CHAPTER 2
A WELL CHOSEN CREW
Dawn spilled over the ocean horizon. The high clouds glowed pink and orange promising a rain-free day. As if on cue, the soldier-sailors of the Hammer began to arrive, some singing heartedly. A troop of eight gorillas saluted with closed fists as they marched by, the timber boards beneath them reverberating with enthusiasm.
‘I see you’ve chosen your crews well,’ said Ava, nodding. ‘My money says that when Pirate Pratt spies that lot, he’ll flee rather than fight…’
‘Who’s that?’ Flossy asked, looking over the rim of her mug at animals marching by.
Ava turned. ‘The gorilla with his arm in a sling, you mean?’
Flossy nodded.
‘Ah, well now. If the stories I’ve heard are true, which I seriously doubt, mind, I believe you met him on a warehouse roof on the night of the riot. His name is Gerald Gorilla, but his friends call him Gerry. I should think…’
‘I’m glad he wasn’t too badly injured,’ Flossy said ruefully, her cheeks colouring as she remembered tricking him so he fell through the roof. Later she let him fall when Larry stamped on the downpipe in the alleyway. He was also the gorilla who had interrupted her fight with Iscariot Snake at the Stinging Nettle, and she had seen him at Town Hall too. She felt like she knew him, even though they’d never actually been introduced. He saw her looking and she quickly turned away, embarrassed.
‘I wouldn’t worry about Gerry, dear. Do you see how proudly he walks? Few of his fellows have seen active combat, it’s a mark of distinction in the House of Gorilla, you see.’ Ava warbled good-naturedly. ‘Now, I once heard of a gorilla who… Oh, there I go again.’ She turned and looked down the quay towards the jetty that sprung from it like an elbow. ‘He counts himself lucky because he has an injury people can see, you see. He’ll be boasting about it for the next ten years, mark my words! The story will improve with each telling until it reaches epic proportions. Gerry Gorilla will be famous for single-handedly fighting off an entire band of giant, human pirates that flew on leather wings and breathed fire. In ten years’ time he will have saved the town. They’ll have written songs about him and erected a statue in Town Square to celebrate his bravery.’ Ava chortled. ‘We have a saying in Port Isabel: the truth should never be allowed to get in the way of a really good story. Don’t worry about him, dear. Why, I should say that…’
Flossy smiled. ‘Do you have any more apple strudels?’
‘Last one,’ said Ava, turning so Flossy could reach. ‘I think it’s tucked away at the back, under the doughnuts. And don’t worry about leaving any for others. There’s plenty more back at the café, and after all, as I always say…’
‘Thanks. I have it,’ said Flossy. She took a bite and washed it down with a gulp of hot chocolate.
Chimpanzees marched past next. These were by far the nosiest and most disorganised rabble. They loped along on their knuckles. Larry peaked out from the troop, his great big chimpanzee smile shining with its own light. Flossy motioned for him to join her.
‘Those that weren’t sent home to rest have been working all night to prepare the Hammer for dawn departure. We’re right on time,’ Flossy told Ava. ‘The Ghost Fleet should be ready to sail later this morning. We’ll smash up, they’ll clean up.’
‘Is the Serendipity here somewhere?’ asked Ava. She looked up the quay and along the jetty.
The air was clear and still, brimming with pent-up energy. There were many small boats bobbing up and down in the pale morning light but nothing as large as the Serendipity.
‘No, she’ll still be in drydock, upriver, at Thompsons Creek. She’s to be made seaworthy and launched. That’s Assam job—Joint Admiral Assam, that is—, he’s a shipwright. This will be her maiden voyage. The Serendipity and her sister ship, the Happy Trader, will be loaded with supplies for a long chase, in case, as you say, the pirates decide to flee rather than fight. That way we’ve got all our bases covered.’
Larry arrived. He reached up affectionately and put his long hairy arms around Flossy. Flossy had seen other chimpanzees greet one another in similar fashion so she knew to hug back. He was warm and surprisingly light. He smelt as if he hadn’t bathed for some time.
‘Oh, you must be Larry Monkey,’ said Ava, warmly warbling.
Larry didn’t turn but continued to hug Flossy, his head under her arm. He was studying the map.
‘I was sorry to hear about what that nasty black boar did to you yesterday, Larry. I’ve always said that…’
‘What’s a Random, Ava?’ asked Flossy, interrupting. ‘Someone I know said that Sergeant Boar…’
‘Never a young lady mind about that! It’s not polite to talk on such things,’ Ava admonished.
Flossy let go of Larry who scampered round the worktable to the other side. ‘Well, what’s a Throwback then?’
‘Oh, now you’re making me blush. Surely you have Randoms where you come from?’
‘I could tell you if I knew what one was. Is Sergeant Boar a Random?’
‘Oh!’ said Ava. Her voice dropped to whisper. ‘Yes, I believe he is.’
Flossy raised her eyebrows ever so slightly.
‘Oh, if you insist, I suppose I could say.’ Ava stepped closer so she wasn’t overheard. ‘It’s just one of those things one doesn’t talk of in polite company, dear. But, as you don’t know our customs, being new to Port Isabel and all, I don’t see how it can be terribly wrong. Why, I remember when…’
‘A Random is..?’ said Flossy, impatient. She liked Ava but had no time for dithering.
Larry was looking at the map. Animals marched past on their way to their boats. The barest sliver of golden sunshine peaked out from under the morning cloud in the East. Spears of light lit the clouds from beneath and brought colour back to the world.
‘A Random is—or a Throwback as they’re sometimes rudely called, though not by me,’ said Ava, visibly blushing. ‘A Random is a person born of a different House to that of his or her parents.’
Flossy straightened. ‘What, a species different to both parents?’ she asked, genuinely surprised.
‘Well, yes dear. I imagine then, you don’t have them where you come from?’
‘No, we don’t. I don’t even see how it’s even possible.’ She was trying to imagine her mother giving birth to a moose.
‘Well, I assure you it is. It’s not common, I grant, but it does happen from time to time, dear. It’s nothing I would wish on anyone, even my enemies, not that I have any I know of. But like some people say…’
‘How different can the Random be to its parents?’ She didn’t really want to know the answer.
‘Usually it’s very similar, but not always. That’s why they’re called Randoms, you see. There’s no obvious rhyme or reason. They just pop out that way, or hatch, and there’s nothing the parents can do. Every life’s a blessing, you see. Though, Random mammals usually come from mammal parents of a different mammal House and Random reptiles, reptile parents of a different reptile House and so on and so forth. But not always, there’s no way to know why or when it will happen. Why, I once heard of alligator who…’
Flossy didn’t want to know any more. She was having a hard enough time trying to imagine what it would be like to have an elephant sister or snake brother. A shiver ran down her spine as she thought of Iscariot Snake and his lidless eyes and cold blood.
Ava, probably sensing her discomfort, changed tack. ‘The poor Randoms usually don’t have an easy time of it, I’m afraid. They don’t feel they belong anywhere, you see. You can’t blame them. It must be difficult, even in a loving home, to be so different to one’s parents and siblings. Randoms either think they’re above their own folk, superior-like, or below. You don’t meet many truly balanced Randoms. Not that you’d know if you did meet one, necessarily.’
Lions, tigers and panthers were now slinking past on their way to the boats. There weren’t many but there would easily be enough to take on Pirate Pratt’s crew. They should even be
able to handle them alone if it came to that, thought Flossy. One of the silky black panthers noticed her and nodded a greeting. She nodded back.
Ava was still talking. ‘The Random you mentioned—and I don’t like talking badly of anyone, as anyone would tell you, but it is a little obvious so I don’t mind saying—he has a chip on both his shoulders, if you know what I mean; like he’s got something to prove; like he’s a notch above the rest of us. The way he treated Larry yesterday sadly proves something I’ve always said: that it’s best to adopt Randoms out when they’re young to be raised by foster parents from their own House and not tell them about their real parents until they’re older. Sadly, that didn’t happen to you know who. I know it sounds uncaring but…’ Ava leaned conspiratorially towards Flossy, her small, bald head flicking left and right to make sure she wasn’t overheard. ‘Now, I’m not given to gossip, as anyone can tell you. But I’ve heard tell that the black boar, Sergeant Boar—or Captain Boar as he is now, I believe—his parents were… well, they were jersey cows. Now I haven’t got anything against jersey cows, mind—they’re great milkers for all that—but they’re a long way from boars if you know what I mean. So as I say…’
Flossy had heard enough. She had learned more than she wanted and their conversation—if its one-sided nature could be called a conversion, which she doubted—was starting to sound like gossip, something that always made her mouth taste sour.
She rounded the worktable and stood next to Larry who was still studying the map. ‘Well, thanks for explaining, and thanks even more for breakfast! I’ll definitely be dining at the Stinging Nettle again, soon if I can help it.’
‘Oh, of course…’ stuttered Ava, as if she knew she had broken some rule of etiquette, or had gone too far. ‘You’re most welcome, dear.’ Ava stepped forward and with her beak, gently took Flossy’s empty mug and placed it carefully in one of her saddle baskets. ‘Bon voyage, Joint Admiral—Flossy, that is—I’ll be off now. Things to do, people to feed! Remember, heroes eat for free at the Stinging Nettle. And goodbye Larry Monkey, you too can eat free.’ She turned and trotted down the quay without looking back. Her generous bustle of brilliant white tail feathers swayed behind her in the cool, still morning air.
Flossy turned to Larry. His face was blank and a little sad but his big, intelligent eyes were attentive. ‘She’s quite a talker, isn’t she?’
Larry grinned in a way that showed all his teeth.
‘Larry, have you seen Iscariot Snake? I lost track of him last night and now he’s nowhere to be found. He’s supposed to be helping me.’
Larry shook his head and made a show of looking up and down the quay.
She didn’t like or trust the big snake but she had to admit that without his help, they wouldn’t have been ready to leave at dawn. Whenever anyone slowed down to rest during the night, the big snake would slither up the quay and glare at them silently with unblinking eyes. His forked tongue would flick once or twice, tasting the air as if he was about to feed. Without fail, the subject of his attention would get back to work, no words wasted. Nobody could resist his persuasive charms. Thanks to Iscariot Snake, they would soon be on their way.
A ball-like otter with protruding blade-like teeth waddled up to ask a question. Flossy straightened her crumpled clothing, adjusted her sword and gave the creature her full attention. When working with volunteers, everyone had to be made to feel important.
‘Excuse me, Ma’am,’ said the otter politely, ‘but where’s the toilet?’