The Champion
A champion is someone who gets up when he can't.
~ Jack Dempsey
~o*o~
Evan spent the next morning in his room reading a book called, Is Man a Myth? He had found the book downstairs on a table and had asked Eustace if he might read it. Eustace had said he could, and that was that.
Evan was startled by a scratch on his door.
"Come in!" he called. The door opened and a small red fox entered.
"Sir," The fox said, bowing, "The monarchs summon you to appear before them at the first possible moment."
"Why, yes of course!" Evan exclaimed, leaping to his feet, "At once."
Evan followed the fox down one hall and up the next until he found himself in the same hallway he had been in yesterday, the one off which King Edmund's study had been. The fox lead Evan past Edmund's study door, then stopped at the next one and scratched.
"Come in!" Evan recognized King Edmund's voice.
The red fox leaped in the air and caught the door latch in his forepaws before he fell to earth again. The door swung open.
Evan found himself in a room rather like King Edmund's study, but different. The walls were painted red and the coffered ceiling was white and gold gilt. There was an exotic Calormen rug on the floor and a potted palm plant in the corner next to a mounted leopard. There were glass-doored bookshelves against the wall and at one end of the room was a massive oak desk, so large it looked as if it would take six centaurs just to lift it an inch.
Five people were assembled in the middle of the room, one standing and four sitting in red velvet armchairs. There were two ladies, one beautiful and gracious in a violet silk dress and the other no more than a girl with laughing eyes and rolling golden curls. Evan recognized King Edmund and Lord Eustace, then turned his gaze to the man standing…and started. It was Gavin!
"Thank you, Treve," King Edmund said, blowing at a lock of hair, "You can either stay or go."
"If you don't mind, sire," the red fox said, "I have some important business to see to downstairs."
"Of course," Edmund said, "Nothing like important business."
Treve bowed very low and trotted from the room.
"Hey you," King Edmund said, looking up at Gavin, "Close the door."
"Of course, sire," Gavin said, inclining his head.
"Right, Evan, or whatever your name is," Edmund said when the door was closed, "do sit down."
Nervously, Evan sat on the edge of a chair and Gavin sat in the chair next to him.
"We, my two royal sisters, Queen Susan and Queen Lucy, and I, have been discussing your case," King Edmund said, "and we have found you a champion."
Evan glanced at Gavin, then back at King Edmund.
"Exactly," Edmund said, "This knight has agreed to be your champion."
"I thought you said you wouldn't fight a dragon," Evan said.
"I changed my mind," Gavin said, grinning. "Yours is an intriguing story."
"Well – well, thank you!" Evan said, "Thank you very much…you can fight?"
"Don't worry," Queen Lucy said, laughing, "He'll kill your dragon for you."
"Thank you for your confidence, Queen Lucy," Gavin said, bowing, "I appreciated it, highly."
"Oh stop it!" Queen Lucy exclaimed, "You big silly!"
"If you wish, my lady," Gavin said bowing again.
Queen Lucy rolled her eyes and Queen Susan smiled.
"Anyway," Sir Gavin said, "I've arranged our passage on a ship bound for Calormen. They've agreed to drop us off at the Lone Islands."
"When will we leave?" Evan asked.
"Tomorrow morning, when the tide turns," Gavin said, "Though we have to be on board this afternoon and I have to load my horse."
~o*o~
Thirty minutes later, Evan found himself hanging onto Gavin's belt on the back of a great golden horse with a flowing white mane and tail.
"He's a very, very nice horse," Evan had commented when he had first seen it. He had been struck by the horse's almost metallic gold coat and frothy mane and tail. It was truly a beautiful creature.
"This is Ambyr," Gavin had said, his hand resting lovingly on the horse's withers. "He's ten years old."
"Is that old?" Evan had asked.
"No, he's in his prime."
"I've never seen a horse this close before," Evan had said. "We only have donkeys on the Lone Islands. He's beautiful."
Ambyr had turned his wise, handsome head and looked at Evan long and hard. His golden ears had pricked towards him and his nostrils had flared.
Evan shook the memory from his head and took a tighter hold of Gavin's belt. The red ruby in the pummel of Gavin's sword glowed in the sunlight and the silver mail under Gavin's tabard sparkled. Who could have known riding a horse could be so hard…and bumpy? It wasn't logical, horses seemed to move so gracefully, like flowing water, yet once you got on one it seemed the world would turn upside-down, especially if the horse went faster than a walk.
Evan thought about the Queens and the King. It was a pity he hadn't gotten to see the High King before leaving, but he really didn't mind that much. The three monarchs had watched them go from the courtyard. Queen Susan herself had given Evan a warm cloak and Queen Lucy had given him a bow and quiver of arrows from the armory.
They descended into the city of Paravel. Seeing it from the back of a horse was rather nicer than seeing it on foot, it gave a new perspective for one thing. They rode down the main street of the place – a road called Royal Way because it lead to the castle – and past the customs building. Gavin pointed it out; it was a tall brick building with the Narnian coat of arms over the door.
Then they were down at the wharves.
To the left a merchant vessel was hove down. That is, it was rolled over on its side and belayed to a massive post, so the river otters and beavers could scrape barnacles and repaint the keel.
Two new merchant vessels were on the ways, nearly ready to be christened and launched and several masts were newly painted and varnished and laid out in the sun to dry. The sharp, warm smell of linseed oil permeated the air and curls of wood from the wood planes lay about the ground like golden feathers.
To the right, two long wharves ran out over the water and several merchant vessels were moored there to disembark their cargo.
Gavin turned Ambyr onto one of these wharves and the stallion's hooves rang on wood. Gavin pulled up next to a three masted bark to starboard. It was buff bowed and awkward looking, almost resembling an oversized bathtub. Its varnished sides rose above them and Evan was dazzled by the rows upon rows of deadeyes at the bottom of the ratlines. The rigging crisscrossed overhead in an intricate and frankly baffling puzzle of light and dark. The masts raked the sky and the bowsprit stuck out forward like an enormous skewer.
A head appeared over the bulwarks and a moment later, the captain came climbing down the side.
"Afternoon, sir, we've been expecting you," The captain said, "We've rigged up a sling like you asked."
"Good," Gavin said, dismounting. Evan was left to get off however he thought best. In the end, he closed his eyes and slid off. It was an awfully long ways down and sharp pain went through his feet as they hit the dock.
Gavin undid the cinch and slid the saddle off Ambyr's back. Then he slid the bridle off the horse's head and replaced it with a halter and lead rope. Meanwhile, a sling made out of some old sail, had been lowered over the side of the bark. It was suspended from lines belayed to the mainsail yards.
Between Gavin and the captain, Ambyr, whose eyes were growing wider, was fastened into the sling.
"Heave away, boys!" the captain sang out.
The lines attached to the sling grew taught and if Evan had been on deck, he would have seen that the other ends of them were belayed around the capstan and four sailors were turning it.
Ambyr's hooves left the dock and the horse tossed his head, the whites of his eyes showing in fear. He legs were straight and stiff and he arched his neck, looking down at them.
"It's all right, lad," Gavin said gently, "It'll be over soon."
Gavin's voice seemed to have a calming effect on the horse and his taught muscles loosened. Two minutes more and the horse was above the deck of the bark.
Gavin and the Captain climbed on deck and Evan darted after them. The deck of the bark was nearly covered with coiled ropes, belayed ropes and stray ropes that had somehow gotten lost. There were four small cannons on deck, two on each side, and grating over one of the main hatches had been lifted up and the sailors were angling Ambyr over the opening.
Gavin climbed down into the hold and the sailors began to lower Ambyr down. Evan watched in fascination as, foot by foot, the horse vanished below, until only his disembodied and startled head looked beseechingly around.
Evan climbed below down the companionway, just in time to see Gavin leading Ambyr into a makeshift stall that had been built among the ribs of the ship. The grating was lowered over the main hatch and the light was suddenly crisscrossed by shadow. Evan saw that there was more grating below decks and looking down he could see barrels of rum, bales of cotton, more rope and some wood, which the sweet smell in the air told him was cedar.
"They'll trade it at Tashbaan for sugar and spices," Gavin said, coming out of the makeshift stall.
"This is a much bigger ship than the last one I was on," Evan commented.
"Was it a brig?" Gavin asked.
"What's a brig?" Evan asked.
"Well," Gavin said, "It's a ship with two masts, though one could wonder if it's a snow…or possibly a schooner."
"A…snow?" Evan asked.
"A snow has short mast going from the main top to the deck to keep the gaff jaws from interfering with the parrel on the mainsail yard," Gavin said, "A schooner has fore and aft sails instead of square sails…they're rather like the spanker on this ship."
"You've completely lost me," Evan said, laughing, "I'd love to learn, though."
~o*o~
The rest of the afternoon was spent learning the names of various objects about the bark. Evan was fascinated and a little daunted by all the names and jargon. He learned that going down the ladder below decks was not allowed, he must go down the companionway. The front of the ship was the bow, the back was the stern, right was starboard and left was port, not to mention that starboard was green and port was red…his head was fairly whirling when he had learned that, but Gavin launched into naming the sails…royals, topgallants, topsails, mainsails, jib sails, flying jibs, spankers, studding sails, spritsails and others. He explained that all standing rigging is tarred black and running rigging is left the natural beige. He added that even sails aren't just called sails; they have different parts too-
"Like what?" Evan asked.
"Well," Gavin said, "It depends on what sail you're talking about, but on any sail, there's the luff, the leach, the head, the roach, the clews…"
"I haven't a clue," Evan said, shaking his head.
~o*o~
After eating supper with the captain in the great cabin, they were each issued a hammock.
"It smells bad," Evan said.
Gavin shrugged, "It's far better to sleep in it then to be constantly rolling all over the ship in a swell."
"I slept in the rope locker on the last ship," Evan said.
Gavin showed Evan how to fasten the hammocks to eyebolts in the beams overhead, a bowline knot at one end and a half hitch at the other.
"They never slip," Gavin said, pulling one tight, "And they're easiest to get out."
Evan stared at his hammock with frank distain and Gavin pulled off his boots and chainmail, then wrapped the belt around his sword and rolled into his hammock.
"You're sleeping with your sword?" Evan asked, started.
"Of course," Gavin said, simply.
"Cold mistress," Evan remarked.
Gavin laughed.
Evan went back to eyeing his hammock; it was too far off the ground to get into comfortably. He took a deep breath and tackled it.
The thing seemed to vanish into a tightly wound chord, thrashing like a wild thing. Evan gripped it mightily and tried to get a foot into the object, but it threw him.
He hit the deck with a thump and lay there, staring up through the grating at the stars in the night sky. The hammock unwound itself and hung normally again. Ambyr looked over his shoulder as far as his tether would allow and the moonlight gleamed from his eyes. The other sailors were far too seasoned tars to even notice.
Gavin laughed and Evan could see his hammock shaking.
"It's not funny," Evan said darkly and climbed painfully to his feet.
"Try one of those kegs of gunpowder," the Gavin suggested, "If you stand on it you might be able to do it."
Evan rolled one of the small polished barrels to his hammock, then set it on end. Carefully, he climbed on it and threw a leg over the hammock. This time the hammock tried only one buck before he was in.
Evan lay there, fearful to move, fearful to even breath.
~o*o~
Every hour, the ship's bell was rung, announcing the time; two bells for one o'clock, four bells for two, six bells for three, eight bells for four and thus repeating every four hours with another bell tacked on the end for the half hour.
Evan had thought he'd gotten used to it on the last ship, but tonight, he woke every time it rang. He had a restless night. He was petrified that he would flip out of his hammock and to make matters worse, his mind turned to the Lone Islands.
The dragon rose in his imagination, vast and glittering. Its great wings arched over its back and his long tail whipped around its flanks. The smoke and flames from his nostrils darkened the sky…what if Gavin couldn't defeat him?
The watch changed and the moon moved overhead.
The bark had left the dock the afternoon before and had anchored on the shelf, just ready to set sail the next morning for Calormen with the changing of the tide.
Evan could hear the soft sound of water lapping against the planking and the steady tap, tap of a rope topsides. A sailor from the last watch had set to snoring loudly and Ambyr shifted in his stall.
A/N: The Bark in this story is based on the HMB Endeavour of Captain Cook fame, the chap who was killed on the Sandwich Islands (more commonly known as Hawaii). HMB Endeavour also had another interesting chap aboard, namely Lieutenant Wm. Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame; the man who sailed almost two thousand miles in an open boat with half of his crew and only a faulty compass and the maps in his head. But, I digress...
You can view a replica of the HMB Endeavour on the Internet if you so desire.
I hope you like this story...any...comments...?
~Psyche
PS: By the way, anything in the way of ships is as accurate as I can make it with my rather limited knowledge of the things. However, you can be sure that i'm not making up any of the names shipboard.
