Afternoon antics, Sunday

Oxley led the ship's boys for'ard to the foc'sle. As they waited for the stragglers to come topside to join them, he looked round.

"'Member what we agreed was goin' to happen," he said. "Seems to me we ought to pick our teams now so's we're ready to get goin' when Young Oates shows up to take these here up to the foretop." He pulled a couple of differently-coloured pieces of rag out of his pocket - he'd swiped them from the rag-bag in the Marines' berthdeck for the men to take rags to wipe their muskets down with.

De Guarde stood to the side watching the boys. He'd caught Oxley's look earlier, but decided that the boy just didn't like the Bosun and his mates. Who did anyway. They were not very popular especially with the lower decks. Couldn't be a surprise that Oxley felt wary of them.

With a curious glance he returned to study the marine drummer, expecting him to continue with his little introduction.

"Me an' Jacky Fisher's goin' to pick the teams," the drummer continued, and there was a chorus of good-natured groans. Oxley shrugged, grinning. "Well, I'd get Sticks to, but I ain't seen him yet. An' I ain't seen Charley neither."

He kept quiet, though he had twice opened his mouth to make a comment and even followed a bit of a good natured groaning as the other boys did. Only because they did too. He shifted uncomfortably hoping the team picking to be over soon.

He still didn't feel at ease with the boys. It wasn't that he did not trust them, it was just that he felt saying something that should've been taken as a joke, would be frowned upon coming form him. So biting his tongue he just nodded in Oxley's general direction as if to ask him that he should get on with it. Anxious and not a bit worried, wondering why again had he agreed to take part.

"You pick first, Jacky. 'S'only fair," Oxley said, and Jacky grinned. "Bobby, then," he said, and the boy stepped out of the group to stand to one side.

"Buckles," Oxley said, to surprised murmurs from the other boys.

"Fingers," Jacky returned.

"Sam."

"Johnny."

"Danny."

"Tim."

"Sticks - when he gets here."

"Charley - same."

De Guarde gawked at Oxley when he heard his name and later looked to be grinning, feeling such relief that he couldn't imagine possible. He joined the boys that began to gather as called on Oxley's side. He'd have to thank the boy later.

He watched as Fingers took the other side. "No snatchin' hats this time." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and glanced up at Oxley. "We race in the same order or mixed?"

Oxley shrugged. "Whatever. Can sort that out in a bit." He looked to see who was still there, and called "Pete!"

"Terry."

Eventually the teams were called, with the absent boys figured in as well, and Young Oates showed up, grinning as he looked round at the boys. "What's afoot, then?" he asked, and Oxley filled him in quickly. He handed the older man one of the rags and the sailor grinned, before swinging into the shrouds and heading aloft with it.

De Guarde watched the sailor go. As most trained hands, he made the climb look as effortless as if he was sprouting a pair of wings that helped him up. Landsmen could often admire this till they themselves became seasoned sailors. It didn't take that long athat Oates reached the designated place and stopped in his tracks.

Each of the boys would have one go at climbing up to the flag and letting himself down the shrouds once he'd reach it. Some were better and some less skilled in the climb, which only made it fair that each side had them. It was promising to make the game itself quite interesting as well.

Oates was another of the men that he could've gotten in trouble and flogged so long ago. How things had changed!

"You can't go till the one in your team who was in front of you is back on deck," Oxley said, "And whoever's last person up - me an' Jacky - will get the rag. The first one of us to get there gets it, see?"

"Alright. And we have to touch the white cloth till we are going back down too, aye? Or jus' reach t' proper height? " He had so many questioned and was starting to feel ashamed that he was asking them infront of everyone else.

"You have to get up on the top an' come down by a stay. 'S only fair, that is."

The other boys just grinned. It was slightly different every time, of course, and there was always the prospect of a game of tag afterwards.

"And the last coming down, which would be you and 'im, has to bring the cloth with them as well, am I correct?" That was an easy one, and they now had only to wait for the last of the boys will join them. There, it was atleast on boat offering their servcies.

"The first one of us who gets up there gets it an' hs to bring it down, right enough."

Where were the others?

"We're not having any midshipmen join in, right?" There was a pair close to the main mast. The young Fletcher, by the size of him, and Mr. Yates by the looks. They had seemed to be waiting for something and then looked their way.

He turned to count the boys that were already gathered. Sticks was missing, that was figured without the count easily. And then some others who'd probably join them soon.

Oxley frowned and glanced aft. "Wasn't plannin' on it, though if they want to, it'd be hard to tell 'em no," he said, and looked up to see where Young Oates had got to with their rag.

"..It'd be impossible. Wot'ever they be sayin' is near an order as can be." He murmured. "Well, they'um still stayin' there." He glanced around. "Wot's keepin' sticks n' them last ones so long?"

"Dunno," Oxley returned, giving the young gentlemen another glance. "One of 'em's got a bring-'em-near - a telescope. What's he want with that?" He grabbed at Danny's shirt-collar. "Don't go starin' at 'em, whatever you do. Officers don't much like that, y'know."

"A glass? If they start climbin' could be anythin' I guess. Seein' t' horizon better with it. Could do that from below too." Not as well as from above though of course. It was why the lookouts weren't based on the deck.

"Don't seem .." And he had his back to the boys now, heeding Oxley's advice even if it might've been meant for Danny. "like they're followin' some order or summat." Of course he didn't know and he could judge from as much as he saw as Oxley.

"They've prob'ly got some free time like we have. Well, if they want to watch us, they're welcome to. Won't need a bring-'em-near to do it, though. We're close enough to 'em, after all."

And there were the last of the ship's boys, though Oxley still hadn't seen anything of ether of the two Shepherd lads.

"would think ye, drummer boys are punctual." The youth whispered, but it sounded a little like a tease, and he didn't mean any offense on it. None at all really.

" They do remember, we um.. are meetin' here, don't they?" It could've been such a problem too. Things could be forgotten, or time misplaced though atleast the later was quick to be remedied with the next bells.

"Thanks fer gettin' t' letter there Oxley." he glanced over his shoulder. "Maybe... jus' maybe you were right about writing it." Which said a lot, even if he didn't.

"Dunno. Tom's usu'lly on time. An', well, we tried. Even if it don't work, we tried, an' that's the important thing." Some of the other boys looked curious at the mention of the letter, but Oxley didn't feel inclined to explain about it.

"Aye." He nodded deciding that it was enough. That is, enough talk about it, else the boys might get curious and it wasn't something for their ears anyway. " You think we should go n' look fer em? Or have two sent ter look." Though it couldn't be far that either of the Shepherd boys could've disappeared to on a ship. And they weren't swimming, that's for sure.

"They'll be here. Andrew will for def'nite, and I don't s'pose Tom'll want to get left out if he can help." He glanced over at the other boys. "Here, Bobby, go an' rouse Sticks and Tom out, will you? They're takin' an age!"

The younger boy nodded and headed for the companionway.

De Guarde leaned back a little, and looked up at the sails and the many lines of rope stretching out above. "Is.. a good day fer climbin'... wot with not too much of a lively sort of t' sea." He murmured. It wouldn't do if the weather had been too rowdy. Would've been dangerous and if it were a storm, well obviously some of them would've been needed elsewhere anyhow. He glanced at the two midshipmen again and wondered what they were up to.

"Aye, it's a great day for it. Nice an' dry, an' she ain't heelin' too far, or anything like that."

She was meeting the sea well, too; there weren't very many errant waves today, which could make a ship stagger. The long Atlantic swell was an easy motion in comparison with the cross-grained seas of the English Channel, and all the boys should be fine with going aloft in this sort of weather. Oxley thought that only a lubber wouldn't appreciate the easy motion Terpsy had today, and would freeze halfway up the shrouds.