25th May - Lieutenants in the tavern

"They's doin' about as well as can be expected," Oxley retorted. "Me name's Tom, anyway." Not Tommy - and he'd thump his brother if he got called Tommy in anyone else's earshot ever again!

The boat was moving no, the sailors bending to their oars with a will. They'd need a whip to get the officers aboard, Oxley was sure of that, but at least none of them had been seriously hurt or fallen in the water... yet.

"Good. We better make sure none of them goes fish huntin' till we're back on deck. " And then even. "Sam's calling you Tommy, so hush it." He grinned.

It was odd. He was the only boy or man of this motley group that had not drunk a single drop of alcohol since coming on land. The only boy, fully sober! There were three officers that did not know who they were, there were two marines who were slumped in the boat as if their spines had been removed, there was Oxley who was a bit drunk and a marine, grinning madly at the land, that they were parting from.

He'd have told people they were pulling his leg if they said something like that would happen. What would the captain think? "This was madness. Really." He mumbled.