Pirates a League of Brothers by H, J, Macey (phonics books TXT) 📖

plants growing there. Then they picked fruits from the bushes and trees and cut tall golden grass. That Matto took the seeds from and showed Dorian how to grind into the flour Seeua made the bread from. In the late afternoon, they cut bamboo poles and carried them back to the hut.

 

Where Matto started building another room beside it, maybe somewhere for Dorian to sleep on his own. Seeua had taken the husks from the coconuts and had teased them into soft fluffy balls. One of the things Dorian had not recognised in the hut, turned out to be a primitive weaving machine. After spinning the husk balls into long soft threads, Seeua weaved a cloth that she filled with more teased husk balls. That they put on his bed when it was finally made, inside his room.

 

It took days to build his this room and the furniture, such as bed chair and table. As they spent morning times in the fields, doing all the things needed to feed them. With their work done there, firewood was gathered and stacked for Seeua to use. All the time Seeua fussed over Dorian's wounds, that had almost completely healed under her tender care in the week that had just past.

 

Now after their work in the fields, Matto lead Dorian to the bamboo stands to cut bamboo, and take to be stacked by the tar pool. Many suns rose and set before Matto started to lay out the bamboo poles, that would be the backbone of the boat he would build for Dorian. With tools made from the volcanic rock, he drilled holes in the bamboo in witch to hold other bamboo poles. Apling molten tar, that hardened held them into place like glue.

 

Bracing them and tying them into position, the boat took on the shape of the skeleton of a dead whale. Dorian was shown how to strip long strips of bamboo from bamboo poles, to be woven between the rib cage of the boat. Making it look like the baskets Seeua used to carry fruit in, and all the while many full moons came and went. Dorian had fallen in with the routine of life with his newfound family, for he had become fond of this kindly couple.

 

Tolling in the fields, and gathering food for the needs to survive, occupied most of his mind. He still wanted the boat but his need for it had started to change, the death of his parents was a recurring nightmare. He was now earring on the side of revenge because of it, and he seemed to have the heart for it. In the time since his escape from the pirates, he had matured, and his working in the fields had helped his physic a lot. His muscles firmed up, and he had grown an inch or two

Chapter six

With no mirror, Dorian could not see how much he had grown, or how his features were changing into that of a young man. Day followed day in an unending stream, and the first hull of the boat was taking shape. As strip's of bamboo were interwoven between the ribs of the hull until both sides were full from keel to gunnels. Now they had to lay the hull on its side, to coat the inside and out of it with molten tar.

 

To make the hull they had propped it upright with bamboo poles, to hold it stable as they worked on filling between the ribs. Now Matto built a high four poled frame over the hull, and with homemade ropes and pullies lowered the hull onto its side. It was hard work and took a whole day to achieve, they would return in a day or two to coat the inside of the hull with tar. Matto had other work to do besides Dorian's boat, he had to tend his crops and livestock.

 

Dorian could not complain, they had saved him from death and taken him in, to freely shear their food. In a way, he was feeling guilty, after all, they had done form him, he was planning to sail away and to leave them. With that in mind, Dorian accepted the slowness the boat was taking to be built. Like everything Matto did, he did it right, and up until now the hull he had them build, looked very steady and stood as tall as Dorian did.

 

There would be plenty of the boat out of the water to make it seaworthy, and plenty of room inside to carry all Dorian needed. All he had to do was follow Matto's instructions, and his boat would finally be built. Though it had taken many full moons to get this far, and they had not fully completed one hull yet. There would be many more full moons before the second hull would be ready to be tarred, and then they still had to build the deck and mast.        

 

Dorian was woken early one morning by Matto and bewildered followed him out of the hut. Only to realise Matto was heading towards the tar pool and the hull of his boat. With a little more enthusiasm, Dorian hurried on behind him. At the tar pool, Matto picked up the bamboo pole with the bigger bamboo-section attached to it. Then without putting it into the tar, demonstrated that he wanted Dorian to pour the tar into the hull, for Matto to spread with his pole that had a crossbar.

 

Starting at the furthest end of the hull, Matto got Dorian to pour a full container of tar at the deepest corner of the hull. Because they had laid the hull over, the inside of the hull was almost level. Using his T-shaped pole, Matto spread the tar out evenly and had Dorian running to keep up a steady flow of tar. It took all day and into the evening to completely cover the inside of the hull, and a weary Dorian followed Matto back to the hut that night.

 

Dorian slept well but his body ached in the morning, from all that lifting and carrying of the tar. When he did stagger from his room it was late in the morning, and Matto was hard at work on his plot of land. Seeua had long since stopped tending his wounds, but seeing him now bent over and aching she reached for her green leaf cure-all. Dorian was thankful for her attention when the aches and pains disappeared, and he could finally help Matto in lesser strenuous work.     

 

Matto made no move to return to the tar-pool for two days when he did, he woke Dorian before down again. They arrived at the tar pool as the sun was rising, then spent the whole day working to cover the outside of the hull. With the outside of the hull being higher in the air, Dorian fond it harder work than doing the inside of the hull. Seeua saw him returning home at the end of the day, and then spent time massaging green gel into his back and anywhere that ached.

 

Two days later they were back at the hull and spent all day lifting it upright, then lowering it onto its other side. Two weeks later the hull was fully coated inside and out and was propped upright ready and waiting for the other hull to be made. Many full moons would rise and wane before the second hull would stand beside the first, ready to have the cross beams and decking to lock the two hulls together.

 

 With a coating of tar to seal the decking to stop water seeping into the hulls, Matto indicated he wanted the boat down in the water. The next day after securing the hulls to poles he had driven into the ground, to hold it from slipping away. Matto used long bamboo poles to liver the hulls off the ground, to place short pieces of bamboo under them. With the hulls now on bamboo rollers, Matto placed bamboo poles on the ground for the hulls to roll onto.

 

He put as many poles as he could between the hulls and beach, they would have to move others down as they needed them. Most of the morning had been taken up doing this, and Dorian could see Matto wondering how far to go down to the beach. With sign language, Matto had said they were going to paddle the hulls around to the bay. Where being closer to their hut, they would finish off the deckhouse and mast for the sails which were being weaved on Seeua weaving machine.

 

Indicating to Dorian to hold the rope attached to one hull, then looped around the pole in the ground. Matto picked up his rope and released the knot, and gently paid out some of his rope nodding to Dorian to do the same. At first, nothing happened, until Matto lifted his leg and kicked the hull by him. It was enough to start it moving, and slowly Dorian and Matto paid out the rope.

 

Foot by foot, the hulls crept slowly down the slope until they had used almost all the rope. Matto tied his rope off to holt the hulls moving further, then sent Dorian to replace the bamboo rollers the hulls had come off, in front of the hulls again. While Dorian was doing this Matto drove two more bamboo stakes into the ground, and gave Dorian back his rope after putting several turns on the stake. Then transferring his rope to his new stake, he gave the hull another kick to send it on its way.

 

Late afternoon the hulls were a hundred feet from the beach when they again run out of rope. Matto secured the hulls and driving in two more stakes secured the ropes to them, then he indicated it was time to go home. Dorian had to agree they had done well today, leaving the hulls here instead of on the water, meant they would not drift off if a storm was to rise. This coastline was far too exposed, to have the boat moored here. 

 

Plus, they had no hope of paddling around the Island, before darkness fell if they were to put the hulls in the water now. Without a word or sign-language, Matto made the hulls safe by securing them to the two new post's he drove into the ground. There would be enough rope now to get the hulls below the high tide mark, the hulls would then float on the midday tide in two days. Giving Matto and Dorian, six hours to row the hulls around the end of the Island into the bay.

 

With two of the largest and longest bamboo's they could find for the mast's, and enough bamboo poles stacked on the deck, to build the deckhouse. There might not be a need to return to this side of the Island, to finish the boat off. There were pockets of bamboo off to one side of the bay, but nothing like the quantity you could find here. If they did need more, they would have to return and float a raft of some back to the bay.

 

As for now, they would have a day doing Matto's other work before returning to the hulls.