Pig in a Poke Chapter 13 Sammie the sailor man



Captain of the Ship
courtesy photobucket.com

 

Sammie went weekly to see his grandfather with his mother if the weather was favorable.  We wouldn’t carry passengers if the weather was bad.

When Sammie had to start school this year and it messed up his visits. We ran the ferries seven days a week except time off for maintenance so Sammie begged his mother to make their visits on the weekend.

He spent most of his time in the wheel house.  Captain Jack got him a box to stand on so he could see where they were going. 

He would stand for hours with his hand on the Helm while Captain Jack or the mate did the actual steering. 

Captain Jack lived on the ferry with his wife and they were both very fond of Sammie.  He started calling them Uncle Jack and Auntie Dell.  Her name was Adele but she was Dell to him.

I tried to get him to call Captain Jack by his position but he wouldn’t, it was always Uncle Jack and Auntie Dell. 

Then he started to go down to the engine room and spend time with the Chief Engineer.  He almost had more questions than the Chief had answers.  He wanted to know everything about the ferry and what made it go.

Since it was coal fired the second mate had to make sure there was a continual flow of coal into the firebox and took on more at the end of the trip.

Sammie got into trouble when he wouldn’t obey the Chief and was messing with things he was told not to touch.  The Chief finally had to tell Captain Jack who in turn informed Cindy. 

 

When they arrived back home Cindy told me about it and I let Sammie know he couldn’t go into the engine room or the wheel house anymore. 

He started to tell me it was their fault and I cut him off and said he wouldn’t be going to see his Grandfather for a month but would stay with me if his mother went. 

This really set him off and he started throwing a fit so I advised him it would now be two months and if he didn’t straighten up it would be another month for every time he acted up.

At that he went to find his mother and started to pout.  After hearing him out she said, “This is a good lesson in respecting people who are in charge.  Two months isn’t that long if you don’t add to it.  Now straighten up and go wash your face.”

True to his father’s word Sammie didn’t get to sail or even board the ferries during the stated time.  He would go down to the docks and longingly look at the Captains who would wave at him but no words were exchanged.

Sammie’s time out was about as hard on Captain Jack as it was on Sammie.

His grandfather also missed him and told him so when his time out was up.

He asked Sammie if he had learned his lesson and he replied, “I hope so.”

To be Continued