Dwellers of the New World Chapter Ten ( Pt 9 ) New Beginnings

As the afternoon drifted on, the gentle sound of the ocean's swell and the merriment at Brew Cottage had most people in high spirits, that is except Bracus, who kept his head while keeping an eye on the boy.

Ben and Jay had decided to work their way around the bay, in case anyone had seen or knew of the whereabouts of Evelyne and Nathen. Their searching found nothing and nobody had any information, so the two men started to wonder if perhaps Bracus was telling the truth about them being taken over to Wild Whistling Isle.

Afternoon drifted into early evening and Ben suggested that they should find somewhere to sleep for the night. They noticed some caves that were being used for storage and wondered if they could perhaps sleep in one of them.

Approaching a woman who was packing her work up for the day, Ben noticed her taking her wares to one of the caves. “Excuse me! But could I just have a word with you?”

The woman turned in surprise, as she made her way once more to the cave. “Yes...what can I do for you?”

Ben caught up to the woman, as Jay followed with the horses. “My friend and I were just wondering if we could use your storage cave to sleep in for the night, we won't be any bother, perhaps our horses could stay with us too?”

“Well!” declared the woman, “this is not a usual state of affairs, but I suppose if it's just for one night, I can't see a problem. But what about bedding? There is no sheepskins available to use...just the ground.”

“That's fine!” announced Ben. “We just need a shelter from the elements.”

“Well...okay,” said the woman. “My name's Anna by the way, pleased to meet you.” She shook hands with the strangers.

“Pleased to meet you too...my name's Ben and this is Jay and our two horses Bracken and Rainbow.”

“You have two beautiful horses there. I know you don't come from round here, so where are you from?”

“We've travelled quite a way from the upper most forests, searching for Jay's parents...I wonder if you know of them? Their names are Evelyne and Nathen.”

Immediately the woman heard the names, she knew who they were. “Yes I certainly have met them, they came down here with some men, asking about work, I couldn't help them, but told them they might have better luck on Wild Whistling Isle and that there was a ship sailing that day.”

Ben was so pleased that at last they'd got some valid information that he trusted. “You've been really helpful Anna, it seems like we will have to make a trip over to this island after all. One other thing!” enquired Ben, as Anna was just about to walk away. “Is there anywhere we can get some food?”

Anna smiled. “I could give you some food, but you'd have to do something in return, I don't give out food for nothing you know.”

Ben wondered what they could do for the woman, then Jay spoke up. “We could do some work for you tomorrow, especially now we know where my parents are, then when Bracus sails, we'll go too.”

“You want to watch old Bracus, he's a sly old dog.” she said picking up her load.

“Please let me take that for you!” Ben said, wanting to be as helpful as he could.

Anna handed over the bundle gladly. “If you really want to help, you can take my horse and cart up to our plantation and collect some apples for Brew Cottage, then I'll give you some more food tomorrow. My husband will be out fishing and I can get on with what I'm doing here...what do you think?”

Ben and Jay agreed that they would be glad to help out. “Well that's settled then,” said Anna taking the last of the bits of wood she was working on. Some of the men were becoming pretty rowdy. Anna noticed Ben and Jay staring. “Don't worry about them...they'll be fine after a good nights sleep.”

“Have you any idea when the ship will be sailing?” enquired Jay feeling desperate to know exactly when Bracus planned to leave.

“Your best bet is to speak to Kai, he's the one in charge of working on the ship and will be able to give you the information you need.”

“Can you tell us where this man Kai is?” asked Jay.

“Yeah! Sure,” replied Anna. “He's the man still working down there on the ship...always busy that man, never stops, but he's very clever with his hands and loves ship building.”

Jay looked in the direction Anna pointed, then realised it was the man they'd spoken too, when they'd arrived.

“I suggest we get something to eat now, cause I'm starving,” declared Ben.

Jay agreed and followed Anna up to her cottage, where her husband was preparing some fish and potatoes.

“That certainly smells good.” Anna was so hungry, the sea air always gave her an appetite after a days work.

“Devin...this is Ben and Jay, I have said they can stay the night in our storage cave, they've said they are quite prepared to do some work for us tomorrow...what do you think? I thought they could collect some apples to take to Brew Cottage tomorrow.”

Devin was an easy going man and always happy if his wife was. “Yeah...sure if you don't mind, it's okay with me.”

“So it's settled!” said Anna. “Is there enough food to go around for them too?” she enquired of Devin.

He wasn't so sure, there were only four bits of fish and they were quite small, but there were plenty of potatoes. “That's okay said Devin, we'll just have some corn bread too.”

“There's four fish, even though they're small, we'll have one each...how does that suit you?” enquired Anna.

“If you're sure? We wouldn't want to impose,” replied Ben, feeling awkward and biting his lip.

“Of course you're not imposing,” uttered Anna. “Now both of you sit yourselves down and Devin will serve up.”

The two men enjoyed their hearty meal, before leading the horses out to the caves and bedding them down.

“I think we'd better go and have a word with that man Kai, see what's happening before we settle down,” announced Jay.

Ben was staring further along the sand, not really listening to Jay. “Why are those children all tied together?” he pointed in the direction of a line of boys entering a cave further up the beach.

“Probably more prisoners” replied Jay. “Anyway it's none of our business, so let's just go down and talk to this man Kai.”

Ben scratched his head, there seemed to be so many mysteries down here, that he was unsure what to think next. “Okay...let's go.”

The two men wandered down to where Kai was busy on board, carving with wood the head of a flying fish, he was working on the wings, when Ben and Jay approached him.

“Excuse me...can we take you from your work?” Ben voiced, admiring the man's skill.

The man looked up from what he was doing laying his tools down and wiping his hands. “Yes...what can I do for you?” he paused, suddenly remembering them. “Wait a minute I recognise you both, you were here the other night in all that bad weather.”

“Yes that's right,” smiled the two men. “Is your name Kai?”

“It sure is!” replied Kai. “So what can I do for you then?”

We were wondering when Bracus ship would be ready to set sail, only we plan on joining him on his trip over to Wild Whistling Isle.”

Kai scratched his head and thought about their question. “Well if you both intend on sailing, I think you need to be ready two days from now. The ship is going to be pretty loaded up with kids, animals and food. Bracus ain't about to leave anything behind.”

Ben and Jay decided that this was perfect timing and that they would definitely be aboard. Making themselves scarce for the night, they left Kai and made their way up to the storage cave, where they settled down for the night.

Dwellers of the New World Chapter Eleven ( Pt 1 ) Chance Meetings | ABCtales