Forget me Knott settles down 1/5

1313 Knott, F.M. Corporal, late of the Wish Warehouse sat on her suitcase sobbing quietly. She was waiting on the quayside at the Witches’ Home for Barnacle Bill to take her away for two weeks' holiday at sea in his paddle steamer.

The mistakes she had made recently had been the last straw in her not very successful career at the Wish Warehouse. Against all the rules, she had managed to send an ordinary human to meet a dragon. Lieutenant Moonshine had been furious and when Abigail arrived to try and find out what had gone wrong, they had both gone into the office and shut the door behind them.

"Lieutenant Moonshine thinks you should be dismissed at once and sent to live at the bottom of someone's garden for the rest of your life," said Abigail when they eventually emerged "but I think you're overworked and need a good rest. We're going to arrange for Barnacle Bill to take you on holiday for a fortnight. Your job will be kept open until you return. After that, it's up to you but there must be no more mistakes."

So here she was, worrying about the stories she had heard about the 'perils of the deep'.

Abigail came down the lawn towards her, supporting a bulging kit bag on one shoulder and carrying her broomstick in the other hand. "Cheer up Fern," she said, "I'm coming with you for a few days. I'm on my first journey-woman's assignment and I could do with a bit of a holiday myself."

Fern dried her eyes and cheered up a little. Abigail was always fair and much kinder than Lieutenant Moonshine.

"Here comes Barnacle Bill now", said Abigail, pointing down the river.

Fern looked up and saw the paddle steamer moving slowly out of the haze that surrounded the Witches' Home. The paddles were throwing up a lot of foam but the boat only came nearer very slowly.

"Strong current today," called Barnacle Bill, as he came within shouting distance. "Be ready to catch the mooring lines and make them fast to the bollards."

Fern caught the rope she was thrown and twisted it round and round one of the wooden pegs sticking up from the edge of the quay. She hoped that was what Barnacle Bill meant by a bollard. He didn't say anything, so she supposed she'd guessed correctly. Perhaps life at sea wouldn't be so hard after all.

"Sling your dunnage aboard," said Barnacle Bill, "the tide's just started to ebb in the estuary and we can be well out to sea by this evening if we leave straight away."

Abigail jumped aboard with her kit bag and broom and Fern picked up her suitcase and passed it to Barnacle Bill before stepping on board herself.

Barnacle Bill ran up a ladder to the wheelhouse and as usual, started giving orders.

"Cast off forrard, cast off aft, wheel hard a'port, stand by engines."

Abigail went below carrying her baggage.

"Fern would you hop ashore again to cast off the mooring ropes."

She looked at him helplessly.

"Just take them off the bollards and throw then back on board my vessel," said Barnacle Bill kindly. After all, she was a passenger and obviously didn't know much about boats.

He looked at the neat clove hitch that Abigail had used to secure the stern line and then at the twisted tangle that Fern had produced at the bow. He shuddered at the sight and then repeated his orders as gently as he could, so as not to frighten her. Fern stepped ashore and threw the lines back onto the paddle steamer's deck.

"This strong current's holding her bow against the quay," called Barnacle Bill. "Can you push us off so that we take a sheer and then hop back aboard as quick as you can when the stern comes round."

Fern didn't know what was wrong but she was quite happy to do what she was asked and purely by accident, happened to push in exactly the right place.