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  [colpse]Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Eight - Shore Leave

  The Beaver Cleaver soared high above a hilly ndscape dotted with little patches of forest and a long winding road following a rushing river.

  Tht rose a mountain that Clive called the Seven Points on at of its seven peaks. To our left, the Darkwoods, with trees stretg out all the way to the horizon. It was the thing way out ahead of us that had me excited though.

  Needleford!

  From the dista seemed like a big, sprawling city, with homes and fields stretg out all around it and along the coast of the Empty Sea. Hundreds of ships were berthed in the port to the south of the city, and perhaps three dozen airships were sitting in the airship doext to those.

  A small castle atop a hill overlooked the city, and even from as far away as we were, I could make out the fgs fluttering a the keep’s towers.

  “We’re going to start slowing down, Captain,” Clive said.

  I hung onto the rail and gave the pilot a big thumbs-up. “Got it!”

  The eopped, the propeller started to spin slower, and the Beaver Cleaver started to slow down. Steve and Gordon pulled in some sail, and soon our rapid clip was brought down to a gentle coast across the skies.

  We had to fly around the city in order to hit the airship docks from the right angle, so Clive brought us around until we were h our way across the open seas.

  “Signal’s out!” Clive said.

  Steve ran to the fore of the ship, then up the rungs along the side of the ship with some fgs tucked into the back of his pants. Once he was half the rigging he pulled them out and started to wave them about in a repetitive pattern.

  “We’re seen!” he said. “Sed lighthouse!”

  I moved to the rails near him and looked out towards the docks. There were, iwo towers with big lights on them and what looked like a mirror array around them. Above that was a tower with a bunch of colourful wooden pnks mouo a plex set of pulleys and ropes. The panels were moving up and down, kind of like Steven’s arms.

  “A signal tower?” I asked.

  “A semaphore tower,” Steven expined. “I asked for a berth, captain, and they’re direg us to... Clive! Topmost, Sed berth!”

  “Topmost. Sed!” Clive repeated. “With this tailwind... we'll need more sail. Get ready to pull them up! Port-side!”

  We spent a moment running around, deploying sails as Clive indicated as roached the huge wooden structure of Needleford’s air docks.

  A group of humans, most of them young men, were waiting for us by our berth with ropes and hooks. When we came into the dock at st, they flung their ropes out and caught the metal stubs along the side of the Beaver and tied him up to the piers oher side.

  There were other ropes, big ones as thick around as my arm, under us that came up to cradle the underside of the ship in pce. “L gravity eput to nil,” Clive said.

  We dipped a little, theled io some big wooden bracers below. It took a moment for everything to calm doce itself, but the Beaver had successfully e to a safe nding. “Gangpnk out!” I called as I moved to the port side.

  Steve was the oo push out the pnk, bringing it to a rest by the feet of a pair of men in officious uniforms with little anchors on their pels.

  “Ahoy Beaver Cleaver,” one of them said.

  “Hey there!” I called back before stepping down the pnk and shaking their extended hands.

  “We weren’t expeg you here,” the older of the two said. “Pardon me ma’am, but is the captain avaible?”

  “You’re talking to her,” I said. “I’m Broccoli, Broccoli Bunch.”

  They looked at each other for a moment, the on without a pause. “Well, as I was saying, your arrival was ued.”

  “We did a job for the Mattergrove East pany,” I said, my smile still in pce. My dad always told me that bureaucrats were people too, even if sometimes it was hard to tell. “We didn’t expect to be ing here. But here we are. We’ll need refueling and such, and we have some dots to deliver too, I think.”

  The man nodded. “Of course, of course. Will the Mattergrove East pany be handling the dog fees then?”

  “No, that’s on us, I think,” I said. “Do you have the invoice for it?”

  “Ah, for the nding yes,” he said as he passed me a sheet. “And the first day ending at su. If you pn on staying for any amount of time, you’ll o cover those fees as well. Payable before leaving. You’ll find our rates are very petitive with other ports.”

  “Oh, that’s nice,” I said as I took the sheet he gave me. The numbers were pretty big, but there were also a lot of people hanging around the Beaver. “I’ll give this to my first mate. Where do we go to pay you?”

  The man poio one of the towers overlooking the docks. “Port Authority headquarters are right there, captain.”

  “Thanks!” I waved to the two of them as they made their way back to their office, and then, with nothier to do, climbed back aboard the Beaver. I was met by Clive who was smiling a very pleased sort of smile as he came over.

  “That was a nice smooth nding, if I say so myself. Not a scrat the old boat.”

  “I certainly couldn’t have do,” I said. “Top notch work, Clive. I’m not too sure what to do now.”

  “Ah, well, you young folk ought to get off the ship, maybe find yourselves a spot of trouble. I’m going to stay back here.”

  I looked over to Steve and Gordon who were both coiling up some ropes and looking quite pleased with themselves too. I supposed that the bulk of their work was done for now. “That sounds like a great idea,” I said. “Shore leave for everyone while the girls and I sort out the fuel thing and send out a message or two. Oh, and maybe we shop around a bit.”

  “Aye,” Clive agreed. “Might want to hire a guard or two for the Beaver. This city’s peaceful from what I’ve heard, but nothing keeps things peaceful like having a few mean looking boys standing around and giving ahe stink eye.”

  I giggled. “Alright. I’ll see what I do.” I left Clive to give the good o the boys and started towards the back, i on finding my friends. But once more I was beaten to it as Awen, Amaryllis, and Bastion all stepped out of the . “Hey guys. Ready to head out?”

  “Certainly,” Amaryllis said. “I do like the idea of being a proper world traveller. I suppose that means putting a bit of effort into the act of expl every city we enter.”

  “Awa, I’ve never been to Needleford; but I had some fish from here before, and it was really nice.”

  “Maybe we send some fish to my sister, she does so love that sort of thing,” Amaryllis said.

  Awen did a good imitation of a fish for a moment.

  “Clementine will order fish from quite a ways when we have a gathering that calls for somethiic.”

  “Oh, oh, you meant, awa, yes, okay,” Awen said.

  Amaryllis and I locked eyes. Our expressions didn’t ge, but we were both unig the same love of teasing Awen to each other, and a sisterly agreement not to ever-ever stop because it was too much fun.

  I sidled up o Awen as we started towards the gangpnk. “I’m sure we find a nice gift for Rose,” I said. “Something nid tasteful that doesn’t send any wrong messages.”

  “You send wrong messages with a gift?” Awen asked.

  “Not with the two of us helping you. Uh.” I looked to Bastion. “Three of us? Bastion, do you know anything about wooing cute harpy princesses?”

  “My sister isn’t a princess,” Amaryllis said.

  “I’m afraid not,” Bastion said. “There are some rather formal systems in pce fift-giving in Slyphfree. I’m familiar with those, if that would help?”

  “So, if you wao tell someone, say hypothetically it’s a cute harpy princess, that you like her, and that you’re thinking of her even though you’re far away on some super important mission to save the world, what sort of gift would you give for that?”

  “Ah,” Bastion said. “I realize that I may have overestimated my own knowledge here.”

  “We’ll figure it out together!” I said. “Maybe that’ll reduce the pressure, right Awen?”

  “Oh, ah, like sending the gift, but it’s from all of us?” Awen asked. She nodded. “Yes, yes that’s much better.”

  I squeezed Awen’s shoulder a her pass before me as we crossed the gangpnk onto the docks proper. Most of the dockworkers that had e around wheook our berth were gone now, leaving the area surprisingly quiet.

  “So,” I said as I skipped ahead. “We o go pay for the dock, and Clive suggested we find a few guards to keep the ship secure while we’re off having fun.”

  “That sounds reasonable,” Bastion said. “I don’t think it would be an issue in a Sylph port, but out here, I don’t trust the locals enough to leave valuable materials unattended.”

  I shrugged. “Sure. We also o find fuel and food.”

  “Shouldn’t we be fine food-wise?” Amaryllis asked. “Unfortunate losses due to... ary experimentation aside, we were topped up on leaving Fort Sylphrot.”

  “Ah, I meant more... you know, trying out local restaurants.”

  The docks e a long ramp that sloped down to street-level, ohat was currently blocked by three young men. No, two young men and a girl. “Stht there, travellers,” the young man in the lead said.

  I stopped, and heard my friends doing the same behind me. “ I help you?”

  The boy, earing a somewhat grungy shirt tucked into some patched pants and who had a scar across his nose and cheek, pced his hands onto his hips and tried to make himself look big and tough. “I’m the great pirate Two-Eyed Joe. This is No-Pegs Oda and the Fearsome Sally.”

  “Uh, hi,” I said. “ we help you?” Were they trying to help us, or just saying hi? And did being a pirate here mean the same thing as bae? I wasly getting piratical vibes from the three of them.

  “We’re going to take your ship. Give us everything you’ve got.”

  I look to my friends, then back to the three of them. They were teens, maybe a year or two youhan me. A bit old to be pying pretend. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure. Give me everything you’ve got, idiot!”

  Bastion’s sword came out of its scabbard with a rasp of steel on steel, and the air around Amaryllis sparked and sizzled as it filled with electricity.

  “Okay,” Two-Eyed Joe said. “I’ll settle for half your stuff.”

  “Joe, I don’t think it’ll work this time,” the fearsome Sally said as she leaned in towards her friend. The girl was really short, but didn’t look to be any youhan her friends. Not that it was easy to tell. She was wearing a big mariner’s jacket with her hood up and I couldn’t see much of her face. She did look rather shy though.

  “Of course it’s a good idea,” No-Pegs Oda said. “We’ll never be proper pirates if we don’t steal stuff from people on a ship, and this crew looks small.”

  I felt myself frowning. “Hey guys. I know being a pirate is really, really cool and all, but taking other people’s things is wrong, so maybe we should talk about this first?”

  ***

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