Jennifer Jane and the dinghy race 3/4

All the goblin workers turned round and stared in surprise as "Drawrof" covered the last few yards to the slipway. One of them came over and helped Jennifer Jane out of her canoe.

"Well now," he said kindly, "you must be somebody very special. No human has found their way in here for hundreds of years." In fact," he went on, "I'll lay a day's pay young Barnacle Bill's at the bottom of this!"

Jennifer Jane explained how she had found her way and why she had come. The goblin foreman looked carefully at the pintles and then called over one of the workmen.

"Take these pintles over to the foundry and reset them," he ordered and then he turned again to Jennifer Jane. "Now then, young lady, perhaps you'd like to see round the boatyard while you're waiting?"

Well, of course Jennifer Jane didn't need asking twice. Boatyards are such lovely places to visit. There was a glorious mixture of smells. Some working boats were being given a coat of pitch, while the scent of freshly sawn timber came from one of the sheds, where quite a large sailing boat was being built.

"Ah, you don't see many of the likes of her nowadays," said the foregoblin, "little coasting brig she'll be, one of the Jones family ordered her."

"Did you build Barnacle Bill's new paddle steamer?" asked Jennifer Jane.

"Yes, proper new fangled job that was," replied her guide "but then young Barnacle Bill always did have funny ways. His family have always been proper dyed-in the-wool sailormen you know and they didn't like his going into steam at all. Here we are this is the foundry."

They went into a very hot little shed. A furnace was roaring away in one corner and a goblin workman using a long pair of tongs was just taking out a glowing piece of red hot metal. Jennifer Jane recognised one of the dinghy pintles.

The goblin tapped it once or twice with a hammer, looked carefully at it and then said to Jennifer Jane, "that'll be all right now Miss, as soon as it's cooled off. Bit better than it was before, eh!" he added, nodding to the foregoblin.

Jennifer Jane thanked him politely, then she and Norman left the foundry and walked out into the sunshine.

"Tide's just on the turn," said one of the goblin workmen.

"I'm afraid I'll have to go now," said Jennifer Jane, "I've got quite a long distance to travel. How much do I owe you for straightening the pintles?"

"That's all right, Miss," said the foregoblin, "young Barnacle Bill will settle up for that little job, next time he brings his old steam kettle in here for an overhaul."

Jennifer Jane got into her canoe and was handed down her pintles, tied together with a piece of brown string. As she paddled away, she could hear Norman behind her muttering to himself.

"That's the trouble with these new fangled inventions, always going wrong..... boiler de-scaling, paddle wheel balancing, stuffing boxes, cylinder bores. Now a sailing ship..."

At last his voice faded away completely as Jennifer Jane began to find her way back through the channels leading to the main river. It was a lot easier this time as the tide was rising, so she was able to paddle across a lot of the corners that she’d had to go round on the way in.