Circle Sea 1: The Pirate Maze

Chapter Seven: Odd Eric

Everything washed ashore in the harbour sooner or later. If you threw a dead cat from the top of the cliffs, the currents would wash it back into the cove and someone would fish it out for the seagulls to peck at.

People seemed to arrive as regularly as the driftwood and litter. Every day more strangers would come ashore. There were sailors and fishermen, travellers and tradesmen, adventurers and crooks...

The harbourmaster, Jedediah Flint, usually met visitors as they stepped from their ships. His daughter Jessica would scribble their details down in her book and he would work out what taxes they should pay.

Jim and Polly liked to watch out for strangers in their own way. They had a favourite spot on an outcrop of rocks where they could sit and watch the entire length of the waterfront. It was from here that they first spied the man they would come to know as Odd Eric.

The old man appeared quietly as he climbed up over the top of the harbour wall. He was wearing aged and rather tatty grey robes and moved around erratically like a nervous spider. Polly spotted him first and jabbed Jim in the ribs.

‘Ow!’ he complained.

‘Who’s that?’ she asked, pointing the stranger out to him.

‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Let’s go and find out.’

They checked out the ladder where he had climbed ashore. He had seemed to have come from nowhere and they wondered if this unusual visitor had emerged from the very sea itself.

When they looked over the harbour wall however they could see a tiny boat down below. It was battered and worn and looked as weather-beaten as the old man himself. It had a small mast with a tatty grey sail, and there were piles of untidy possessions strewn across the deck.

The two children looked at each other. What sort of man was this?

They found him working his way along the sea front. He was stopping to speak to each of the stallholders in turn. They caught up with him as he reached Calvin Jones.

The young baker was looking a bit confused as the old man hopped around nervously next to his stall.

‘I can get more if you want,’ Calvin was saying. ‘We’ve got a bakery up in the village. If you don’t want any of these, I’m sure we’ve got something else you might like...’

‘No, no, no!’ muttered the old man forcefully in a high-pitched voice. ‘I need to see your money first.’

He held up a single gold coin.

‘Look,’ he said. ‘I’ve got money. Have you got one like this?’

Calvin gave in and opened his purse so the old man could see.

‘Sure,’ he said. ‘I’ve got money too. I can give you change, or whatever it is you seem to need.’

The old man peered into the purse muttering to himself. His finger hovered over the coins as if was counting them, or searching for something...

‘No, not there,’ he announced as he turned abruptly and pranced away.

Calvin shrugged to Jim and Polly and closed the purse. They smiled at his bemusement and followed the strange visitor.

The old man visited each stall in turn. He would sometimes peer in, craning his long neck for a better view. Occasionally he would fain interest and ask to see some money. He watched like a hawk as people exchanged coins. Sometimes he looked hopeful, but his efforts seemed to end in repeated disappointment.

Such strange behaviour was bound to attract attention and it wasn’t long before Jedediah Flint tapped him on the shoulder.

‘Excuse me... sir,’ he began with his most official tone. ‘I must ask your name and business.’