8th June; On-the-Job Training

After a dash aloft to trim sail for the second time in half a bell, it was almost a relief to set his feet back onto the freshly-scrubbed weatherdeck. It was also the second time in half a bell that he'd beaten Chicken Dyer down from the yard - and with Chicken having been closer to the mast platform, no less! Of course, Chase had cheated. He'd shinned down a forestay. But still. Victory was victory.

"Gettin' slow in your old age, Chicken!" Chase teased, then dodged away from Dyer's smirking attempt to box his ears. He headed for the comparative safety of the foc's'le and spotted a familiar woollen-capped figure. "Ho there, what's that I see? Here, cully, you got any spun-yarn on you? Never mind, here, I got some. Let's see a bowline on a bight!"

Terry had come up on deck for a breather. He squinted up at the sailors aloft, almost sure he could see the gangly figure of Cob Chase out on the weather yardarm. He watched the men for a moment and  then turned away.

He was lost in thought, not thinking on anything much, when Chase hailed him, making him jump.

"A... bowline on a bight?" he said, blinking stupidly at the spun-yarn the grinning sailor was holding out towards him. "Oh..."

He took the string, fumbling with it for a second before he recalled which one the requested knot actually was and how to tie it. "Izzat it?" he asked, holding it up for inspection, sure he'd gone pink over the unexpected demand. It probably wasn't even the right knot, either.

A couple of lads had come wandering over to see what was going on, but Chase ignored them. "Nearly. The trailing loop goes round the lot at the end, don't forget. An' pull it tight when it's done. Not bad!"

"Oh. Right." Terry did as his was bidden and held it back up again. "'Ow's that?"

"Good lad," said Chase with a nod. For being caught unawares, it was a fine effort. "Been practising, have you?"

Dyer shouldered his way over, took one look, grinned, and said, "Learnin' knots? Let's see a carrick bend!"

Terry nodded, smiling shyly. He blinked up at Chicken in confusion. "I dunno that'n yet," he said doubtfully. "Show us, do?" He held out the length of spun-yarn.

"That's a bit further on yet," Chase began, but Dyer already had the spun-yarn in hand.

"It ain't nothin'. Just watch." So saying, Dyer tied the knot once, quickly. Then, grinning, he worked the knot loose and tied it again, in slow-time.

"Ain't nothin'..." Tery muttered, watching carefully as Chicken tied it again, slower. "Can I try?" Though he wasn't entirely sure he could remember it once it was untied.

With a smirk, Dyer held the spun-yarn out. "Sure."

"If you doesn't get it, say," Chase added.

"Uh-huh," Terry said, looking at the knot before untying it to try tying it himself. "Um. Where's this end go now?" he asked a moment later, trying to remember what Chicken had done next.

This time, Chase got to the answer first. "The lee'ard end, this'n, goes under the loop you made here. Then it goes over the standin' part, an' then under the tail. Got it?"

"Oh." He tried it again, following Chase's instructions, and remembered to pull it tight before holding it up, with a slightly nervous look.

Chase couldn't help grinning. "Ain't done with it yet! Sorry. But take the lee'ard end, after it's gone under the tail like you got it, an' put it across the loop, so it passes under itself but goes over the end of the loop. Followin' still?"

Button frowned, confused. "Nuh-uh." He valiantly attempted to follow it anyway. "Under the tail then... over the loop but under itself? Like that?" He paused, looking up in case either of the grown sailors wanted to correct him.

The watching sailors nodded. "Aye, that's it," said Tommy Edwin, preempting Chase by a heartbeat. "Then you takes both ends and turn 'em back on theirselves, and pull tight."

Were the sailors crawling out of the woodwork to criticise him, now? He nodded and did so before holding it up again. "Like that?"

"Aye, that's it, to a turn," Chase told him, privately frustrated by the audience. "Have a guess at what it's used for?"

"Um." Being watched by so many grown men when you were used to always being ignored was rather disconcerting. "Dunno." He shrugged a thin shoulder.

The answer came from Chicken Dyer. "It's for joinin' two lines together."

"An' it's tied on hawsers an' cables," Davey Hobbs added.

"The bloody hell, who's managin' this lesson, anyway?" Chase cried in mock-exasperation.

Terry couldn't help grinning at Chase's outburst and stuck his tongue out at Chicken.

"Cor, lissen to him, carryin' the keg like that," Dyer said airily, winking at Button. "He thinks he's all over sly-boots, don't he?"

Terry grinned. "'E's a proper bang-up square cove, 'e is." And he'd always been nice to Terry, which counted for a lot with the boy.

The look of wary confusion on Chase's face made Dyer grin more. "Oh aye, he's a toppin' fellow, sure, but I dunno's it's nat'ral, him bein' a mackarel back, too."

Terry grinned, both at Chase's expression and at hearing the familiar cant again. "Well, at least he ain't no bully-fop, nor he ain't spindle-shanked neiver."

This was more than enough! Whatever they were saying, Chase was certain it was not complimentary. Two, however, could play at that game.

"Belay all that or I'll fetch each of you a bobber-lip!" He eyed them both with an air suggesting grave intent. "Never heard such a pair of great dobecks as you."