Chapter 10: Dinner and Deals with the Clan

Jake caught a coach back to the Lady and relaxed. He felt he had accomplished a lot today. He was in his quarters rereading the letter when the twins returned. They had brought their cousins with them. The room was a little crowded with so many people inside. Paul and Pat handed Jake their lists with the prices and quantities available. He glanced at the list and was pleased with what he saw. He motioned to the portable desk and asked Pat or was it Paul to bring it up on the pilot deck. the other twin grabbed his chair. The two eels quickly attached themselves to his arms as he exited.

Once on the pilot deck he arranged all the different pages. “Ok, I got the permit today. Erma McGill was a tremendous help. Because of her, we now know the only thing wrong with the ship is bad envelopes and no lift gas.” That caused some smiles. “The problem is the ship was run with speaking tubes not a central controller.” That wiped the smiles away. “If we want to be able to fly her with less than a few dozen crew, we’re going to have to install a central controller. The ship has three primary lift chambers. My plan is to install several new envelopes in those chambers and wire them to the controller. I am hopeful we can run the wires through the speaking tubes, at least temporarily. Once we get her back, we can strip her down and do it the way we want. My biggest concern is the engines. Currently she has six huge propellers attached to her aft section. Three on each side. At her best possible speed from where she is Innis is a three-day trip. Any suggestions gentlemen?”

The twins looked at each other, then at their cousins. The taller of the two cousins said, “It depends on how much you want to spend. There are four MK-260 engines over at the shipyard. They were for a new freighter, but the guy the airship was being built for was killed. The engines and frame are just sitting there. They’ve never even been run, except at the factory. Old man Griff won’t let them go cheap, but he will sell them. I know for a fact he used the deposit to buy them. Those engines are the same as what’s on the Crown battleships. Of course, they only have two, not four. He was asking three thousand crowns each for them. I know he was complaining about wanting to clear that shop out so he could start another job. The real question is, do you have enough sail to power those monsters?”

Jake rubbed his chin Twelve thousand was more than half his savings. He asked, “If we bought them how would we get them to the ship? One of them would cover half the Lady’s deck and make her as unwieldily as I could imagine.”

“Gran’s Shoe could haul them. She’ll give you good price too. Depending on where you want them delivered,” said the shorter of the two.

“What is a fair price? Just buying those engines is going to eat a good chunk of the money we have for this,” Jake said.##

“Patty boy said you would be paying us normal wages for a month. He also said this was the chance of a lifetime. I trust my cousin, and I think I can trust you. That being the case me and Kevin here are willing to take a chance. We make sixty crowns a month at the shipyard. That’s combined, not each. So, we figure if this is as big a deal as Patty boy says, we’ll hire on for a flat fifty a month. Twenty-five each. If you get Patty boy to talk to Gran, he should be able to get you a good deal. She liked the meer he brought home to her. Might be able to do a trade even.”

Jake said, “Where is she? Hell, where is your family? Maybe I should just negotiate with her to hire the entire Kennedy clan.”

Kevin said, “That would be a good idea if you had enough work for the entire clan. The four of us can get any ship out of the mist in a week with the right tools and supplies. Hell, Uncle Bert has tug. With that we might be able to get it in the air and on its way in a day or two. You have to realize hiring the clan means more than thirty men and almost that many women. Depending on the job Gran might include some of the little ones too.”

Jake thought for a moment then nodded once and stood. “Patrick, Paul put these away would you. Then invite me to your mom’s for dinner.” I need to fetch some items from the galley. Jake went to the galley and asked cook if he had the meer from this morning. He did. He had even cleaned them. Jake had him wrap them up and carried the two meer up to the deck. He handed one to each of the twins. “Make yourself useful.” He walked over to the launch and started readying it.

“We taking the launch to Mom’s house?” Pat asked

“I figure with five of us we might as well. Besides Pat, you didn’t get much work as my steward. I figure I’ll keep you busy.” Tyler and Kevin laughed at their cousin Paul just smiled.

They soon were flying across the city. The Kennedy family owned a large farm on the outskirts of town. The farm didn’t raise any crops. Instead, it grew bits and pieces of airships. Jake had been there several times. Every time he had been there, he had seen a new crop of airship parts. The farm had at least six different homes on it. He wasn’t sure exactly how many because the twins had told him there were apartments attached to the four barns. Only they were no longer barns. Now they were workshops for airships. The Kennedy family was an airship family. It was in their blood and bones. The twin’s mom, known as Gran Kennedy, was one of the first female airship captains. Her husband was her first mate. She flew a light freighter for years. She had passed that beaten old airship off to her daughter when the old Gran Kennedy had become ill.

As they came over the farm Jake saw the family had started to organize their crop. One section of the farm had different guns for airships. Another had pieces from different hulls. There were even pieces of airframes piled together in one area. “Mom’s had the kids working to organize the place. Every time one of them gets in trouble they get sent out to organize the farm for a few days. They hate it.”

Jake laughed at that. He could picture the old gal doing it too. Pat circled the main house and landed in front. The house was a huge three-story monstrosity. It was easy to see where the family had added on to the original building. The Kennedy’s might be able to work magic with airships, but standard carpentry was another matter. He doubted the house had more than three straight lines in any one room. Half a dozen children of varying ages came running out the front door as they landed. Jake was always shocked at their appearance. With the way the place looked, he expected they would all be dirty with clothes needing repair. That wasn’t the case though. The children might have grease under their nails or on their face, but not for long. Gran and the other women were quick to send them to get clean, and terror on anyone who failed to do it properly.

“Gran says bring the Captain in. Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes,” called one of the women from the porch before she turned and went back inside.

The children all came to a sliding halt when they saw the eels on Jake’s arms. He reached up and rubbed both of the eels’ heads. Paul grabbed one of the kids up and whispered something in her ear. Then set her down. The girl ran off like a shot. Pat finished shutting down the launch and pulled the key and handed it to Jake. Then he turned and said, “If any of you mess with the launch or bypass the lock you’ll have to answer to Gran.” The group made a collective groan.

Jake was smiling. He enjoyed the Kennedy family. The first time he had come over he was doing the refit on the Lady. He had mistakenly thought removing the key would prevent the young Kennedys from messing with his launch. When he tried to leave, he found his launch racing around the boundary of the property with three of the children in it. The others were standing not far away watching a clock they had brought from inside. What impressed him wasn’t their skill at bypassing the lock on the launch. No, he was impressed that not a single child tried to run. Every one of them stood and accepted responsibility for the deed right down to the four-year-old little girl. That had really impressed him.

He was nearly to the porch when the girl who Paul had spoken to raced back out the door. Jake heard someone yell from inside. She ran up with her shirt held around something and a huge smile on her face. She came to a sliding halt in front of Jake. Panting, she lowered the shirt and showed him the rolls she had inside. “Paul said the eels love fresh rolls. So, I snitched these from the kitchen. Can I feed the eels please?” She said it all without taking a breath and so fast Jake hard to concentrate to understand it all.

He laughed and said, “I don’t know. How far can you throw one of those rolls?” Instead of answering she plucked one out and threw it as far as she could. Jake said, “Grace eat.” Grace uncurled and pushed off Jake’s shoulder, floated up, and opened her wings for a single beat. She barely caught it in time. The children cheered and laughed as she floated, humming her approval. “Not bad, not bad at all. Let’s see if you can do better for Gail here.” hearing her name Gail was ready. As soon as the girl threw the roll she shot off with a single beat and caught it just as it started falling towards the ground. Pat grabbed one of the rolls and Paul the other that was left in the young girl’s shirt.

They waited until the eels had finished and were floating back toward Jake. Then they both looked to him for permission. Jake nodded then called to the two eels. The twins threw the rolls high in the air, and the girls flew after them. They easily caught the rolls before they even reached the top of their arc. While the eels were returning, Jake heard a shout and turned to see a woman holding two of the boys by the ears. He winced in sympathy. He could still remember his mother’s grip on his ear. He had no trouble hearing the woman. She was shouting loud enough to be heard at the port.

“What do you two think you’re doing. You know better than to snitch food before dinner. Those rolls are for dinner. I know Cali grabbed some but she’s only four. You two are much older.” The two boys were trying to tell her why they grabbed the rolls, but they had let her get to good a head of steam, and there was no way she was going to stop any time soon.

Jake decided to try to help. He whistled and the two eels came to him. He needn’t have done it as they were almost back. His whistle though grabbed the woman’s attention. Seeing the two eels attach themselves to Jake’s arms caused her stop mid-sentence. In her shock, she released the two boys who darted off to stop in front of him. “Can we throw these for the eels Captain, please?” they asked even faster than Cali had.

“Sure, just a second let the eels get ready first.” By the time, he had finished speaking the two eels were already uncoiled and waiting. The first boy took a step and threw for all he was worth. Jake said “Grace” and she was gone with a quick wing beat catching the flying roll as it streaked out over the field. The second boy wound up and hurled the roll high. Jake called “Gail.” As she too was gone catching the roll at the top of its arc high above the group. The children cheered and laughed. Jake looked to the woman on the porch. He figured the boy wouldn’t be in too much trouble if her smile was any indication.

He said, “Might have to send you off to get more dinner rolls. Wouldn’t want the kids in trouble with Gran.”

Pat smiled and nodded saying, “Might be a good idea at that. Bakery is still open. Mind if we take the launch?”

“Nope. It’s what I had in mind.” He tossed the key to Patrick. Pat grabbed the key with one hand and scooped up one of the older kids with the other. He dropped the boy in the launch and climbed in after him. Soon Pat was guiding the boy as he took the launch out over the field and headed for town.

Jake waited for the eels. Once they were reattached, he turned and made his way to the porch. “Sorry about the rolls. My girls here just love hot rolls. I sent Pat off to get some from the bakery.” She frowned and put her hands on her hips staring at Jake.

Kevin walked past carrying the meer in one hand. As he walked past, he said, “Give it a rest Tammy.” He used his hip to knock her sideways. She wasn’t expecting it and almost fell. Kevin laughed as he made his way inside.

Jake offered his arm to steady her, but she ignored him and started after Kevin. Jake followed the two into the kitchen. The kitchen was a massive room with four or five women working to finish dinner for the family. This was the second time he had seen the family women working in the kitchen together like this. It was a complex dance. The women talked away about all kinds of things. He counted three different topics being discussed. They never seemed to miss any of it, and all while working on the food. Jake watched as one woman pulled a bowl from a cupboard and placed it on a counter for another woman. He hadn’t heard her ask for the bowl. She needed it though. He watched as she spooned the green beans from the pot into the bowl. He saw similar things occur all around the kitchen.

All the preparation came to a grinding halt when one of them noticed him and the eels. It was the eels chuffing that did it. Grace was being louder than normal. One of the women turned and stumbled to a stop saying, “Oh my,” That was enough for the rest to turn and look. A second later Tammy came out of the cold closet still chewing out Kevin. Gran Kennedy heard her and said, “Enough Tammy, we have a guest.” That ended the tirade mid-sentence.

Kevin grinned at Jake and said, “Gran, Jake brought you two more mist meer, and he wants to talk business. Patrick invited him to dinner.” He gave Gran a hug as he passed, exiting the room as he finished speaking. He winked at Jake and disappeared into the front of the house.

“Captain Harrow is always welcome. Kevin, he’s earned his title, you show him respect.” Kevin called yes Gran from where he was, and she nodded. “So, you finally come for dinner again. It’s about time. Thought I was going to have to send my girls out to fetch you before you came to share a meal with us,” she said with a wicked grin. She had been threatening Jake with matching him with one of her girls since they met.

Jake said, “I always am afraid one of them will waylay me and I won’t ever make it back to My Lady. That is the only reason I stay away.”

She laughed at his joke. He had said it the last time he had come for dinner. In truth, he hated to impose, and it always felt like he was. No matter how much Gran said differently. He couldn’t imagine the twins enjoying their Captain invading their home when they were trying to relax. Though they did invite him regularly. “So, you want to talk business?” Jake nodded “After dinner then.” Jake nodded his agreement. “The twins tell me your eels there are responsible for the mist meer they brought me. I wouldn’t have believed them, but then I remember it was you they were talking about. A lot of folk thought you were mad when you re-rigged the Lady without booms, but you proved them wrong. I figured I’d wait and see before I made a fool of myself.”

“A wise decision. Wish more folk thought that way,” Jake said

“Ain’t that the truth. Well, you going to stand there all night or you going to come give this old gal a hug?” she chided. Jake stepped around the pass-through counter and gave her hug. The eels peeked over his shoulder and looked at the short woman carefully. They pulled back when she said, “You two mind your manners or I’ll use you for sails. Jake laughed. The old gal was something else. Then she reached up and rubbed each of the eel’s heads. They gave her a low hum of appreciation that made the old gal smile. She turned and said, “Tammy take Captain Harrow in the parlor and get him a drink. While you’re there you can practice your lady-like manners. Maybe one day you’ll learn you can’t catch a man if you keep chasing them away with the sharpness of your tongue no matter how nice your tits are.”

Tammy blushed clear down to her cleavage and quickly tugged her blouse up to try to hide said cleavage, then said, “Yes mom.” As she walked past Gran, the old woman reached out and tugged the blouse back down. Showing much more of Tammy’s cleavage than before and caused her daughter to blush even more. Jake had to admire Tammy though. She never even paused and pulled the blouse back up on her way to the door. As she passed him, she said, “If you’ll follow me Captain Harrow, I’ll get you a drink and you can relax in the parlor until dinner is ready.” Jake followed her and accepted a nice glass of honeyed ale.

The two chatted about nothing for a few minutes then Patrick and Paul came in with Kevin, Tyler, and Uncle Bert. The men got themselves drinks and they all chatted until they were called for dinner. Jake loved the Kennedy’s dining room. Their table was a twelve-foot by four-foot section of deck from an old airship. One of their the ancestors had turned the section of deck into a table when his wife complained there just wasn’t a table large enough for the growing family. As the family grew a second table was needed for the children. A second section of deck was procured, and a second table built, only a little smaller. It was only three feet wide and eight feet long. The children’s table sat at the far end of the room with the original table in the center. The two tables would have made T if they weren’t separated for more seating. The chairs were a collection like he had never seen. No two chairs were the same. Gran Kennedy had told him they were collected from different airships, and Jake believed it. One of the benches at the children’s table was said to be from an old battleship her father had helped decommission.

Dinner was always a lively event here. The family ate and talked. The noise level could be a little loud at times, but Gran would raise her voice and it would quiet down. Jake was always seated next to the head of the table with one of the eligible Kennedy women at his side. Gran hadn’t given up the hope of attaching him to the family. Tonight, the twin’s sister Tammy was at his side. If he remembered right, she was barely eighteen. Sure, that was two years past the age of consent, but still, he was more than ten years her senior. Dinner was as wonderful as usual. The conversation flowed freely. The one thing not allowed at the table conversation was airships, and Gran was quick to jump on anyone who tried. Her ears even caught the children across the room. Her calling the offender’s name was enough to halt them in their tracks, child or adult.

The eels were fed by each of the children. Gran let each of them put something on a plate for the eels and stand and hold the plate while the eels ate. This was decided after she spoke to Jake and all the children insisted they be the one to feed them. Beth who was sitting across and down a few seats from him grimaced each time the eels would take food off the offered plate. Patrick fetched a blanket and when the eels finished eating and they moved to the corner and rested, watching Jake and the others eat. By the time dinner was finished, the eels were asleep. Gran told the children to leave them be, and they did. All of them but Cali headed out to do other things. Cali laid down on the floor near the eels and watched them sleep. Occasionally she would sneak her hand out and rub one of the eels. Jake and Gran pretended not to notice her doing it, and the eels never stirred.

After dinner Jake and Gran went to her office. Jake sat on the couch and waited as Tammy brought in caff. Patrick and Paul joined them, pulling chairs from around the room. Gran sat in a large wing back chair waiting patiently and sipping her bitter ale from dinner. When Tammy made to join him on the couch Jake reached out and touched her arm saying, “Tammy, your two brothers know what this meeting is about. If they didn’t, I would ask them to leave. What we are going to discuss may put your family at some risk. I would prefer to speak to Gran privately for now. If, after she knows what this entails, she wants to include you, I’m fine with that, but for now.” He trailed off and Gran nodded towards the door. Tammy smiled and patted his hand then left pulling the door closed behind her.