Patrick hadn’t been boasting when he said he could turn his hand to just about anything. Pretty soon, Brigit and Joshua didn’t know how they’d managed without him.
Then, one day, another labour, another baby on the way.
And the inevitable oh-my-word-what-is-happening-now husband. Looked like there were some things Patrick couldn’t do after all!
He’d turned his hand to making a crib though – Sal was still using the other two! And Bella laid Morag down in the crib Patrick had made, and looked through the fine windows with glass in them, and thought what a lucky day it had been for her when Patrick came to the island.
It was little Sarah’s turn to learn to walk, and Anders watched proudly as Sal helped Sarah take her first steps.
Meanwhile, Rachel’s grandfather was making the most of his time with her. She was a quiet little child until something struck her as funny, and then she would giggle for ages.
Astrid had been right – tending the vineyard was much simpler with three sons to help her.
“Hey,” Jon said. “Do you realise there are twenty-one people on the island now?”
“It’ll be twenty-two soon,” Toby said drily. “Bella’s pregnant again.”
“Already?” Astrid said, standing up in her surprise. “That was quick!”
“Yes, well.” Toby straightened up too, and came over to talk to his mother, glad of an excuse to pause for a moment. “You know Patrick and Bella – they’re all over each other all the time. It’s not really very surprising.”
“So how come you heard about this before I did?”
“I bumped into Cecelia – she’d dropped by to see Brigit and heard Bella throwing up. Cecelia wasn’t too happy about it either!”
“I can imagine,” Astrid said ruefully.
“Jake! I wasn’t expecting you for another week at least!”
“We had fair winds.”
The two brothers embraced each other.
“And besides, I’ve news for you all that I wanted to bring myself. Sautach and Istria have stopped fighting!”
“The war is over?”
Astrid came over to hear the news. “I almost can’t believe this! It’s been going on for so long.!”
She turned and hugged Jake.
“It’s so good to see you Jake. So what does this all mean?”
Jake grinned back at her.
“It’s good to see you as well, Astrid. Well, for one thing, it means that the seas are a lot safer. I wouldn’t have suggested this before, but now I can – how about Jon, Toby and Barnabas taking it in turns to do a voyage on Waverider?”
Ben’s face was split by a huge smile as well, and Astrid could tell how delighted her husband was at the prospect of his sons sailing on the ship he’d sailed on himself!
“Hannah!” Astrid ran over to greet her even as Ben was thanking Jake for his offer.
“Do you really want to take one of our total novices with you as crew? And is it safe enough now?”
Astrid had a great respect for Hannah’s shrewdness. She listened carefully to her.
“Safe enough. I think the two countries have just worn themselves out. They can’t afford to fight any longer. I’m not sure how long the peace will last – there’s been a lot of blood spilt on both sides – but not for some years at least. We’ve got your new windows by the way – we met up with the Windrunner crew, and they passed them on to us.”
Toby came running out to greet his uncle, and was thrilled at the prospect of a trip on Waverider. Ben looked at the two of them together, and thought that there was a definite family likeness as far as looks went – it remained to be seen how alike they were out at sea!
Hannah thought the same – that there was a lot of Waverider blood in the boys – as the twins came over to her to thank her for the chance.
“Who would you want to take first?”
“That depends on who’s interested in what. We trade with Kerhuon – that’s mostly agricultural, so we take raw metal for tools, and also jewellery and ornaments, and leave with plants, seeds, herbs, medicines and linen and wool – you get the idea? Jiong is where we pick up the decorative stuff and sell the linen and wool. Al-Targa is semi desert – we buy raw metal and precious stones, we sell plants to the wealthy for their gardens. And wooden goods sell well there – not much wood around, but the abundant metal means that even the poorer have a little to spend.”
“So that’s three quite different routes?”
“Yes. So I’d like you each to go on a route that interested you.”
“Tobias,if you came on Waverider with us, what would you most like to see? We’ve got these three very different routes - which one appeals to you?”.”
“I’d just like to see new people, new places. A different way of living. I mean, here is fine, but some new ideas would be good too.”
Jake was asking Jon the same question, but got a very different answer. “New plants. I’d like to find new plants to try and grow here. And new grapes maybe – we could improve the wine yet further. And I’d like to learn more about wine-making too.”
And Barnabas wanted to see somewhere old.
“And to see if being part of Waverider’s crew is as exciting as Ben always said it was.”
Hannah laughed. “You’ve all three of you got the sea in your blood to some extent. I think you’ll like it.”
The three boys went fishing for that night’s meal. They’d met their Aunt Ingrid at the fishing hole, and passed on their exciting news to her. They were just heading home when a sudden strange noise made them look upwards.
A screaming, ripping noise filled the air, and something was trailing fire and smoke across the sky.
“What’s that?”
Then there was a huge bang, and a brilliant light filled the sky for a moment – from the direction of the fishing hole!
“Ingrid’s still there!”
They ran back to find a very dirty, scorched and shaken Ingrid. Barnabas hugged her, feeling how she was shaking in his arms. They took her home with them, and let Astrid wash her sister clean and put her into bed and sit with her until she fell asleep.
Everyone on the island heard the noise and felt the force of the meteor’s landing. Bella however was unmoved by it. She was supremely happy – she had one baby, another one was on the way, she was head over heels in love with her husband – who was busy making another cot as fast as he could! Bella found being pregnant suited her – she felt energetic and glowed with health. She could still garden easily, though bending too far down got a bit difficult as the bump got bigger.
“I can’t understand why Cecelia wanted to move out. She could have stayed here and shared in all of this with us.”
Brigit said nothing – for the moment.
Not long afterwards, Bella was cuddling Siobhan, and Patrick’s second cot was in the room.
“I’m so happy,” she thought. “And Cecelia is missing out on so much with the children. Oh well, I suppose it’s her loss. But I just don’t understand her any more.”
Astrid and her three sons were – as usual – busy in the vineyard. Jon looked over at his mother, who was unusually quiet.
“You’re worried about us going on Waverider, aren’t you?”
“A bit.” Astrid blushed slightly. “But I’m not going to stop you – in fact, I want you to go!”
“Don’t be worried. We’ll go. We’ll return. And we’ll each bring something new back with us.”
Heir poll time! I can’t send the boys off on their voyages until I know who’s going to be the next heir. So here they are.
Jon. He’s the oldest, he loves the outdoors, he’s got a good sense of humour and a green thumb, and he’s brave.
Tobias is one of the twins. He loves the outdoors, he’s good, family-oriented and an angler.
Barnabas is the other twin. He loves the outdoors, he’s brave, athletic and a virtuoso. Poll here: do please vote! http://poll.pollcode.com/7g2tb6
