22 May, First dog Watch - later in the evening

"Me own brother Tommy, yeah," Sam replied with an amiable smirk.

"N' a drummer boy. That's what he is. With t' marines, n' a handful too." He grinned. "Ye n' 'im are much alike?" He asked with mild curiosity.

"I guess - well I don't know," he answered. "You'll have to tell me, after a while." He looked at De Guarde quizically. "So, you was the one in the privy, right? The one I saw washing off, afterwards."

"Sure will. So far yer not a' clumsy fer t' firs' meeting." He grinned at his private joke. Tom Oxley would understand of course, but Sam needn't!

"Aye.. I'm t' one who's you seen washin' off. ..Don't think it all got off enough." He made a face. " But thats me. "

"N' don't yer go start callin' me privy. Wasn't t' only one in t' sewers. Ask Taylor."

Sam glanced back at the seamen again, trying to remember which one was Taylor. "And - so was Andrew Shepherd there too? He's a drummer?"

"Yeah I was!.. n' a drummer?.. no that would be m' brother." He winked at Sam. "See there be two Shepherds." Only that neither was a Tar. But atleast it was all true that they were two.

"So... Andrew Shepherd's your brother," Sam said slowly.

The other seamen were grinning at each other, having caught onto the joke, however slowly.

Taylor said, "More like a cousin." He couldn't keep a straight face.

"Stop confusin' t' poor lad, When he see's m' brother he'll notice t' resemblance well enough!" He looked up at Sam and put on a most genuine, honest face he could master without it being a real one.

"Aye!" Williams agreed, reaching out to clap Oxley on the shoulder. "Don't worry none, Sox. Yer gonna figger it all out soon 'nuff!"

Oxley looked at them all warily, though he smiled at the hearty clap on his shoulder. But he was still trying to understand. "There be two Shepherds, meaning you and Andrew? But you don't take Shepherd as your name? Have you taken Buckles as a name one step removed from your brother in case of... But that wouldn't work because Buckles ain't a name."

His mind was working quite sluggishly because of the bottle that had just been passed around. When the fresh lads had gone to relieve those who were rowing across the river, performing ferry duty for the army, a few lucky ones returned more heavily burdened with gratidude than they had expected.

"No, Buckles is jus'.. t' same way how yer call Chase, Cob'... or yer have been callin' me ..wot yer have." He made a face at the thought.

"Couldn't call us all Shepherds, could ye? How'd yer know who's who then? Andrew's called Sticks too, ain't a proper name fer him, you'd know!" He grinned.

"Think ye'll be called Sox before t' night's out, by t' look of it."

He grinned and passed the bottle to the lad. "Fine by me, Privy."

"N' yer goin' ter stop callin' me that less yer want t' sleep out with t' fishies ye'self!" He made a face, snatching the bottle. He hesitated when taking a first gulp from it. Somehow it felt wrong. He'd remembered what trouble it had brought him in earlier. But a glimpse and a sniff at it, and he downed a few gulps, steadily before holding it out.

"S' Buckles, as right as rain!"

"That's our lad!" Crabtree declared, grinning at De Guarde. "Whaddaya say, boys? Why don't we go'n int'duce Sox here to Sticks hisself?"

"Should I go ahead ter warn Sticks about our new arrival there?" The youth was cheering for the idea at first, but wondered what exactly would come of it. " Have 'im know our fello' Tom has a brother Tar too?"

"Warn him? Nah!" Chase said, wanting to see how both Shepherds would react to the discovery that they had a third relative aboard.

"Well then. Let us be goin'." He really wondered what the Shepherds would do. No matter what their reaction, it would be amusing and fun, that he was sure. He looked at Oxley's older brother.

Grinning, the seamen headed up to the Marines' messdeck. Sam Oxley - now dubbed Sox because of his name - followed with only a little apparent trepidation.

Mathew ducked a beam, his hands crossed on his back. He made sure he wouldn't be left behind or be too far from where the whole conversation would be shared. He didn't want to miss a thing, a single face and expression!

Oxley looked up from where he was trying to clean his gaiters, and frowned. He'd never seen so many seamen coming aft into the Marines' part of the messdeck at once before, and wondered what was wrong.

"There y'are, Tommy!" Sam cried in an overloud voice. "I thought you was on watch."

He looked up, and winced. "They bin gettin' you drunk already, Sam?" he said, wondering what all the fuss was about. "Ain't on watch right now, though I'm goin' up at eight bells. What're you lot doin' this far aft? You get lost or somethin'?"

"Not drunk," Sam said defensively, then grinned, wrapping an arm around his brother's shoulders. "Just sharing a bit o' cheer from Oporto. We earned it today. So did you! Where's it gone?" He looked around to spot who was passing the bottle.

"We come to innerduce him to Sticks," Taylor explained.

The younger Oxley grinned. "Don't get too drunk, Sam. I don't want 'em scrapin' you off the deck 'cause you was three sheets to the wind and couldn't keep a-hold of the riggin'." He looked around. "Sticks is round here somewhere - I seen him," he said.