It was a
bright late summer morning, and the sun was shining as they were driving up the
country lanes on their way to Montrose and it was the first time they had all
been in precisely the same place together apart from meal times and the
conversation was rapid and the atmosphere boisterous, apart from Bagg.
When you
were a Visitor meeting family was one of the rarest of occasions, when there
were two Visitors in one family they were almost impossible.
Apart from his
brother Trebreh, who he hadn’t seen for twelve years, and his wife Xandra there
was her brother Ale, who was his boyhood friend.
There were
also a number of nephews and nieces whom he had not seen before and he was a
little apprehensive about meeting them all, he was also concerned that it would
be dull for his crew mates so on the journey he sat in reflective silence.
He needed
have worried, when word of Bagg’s imminent arrival reached them a hastily
arranged feast was instigated and the whole village was to be in attendance to
welcome their guests.
The journey
took longer than he anticipated, and an hour and forty-five minutes had elapsed
before they drove into the farmyard.
After they
all disembarked from the Stroller he took a moment to take in the unfamiliar
vista, which he had never seen but had heard described in great detail in his
brother’s correspondence over the years, on those occasions when his mail found
him.
Trebreh and
Xandra had landed on Eirkos eleven years earlier and as she was heavily pregnant,
they thought to stay for a few months until she and the baby were recovered
enough to continue on their journey, but they never left.
They found
a community sorely in need of a spiritual hand on their shoulders and they were
welcomed with open arms.
He was now
the district Visitor and served parishes within a fifteen-mile radius of
Montrose.
The people
of Montrose lived a simple existence and Bagg’s brother was no different, the farmhouse
was not a grand structure but it was functional and not unpleasant to the eye.
They only
had to wait a moment or two when Bagg’s sister-in-law Xandra appeared with her
brother Ale at her shoulder.
“Parham!”
she said, “is it, really is you?”
It proved
to be a rhetorical question as she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck
and kissed his cheek, then it was Ale’s turn and after being embraced by them
both he made the introductions to the crew who were greeted like long lost
friends.
After the
introductions were made the crew of the Tornado were left in no doubt as to the
depth of her warmth and although Bagg’s brother Trebreh was still at an
adjacent parish officiating at a funeral, Xandra was an able host and had prepared
a light lunch for them, which they ate in the orchard.
After a
very acceptable lunch their hosts had to excuse themselves as there was still a
lot of work to do as the feast that evening was in their honour, Bagg offered
to help with the culinary preparation and everyone else offered to do their
bit, Bagg’s offer was quickly taken up, but the rest were ordered to go and
relax.
“Take them
down by the Lake children” Xandra said
“Ok mum”
they chorused, and the children led them off for a walk through the village
towards the Lake and what began with a huddled chattering group was eventually
spread out into a long-ragged strand.
Lyris and
Zerrad were at the back about 20 yards astern of Asti and Malena who appeared
to be deep in conversation.
“How did
we, of all people manage to snap up gems like Asti and Malena?” Lyris asked his
brother in disbelief
“I don’t
even want to think about it” Zerrad replied “Because I don’t want to jinx it”
“We’ve both
got ourselves a good one” Lyris said
“I know”
Zerrad agreed
In front of
Malena and Asti were Merri and Parse and ahead of them were Terrell and Shiyne
and in the vanguard, were Vanzyl and Pulsat who were proving to be a great hit
with the kids.
After about
half an hour they were in sight of the Lake and Merri suddenly shouted.
“BARTS”
And Lyris
and Zerrad started jogging towards her.
“What’s
going on?” Asti asked with alarm
“Were going
Barting” Lyris said and took her hand and they ran hand in hand along the path.
“But I’ve
never Barted” she exclaimed
A Bart was
a shallow draught fishing boat which was like a cross between a Gondola and a
Punt which you propelled along with a long pole, which was thrust down in the lakebed
and pushed downwards which propelled the Bart forward.
The reason
for all the excitement was that the presence of the Bart’s meant they were
going to have fun on the water.
Vanzyl
became very excited when he saw the water and removed his outer garments and
emitting high pitched whistles he ran headlong to the Lake and jumped in but
Pulsat stopped in his tracks as everyone else rushed past him.
“Come on
Pulsat we’re going out on the Lake” Parse said but he shook his head violently in
response.
“Water bad,
Pulsat Rad, stay”
“But it’ll
be fun” Merri added
“Pulsat
like dry, he stay with small humans” he said adamantly
There was a
row of Bart’s tied up to the jetty, so they commandeered four of them and
divided up into their respective couples.
Because Bart’s
were flat bottomed like Punts, and high in the bow like a Gondola, there was a
knack to propelling them without falling off so after a brief discussion about
the rules of engagement it was decided that they would race to the headland and
back and the first Bart back would be the winner or failing that the last participant
to get wet would be victorious.
With the
exceptions of Asti and Terrell, they had all been in water races in their
lives, either on Rivers or Lake, at one time or another, some more than others,
and when they were racing the winners were normally the ones who stayed dry.
So, there
was a basic rule to follow, namely if your pole gets stuck in the mud you let
it go, if the situation arises then you stay with the vessel and not with the
pole, it’s simple really.
But saying
that the object of the exercise was to stay dry was not altogether factual, it
would be more truthful to say that what was actually more important was to get
your opponent’s wet because once both occupants of a Bart have been dunked they
can take no further part.
Now under
normal circumstances hostilities wouldn’t begin until all craft were a safe
distance from the jetty but on this occasion Lyris inexplicably missed his
footing and fell in the Lake without even setting foot onto his Bart.
“God Ly I
thought you were supposed to be good at this” Merri said
And then it
wasn’t long before Asti, the least seaworthy of the group succumbed to an early
bath and the competition was down to 3 vessels.
Once the
flotilla had travelled a sufficient distance from the shore hostilities could
begin.
There had
been a number of harmless skirmishes when Zerrad, who normally won on the water
hands down, narrowly avoided being rammed by Merri’s Bart only to find himself
heading straight for a weeping willow as his evasive action had taken him back
towards the shore.
Malena
panicked and ran to the rear of the vessel and then she and Zerrad slid down
the pole together.
During the
ensuing laughter Merri and Shiyne’s Bart’s collided, and Parse and Terrell both
got dunked.
Shiyne
stood and laughed like a drain before she shouted
“Abandon
ship” and jumped in and joined Terrell.
“I’ll save
you Doctor” she said and wrapped her arms around him and as they stood in the waist
deep cool water and laughed in the summer sunshine.
Which was
when if he hadn’t already done so he would have fallen in love with her, and as
they stood in the waters of the Lake kissing, Merri noisily declared herself
the winner.
When the
flotilla returned to the jetty, they found Vanzyl and Pulsat entertaining the village
children, the former in the Lake and the latter in the meadow.
Because
Merri had never won a regatta so quickly before she wouldn’t shut up about it.
So, before
they started on the walk back to the farm four of them picked her up threw her
into the Lake.
Her last
words before she hit the water were
“You can’t
do that I’m the Captain”
After they
had done battle on the Lake, they squelched their way back along the path to
the farmhouse in high spirits.
As they got
closer to the house, they could hear the murmur of happy chatter and the sound
of industry.
They walked
around the side of the house towards the courtyard and found their hosts and a
small group of villagers gathered and during their absence a large array of
tables and sunshade sails had appeared in the cobbled yard in preparation for
that evenings feast.
“Oh
goodness you’re all wet” Xandra said “You’re in a worse state then the
children”
“Aha the
motley crew returns” Bagg said jovially as he appeared from the kitchen and
knowing what they were like added “Who won the Battle?”
“I did”
Said Merri triumphantly as she squelched into view.
“So why are
you dripping wet?” Bagg asked
“They threw
me in” said Merri indignantly
“Why?”
Xandra asked
“Because
they’re mutineers” Merri retorted, and this information was received with
raucous laughter.
“Well come
on girls I’ll show you to your rooms and you can clean up and change”
“We have
rooms?” Asti asked
“Of course,
you have to stay the night” she retorted
“Ale, will
you show the men to the barn”
The long-awaited
reunion between Bagg and his brother Trebreh happened later when everyone was
cleaned up and presentable and was very touching and set the tone for the
following meal.
The feast
the villagers put on that evening was exceptional and truly generous
considering they were just a simple agrarian community.
The summer
days on Eirkos were very long and even in late Summer the sun didn’t set until
midnight so when the meal was over and the villagers had gone home the Tornado
crew decided to have a final drink or two of Trebreh’s wonderful wine on the
terrace before turning in and over the next hour everyone slowly drifted off in
their ones and twos until there was only the Skeet brothers and their girls and
they spent a romantic hour cuddling as they watched the sun go down.
“This is
nice” Malena said
“This is
perfect” Asti corrected her
