Chapter 22

Jax and Mel stopped walking as they watched a large ship drop its boarding plank.

“Wow!” Mel exclaimed. “I bet Gerry and Gus would love to be on a ship like that one.”

Jax nudged him and pointed up into the rigging that was now free of sails. They watched as two small men skimmed down two ropes and deftly dropped to the deck. They were both laughing and pushing each other as they argued about who got down the fastest.

“They haven’t changed at all,” Jax replied and then grinned at her shocked brother. Jax then yelled out, “Hey, you, scurvy ridden pair of seadogs, you’re both slow as snails on an uphill slope.”

Several sailors looked over at Jax and then gasped when she blinked and then reappeared on the ship in front of her brothers.

“Jax!” they both screamed, and she was soon being hugged tightly and jiggled up and down by two very happy and very strong young men.

“What’s going on, sailors, and how did she come on board?”

The boys reluctantly let Jax go and stood on either side of her.

Gerry said, “Moring Captain Brown, this here is Jax. She is our little sister.”

The handsome, blonde-haired man of medium height and build, who looked to be in his late thirties, smiled at his two favourite Prols. He did note the height discrepancy as Jax was a good 15cm taller than the boys.

He heard Gerry whisper to Jax, “He is an off-worlder. They have a few of them on Oron.”

Jax looked at the man and smiled, “What year and from where?”

Surprised, Larry answered, “The year two thousand. I was in South Australia, and my light plane crashed in the rugged mountains northeast of Adelaide. I woke up in a cave on Oron five years ago.”

Jax frowned for a moment, “That was forty-seven years after we left. My team found a transporter ring in Timor to use, but it took us to Iota Island. We have only been here a month.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of stranger tales. Seems like a lot of my missing countrymen have ended up here. I have often wondered if my mate, Gazza White, made it here. His helicopter went down in Afghanistan in 1992, but they never found it, or him.”

Jax shrugged, “I guess you can only keep looking. Have you been to the Sister Islands yet?”

“Not yet, The place I ended up was near the town of Mt Dove on the west coast of Oron. The locals helped me build this ship, and I picked up a crew there. Your brothers had become stranded there when the ship they were on was wrecked by a storm in the bay.”

“We’ve spent the last couple of months sailing around these islands. Then a week ago, Gus said we had to head here to go see their family. I humoured them, and here we are.”

“Would having a couple three-gemmed mages on your ship bother you?”

Larry laughed, “Not at all. I found some three-gemmed items that sure come in handy. Let me guess, Gerry is Physics, and Gus is Energy?”

Jax giggled as Larry had guessed right. She had her satchel appear and then pulled out two smaller satchels and gave them to her brothers. She told them how they worked and got them to put their hand in to retrieve the magical items.

Both boys were delighted to retrieve the bands and also a medallion. They also appreciated finding the magical book of spells.

“Wow, I wish I had gotten a book. It’s been tough trying to learn spells by trial and error,” Larry commented.

“Can I touch you?” Jax asked.

Larry nodded, and Jax touched his hand. She smiled at him and put her hand back in her satchel.

“There is a band in here for you and a book. Since you now have Earth, Physics, Energy and Lore, You and the boys can work together to practice your spells for those last three.”

“Gus, you will have to work on your Psychic spells and Gerry, you also have Nature. Between you three, you have all the bases covered. Oh, by the way, are you three aware you are also Shifters?”

“Yes, those scurvy dogs we shipped out with infected us,” Gerry said.

“Mind you, we have had a lot of fun with that enhancement,” Gus giggled.

Larry blushed at Jax’s look and the raised eyebrow she gave him.

“If they are anything like our father, you have had your hands full,” Jax commented.

“Um, no comment,” Larry coughed.

Jax and her brothers laughed.

Mel finally got let on board, and he also greeted his brothers with enthusiasm.

Jax explained why they were down in the wharf area and asked if she could dose the sailors on Larry’s ship. She explained that while none of them were sick, they could get sick if they went into town.

Larry called out to his first mate to assemble the men, and once they were on deck, Mel and Jax handed out the choccys. While a few of the men looked at the sweet with suspicion, they all ate one.

Jax was surprised when several of the men volunteered to help distribute them. So, she had Mel distribute several bags of choccys to the ten volunteers, including their brothers and the captain. The Captain and the brothers agreed to meet them later at Marx’s house.

They all went their separate ways.

Since they had the waterfront covered, Mel and Jax decided to go to the Clinic.

It was the last place on her list to visit, so it didn’t hurt to get there sooner. They were not impressed with what they found.