The Refugees
By Donna
After dropping off
the supplies at the dock near Edan, the Bounty and the Dňchas sailed back down
the river. The Bounty headed out to open sea. They were going to explore some
islands before checking out the deserted Japanese style village that Connor had
found when he had been searching for Katherine.
The Dňchas on the
other hand was going to hug the coast, dipping into each of the little coves
along the way. Every trip that they had taken, they had found crates of supplies
either floating in the water in those places, or washed up on the beach. While
they were anchored in the coves, Connor had his crew harvest any ripe fruit and
vegetables that they found to take back to the growing population of Edan. So
far they had found several interesting variations of bananas, coconuts, yams,
citrus fruits and melons. The residents of Edan and Esperanza eagerly snatched
up anything that they brought back with them.
Connor was on the deck of his ship, studying the ever-darkening sky behind him. They were on their way to their second stop of the day, the cove where they had found Rufus Meyers-Lloyd and the musician, Monroe. His first mate, John Blackthorne, stepped up beside him.
“Looks like we are
in for a bad one,” Connor said with a shake of his head. Blackthorne agreed
with his Captain. He didn’t like the looks of those clouds either.
“Lets make a run
for it,” Connor said, and then he ordered all the sails raised, and the ship
taken out into the open water. “I think we can make the cove before the worst
of if we do.”
It was a wild ride as
the Dňchas leapt over the growing waves, her sails filled with the wind. Connor
had a good crew though, and the good seamen that they were, they all had
exhilarated smiles on their faces as they raced before the gathering storm
behind them.
*
* * * *
With the brisk wind
filling their sails, the Bounty was making good time. Captain Bourke was also
watching the skies, and when they reached the first island, he anchored his ship
in a small bay on the leeward side of it so that they would be sheltered
somewhat from the worst of the storm by the tall mountains in the middle of the
island. Once his ship was secure, he took a moment to look through his spyglass
at the shore, a frown on his face. There
looked to be the wreckage of several different ships littering the beach! “Let
down the lifeboats,” he ordered. “There may be survivors.”
His crew sprang into
action! All of the lifeboats were
lowered, with the minimum crew possible so they could fill them with survivors
if there were any. "Strange,"
said one of the crewmen, "to find wreckage before a storm this way!"
It didn't look good.
Floating amongst the wreckage were quite a few bodies.
But as they pulled their longboats onto the shore, they saw several small
groups of people dressed in Oriental style of clothing working to gather up the
dead and to tend to the living. Bourke led half of his crew up to one group,
while his first mate, Fletcher Christian, went with the others to the other side
of the beach to help.
The group of
survivors that Bourke approached all stopped what they were doing and bowed
politely. They were Chinese for the most part. Only a few of them spoke broken
English, and it was through them that the horrible story was told. Apparently
two ships, one from Japan and the other from China, were carrying immigrants to
the west coast of the United States when they had lost their way in a dense fog
and had collided with each other a short distance from this island.
Bourke immediately had
an idea. There were too many,
really, to bring back to Edan. Although
they could always use the help, too many at once would completely use up all the
supplies left to start the town on. Like
the medicine that was depleted during the flu epidemic, all the stored
foodstuffs would be used up before they could make more.
But Bourke was on his
way to check out an Oriental village of sorts!
He offered to bring the survivors *there*, where they could start their
own colony. Once the people understood he was not going to just abandon them
there, but would make frequent supply runs back and forth from there to the main
settlements, they agreed. After all, what else could they do? Part of the crew
of the Bounty helped with the sad job of gathering up the dead for a mass
burial, while the other ferried the survivors to the Bounty along with any
salvageable supplies. They had to move fast, the storm was fast approaching the
island!
****
The Dňchas was
heading away from the storm as fast as her sails could take her.
But the wind was erratic at best, and they were blown well off course. Finally they were able to get into an unknown cove, and when
they did, they were amazed to find a small settlement already established!
And what was more, the small shanty town sported a railroad!
Or what appeared to be the beginnings of one!
Connor anchored the
ship into the little natural harbor just as the rain started to fall and then he
and his crew let down the lifeboats and rowed to shore. People came running out
of their shacks to greet them as they rowed the lifeboats up onto the shore.
They were survivors from a cargo ship carrying parts for a steam engine and
railroad cars that had run into a massive storm off the shore of Nova Scotia.
Half of the crew and a good part of the immigrants that had taken passage on the
ship had mysteriously vanished in the storm. When it was over, they had found
themselves run aground in a place that was most definitely not Northeastern
Canada!
The excited crowd
around Captain MacLeod was a mixed group of men and women from all over Europe.
There were Italians, Germans, Norwegian, Poles and Irish for sure from all the
different languages he was hearing. It was not a large group, only about twenty,
but they had the parts for the steam engine, and the ability to put it together,
so they were doing so! "Even
if it take a long time," said a man who seemed to be one of the leaders of
the community, "we were going
to use the train to explore. We
have no horses, no boats."
"Horses we have,
and besides my ship, we have one other," Connor explained. "How about
we move the supplies of the train to Edan, where you can all help build the
railroad there? And if there are those among you who would rather do something
else, that would be welcomed too!"
"Thank you very
much," the man said, but before he could say much more, the wind, which had
been strong all along, suddenly blew down one of the immigrants' houses!
They were not very sturdy to begin with, and once one fell, others
started to follow.
Luckily, there was no
one in any of them since they were all out on the beach talking to Captain
MacLeod! There was a flurry of mad activity as they raced around, trying to keep
what belongings they had from blowing away. They all took shelter then in the
engine and the few cars that they had put together to wait out the storm.
Connor was worried
about his ship, but it was in an enclosed harbor, and as safe as it could be.
They could not chance trying to get back to it in the tiny lifeboats, not
with the waves what they were! "Luckily
we had these put together," said the man who had addressed Connor earlier.
Sure enough, the train cars were quite safe, and roomy enough for
everyone. The wind and the rain pelted the cars, but with everyone huddled
together, they were at least warm and secure.
Connor stared at the
window, watching the faint form of his ship through the pouring rain. "It
was good that you had assembled these then, but now you will either have to lay
track all the way to Edan, or after this storm, we will have to dismantle them
all again."
His new friend seemed
to think of that for the first time. Sighing,
he said, "Yes. It is good that
they are here. After the storm, we
will go back with you to this Edan, and bring the rest of the supplies.
Then, if you would bring us back, we will take these apart."
He seemed sad about it - or maybe just frustrated.
But for now, it was fortunate the cars were together.
Very fortunate indeed.