The Haunt of Danzig Ruin

The SS Harvey

       

The crewmen of the SS Harvey numbered only about a dozen. There were perhaps triple that number of passengers, made up of mostly men, but among them were women and children.  They acted as though a three day passage to the mainland on a cargo ship was their most common mode of sea transportation, and most likely was, given their rather obvious socio-economic status.
          The men stood about lighting their pipes and conversing casually in shabby, but warm trousers and waistcoats. The women sat their children down around them and gave to them pieces of fruit or a packet of roasted nuts to tide them over for the first leg of their journey across the sea. Everyone seemed to be in a relatively jovial mood.
         Petrich and Nora moved among them, but more often stayed on deck, looking out to sea wondering when and how the end would come.
Petrich consulted his pocketwatch. It was only twelve noon. The day was still very young. Anything could happen.
Nora looked up to the sky. The storm clouds she had seen earlier had dispersed since launching and it was turning out to be quite a beautiful day after all.
More than once it had occurred to her that the scars on Petrich's arm were just that. . .scars. The island had given them both a psychosis compounded by the fact that they were also in an alternate existence. They had no real chance to get much of anything right. . . but the tapestries. (They had been right, hadn't they??)
But maybe, just maybe the stars consistent with the marks on Petrich's arm could very well mean something else entirely. What if. . .what if. . .
Nora knew she was grasping at straws now, but it was all she had now.
"Hmmm," Petrich mused, "There's another ship out there."
Nora peered out where Petrich pointed and, sure enough, on the western horizon was indeed another steam ship, with billowing smoke coming out of its far off smoke stacks.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, I suppose." Petrich murmured, but then his brows furrowed and he stood up straight from where he casually leaned at the ship's rail. "Hear that?"
Nora focused on the sound coming from the other ship. It was a bullhorn and it was blaring a series of blows in a certain cadence.
"Is it sending a message? A signal for help, or something?" Nora asked.
Petrich carefully listened to the cadence one more, and shook his head. "It's a warning. They want us to stop where we are."
"Oh, well, I wonder under whose authority?"
Petrich squinted at the ship which had drawn nearer by several leagues. Whoever it was, they were in a rush.
"Well, the ship bears the flag of what we would call the coastal police. Not sure what they call them in this day and time. Some offshoot of the naval branch of the military, I'd wager."
"Oh my," said Nora, "Must be something very serious."
"Well, whatever it is, there's going to be one extremely pissed off captain if they're stopping us for no good reason. . .or even for a good reason."
The SS Harvey, indeed, dropped anchor and awaited the uniformed coastal patrol men to climb onboard. The whole scene brought all other passengers on deck to watch the spectacle, for certainly there would be one. The tall broad shouldered bearded captain was already cursing the patrolmen's insolence for interrupting his schedule.
Petrich and Nora looked on in the background, not so much in hiding as they were just staying out of the way and staying forgotten. Neither of them could exactly hear the heated discussion between the captain of the SS Harvey and the captain of the patrol, but in the end, the crew, as well as all the passengers were ordered to line up for inspection.
Ought we to actually hide? Nora thought out to Petrich.
He shook his head. No. In case we are actually seen, hiding from whatever this is will only make us more suspect. Might as well stand innocent with everyone else.
Nora nodded and stood with Petrich near the end of the line.
It was not the patrol captain who was to inspect them. By this time, two other men had come onboard who were not uniformed. One was dressed quite regally, and whose resting features were that of an insufferable superior. The other was older, well dressed, but was rather sallow complected and had the mannerisms of a whipped dog.
The 'Lord Superior' stood beside the 'Whipped Dog' and the 'Whipped Dog' peered into the faces of each and every passenger.
"Is it him?" the irritated 'Lord' would ask. 'The Dog' barely having looked at the passenger in question would shake his head, and they would move on to the next, and then to the next.
What could they possibly be looking for?
I've no clue. Perhaps the 'Lord' there had his silk handkerchief swiped and. . . . Oh. . . Petrich's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. Oh, . . .oh no, Nora. . .
WHAT?? And then her eyes saw it. On the lapel of the younger man was a diamond shaped brooch depicting the crescent moon and three stars, the symbol worn by those who followed Theo Xander.
               It was too late to hide, now. All they could do was wait and hope that whatever this disciple of Theo Xander was looking for, it had nothing to do with them.
               But by this time, the 'dog' was looking straight at Petrich, then at Nora, then back to Petrich.  What Nora saw in the face of this pitiful man was a weariness only the mad could tolerate and still survive.
               How many times had he wanted to end it all and was simply too sick in the mind to carry through? Nora wondered.
            Because nothing can be created nor completely destroyed here. . .
             And this is what one becomes when it can not be destroyed, but continues on, in complete misery.
            The tired older man looked at them both, stepped back and frowned, casting down his eyes at his feet.
              "They are here." he said in a soft, shaky voice.
               The younger superior looked at him excitedly. "What?! What's that? SPEAK UP!!"
               The old man spoke up. "These two are from the Dream Plain."
               Nora grasped hold of Petrich's arm, as he glared at the old man, who could only glance back at him, then back down to the floor. "I could not be sorry enough, master scribe." he murmured sorrowfully, as two patrolmen situated themselves on either side of Petrich and Nora.
Before they could do anything, the older man fitted a shackle device about each of their wrists. This device must have brought them into focus, for a smug grin spread across the thin lipped mouth of the 'Lord', and the other passengers gasped.
The captain of the SS Harvey bellowed reproach at his crewmen for letting on vermin stowaways, and was quite ready for the patrolmen to take them away as wanton criminals.
Be brave, my love. They thought out to each other in unison. At that, Petrich grinned.
           Wherefore thy foot step, there shall be mine also.