Innocent on the run. Part 8.

The mate and the Pilot left the bridge, letting in a little light as they held the curtain aside and went out into the passageway. 'Come over here son,' the Captain said into the darkness. Ricky's eyes were getting used to the dark now, and he approached the front of the bridge and looked out of the bridge window. The fore deck was lit on the side where the Pilot ladder was, and Ricky saw the Mate and the Pilot emerge from the accommodation and walk towards the ladder. Two seamen were standing by the rope ladder, and the Pilot climbed up on to the ship's side and climbed down the ladder into the launch that was keeping pace with the ship. The launch turned away from the ship's side and headed back to Barry Dock. The two seamen hauled the Jacob's ladder back into the ship and they and the Mate came back into the accommodation. The light on deck was switched off. The Captain rang for Full Ahead on the engine room telegraph and the engines throbbed into life as the ship picked up speed. 'Steer 225 degrees,' the Captain told the helmsman. '225, Sir,' he replied. The Captain drew across the curtain cutting off the chart room from the bridge, and beckoned Ricky inside. ' Close the curtain,' he instructed. 'To shield the light from the helmsman's eyes.' He took out a large, folded document from a drawer underneath the chart table. Down the left hand side was a list of names. To the right of the names was the person's rank or rating and his title on the ship, the date of joining and a blank space for date of leaving. Then the address and next of kin. In the last column were their signatures. 'Now,' said the Captain, 'full name and address and next of kin. And the note from your parents giving their permission for you to sail with us.' Ricky brought out the note that his father had written, giving his permission for Ricky to go to sea. The Captain looked at the note. 'Did you forge this ?' he asked with a frown. 'No, Sir.' Ricky said quickly, going red in the face. The Captain smiled. 'I did when I first went to sea.' He laughed aloud as he took the address from the note and entered Ricky's Dad as his next of kin. 'Your full name ?' 'Richard Alfred Davies' 'Age' 'Sixteen.' The Captain looked at him sideways. 'Fifteen and a half,' he answered. The Captain grinned. 'Now sign here. You are on the ship's articles as deck boy but your duties will also be to assist the cook in the galley and mess room. 'We have another deck boy aboard, slightly older than you. His name is Peter. You’ll meet him tomorrow. You can go and get turned in now, as it's nearly midnight.' 'Thanks Captain,' Ricky replied, turning away. 'Before you go,’ the Captain added. ‘Two things that I will not tolerate on my ship are drunkenness and fighting. If you are brought before me on either offence, I shall punish you most severely. That goes for anyone in the ship’s company, regardless of rank or rating.. Do you understand?’ 'Yes, Sir.' Ricky replied, and went back down the ladders to the messroom. He looked in, but as Doc wasn't there, he carried on down to his cabin. The noise down here was incredible compared to the bridge, and the smell of the diesel oil from the engine room was very strong. Ricky went into the cabin and made up his bunk. He unpacked his bag and stowed his clothes in the locker. Taking his towel and toothbrush he tried the other two doors on this passage. The first was a locker with engine room consumables in it. Cotton waste, tins of degreaser, tins of grease, nuts and bolts and gaskets of all shapes and sizes. The next door opened into the bathroom. There was a shower, a toilet and a washbasin, and Ricky quickly washed himself, cleaned his teeth and went back to the cabin. There was a man in there now, undressing before climbing into his bunk. 'Hello, mate,' he shouted, 'call me Charlie. I'm the engine room greaser.' 'I'm Ricky.' 'O.K Ricky. See you in the morning.' And Charlie climbed into his bunk, switched off the little light above his head and turned to face the bulkhead. Ricky quickly undressed and climbed into his bunk. He switched off the bunk light and lay there going over the events of the day in his mind. If anyone had told him twenty four hours ago that he would be at sea tonight, he wouldn't have believed them. He eventually dropped off to sleep with the engine still thumping away below him. During the night Ricky was awakened once with the ship rolling. As the bunks were placed across the ship, every roll she gave slid Ricky down the bunk, and then slid him back again when she righted herself. But he was too tired to stay awake for long and he was soon fast asleep again. He was awakened by someone shaking him and he climbed out of the bunk. It was Doc and he was just disappearing out of the door again. Ricky climbed into his clothes and stumbled up the passageways to the mess room. The ship was steadily rolling from side to side, and Ricky had to be careful in case he stumbled and hit the chairs or tables in the mess. He could see by the mess room clock that it was just before six a.m. Doc told him to get himself a cup of tea before cleaning the tables and washing up the cutlery and plates that the crew had used during the night. He didn't really want tea as he was feeling a bit queasy, but he managed to get most of it down. He gathered up the crockery and cutlery put it through the hatchway into the galley, stacked it in the sink and filled the sink with hot water. Doc showed him where the cleaning materials were kept, and he took the cloths and soap back to the mess room and cleaned the tables of the litter that the crew had left. Looking at the remains of meals and sandwiches that were scattered on the tables, and the tea and coffee that had been spilled, and mixed in with it, made him feel even sicker. Once he'd cleaned the tables, wiped down the tea boiler and made sure it was full of water, he went back into the galley and washed up. Copyright by Deric Barry 2005.