Chapter 13 A Nephew

Phineas walked quickly back to the pub, glad to be away from the Undertaker's Office. He felt surprisingly good, considering where they were and what they were doing. This was definitely not one of the more fun or interesting places they had ever been. Jeffrey was probably very bored and they had another long night to get through.

"I'll show you the harbor," he said and turned to Jeff to motion him forward. Phineas wasn't surprised that he looked upset. Watching someone die and visiting an Undertaker weren't exactly cheerful activities. He also imagined that many things would have brought back memories of his own parent's tragic deaths. "Let's go this way," Bogg said, pointing to a path off to the left. "It's more secluded, best to see as few people as possible while we're here."

As they walked, he draped his hand over Jeff's shoulder. Jeff smiled, happy to see a glimmer of Bogg's usual self.

As they approached the harbor they could see the tall masts of several ships towering above the surrounding trees. "That's a lot like the ship I ended up on when I was shanghaied," he said, pointing to a large sailing vessel anchored in the center of the harbor.

"It's huge."

"Yeah, I used to climb all the way up to the top and be lookout in the crow's nest," Bogg said and pointed to the perch at the top of the mast.

"How did you get taken to be a voyager?" Jeffrey asked.

Phineas shrugged and sighed, "we were trying to ride out a hurricane, a giant wave washed me right off the deck."

Jeff looked at the size of the ship and tried to imagine the size a wave would need to be to do that. He'd never come close to seeing a storm that severe and he hoped he never would. "Some storm," he whispered.

Phineas seemed to come out of his thoughts. He smiled at Jeff, "all water under the bridge now, so to speak."

They headed back to the pub and Bogg steered Jeffrey through the crowd of rowdy sailors who had taken up places at the tables in the lower level.

"Why can't we stay down here and see what's going on?" Jeff asked.

"It's not a good place for kids," Bogg answered, and as if to punctuate his comment, a fight suddenly broke out in a corner of the room. "Come on," and he ushered Jeffrey up the steps to their room. Once inside he looked around, "only one bed?" He was reaching into his pocket for the coin when Jeff put his hand on Bogg's arm.

"You get the bed," Jeff said evenly.

Phineas paused and looked at him. It seemed like Jeffrey needed to do this for him, so he didn't argue. He took his hand out of his pocket, "okay," he said and then he watched Jeff turn and settle himself on the bag of straw in the corner. It felt good to have someone care about him so much, before he'd met Jeffrey, he hadn't felt part of a family for a long time.

Both voyagers were exhausted and morning came quickly. They rose and made their way to the cemetery on the hill. Before long, a wagon entered the area and they watched as a coffin was set into the ground. A woman, man and young boy followed behind, dressed in black.

They couldn't hear the words spoken by the preacher, but it didn't matter. They watched the family, and noticed that they lingered after the preacher left. Bogg's eyes never left his sister, until the boy suddenly darted toward the tree where he and Jeffrey were hiding. As she turned to watch the child, Bogg faced away, trying not to be seen.

"Phineas, I see you!" Grace called and the boy laughed and hid behind a gravestone.

Bogg's eyes widened but Jeff whispered, "she's talking to the boy."

Phineas sighed in relief and closed his eyes. He'd been afraid his sister had seen him, technically, he knew he shouldn't be this close to her.

"I've got a story for you," Grace's voice called again and Jeff watched the boy hurry back to his mother. The child looked very handsome and something about him reminded Jeff of Bogg.

"He looks like you... a little," Jeff said. As he watched, the boy jumped into a puddle, splashing water everywhere, and then laughed, "and acts like you too," Jeff chuckled.

As the boy moved away, Bogg turned back and watched as the little family moved to a second gravestone nearby. He watched his sister put a flower on the stone and bend down to show something to the boy.

A short time later they left, and Jeff started walking toward the stone where they had gathered. Phineas followed along and stood behind Jeffrey as he stopped in front of the stone. It read:

Phineas Bogg

Beloved son and brother

1610 A.D. - 1628 A.D.

They stood in silence for a long time, until Jeffrey finally spoke.

"It looks like they found out what happened to you, and when."

"Yeah, word gets back eventually about who died, maybe even how they died. I hope they know I didn't leave on purpose."

"They do," Jeff said with certainty.

They stood in silence a bit longer, "I guess I have a nephew," Bogg said and Jeff could tell without looking back at him that he was smiling.

"A real one too, not like me," Jeff answered, "and your sister tells him stories about you."

Bogg put his hand on Jeff's shoulder, "you're pretty real," he said. "Anyway, you're really my son."

Jeff looked up at him and smiled, it still felt a bit strange to hear Bogg call him his son. "I guess that means I have a cousin," he paused, "and an aunt too," he paused, "another one. It's too bad I can never get to know them."

"Well, we can keep the time stream on track for them," Bogg answered and smiled as he squeezed Jeff's shoulder again, "that's something."

"Yeah."

Bogg stared at the flower that Grace had left on the stone, and then sighed. "Guess it's time to go," he whispered as he took out the omni.

"I don't think you should voyage just yet," Jeff said.

"They told me to come back to headquarters when we were done," and he pushed the button.

Author's Note: Both Catherine and Grace are listed in the top 20 most common names of 1600- 1630, so that's why I chose them. Then I decided to look up the name Phineas. It is so uncommon that it was not in the top 1,000 names listed. Just an interesting Voyagers! factoid.