The Storm

Billy had already hurried off to find the shoe. He knew where Robbins' chest was, and he knew that he could survive any amount of Robbins' wrath if necessary.

"He forgot the hammer! You should take the hammer and find a nail, Cob," suggested Young Oates. "You take it aloft. High as possible, it needs to be, and you're a topman."

"Were just takin' this to the maintop, sir," Billy explained to the midshipman. "For the sake of Samuels, see."

John reached over to grab the hammer. "I'll go" he offered, "I've always preferred being up than down, you know. Nothing like being whipped by a peice of rain..." he pulled himself up short. Now who was spouting drivel?
"anyway. T'hammer?" He grabbed it and practically ran up the stairs, dripping clothes and all.

John gave a quick knuckle of the forhead to the middie standing near Billy. "Aye sir, and Barrow here forgot the hammer, so he did..."

"Oh, aye, thankee Johnny. You brung a nail too?"

"Course" John pulled one out of his pocket. "Whaddaya take me for ay? Here, I'll hold it if you like."

"So, up to the maintop then?"

"Hoi!" Chase burst out, mildly incensed that Westdale had grabbed the hammer first. "A job for three, this one is!"

Samuels stared, all agape, as Chase dashed after Westdale. All this excitement over a horsehoe? He looked at Young Oates in disbelief. "It's just a horseshoe!"

Up topside, it was easy to spot Barrow and Westdale. They were talking to a midshipman, Mister Yates. Chase saluted the middie with a broad grin, completely oblivious to the wind and rain. "The maintop, aye!" He exclaimed cheerfully.

Peter looked up into the maintop. None of the officers seemed to have ordered the men up, and with the storm rising... But they all seemed happy about the idea. "What is ... Why?" he asked briefly, as Chase saluted him with a broad grin.

John grinned at Chase, "Sorry for not waiting, but you know how it is" his comforable shrug of the shoulders brought in the whole storm, "Sometimes you just wanna getup here pronto."
He grinned at Yates, "why shouldn't we shin up there, sir?" he asked, "May we?" A particularly brave wave came over the side to douse them enthusiastically in seawater and weed. John came up coughing, "I think I've swallowed a fish." he grinned.

Yates looked at Chase, whom he knew as a good topsman, even though he had been flogged only the day before. "If you must," he said dubiously, "but do not risk your lives, or the ship."

"Aye sar, not t'worry," Chase said. "C'mon then, lads. Up'n'down, easy 'nuff!"

The errant wave hadn't flustered him at all and neither did the tricky task of ascending the shrouds in such poor weather. He was eager to go and in fact was pulling himself up onto the shrouds even as he finished speaking.

"Hang on a tick mate!" John called, hefting the hammer deftly, "What about waiting for an old mate.. or even giving me a head start?" John had always seen these events as races, and not even he knew why. There was one bonus though, he'd easily get up with the hammer, thankfully small enough to not punch a hole in the deck should it be dropped.
At the same time, he was hauling himself up, grinning into the wind.

"You ain't old yet, Johnny boy!" Billy shouted into the wind. "Though I'm gettin' old waiting for you to move."

"Hey! I'm halfway there, and I've got the hammer. You're only carrying the horseshoe!" John good naturedly called back down, hanging onto the lines for a second before using the inertia of the roll to get further up the mast.
"Shall we get a bit higher? he looked fair green to me."

"You're the expert! But hold on a minute - we forgot to make him spit on it!"

John growled in annoyance. "I thought you'd got him to do that already!"
He called up ahead of him, "change of plan. we'll have to go back down and get him to spit on't." deftly he swung out and loosened his hold to slide down to the heaving deck. "Come on! we want saliva, not sick!"

"C'mon, y'two loafers!" Chase called down from the futtock shrouds. "Hurry up! I'm goin' grey here waitin' on ya!"

"Argh!"

"You'll be waiting a while, SOMEONE forgot to get this spat on." John lowered his gaze a little,
"And what was that for, Billy? got a bit wet?"

"Shut up!" Billy grumbled at a roar as he slid down to the deck. He cupped his hands and yelled back up the shrouds. "Tell Chase to ask Robbins if we can borry his horseshoe!"

What? Chase peered down at the deck below.

"Why ask me t'ask him, I ain't the one runnin' below just now!"

Impatient, John leaned against a rope, thinking that if he'd been smart he'd have left the hammer up there.
"I think the wet is getting to him!" he hollered back. "I'll get him between decks and doing all the asking, don't worry."
"Come on you!" he yelled at BIlly, probably spooking him a little.

"I thought it were his watch aloft! Ain't he up there?"

"Din't y'see him? That horseshoe came outta his sea-chest!"

"Give me the blasted thing and I'll get samuels t'spit on't. You two can stay up there yelling for a bit longer."