" he inquired.

[stoicsidekick]

Bush hadn't heard the title or the turn of phrase in some time, and they brought a strange, conflicted pang of homesickness to his chest. He smiled ruefully. "Actually, if you wouldn't mind helping me push her out, it would be appreciated. Please, put your things in, though. I found you a net as well, if you think it would be helpful."

[cryptogam]

"It would be capital; thank you very much, sir." Stephen unloaded his things into the boat, then stood next to it, somewhat baffled as to how to proceed next. He had never helped push a boat out before, as Jack and his crew would never allow him to do anything even remotely nautical; his reputation for being entirely hopeless at such things was well-known.

[stoicsidekick]

The baffled expression was difficult to miss. Bush knew intuitively that landmen, no matter how long their time at sea, generally knew nothing about the workings of even the simplest sea vessel. But that same knowledge was something he knew intuitively, and William Bush was no teacher.

Still, he couldn't get the damn boat off the sand alone. His expression was nothing but polite. "If you could get on the other side of the bow, Doctor? Just give her a good heave on my command, that should get her off the shore, and then get in as quickly as you can."