The Atlantic Via Bathtub CH 5

The next morning found John at the wheel of the tub. He was very tired, having been at it all night. Pete had fallen asleep, hardly surprising that he was still sound asleep, he'd been at the wheel for days without a break through that storm. John had no clue how he managed it, he'd been at the wheel for a night and he was feeling half dead. He hoped Pete would get up soon and take him over. 1

As he stared ahead, he thought he saw a slight inconsistency in smooth line of the horizon. He squinted, trying to work out what it was.2

He was so engrossed in trying to work out what it was, that he didn't hear Pete exit the cabin and come and stand behind him. So when Pete spoke John nearly jumped half out of his skin.3

'What's you seen?'4

As stated above, John jumped, he also screeched.5

Pete chortled quietly. 'Did I scare ye lad? Sorry 'bout that.'6

'No! You didn't scare me,' snapped John.7

'Ah-hah, if ye say so lad. So what was you staring at over yonder?' asked Pete as he stretched, then relieved John at the wheel.8

'I'm not sure, I saw a lump, but I can't work out what it is,' John said forgetting his embarrassing fright.9

'Well, methinks we'll find out soon enough, we're headin' straight for it,' said Pete, squinting at it.10

John nodded and yawned. 11

'You look like you could do with a quick nap laddy. Why not make us some food then take a nap.'12

'Mmm, I could do with some food. Say, would you have any coffee on here?' 13

'Coffee? Yep, got loads. You want some? Didn't think to ask, 'cause I didn't think you'd like it.'14

'I love coffee, and I feel like a nice hot cup of something, it's a bit chilly.' John shivered to emphasise his point.15

Pete laughed. 'Aye, that it is. The coffee is the cupboard under your bunk.' 16

'Sweet.' John turned and entered the cabin, leaving Pete alone on deck.17

He grabbed a rope with one hand, well holding the wheel in the other, then lashed it down. He then pulled a map from a chest and started poring over it. 18

He was still doing so five minutes later when John climbed out of the cabin, balancing a bowl of porridge in one hand, and a mug of coffee in the other. 'Here you are, breaky and coffee.' he placed them on chest next to Pete.19

'Ah, found the oats I see,' said Pete, as he pulled himself away from the map. 'Good good, nothing like a nice bowl 'a porridge to start the day.'20

'Yeah, found the oats. Wasn't sure how you wanted your coffee, so I only added a splash of milk.'21

Pete picked up his mug and took a sip. 'Mmm, perfect mate, ya got the milk just right, some people add to much milk, and make it all weak, but ye got it perfect.'22

John smiled happily and returned to the cabin to bring his breakfast out. When he got back, Pete was trying to balance a bowl of porridge a spoon and map. The arrangement he'd come to was something along the lines of map on his lap, bowl in one hand, and spoon the other. As he only had two hands, he had decided not to try balance the coffee just yet, that remained on the chest next to him.23

John sat on the the deck next to the railing, and leant back against it and got stuck into his porridge.24

After a few minutes of relative silence, John asked, 'So you know where we are?' 25

'Hmm? Oh, yeah, course I do,' said Pete, not looking up from the map.26

'So where are we then?' pressed John.27

'Right here laddy, right here.'28

John frowned at him but didn't say anything.29

Pete finished his porridge, put the bowl on the deck, along with his coffee, then opened the chest and pulled a sextant out. He was promptly barraged by questions from John.30

'What's that?'31

'Tis a sextant,' replied Pete as he sighted down it at the sun, and started working out where they were.32

'Ohh. What's it do?'33

'Shows where ye are.'34

'Ahh. How?'35

'I'll tell ye later.' Pete put the sextant down and pulled a compass from somewhere on his person, and set about working out just where they where on the map. A minute later he let out a satisfied ah-huh!36

'You found where we are?' asked John, as he got up and came to stand beside Pete.37

'Aye.' Pete jabbed a finger on the map. 'there.' He beamed up at John. 'So that lump you spotted over yonder is an island, that one in fact.' He indicated to small island on the map. On looking closely John saw that it had a name: Notverybigisit.38

'So are we going to stop there?' The thought of going on an island was sounding very fun to John.39

'Dunno we could see if they had any cows, for milk, 'cause we're almost out I should think. Or maybe coconut milk would be good. Either way, stopping might be a good idea.40

'Awesome, I always wanted to visit an island,' said John excitedly.41

'Hmm? Isn't England an island?'42

'N-' John stopped mid-word, 'Er, I guess it is. But that's not what I meant, I meant a real island, in the middle on an ocean.' 43

'Ahh, I see.' Pete rolled the map back up and shoved it back into the chest. He then untied the rope from the wheel and handed it to John. 'Here, coil this up and put it away would ye?'44

John took the rope from him and proceeded to wind it up. Once done, he put it away and took the breakfast dishes back into the cabin to clean them. 45

Four hours later they where at the island. Pete was sailing round the island in search of a good spot to land. 46

'What about there?' John pointed to a slight cove which had come into view as they rounded the head.47

'Aye, good spotting lad, that'll do us nicely.' He steered Bootle toward it.48

John went and stood up the front of the tub and stared into the water. It was beautifully clear. He watched transfixed, he'd never seen water so clear, he could see right to the bottom, all the fish swimming around, the corral, everything. As John stood mesmerised by the sight, something caught his eye, a dark shape in the water to his left. He turned his head to see what it was, but there was nothing. He frowned slightly, but decided it was probably just a shark or something, and promptly forgot about it.49

A few minutes later they entered the cove.50

'Hey laddy, there be an anchor to your left, chuck it over board would you?' Pete called from the helm. He ducked into the cabin and after a moment the sound of the engine faded to nothing.51

John checked that the anchor rope was firmly attached to where it should be before he picked up the anchor from its resting place, it was heavy. He staggered to the side with it, and heaving he got it over the edge and dropped it. It fell with a splash into the water, and sank rapidly till it hit the bottom. John noticed the rope went through a tube, there was a lever attached to the top of it, figuring it was a clamp of some sort, he pulled the lever back. His guess proved to be correct as the rope stopped feeding out. The bathtub drifted forward a bit before the anchor caught on something and pulled it to a stop.52

Pete emerged from the cabin carrying a small box. 'Ah, good lad, found the clamp I see, good, good. Forgot to tell you about that.'53

John grinned happily at the praise, and went to join Pete. 'What's that?' he asked, pointing to the box.54

'Oh this?' Pete stared at the box a moment. 'It's what'll be taken us to shore.' 55

John stared at the box, it was no more then 30cm square, he had no clue how they were going to get to in it, he said as much, 'How on earth is that going to get us to shore?'56

'Easy.' He picked up the rope that he'd used earlier on the wheel, and tied it to a small loop that was on one side of the box, he then pressed a button on the side and threw it over board. It hit the water and there was a whoosh.57

John stared at it in surprise. When it had hit the water, it had suddenly expanded into a small dinghy. 'How'd it do that?' he asked bewildered.58

Grinning Pete explained, 'The dinghy is made out of rubber, and it's got a small cylinder or very compressed air in it. So when you hit the button and throw it, the impact releases the air, and whoosh! It fills the rubber tubing up and there ya go. One little boat.'59

'Wow, that's awesome, did you design it?' asked John, his eyes glowing, he'd never seen anything like it before.60

'Me?' Pete laughed heartily. 'Nah, not me, I'm just a humble sailor, a friend did that.' His smile faded as he said, 'A very good friend, gone now.' He sighed, then smiled at John. 'But that's the past, and we have some future to make here, so if ye'll be so kind as grab that bottle behind you, we'll be off. So saying, he picked up a couple of oars stashed by the side of the tub, then swung his leg over the side and dropped down into the little dinghy.61

John grabbed the bottle Pete had indicated to and followed John into the dinghy.62

As they rowed toward the island, John turned and looked at Bootle, his mouth dropped. Unable to believe his eyes he blinked, nothing changed, so he tried rubbing them, still no change. Turning to Pete who was facing Bootle anyway, he asked, 'What happened to Bootle? She's shrunk!' 63

'Hmm? Shrunk you say? What makes you say that?' Pete stared at John puzzled.64

This confused John even more, he looked back to Bootle. The bathtub looked like just that, a bathtub, large for a bathtub, but far smaller then when he'd been on it a minute ago. 'I'd swear it was larger a moment ago, when we where on it!' 65

Pete shrugged and shook his head. 'Nup, she's always been that size. Hasn't shrunk or grown a bit in years.' 66

'But... But...' John gave up, unable to comprehend just what had happened, maybe all this adventuring had left him hallucinating.67

They reached the island and Pete leapt out and dragged the dinghy up on the beach, high enough that the tide wouldn't drag it back. Once Pete finished dragging John got out, taking the bottle with him. He stared around him, the beach was short, not more then ten metres of sand before the trees began. He shivered, feeling as if something was watching him he spun around. There was nothing, just the dinghy, water, and Bootle in the distance. He put the thought out of his mind, and followed Pete, who had stopped at the tree line, and was waiting for him. 68

As he neared him, Pete asked with a note of concern in his voice, 'You right laddy? Seemed a bit on edge back there.' 69

'Yeah, I'm fine,' he decided not to tell Pete what he felt, it was probably nothing anyway.70

As they walked through the undergrowth, John noticed how warm it was here, it was much colder out on the ocean. It was muggy too, he decided that it was not the sort of temperature he'd like to live in.71

Swatting a bug that had landed on his arm he asked Pete, 'So what are we looking for?' 72

'Well, I'm hoping we might find a cow, a banana or two, some cheese, and some fresh water would be good too,' said Pete as he ducked below a low hanging branch.73

'I don't think we'll find a cow in here. Do you think we'll be able to find any cheese though? I didn't think you got cheese in this sort of area,' said John, totally oblivious to Pete's joking.74

A fact which made Pete sigh. 'I was joking. We could do with some bananas, they are great food, if you have somewhere cool to store them that is. I'm also hoping we find a spring, or stream or something, 'cause we could kinda do with some fresh water well we're here.'75

'Ahh, I see,' said John, not entirely sure he did see, the heat was starting to make him feel a little dizzy, and he thought that back in fresh air would be something to try do soonish if possible.76

Before long the undergrowth became to thick to be able to walk through, so Pete pulled a machete from a sheath he had on his belts and started hacking.77

There progress was slow, the heat combined with the humidity making them sluggish.78

John stumbled, and fell forward, landing heavily against Pete.79

'Whoa, steady there lad,' said Pete, as he dropped the machete and grabbed John to keep him from hitting the ground. When John only groaned, a concerned look past over Pete's face and he laid the rather limp John on the ground. 'Are ye alright laddy?' 80

'Erg...' John's eyes glazed over.81

'Laddy?' Pete frowned, this was unusual. He quickly searched John for any injuries, the only thing he found was a series of pricks on his right hand as if he'd grabbed a branch, that had been prickly.82

Pete stood up and swiftly retraced their steps, looking any plants that John might have grabbed. He'd gone no more then a few metres back when he found it. 'Oh no...' He paled slightly. 'Anythin' but that.' He ran back to John. 'John! Lad, ye have to stay conscious, whatever happens don't pass out!.' 83

John nodded ever so slightly, and tried to stop everything from spinning, why wouldn't Pete's face stay still? 84

Pete picked him up and started walking back toward the shore as fast as he could. 85

He froze mid stride as his ears caught a slight sound out of the normal behind him. He spun, there was nothing. He hastened toward the beach, he needed to get back to Bootle, and his medical supplies. 86

Minutes later he emerged from the trees and was onto the beach, and broke into a slight run. From his arms John groaned feebly.87

'Hang in there laddy, hang in.' 88

Pete froze, his mouth dropped. 'No... It can't be,' he whispered. The dinghy was gone. He ran his eyes over the shoreline, there was nothing, it wasn't in the water, or on the beach.89

He placed John carefully on the sand, and ran to where it had been. As he stared at the ground, two things became deadly clear to him, one: They were not alone on the island, someone had taken the dinghy. Two: Unless he got his medical supplies from Bootle, John would die. 90

A whimper from the direction of John caused Pete spin around, he froze, and the colour completely drained from his weathered face.