The Search Continues
By Donna
When the Dòchas returned to Edan, it was with four male castaways instead of the woman Captain Connor MacLeod had been searching for. Dani, Cole and Ru all elected to stay in Edan, but the Frenchman, Michel, elected to stay on board the Dòchas as a member of its crew. Connor had hoped Duncan would be there in town, but Methos told him that Duncan had returned to Edan briefly while he was out to sea, and had left shortly thereafter to continue the search for Katherine.
"Does he know I’m here yet?" Connor asked Methos, but the ancient immortal just shrugged, telling him that the subject had not come up. Connor accused him of just wanted to be there when Duncan discover he was alive again, a statement that Methos made no attempt to deny.
"He was just here one night, and when I got up the next morning, he was already gone." Methos then explained about what happened when Duncan was escorting Doc Adams and Sarah Jo back from the monastery. "He had already beheaded the guy once before."
When Connor heard about the disappearing body, a cold shiver ran through him. "I have to find Katherine," he said in a hoarse whisper. So, once his ship was fully provisioned again, the Dòchas set sail once more.
Michel took over the job of recording the details of the shoreline that the Dòchas was following on several large sheets of paper that had been found, forming the beginnings of a map of their new world. As a travel agent back on the old world, he had a good way with words, and was happily recording in a notebook all the details of the places they visited. Already all the known settlements had been carefully drawn onto the map, but most of the interior was blank. Hopefully Duncan would be able to fill in some of the details in the future.
Each night, after the ship was anchored, Connor made his own recordings in the Captain’s Log of the Dòchas, chronicling her second journey.
Captain’s Log, Day One: The Dòchas set sail from Edan with the rising of the sun, making the journey down river without incident. Our newest crewmember, Michel, is learning his duties quickly, and is doing a diligent job of recording the coastline we are exploring in the course of the search for Katherine Dixon. We sailed past the two coves that we had explored on the first voyage, and then I was forced to put out to the open sea to avoid the rough water along a the base of a steep cliff. As there was no beach, it is unlikely Katherine would be there. The cliff gradually tapered off and the shoreline is once more covered with thick vegetation and it is now save once more to move into the shallower water. As evening approached, we found another small cove, and I ordered us to anchor here for the night.
Captain’s Log, Day Two: The cove we anchored in showed no signs of any human habitation, so we set sail once more. Two more coves were explored today, and in the second one, I pulled yet another man out of the water. Once again, it is someone wearing the same face as myself. His name is Monroe, and he is of all things, a rock singer who has chosen to withdraw from society. The journey here must have rattled his brains somewhat. He claims the last thing he remembers was diving into the water in search of a pot containing a genie. I am reserving judgment. After all, this world already has the dead once more alive and well, with heads once more firmly attached to their bodies, as well as vampires and weres. Perhaps genies are possible too. Who knows? We anchored for the night in the cove where he was found.
Captain’s Log, Day Three: We explored the beach, finding only Monroe’s dog and his guitar. We continued our search, sailing most of the day with no sign of any life. Just as night was falling, we found a natural harbor with what looks to be a deserted fishing village. Come daybreak, we will go ashore and explore. It seems unlikely that Katherine has made it out this far, but if she did, she could have taken up residence in one of the dwellings. The night watch has been instructed to keep an eye out for any lights from them.
Captain’s Log, Day Four: Once more I have a full ship. Unfortunately, none of my four passengers are the person I have been searching for. With the breaking of dawn, we went ashore to explore the village. I found it remarkable similar to ones that I saw in Japan three centuries ago. Waiting on the beach were three European men dressed in Japanese robes, all wearing swords.
The first man, John Blackthorn is English. He was the pilot on a 17th century Dutch vessel that wreaked off the shores of Japan. The second man is from modern times, an American businessman by the name of Paul Racine who somehow got involved in an ancient feud between Ninja and Samurai. He too wears my face. I believe Methos is going to find this all very amusing. I know my crew certainly is. The third man is a younger version of Duncan MacLeod. He was extremely glad to see me, but wears a haunted expression on his face. Apparently he had just acted as the second for his Samurai teacher as he committed ritual suicide.
None of the three men have seen any sign of a woman. Come morning, we will set sail again. I will not abandon my search for Katherine. She’s out there. Somewhere. And I will find her.