I just realized how booked I am Monday and Tuesday nights, so I don't know if I'll be able to update or not.
I figured I'd make it up to you all and go ahead and do a bunch of writing tonight.
Thanks for all the reviews!!
Chapter 20: Opilio's End
The crab fleet struggled for the next few weeks. The crab count was low and the weather more brutal than usual.
The Time Bandit had managed to find good crabbing ground and was all ready safe back at Dutch Harbor.
The Cornelia Marie was in route to Dutch Harbor as well.
The Maverick and the Northwestern were still battling the elements.
For the Northwestern, this was their final string. The crew had battled weather, fatigue, and despair after the Northern Star had sunk. There had been one survivor that the Cornelia Marie managed to pull onto their boat. Other than that, the rest of the crew perished and two had never been found.
As the last pot of the season was hauled onto the deck, the crew cheered loudly. It was packed full of opilio crab.
Edgar grabbed the nearest herring from the bait bucket and bit off its head. The rest of the crew gagged in disgust.
"Dude!" shouted Matt, "You're only supposed to do that at the beginning of the season!"
Edgar shrugged as he chewed, "So what? I got a little excited."
Jack shook her head and made a gross face. Edgar suddenly got an evil look in his eye. He spit out the fish and ran over to Jack. He leaned over to kiss her and Jack screamed in protest.
"Ew! No! Edgar!!"
Edgar grabbed the back of her head so she could not get away and gave her a big kiss. The crew laughed and gagged some more as Edgar pulled away. Jack ran to the side of the boat and spit out the nasty fish taste from her mouth. She turned back to Edgar and glared at him.
"You're psychotic!"
"Your point?" asked Edgar with a smirk.
Just then, Sig's voice came over the intercom.
"Alright, you guys get below deck! The weather's going to be rough on our way to offload!"
The crew gladly obeyed and retreated below deck for some much-needed food and sleep.
NWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWWNNWNWNNWNWNWNWNWNW
Two days later, the Northwestern began to pull into Dutch Harbor. They had finished their offload and were more than ready to get home.
As they turned into the channel that led to the safety of the harbor, they noticed the Maverick sliding in beside of them. As the Maverick turned to go into the channel, the crew saw the blue paint splattered all over the starboard side.
Edgar laughed loudly and waved to Blake.
"Hi, Blake!" he called, in mock-friendliness, "How's it going buddy?!"
Blake gave him the finger as he sped the boat up to get passed them.
Sig laughed as the Maverick cut them off. The prank had obviously made them very angry. It would take forever for them to get that paint off and to re-paint it.
Once the Northwestern was safely secured at the dock, Jack felt someone grab her from behind.
"What are you doing?" she asked as she glared at Matt over her shoulder.
Matt just smiled evilly as Edgar, Norman, Nick, and Jake surrounded her.
"Oh…this can't be good," muttered Jack.
Edgar and Matt tied her hands and feet together and then lifted her up off the ground. She screamed in protest as they carried her over to the crane. The tied her securely to the crane and Norman ran over to the hydraulic controls. The crane swung out over the water and rose over twenty feet into the air.
"What the heck!" yelled Jack, "Get me down!"
"I don't think so!" said Nick.
"We gotta go talk to the boss-man first!" said Edgar, "Then we'll come back for you!"
"They did it to me too, Jack!" said Jake, "Now it's your turn!"
"Yeah, just hang-out for awhile," said Matt, "We'll be right back!"
Jack glowered down at them as she watched them all climb into the wheelhouse. Once they were out of sight she looked out around her. From where she was, she could see all the boats that had returned to the harbor. The Time Bandit and the Cornelia Marie were already there. The Cornelia Marie was tied to the dock next to their boat and the Time Bandit was diagonal to them.
Jake and Josh laughed when they saw Jack up on the crane. They waved to her before they got back to work.
The Maverick was being tied down right across from the Northwestern. The blue paint was causing a stir from the other nearby captains. Even from where she was, Jack could tell that the other boat crews were rather amused by the turn of events. The Maverick was definitely not a favorite of the fleet and most of the captains were praising the Northwestern for pulling such an ingenious prank on them. The Maverick and the Northwestern were sworn enemies and now the Maverick was wearing the Northwestern's signature blue paint. It was classic adding of insult to injury.
Just then, the Northwestern crew emerged from the wheelhouse followed by Sig. He laughed as he looked up at Jack hanging on the crane.
"You ready to come down now?" he asked.
Jack nodded as Norman began to guide the crane back to the deck. Edgar and Jake untied Jack and helped her get off.
"Gee, thanks guys," she said sarcastically.
Sig laughed again and turned to face her.
"How'd you like to be a full-share deckhand?" he asked.
Jack's eyes grew wide with astonishment.
"Are…are you serious?" she exclaimed, "Of course! I mean, thank you!"
Sig began to remove the official Northwestern jacket he was wearing. Jack's eyes grew even wider when he handed it to her.
"You've earned it," he said, "Wear it with pride, because now your not just any deckhand…you're a Northwestern deckhand. Welcome to the family."
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