Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven.

 

 

Several of the crew hold a line over the railing of the forecastle, but the most popular sport today seems to be jeering Rob and Riddles, who are on their knees scrubbing the deck. Cabin Boy reminds himself never to smart-mouth the first mate.

“Are you Rob?” he asks the nearest boy.

“Yep, I be Rob,” the boy grins. Cabin Boy is about to ask him about the bloomers, when something occurs to him. What if the boy is actually Riddles, pretending to be Rob?

Cabin Boy turns to the other brother. “Is he Rob?”

The lad looks at him seriously. “No, I be Rob,” he says. Cabin Boy pauses. How does he know if this boy is not in fact Riddles? He searches for a question that will settle whether he is talking to Rob or Riddles.

Cabin Boy remains lost in thought for a minute before a bright idea strikes him.

“If I ask your brother whether he is Riddles, will he tell me he is Rob?” If he is speaking to Riddles, Riddles will surely have to say no, for Rob would tell the truth, and say he is Rob. However, if he is speaking to Rob, the answer will be yes, for Riddles would lie and say he is Rob.

“No, he’d say he is Riddles,” the boy says.

Cabin Boy grins triumphantly. “Well, that means he must be Rob, because if you were Rob, you’d tell me he’d say he is Rob.” The boy looks confused for a moment, then scowls. Cabin Boy has him licked, and he knows it.

Cabin Boy turns to Rob. “Have you seen Annie’s Undies?” He is beginning to tire of asking the same question, but it is late afternoon, and the bloomers must be found soon.

Rob looks gravely at Cabin Boy. “Have ye gone and lost them?” he asks.

“No, not I,” Cabin Boy says. “They’re simply gone, and I don’t know where they are or who might have taken them. I thought you might have seen them while you were sorting the laundry.”

Rob shakes his head and turns to Riddles. “Did ye see a pair of fancy knickers when we were sorting the washin’?” he asked.

Riddles nods enthusiastically. “Yep, that I did,” he says.

Rob turns back to Cabin Boy. “Nope, we haven’t seen ‘em.”

Cabin Boy’s belly begins to churn. The thought that he will not be able to return them before sunset is beginning to make him feel ill.

“I need to find them soon,” he says. “There’s no telling what the captain will do if they’re not found.”

“That ye do,” Rob agrees. He stares for a minute at the pail of water by his feet, thinking. Then he slowly continues, “If it were me, I’d be starting with them that has a problem with the captain. Seems that it would be a good way to get yer own back if ye did.”

“Who would that be?” Cabin Boy asks. “I don’t know anyone who has a problem with Captain Jigswiggle.”

“That’s ‘cause ye don’t be drinking with us,” Rob says. “If ye drank rum, you’d know it has a way of making ye say stuff ye would usually keep to yerself.”

“So who has a problem with the Captain?”

“Well, first I’d be checking with the first mate. He is sure that Captain Jigswiggle is a poor captain and that he’d make a better one. He’s even tried to get the crew to support him in a bid to take over as captain of the ship.”

Talking to the first mate is amongst the last things Cabin Boy wants to do. “Is there anyone else who has a problem with the captain?”

“Ye could put yer question to the boatswain. The Captain has had many a word with him about napping on the job. Several days back, he even threatened to take away the boatswain’s rank and make him a common swab.”

Could the boatswain have taken the bloomers to show up the captain? It certainly seems he has cause. Perhaps Cabin Boy will finally get the answer he wants from the boatswain.