The Nine Bishops
Chapter 28: The SS Marlene

Mika arrived on schedule at the harbor, which even early in the morning was bustling. She found dock eighty-three easily by following the large signs posted in the area.

She had been looking forward to sailing aboard one of the large ships she’d admired on earlier visits, but to her dismay the docks numbered after the fifties held only small passenger boats. The boat tied to pier eighty-three was even more of a letdown. Given its awful condition, it was surprising that it could float.

The boat was no longer than forty feet, with a cabin that took up most of that space, leaving about ten feet of open deck. The boat’s wheel was on top of the flying bridge, to consolidate space. There was a mast of about fifteen feet with a dreadful sail that looked like a worn-out tablecloth. The other sorry-looking boats were marvelous in comparison.

Three people stood on the pier next to it. The man from the rug store was talking to an older gentleman about the age of seventy and a boy no older than fifteen. As Mika arrived, the man from the rug store broke off the conversation to greet her.

“Ah, yes, you’ve arrived just on time. Your ship will be departing soon. Meet your captain and his first mate,” the man said, motioning toward the others.

“Good morning, I’m Clint Sulton, and this is my grandson, Carlson. I’m glad to welcome you to the SS Marlene,” the old man said. He had white hair, a full beard, and deeply wrinkled skin, but looked remarkably fit, with a ramrod posture and rosy cheeks.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you and your grandson, Captain. My name is Mika,” she responded, respectfully.

“No need for formalities, Mika, you can just call me Sully,” he said with a smile.

Carlson, who was shyly avoiding eye contact, wore a shirt with cut-off sleeves, which drew attention to his own great physical shape. Otherwise, he was an average-looking youth with brown hair that hung past his ears.

“Now that you’re acquainted, it’s about time you all are off,” the man from the rug store interjected.

“Absolutely. Mika, hop on board. Carlson and I will take care of the rest,” Sully said.

Mika was perplexed; it looked like the man from the rug store had no intention of getting on the ship.

“Are you not joining us?”

“I regret to inform you that I will not. In fact, I am actually not the issuer of the contract. Your issuer is already on board, in the cabin. The two of you will be acquainted in a short time. I must get going. Good luck.”

What have I gotten myself into? Mika wondered. This contract was beginning to seem very suspect. The issuer clearly wanted to stay anonymous, but the lengths he was willing to go to maintain that anonymity were strange. Still, he’d have to reveal himself soon, she figured. There was no way he could avoid sharing his identity for much longer.

Mika, despite her misgivings, boarded the ship, determined to finish the contract.

Sully and Carlson got straight to work, with a well-practiced division of roles and concise communication, to get the ship out to sea. In almost no time, the harbor was a distant view and they were sailing on open water. Mika stood on the deck and watched with great enjoyment.

The boat passed a few others on their way in. Despite its condition, it sailed effectively without using magic. Sully and Carlson manually maneuvered the boat, surprising Mika with how much actual labor was involved. From what Mika had seen, all the other ships had magic that automated the process. Mika waited silently until things had settled into an easy rhythm before she talked to either of the two.

While they set their course towards Pils, she took some time to inspect the boat. From the front deck, she looked back toward the cabin. There were two doors: one for the guest cabin, the other for the crew quarters, which appeared to take up about one-fourth of the cabin area. Mika quietly tried the door to the guest quarters, which, as she’d suspected, was locked. That was obviously where her issuer was.

Their course properly set, Sully tied down the wheel, came down from the flying bridge, and took a seat on the side rail of the Marlene, next to Mika, who was watching as Monsoon became a speck on the horizon and then finally was shrouded by the thick fog from the sea.

“I can tell it’s your first time out on the water. What do you think?” Sully asked.

“To be honest, I thought it was going to be more extravagant,” she admitted.

Sully laughed. Carlson, who had finished securing all the lines, came over and sat next to his grandfather.

“I guess you really learn to appreciate the sea when you work it,” Sully responded with a smile. “If you are interested, maybe I can teach you a thing or two. It might change your perspective.”

“That sounds like a great idea. It’s going to be a long trip, so might as well learn something if I can,” Mika responded appreciatively. “So, what can you tell me about the man in the cabin?”

“He is as much as a mystery to us as he is to you, it seems.” Sully shrugged.

“How can that be?”

“Well, actually, Carlson saw him board the ship. The man who was talking with us earlier made the arrangements. He said the man who would be traveling with us was very particular about keeping his anonymity. I wanted to ask questions, but he paid enough coin to make me stop wondering.”

Carlson finally spoke up for the first time. “I saw him early in the morning. The man told us that he was going to board the ship at dawn. I knew he was lying, so I came much earlier, despite Grandpa’s protests. I watched him get on board a few hours before they had arranged. The man was wearing a mask, so it seemed like he was extra cautious.”

“What business did they tell you they were conducting?”

“It was simple, and I’m sure you were told the same thing. The man is conducting some sort of trade in Pils. He said that it would only take an hour and then he was coming straight back,” Sully explained.

“That’s the thing. The man didn’t bring anything on board with him,” Carlson interjected, clearly agitated. “Grandpa, the money wasn’t worth it. A two-week trip for a one-hour deal. Something is really fishy about all that.”

“Hush, boy. This is no time to talk about it. Do me a favor and show Mika where she is sleeping tonight and what she will be eating.”

The teenage boy got up, still looking frustrated, and asked Mika to follow him. He showed her to the crew quarters, which were no bigger than a large closet. Inside were two hammocks, side by side, and a chest holding provisions.

“It’s not much, but you can sleep on the hammock. My grandpa and I are running eight-hour shifts continuously, so we will only need one hammock between the two of us,” he said, rapid-fire. “If you need to use the bathroom, there are buckets in back of the boat. Just use those. We won’t be watching, so you don’t have to worry about that. Just make sure you use the levee system we have to clean them. The only real bathroom we have is in the guest cabin, so I’m sorry about that. For food, we will try to catch fresh fish and cook it with the firepit we set up on the deck. If we don’t manage to catch anything, there is always oats in that chest there. Do you have any questions?”

“I don’t think I have any at the moment,” Mika responded. The conditions were a little rough, but she would manage. She’d dealt with far worse on her journey to Monsoon. If anything, it was nice to have friendly people she could actually talk to. Knowing it would be a long trip, she looked forward to learning as much as she could about operating a sailboat in the times she was awake.

And so, the days slowly passed. Mika learned a lot about sailing, Sully, and Carlson. The one thing she learned nothing about was her contract issuer. The man had not left his cabin in all the time they had been sailing. Mika, Sully, and Carlson speculated a lot about him, but it was all just words in the wind.

Countless hours of talking with Sully and Carlson helped her piece their tragic story together, a story that she connected with on a deep level. The two were low-level mages now, but they hadn’t always been so. They once ran a family-owned ship called the SS Tidewater, which carried hundreds of passengers at a time. The operation had a great reputation.

The frontrunners of the ship were Carlson’s parents. They claimed they could sail any waters in any condition safely. That pride was to lead to their doom.

One day, the Crown informed the kingdom that Bishop Tempest was going to change the weather pattern on the eastern coast to help facilitate a more favorable wet season for crops. In turn, an advisory went out that, during the impending storm, ships should stay safely in port for two weeks.

Promising safe travel, Carlson’s parents sailed their ship throughout the storm period, despite the warnings and even though all other commercial shipping operations had ceased.

All of these trips were successful but one. They had been tasked with transporting an immense amount of cargo in a short time. Sully and his wife, Marlene, begged Carlson’s parents not to take such a job, since they had never attempted something so grand.

“But they were stubborn and prideful,” Sully said, bitterly, ending his account and going back to tending the boat. Mika wanted to know more, but Carlson was sleeping, so she waited for him to wake up before asking for more details. Mika managed to get Carlson to pick up where his grandfather had left off.

“I was still just a baby, so my grandpa stayed back with me. My grandpa told me that my grandma decided it was best if she along went on the voyage, despite her own concerns. In the end, the worst imaginable scenario happened. The ship was lost at sea, and my grandmother and parents were gone. To make matters even worse, my family lost everything to debtors.

“With no family and no money, my grandpa worked hard to give me some sort of life. He managed to get a rundown boat with what little money he had earned as a shipwright in the past decade.”

Mika learned that, with the chartered boat, Carlson and Sully continued to sail in remembrance of their lost loved ones and aspired to bring back their family’s reputation, one job at a time.

It took a few days to get the whole story from Carlson and Sully, but it was worth the wait. Mika truly grieved for them because she knew all too well what it was like to lose loved ones. Despite their situation, the two had actually done well for themselves. They had managed to move past dark times and carve out a new life. Mika, who was doing the same thing, thought she had a lot to learn from the two.

Mika was also becoming proficient at working the boat, and spent much of her time learning to assist the sailors. Time moved too slowly when she was not doing anything, and she still had no idea how to solve the problem with her rock.

A few days into the voyage, Sully asked, “Wasn’t I right that it’s so much better when you work the sea than to just watch it?”

He was right.

She especially enjoyed the times when their fishing attempts had been successful and they sat together on the deck, eating freshly grilled fish and talking. Life was tough out on the sea, but she was learning to appreciate those small moments that made her feel like she had a family again. It took her back to the days when her aunt was still alive and she, Sam and Bella would be together, sharing a simple meal, talking and laughing. Often her thoughts turned to wondering about Sam’s welfare, but then, rather than grieve over the past, she reminded herself to enjoy each and every moment until they got to Pils.

One afternoon, Pils finally came into view.

Land hoooo!” Sully yelled. It was still a couple of hours before sunset. The trade was to take only about an hour, and Sully had told Mika they’d set sail again immediately once it was complete—provided they got back to the boat before dark.

Mika helped get the boat docked, using all the skills Sully and Carlson had taught her. It was a lot more work than she’d anticipated but ultimately satisfying, once the boat was safely tied up in Pils’ tiny port.

Mika put her feet onto solid ground for the first time in a week, feeling strangely leaden after days of constant motion.

“I’m going to stay on the boat until we set off. Carlson, go into town and get us a few new lines. Mika, good luck with your business. Stay safe,” Sully said, once all the tasks were complete.

Almost on cue, the guest-quarters door opened. A shrouded figure, covered from head to toe, walked out. Mika’s startled first impression was that the figure was a Hunter. But she abandoned that idea, with secret relief, once she saw the mask. It wasn’t the Hunters’ traditional masquerade mask, but a ridiculous-looking bunny mask with long ears.

The masked figure walked off the boat, unperturbed by the effect of his appearance on the others.

“Come, we have business to attend to,” the figure said, darkly.