Blue, But as Azure as Pastel.

The Neptunus

It was an easily recognizable morning at the port of Scarborough with the usual English chatter, cool breeze, mixed accents and foul sailor tongue heard all over the translucent fog formed over the North Sea. The sun was nowhere to be seen but the presence of it was easily understood by the slender rays of sunlight perforating through the narrow cavity made in the ambiguous mixture of cloud, fog and mist. Hundreds of ships stood side by side, some getting ready to start off on a voyage and some just idly waiting after a long oceanic trip.

Among the many ships that was supposed to leave within a few hours was ‘The Neptunus’. It was bound for India. The cabin crew of Neptunus was as old as the ship itself, but a new member has joined the crew after Captain Thompson lost his right hand during the last voyage. This new member was Kristoff, aged seventeen and his task was to assist the Captain in jobs that required the use of both hands.

The passenger list for Neptunus was a mixed and a very odd one. The Neptunus was supposed to have only seven people other than the crew members, so to be perfectly candid, it was more of a cargo ship. All the passengers arrived and took their respective designated cabins while the preliminary work for sailing was being looked after. The fog was clearing by now and the sun had gained more prominence in the sky. Before sailing, the Captain called out all the passengers and crew mates on the deck.

Standing on top of a huge crate, the Captain began to speak, “I am Begbie Thompson and I will be sailing you all to the coast of India and by God’s grace,  if we do not face much difficulty and the sea is kind to us, we will reach our destination within four weeks. So, Ahoy!”

Captain then went on to narrate the rules which were supposed to be followed on his beloved ship. Kristoff, who was just a new member of the crew had already made a friend or two among the old crew with a few smiles and quick and witty responses. One such friend of his, Marco took on the job of explaining the few details he knows about the passengers to Kristoff as the Captain made his speech.

Marco stated, “You see that bloke? Ay, the one in that fancy suit and shiny watch, he is Mr. Arthur Brown. He is moving to Kolkata for following Her Majesty’s request of running the business down there. See that woman beside him? That is his wife, Anna Brown. Ay! What beauty on her!”

Kristoff asked with a long questioning face, “But who is that black woman behind them?”

Marco replied, “Must be the maid of Lady Anna.”

Kristoff asked again,” Who is that brown man standing there?”

Marco answered, “He is Mr. Anand Patel, he is a lawyer from India. He came to England to practice law but failed miserably, after all who would like to take advice from a coloured lawyer in England? So, probably he is returning to his home.”

Marco continued, “And that man, he is Dr. Cornelius Stevens. A good doctor. A great drunkard. Rumours has it that he started drinking after Lady Anna got engaged to Arthur Brown. He was in madly in love with Lady Anna.”

After taking a brief pause, Marco continued, “And those two fellas. The skinny one is Henry Hoffman a convicted criminal who is supposed to be imprisoned on The Andaman Islands and the other one is some bloke from the Police Department escorting him to prison.”

Kristoff said, “A criminal on board? I guess this trip won’t be half bad.”
The ship started to sail and made its way through the North Sea. The climate as pleasant as possible and spirits of the crew was as high as imaginable.

Little did they know, what an eventful trip this was going to be.