All over the ship, Kathleen could hear the surprised yelps from the crew. Scattered clangs and rattles echoed above deck as Kathleen held on to the shelves for balance. The floor hatch door that had been propped opened was now snapped shut as a man came tumbling through the opening and down the stairs. Baskets fell over as oranges and potatoes rolled onto the floor. There was a small sense of panic as the men scurried themselves up.
Kathleen rushed to the man that had fallen from the stairs as Olmec climbed the steps to see why the sudden motion. A wave of relief washed over her as the man was slowly sitting up by the time she knelt to him. Unfortunately, her mind wasn't out of the woods yet. The half of the crew that was stationed in the port gathered around the steps, waiting to see what Olmec was seeing.
"What we hit?" called out Bernard. Seconds of silence stretched as the crew waited. A beat after, cheers could be heard from above the floorboard. Confused looks spread below deck.
"We didn't hit anything," Olmec chuckled, "It's that Dragon Boy. He's pulling the ship. He's bringing us forward!" He laughed at this then joined the cheers from above, then the men bellow followed with their yells. Soon enough everyone on the ship was calling out their hoorays as the ship glided forward with the help of Eustace.
Kathleen smiled with pride at the realization that her student had taken initiative. She knew that Eustace was more than how he chose to act. Maybe it took something large and ferocious for him to act on his more gratifying qualities, and nothing is bigger than turning into a dragon. It was great that the others could see it too. To see him as not a big-talk child who knows a good amount of information about insects, but as a boy who can learn and prove himself when given the chance.
She helped the man up to his feet and led him where the ship's healing equipment was. She didn't get a chance to ask for his name since the happy moment or movement was silenced by an irritated yell.
"You've got to be joking!" The voice said. Kathleen identified it immediately. As the rest of the crew had fallen back to their duties aboard, she hurried back to the kitchen, Kathleen could spot Olmec sitting on the floor with a basket in hand, and he did not look too pleased.
"This is great. This is just fantastic!" Olmec's tone said otherwise. Wilter and Bernard rushed in.
"What's with the yell, Ollie? Trip over your feet again?"
Olmec shot daggers, "Why don't you use your eyes instead of your mouth, Willie?"
Wilter raised his hands in defense and looked at the mess by his feet. The smile on his face was wiped cleans as he realized what was on the floor.
"Oh no," He said in a whisper.
Taking a step back, Kathleen followed his eyesight and saw why this was no laughing matter. On the floor were two smashed peaches and a few crushed oranges. Juices and the insides were spilled onto the wooden floor, leaving a citrus scent in the small space that was for the food.
Smashed goods were the last thing that needed to happen to the crew. They were on edge as much as it is. Even with Eustace pulling them along, there is no telling how they would react if they find out some of their limited supplies had been made into mush.
Kathleen sighed as she went on her knees and picked up one of the oranges. She could practically taste the juices that were running down her hand. Suddenly, a solution began to form in her head.
"This just great," The shorter man said sarcastically as he picked up the remainder of the food, "Just brilliant! It's bad enough that we don't know how long we got before we find land, now we have to reset our rations, and now thanks to Little Miss Sweetie, we are no close to finding out how-!" He stopped abruptly as looked at Kathleen, "Now why you smilin'? You do realize how serious this is?"
Kathleen's smile grew bigger as she stared between the orange in her hand and the peaches on the floor. "Yes!" She said excitedly. Wilter was about to ask why she seemed so happy about the situation, but she didn't give him a chance. Her mind began to go on a run.
"Of course! How did I not think of this before? Peaches aren't easy to cut anyway. They turn to mash the longer they're out. And the oranges! Goodness, I've limiting myself to think that they could only be served in slices. But you can do more than that with oranges; you can make orange juice! Now, of course, we can't make a ration size of orange juice for each of the crew members, that would make them go faster than we can blink. But was can add the same juice to something else."
Kathleen stood up and stretched out her hands as if the others had come to the same solution. When no one replied, she revealed her train of thought once again. "The porridge! We can add a small amount of orange juice to the porridge to give it actual flavor. That way the sailors will have a small wake-up call in the morning. Hopefully, that will put them in a better mood, too. And it wouldn't even be that much juice needed because orange is a naturally strong flavor!
"And we can do the same for the peaches! We add them to the breakfast serving and instead of two scoops of morning porridge, it would have to be-" Kathleen paused, trying to see the numbers in her head.
Bernard beat her to it. "One scoop and a half with a spoon full of peaches."
Kathleen jumped excitedly, "Yes! Exactly."
Wilter nodded, "You know what, that just might work. But what of the other food. Do we still combine them?"
Kathleen nodded quickly as she reached for the notebook, "We can! If I'm being honest, I think it was the peaches that were making it difficult, being how quickly they usually go. I mean, it's a miracle how long the rest of the fruit lasted. In my World, they should have rotted a long time again and-" She stopped talking as she heard chuckles.
Kathleen turned to see Olmec shaking his head as he continued to laugh, "That's your big plan? Peaches and porridge? Well, ain't that a laugh in a half." He stood up with the basket in hand and placed it back on the shelf.
Barnard narrowed his eyes at his crewmate, "Sometimes the best solutions are seen in the most simple yet unexpected ways."
Olmec rolled his eyes, "As interesting as it sounds, you still have to get approval from the Captian and the King."
Wilter turned his head to the Head Cook, "He's right. You need to tell them. Now."
Bernard stood silent for a moment than face each of the three individually. He stared at Kathleen for the longest, who wasn't sure if this was a good sign or not. "I won't be the one to tell the Captian," He said calmly, "You will," This caused herself and Olemc to give out confused, "What?"
Kathleen pointed at herself, "You want me to tell Caspian and Drinian?"
Bernard just to her, "Yes. It is your idea, therefore it is your responsibility to share them," Kathleen stared at the notebook, "The worse they could say is no."
She took a breath and nervously nodded. "Alright. I'll go see them now, see what they say." She slowly stepped away from the group and made her way to the stairs. She was ready to push up the hatch when Olmec spoke loudly to Bernard.
"Are we sure we want to send her on her own for this? This isn't casual conversation. This is for the well-bein' of our crew."
She could hear Wilter scoff, "Since when did you care for 'the well-being of our crew,'"
"Since I became a part of the crew," Olmec huffed, "Look, all I'm saying is that she don't know no protocol or nothin'. We better go with her and make sure she don't screw it up."
Kathleen squeezed the book in hand as Bernard thought out loud, "Well, that's true. About the not knowing protocol. Maybe-"
"You're right, Ollie," Kathleen said as she took a step down, "I'm not sure of the proper way to go about this. I've read about certain business propositions for classes, but nothing like this," She paused as if in thought, "How about you come with me and guide me? Besides, I don't think all of us would need to be there. Just one to explain the plan to Caspian, Drinian, and Edmund."
Olmec crossed his arms on the last name, "We didn't say anything about having to tell King Edmund about the proposal."
Kathleen placed the book in front of her chest and tilted her head, "Oh! You didn't? My mistake."
She saw Olmec give an, "I told you so," look to the two men. Pretending that she didn't notice she pushed open the hatch to the open ocean air.
The breeze was magnificent against her slightly sweaty skin. Kathleen was able to see Dragon Eustace pulling the ship with his tail wrapped around the lookout point of the ship. A warmth of pride swelled in her, but it was short-lived due to the sight of Drinian walking to her.
"Everything alright in the port?" He asked her.
A scruffy voice responded for her, "Yeah, e'erything is alright down there, but listen, Captain. We cooks got a proposal and it requires an audience with you and the King."
Drinian raised an eyebrow, "And what does this proposal intel?"
Kathleen opened her mouth to explain, but Olmec beat her to it, "It intel's 'bout the rations."
Drinian dropped his expression, "Very well," he took a quick look at Kathleen then back to Olmec, "Follow me." The two did as they were told.
Kathleen followed behind the older men as they made their way to the back of the ship. Passing the narrow hallway, she noticed Caspian's cabin was open. She took note of Lucy and Gael in the room, picking up fallen supplies. Not needing to distract herself, she mentally told herself to see them after her "audience with the King".
They reached the door at the end of the hall. Drinian knocked twice before saying, "Your Majesties." Kathleen took mind at the plural usage.
Caspian called them. Kathleen saw that both Edmund and Caspian seemed to have reluctant looks on their faces but that changes quickly when they noticed Kathleen and another crewmember behind the Captain.
"What was it?" Caspian asked with a hint of concern.
Drinian gestured to Kathleen and Olmec who were now standing in the center of the room, "These two wish to have an audience with us. The topic involving the rations aboard."
The two Kings turned to each other, then to the two sailors in front of them.
"What seems to be the problem," Edmund asked as he turned to his other World friend.
Kathleen turned to Olmec, waiting for him to speak out like he's done before, but he made it clear that he was keeping his mouth shut, keeping his eye fully forward to the Kings. Taking a deep breath, she took a step forward while trying to hold in a smirk. She set her legs in the fourth position; with her right leg in front of her left and point slightly in the same direction. Her left back foot was pointed diagonally to the right. Her arms in the fifth position, which was resting by her thighs, "There may not be a problem anymore. We've come up with a plan that can elongate our produce while at the same time creating a seemingly invisible boost of patience to the crew all by just mixing new flavors in the kitchen."
For the next ten minutes, Kathleen walked the boys through every idea, example, argument, and counter-argument in a way that would make her English teacher proud. The gentlemen sat silently as she elaborates on the benefits that would come with the simple change of adding juice to breakfast.
As she spoke, Kathleen ignored the side looks the Drinian was giving Olmec. She also tried to hold her smile at the end. Olmec hadn't had one input throughout her explanation and she more than a little curious to see the expression on his face.
"That's brilliant, Kathleen," Edmund said a moment after she finished.
Kathleen beamed as she held her head high and ask if the gentlemen if they had questions. When the two Kings didn't say anything, Drinian took it upon himself to address an elephant in the room.
"Is there anything you would like to add, Mr. Kele? Seeing as you've been standing there since we walked in."
Kathleen took a big step back and moved her feet back into the fourth position. She took a side glance at Olmec. He was biting his lower lip in an attempt to, what looks like to stop himself from scowling. She had the smallest grin on her lips.
"Actually, Captain, Olmec is here to make sure I didn't, what was it," she paused, "'Screw it up?' Seeing as I don't know 'nothing' about protocol, I asked him to accompany me to make sure I did everything right."
"And did she?" Drinian asked, catching on.
Olmec wrinkled his nose, "To a 'T', Captain."
Caspian leaned back into his chair, "Well, it seems those extra books I gave you lead you the right way."
Kathleen could see Edmund trying to hold back a laugh with his hand over his mouth. She shared a smile with the boys, "It would seem so."
She took a moment to absorb the proud feeling she created for herself. She cleared her thoughts and remained in her "professional" position. "Well gentlemen, this is our proposal. What do you think?"
The three men opposite of turned to each other.
"I believe you know where I stand," Edmund said with a knowing smile. Kathleen could see Olmec rolling his eyes. She ignores him and gave her friend a grateful closed-lip smile.
"Drinian?" Caspian asked. Kathleen found her fingers playing with her sleeve. To her, Drinian's opinion had more impact on her. It was mostly because she had seen Caspian take his words more into account than anything. If the King put's that much trust into the ship's Captian, then so will she.
She held her breath as Captain Drinian opened his mouth, "You're certain you thought of everything?" He asked in an unreadable face.
Olmec dropped his shoulders, "What do you thi-" his sarcastic tone was cut off by the Captian's stare. Olmec averted his eyes.
Drinian turned back to Kathleen, awaiting her answer.
Kathleen released the hold on her vest and straightened her shoulders. "All possible variables, Sir."
He was quiet again. The young girl stood still, mind growing anxious as the silence drew on.
"This will work, Your Majesty."
"Excellent. Then change for the proposal will be effective as soon as possible."
Relief and pride washed over Kathleen as Caspian spoke. The feeling reminded her of post-show warmth, as well as a bubbly feeling she has been getting in her stomach as of recently. The feeling was welcoming nonetheless.
She turned to Edmund to see him looking back. The smile on his face was just as warm and welcoming. She smiled back at him as Caspian went on."
"Priorities will follow as usual; we look for food while searching on anything that may have to do with the Lords. Drinian, please have Kathleen and Olmec, and the other men create meal plans while we continue searching for land."
"Actually, Your Majesty," Drinian said with the smallest hint of a smile. "I was on my way when I found the two of them. Land has been spotted. Ramandu's Island, to be exact."
