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 farm house 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 lake bed 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 opponents 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 sea worthy 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
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