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O'Hara frowned, looking around the marketplace in an attempt to spy Travis. They'd been looking at some fish and he had suddenly disappeared. Of course this was hardly unusual--despite the similarity in their ages, Travis was more of a free-spirit than she and often ran off unexpectedly when they were on land. "Travis?" she called, taking a step away from the fishmonger's stand. "Where could he have gotten off to this time?" |
Travis was amazed by the huge boat standing in front of him. it was a magnificent sight with 100 foot tall masts, and surperior craftmanship on the bow. Suddenly he heard O'Hara calling for him and realized he'd run off on her.(oops)
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O'Hara frowned and turned back to the fishmonger, tossing a copper piece his way and hefting a large fish up from the table. When she found Travis she was going to smack him upside the head. Hadn't he learned not to run off by now? |
Travis turned away from the ship and sprinted back to the fishmonger's stand. 'I hope O'Hara isn't too mad I ran off again' thought Travis.
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O'Hara tossed the fish at Travis as he walked up and crossed her arms. Travis caught it with expert hands and looked up at her sheepishly, but O'Hara knew better than to trust that. "Where were you?" she asked firmly, the look in her eyes letting him know she was serious, if not too terribly angry. |
"Well there was this ship and it was it was big so I wanted to check it out." Travis stuttered.
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O'Hara rolled her eyes. "This has got to stop happening, Travis. Especially once we get back on board. I can't have you running off at every stop. You know better." |
"Sorry captain" Travis said as he looked down in shame.
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O'Hara shook her head. "I suppose I should know by now that you'll never learn," she smiled, clapping Travis on the shoulder. "It's all right, no harm done this time. But you're on mess duty tonight until we find a cook," she grinned. "Come on, let's head back to the Shadow. We can hunt for a crew in the morning." |
"aye, aye captain" Travis said as he followed O'Hara back to the ship.
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* * * * * As O'Hara lay in bed that night, she let her nerves be comforted by the soft rolling of the sea beneath them. The dockhand had earned his pay well; the Shadow had been in perfect condition when they'd returned. The trouble was going to begin in the morning, though--they'd have to be gone all day, not just for a few hours. First they needed a cook to begin outfitting their new crew--Travis was passable, but they couldn't go weeks eating like that. It had been two years since she'd had to build a crew from scratch, and she definitely wasn't looking forward to it. It was hard enough to find a hand or two she could trust, nonetheless an entire shipload of them. But this kind of thinking would get her nowhere. O'Hara rolled over and pulled the blanket over her shoulder, closing her eyes and praying for sleep. |
Travis tossed and turned in his cot. He couldn't get over the challenge of finding an entire crew that they could trust. It seemed like an impossible task that lay ahead. Finding a good crew was hard enough but finding a trustworthy crew will be especially hard.
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* * * * * O'Hara slipped on a gold bracelet and ran her fingers through her hair one more time. First impressions were the key to impressing a possible deckhand, and she needed to look her best--and most authoritative--to capture their attention. She stood and walked through to the next room, banging on the wall and startling Travis awake. "Still asleep?" she laughed. "I know it's earlier than planned, but I want to make sure we get a good start today. Up! We're out on land in ten minutes." |
Travis hurried getting dressed. He knew O'Hara wouldn't like him being tardy. Soon he was dressed and on the dock with O'Hara. "So where should we start?" Travis said inquisitively.
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"Hmm," O'Hara mused in response, scanning the dock for possible candidates. "I'm not sure. I suppose we should just take a look around and go from there." They descended the ladder, and O'Hara slipped five silver pieces to the dock worker. "There's more where that came from if you do well," she told him. The dock boy looked up at her with a grin, and O'Hara could practically see the gold in his eyes. "Aye, Captain!" he said, giving her a salute. O'Hara just laughed. "Come on, Travis," she said. "Let's go." |
Travis followed O'Hara. "Hey we might find someone in there," Travis said as he pointed to a nearby tavern. "Lets go," he said as he walked into the tavern.
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