22 May, First dog Watch - later in the evening

"Tommy! You just wait till I catch you!" The older Oxley had the advantage of surprise, as well as being just that bit taller than his brother, who was also laughing, though he was helped by the fact that he knew Terpsy. Sam Oxley, of course, was a sailor with four years' experience of Navy ships, but he had only just come aboard Terpsy, so the brothers were fairly evenly matched.

"What did I do!" Tom Oxley said, feigning innocence as he ducked around the foremast.

"Who's goin' ter win?" One of the young boys exclaimed and grinned at his friends. "I say, our Tommy!" Soft giggles from the rest of them rascals, picking up the little nickname without any further ado.

"But that Sam is bigger, n' he's a sailor!" One of the Tars suggested, of course teasing the young lot. "A proper Tar."

"But he's just a fresh Terpsy, like a fish outta t' water!" Another of the boys reasoned. "Fast but, he'll run into something, all tall he is, and not knowing the.. " He pointed forward, as if to suggest that in no time Sam would have knocked his head on something low.

"Faster, Oxley!" One of the Marines called, waving his hat. Chase whooped and watched as other Tars hopped out of the way as the two Oxleys went tearing past.

Tom Oxley was laughing hard, but still managed to stay ahead of his older brother as they tore down the length of the messdeck. He swung round the fore companionway and paused on the other side of it, watching to see what his brother would do.

Sam Oxley grinned, shrugged and feinted one way before heading round the other. "You just wait till I get my hands on you, Tommy!" he said.

"Tommy, run fer it! N' remember, Tars can climb!" De Guarde found himself cheering for the marine drummer atleast for the first portion of the run.

"Can't run under low beams if they ain't knowing where they are though." He murmured and grinned, careful to keep out of the way - he and all the cheering young lot - not to get run over by either of the boys.

"Go Oxley!" One of the smart lads called, and with that really, cheered for the lot.

Tom headed aft again. He was going to get caught sooner or later, he knew that - he'd always been caught when they were kids, after all. "Why blame me, Sam! Wasn't my idea!"

"Wasn't it! Who told me your friend's name was Shepherd, eh?"

"C'mon lads, go!" One of the Shepherds cried.

Chase glanced up forrard and his grin faltered. "Oh hoi, lads, slow it down some, bos'un's mate's about!"

The boys hushed up and some scampered out of sight, while others peeked out to see where the bos'un's mate's was about. Most were quieter though, and so the Tars even.

"..who's bein' t' drummer boy at t' moment?" De Guarde whispered, counting the two Shepherd boys and the runaway Oxley, and that making a good sum of three, the same amount as they had the boys on duty with drums. And the same names too.

Bosun's mate? Of all the infernal luck... and it was Colburn, too, swinging his rope's end threateningly.

Both Oxleys slowed down, trying to make it look as if they hadn't just been tearing all over the messdeck, one in pursuit of the other, but had actually been walking properly, heading aft to their respective messes.

"Evenin, Mister Colburn," Dyer called cheerily, grinning at the boatswain's mate. Colburn simply stared at him. Then he looked around the Tars' messdeck.

"Oughta keep all the damned noise down," he grunted, looking toward the two Oxleys. "Skylarkin' oughta be done on deck, too."

"Yes, Mister Colburn," Tom Oxley said, echoed by his brother once he'd grasped the man's name. "Sorry. Won't happen again."

Sam Oxley sidled up to his younger brother and, once he was sure the bosun's mate wasn't looking, he smacked Tom round the head, not too hard, but hard enough. Tom Oxley couldn't quite stifle a yelp; his brother had developed muscle over the past four years and didn't know his own strength.

Respectfully the earlier arguing ships boys, deciding on what the fat of either Oxley would be, were now rather quiet if smaller in number. The Tars looked a lot more sobered up, and some seemed to be about their business, speaking in hushed whisper to one another when they could.

When the boys left to inform the rest on what happened saw the smack, many decided that the betting of who'd win or not was off. - Even if the said little game was more fun and hadn't had money or things in the back to support the winner -. Sam Oxley did smack their 'Tommy' but he did it after the chase!

De Guarde grinned at the poor third drummer boy. It was a fine thing, at last finding his brother. Though the 'brotherly love' had had a form of 'trick, chase, smack'. He looked at Colburn and squirmed a little further back in the crowd.

"

"I'll get you for that, Sammy, see if I don't," Tom Oxley said in a fierce whisper. Sam laughed. "You been tryin' to get me for ages and ain't done it yet."

"Don't mean I won't though," the young Marine retorted, only for Sam to put an arm round his shoulders.

"Never 'spected to see you again, and certainly not all the way out here," he said, to which Tom Oxley merely grinned.

Tom Shepherd grinned as Mister Colburn carried on aft, where he disappeared down the ladder. This had turned into a fine, if short, skylark.

"Best things come in pairs," Andrew Shepherd said.

Chase shook his head. " 'Cept when those pairs look all the same!"

"Hmph, n' I hoped ter be havin' a family on board!" De Guarde peered out from behind one of the Tars, seeing the bos'un's mate gone.

"Peh n' fiddlesticks." He made the silliest curse that he could imagine.

Tom Oxley grinned at de Guarde. "Last I saw, you had two brothers aboard, mate," he said, indicating the Shepherds. His eyes widened and he swore. "Who's on duty, if we's all down here?"

The two Shepherds grinned at each other. "Oh," Andrew replied carelessly. "We jus' left the drum sittin' there in case somebody needed it."

"What if Cross-Eyes comes past while we're all down here?" Oxley said, hastily pulling his jacket on.

"Hmm.. if that's so." De Guarde made towards the companion way. " Think I'll have a go at that drum of yourn'." He grinned.

"None of you'd care if I had it n' t' sticks for ..t' day, right?"

Chase bit back a laugh as both Shepherds fairly beamed at Tom Oxley. A right clever pair, those two, the topman thought.

Tom Shepherd said, "Piss on him, Old Tom. Ain't nothin' t'worry 'bout anyhow. Berty's up there with it."

"Aye!" Andrew seconded with a giggle. "Poor lad's too big for the drum, too!"

Oxley flung a drumstick at the nearest Shepherd in exasperation. "You two! There ain't no way Cross-Eyes - or anyone - is goin' to mistake Berty for one of us. He's too darn big!"

Both Shepherds ducked, cackling. "Mebbe not," Tom Shepherd replied. "But least there's somebody up there with a drum!"

The young Tar shook his head stifling a laugh. "..You're askin' for trouble, ye are."

It didn't stop him from climbing a few stairs. Was it Berty or the other -what's his name - who was guarding the drum? Wanted to see anyway.

"It'd be even better if it was someone who knew what to do with a drum," Oxley pointed out, snatching up a spare stick.

Chase raised his hand, unable to keep from butting in. "I knows what t'do with a drum," he said, nodding wisely. "Ain't that hard, really."