The Silken Key

Chapter 8

"Morelmoss?" Detlef blurted. "Like the mushroom?"

He reached into his pouch and took out one of the dried Morelmoss mushrooms to show what he meant. Maddy plucked the mushroom from his fingers and held it up towards the lumpy-faced gnome.

"Oh yes," Maddy said. "I can see the resemblance actually."

"Your mushroom and I do not share a name," Rudiger tutted. "We share a home. The Morelmoss Forest, to the north."

"Yeah...about that," Detlef said. "How does a forest gnome end up being captain of a boat? Don't you guys like to keep to your own little secret workshops in the woods?"

"Aye, that is true...as a general rule." Rudiger smirked. "My father was a luthier - a maker of musical instruments from the finest Morelmoss oak. I would have followed in his footsteps, but I learned to love the sound of the instruments themselves better than the sound of sawing wood and hammered pegs. I took my father's instruments down to the portside market to sell and played them at the market. One day, a captain asked me to join his crew and be their ship's musician. From my first voyage, I learned the ocean is as free and flowing as the sweetest music. I instantly fell in love and never looked back."

Tabitha rolled her eyes. "I was right. You are the master of boring stories."

"Never judge a story until you've heard its end," Rudiger said. "And mine is still being written each time I pick up an instrument, put my hand to the wheel of a ship...or meet mysterious strangers who need to sail off into the night."

It still seemed ridiculous to think the odd-looking little man could be the sailor Tariq had been told to look for. But Rudigers eyes had no trace of doubt in them.

"If you are who you say you are," Detlef said, making his decision. "Then we accept your offer. You are really able and willing to set out tonight?"

"Well, it doesn't give me much time to assemble a crew, but you look like an able-bodied bunch. I'm sure you won't mind pitching in on deck, will you now?"

Maddy stroked his beard and looked at Detlef. "Is he trying to tell us that we will be having to crew this boat ourselves?"

"It's not so bad." Rudiger winked. "You'll just be needed to grab a rope here, secure a hatch there...you know, light duties."

"How many crew do you normally need?" Detlef was starting to wonder if the gnome was being overconfident. "There are only four of us, including our friend who isn't here at the moment."

"It's a shade short of proper, that's for sure." Rudiger moved his open hands up and down like he was weighing a decision in each. "But I know my boat and she knows me. We'll manage fine."

"Numbers won't be a problem," Tabitha said, to Detlef's surprise. She stood up and held her staff upright. "How soon can we leave?"

"Well..." Rudiger turned around to look at the people all around the pier. "...I really ought to give my beloved audience one more song..."

"Sing another note and I'll pull the strings off your lute and strangle you with them."

Rudiger gulped and nodded slowly. "That's nice and clear then. I will proceed directly to my boat and wait for you to meet me with your absent friend. You can't miss it. It's a fine green vessel called the Cabbageleaf."

Maddy's eyebrows raised so far up his forehead, it looked like they might take off and fly away. "Your boat is called the Cabbageleaf?"

"Aye," Rudiger smiled. "That was the name of the colour I used to paint it. There are so many paints to choose from these days! I liked 'Cabbageleaf green' best. It's a little darker than 'Goblinskin' and a little lighter than 'Vegetarian Diarrhea'."