Port, quick trip…
Blackie’s arrival in Port was greeted with cheers. The trade goods were quickly unloaded, and Jill was ecstatic.
“Get those littles ready, Lisa Beth, we got meat to feed them!” Jill called to the head of the nursery. Jill and Doc Gupta had been worried because there was not enough protein for the small children. The dried fish supply was almost gone, and the rainy season kept more from being made. The storm had also scattered the normal catch, so fresh fish was also in short supply. Now, the trade with Refugio was going to keep the children healthy.
“We have orders for the chin scrapers,” Blackie told Spacer. “A lot of baskets, and dried nut meat. Hope we didn’t lose too many of the nut trees, because those folks love to eat that white meat.”
“We lost a few, but we found an island just to the east where they have taken root. We’ll have a lot more to ship once we can get a boat over there.
***
Blackie’s stop in Port was a short one. Julie had been able to contact him with progress reports on the new ship in Southmost. Her ship was nearly finished, and they had found wood to finish the repairs on his ship as soon as he could get it back to them. Julie said the sails and rigging were done on the new ship, but there was still work to do inside. They had tested the rigging with a couple of short trips around the islands off the coast, but that was all. The main thing they had discovered, this new ship was fast.
Master O’Malley wanted to have his granddaughter, Catherine, get the honor of captaining the Dream on its maiden voyage. They would sail first to Refugio to pick up their trade delegation, then to Utopia. Blackie and Julie would be the representatives for Port. Spacer said it was only reasonable since he had been the one to negotiate with Refugio. It was a serious responsibility since moving to the third land mass was their main goal.
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