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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