Chapter 26:The Voyager's Life

Upper Deck, The Laurel, Open Water...

  Another morning of a rocking ship and horrible sea travel food saw Alain writing more frequently in his journal. He had come to an understanding with his father as he made plans to do something about the mystery surrounding the woman he loved and instead have her welcomed within the ranks of his family. He had no intention of seeing another lovely young woman nor had he the interest. Unlike his wayward elder brother Casimir, Alain was more or less content to have a normal family life and all that came with it. He was forever the prudish sort despite Noreen being responsible for him forgoing tradition and taking her virtue upon request. He thought of the beautiful lass every second of every day seemingly haunted by the promise of their next encounter and did a bit of reflecting on the last one as the days and nights aboard the ship continued to pass as slowly as they made their journey across the sea.

Animals in the form of marine life could be seen as they continued with their slow-going voyage ranging from dolphins to whales, colorful fish, sharks, and monstrous fish alike. There was an occasional bird be it an albatross or seagull that flew overhead and the sound of the wood creaking in reaction to the ship being tossed about the sea amid choppy waves of white froth and murky blue water that could hardly be seen through. The scent of salty sea air was at best nauseating when one had grown sick of it as some of the crew members had and those with little to no experience seemed to vomit the contents of their less than lackluster meals which had little to no seasoning despite having an accomplished cook on board.

Still, none of this deterred Alain from his dreams of sailing all over the world and seeing new places that had either rarely been ventured or yet been discovered. His father told him he had an explorer's heart and it was an amusing thought although he wasn't much into artifact finding. He simply wished to see all that the world had to offer and wanted to do so by way of a ship as no one knew any other means of traveling vast distances.

The curious lad had learned quite a bit while on the open water, so much so that he actively watched the crew in their routine and picked up quite a few things despite not being allowed to join them as per his father's insistence that he steer clear of them. Never one to disobey his father, Alain kept his distance, but none of the decrees from his father meant that he couldn't continue to watch and learn from the sidelines.

It was amusing sightseeing the crew in action, from their various forms of hijinks to keep down boredom to their strange customs when at sea as opposed to when they'd been on land. He studied what life had been like on a ship for years but never had he expected it to be this informative in person. On occasion, the youngest cabin boy was often the butt of jests and harsh treatment despite being smaller and more practical when things got out of hand. The duty of the lad to climb the crow's nest and scout the horizon as well as to maintain powder for the cannons and possibly to activate them when necessary was quite the responsibility for someone treated so poorly onboard a vessel.

Alain didn't see the point in alienating someone who could one day hold one's life in their very tiny hands and depending on the treatment might come to recall their hatred and the harsh treatment when one needed them most. The cabin boy as it turned out was named Erwin Tunner and he'd been sold into the crew via his uncle due to not having any room for him following the drowning deaths of both his parents.

Erwin was extremely terrified of water, but as a bonus to his torment, he'd been sold into the custody of a sea-fearing ship. He had very few friends and was treated as a pariah unless the time came for him to perform his duties.

Alain thought it a cruel fate to force sea life upon the unwilling and as a result went out of his way to be kind to the boy when not in the eyeline of his other crew mates for fear of retaliation for his kindness against the boy himself. He had no fear of the crew, they were at his command due to his father owning the ship and his name had been right along the side of it.

He had taken a liking to Erwin, no matter the odds always seemed to find the bright side of things. Alain and he often conversed about the ways of the world and whenever possible he'd end up giving him his portion of food while obtaining the younger lad's portion of rum during the evening. Erwin never liked the taste of rum and he was always robbed of it via his crew mates either way. He'd been only eleven when his adventures at sea began and nearing the age of thirteen when he came under contract with The Remington-backed Vessel dutifully named The Laurel.

Erwin was a thin lad, of modest appeal with bright blue eyes and dark brown hair more than likely unkempt and covering his sullen pale cheeks. He wore a dirty brown shirt with worn trousers that were cut into a pair of shorts with thin brown sandals that lined his exposed sun-kissed feet. His skin had been red for the most part, a side effect of sea life and being beneath the blazing sun more often than not in the crow's nest.

He spoke softly, despite the crackling of his voice due to coming of age. Alain found his company quite nice, he never had a little brother and the youthful curiosity was something he knew all too well and had amassed enough knowledge to at least appear as studious as his father when in the company of his lessers.

Erwin seemed to delight in Alain's company eager to learn something new about getting by in the world be it on the open ocean or land. While Alain had not been permitted to participate with the crew in terms of running the ship, he did acquire a vast amount of knowledge that helped him to pass some things along to the lad who had been in desperate need of education as far as seafaring had gone. He had decided to teach him as much as he could if only to improve his standing among his crew and any other ship he was privy to charter.

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Upper Deck, The Laurel, Open Water...

The crisp night air was just what Alain needed as he left the mess hall and ventured toward the upper deck. They'd been drifting for quite some time as the deep waters and soft winds propelled them forward toward their chosen destination. Alain heard his father mutter something to the effect of dropping anchor in the port leading to the territory known as Louisiana. An apparent French territory named for King Louis XIV which was curiously ruled by The Spanish unbeknownst to most who had not been familiar with its acquisition by them. The Duchene's and The Remingtons were privy to all sorts of scandalous information and more often than not used it as a means of outmaneuvering their numerous enemies when they needed to. Alain had never seen such a city and despite people going on about it in France when he'd been a lad his mother made it clear that she wanted neither of her children anywhere near it.

Alain was so lost in his thoughts of his mother losing her mind over the mere prospect of him venturing to a place that not even Casimir dared to tread that he had not taken notice of when young Erwin arrived seemingly holding a mug of rum he managed to get out of the mess hall before the other crew mates could steal it from him.

"Brought you a drink, Mist,r," said Erwin as politely as he could manage.

"Erwin, we've been over this...when it's just you and I, you may refer to me simply via my given name,e," said Alain looking at the nervous lad. He'd been four years his senior, but there was no way he wanted to be looped in with the old man on board the ship.

"S-Sorry Alai," replied Erwin a bit saddened. "I'll try and do better next time."

Alain treated him to a rare smile and turned his attention to the drink. He had not liked rum much, but he supposed due to the gesture from the younger lad that he could make the exception.

He took the mug and smiled at the lad who seemed pleased that he had done something right for a change. Alain truly felt for the boy and as such their lessons included a crash course on how to defend himself in a duel or sword fight. As the night dragged on and the sea remained endless even with the shimmer of the moon that loomed above the sky on the horizon, they continued their lessons well into the night before parting ways. With Alain heading back down to the guest cabin and Erwin bunking with the crew down further below.

Erwin seemed pleased to be taught something at least.

Alain turned in for the night with thoughts of Noreen on his mind as the rocking of the ship began to aid in the onset of sleep.