The day flew by, with just enough customers to keep Katherine from feeling too sedentary as she went from the captain’s desk to the storefront and back again. In the late afternoon there was a lull, and Katherine smiled as she looked over the day’s figures in the old leatherbound ledger the captain used to track the Harborside’s sales and expenses. Even in the bluster and biting cold of early January, the Harborside was holding her own.
“Miss Katherine,” Tommy’s voice held a question.
“Yes, Tommy?” Katherine walked to the doorway and poked her head around the door. “What is it?”
“Where’s the cap’n’s ship?” He pointed to the now empty shelf where the Anne used to sit.
Katherine took a deep breath and held it for a moment, deciding what to say. Finally, she let her breath out in a sigh and motioned Tommy over.
“Come and see.” she moved behind the counter and pulled out the box.
“Is that…But it’s broken!” Tommy stared, wide-eyed and dismayed.
“Yes. It happened when the captain had his fall.”
Tommy moved close and whispered, “Can he fix it?”
She reached an arm around his shoulders and gave a quick squeeze as she whispered back, “I hope so.”
* * * *
“Permission to come aboard?” Katherine asked softly as she stood at the captain’s door that evening.
“Permission granted. Come on in.” Nodding toward the box in her hands, he asked, “Did you bring more papers for Serena to sort through?”
“Not exactly. How are you tonight?” Katherine asked, helping adjust the pillows as he struggled to sit up.
“I suppose I’m a fair bit better, now you’ve come to see me.” The captain smiled and gave her a playful wink.
“I’m glad to help, though you may not be so cheerful once I show you what I’ve brought.”
The captain’s brow furrowed. “Oh?”
Katherine brought the box closer and tipped it. She felt she should say something, but found there were simply no words. She watched the emotions sweep across the captain’s face: shock, anger, sorrow, disappointment. He stared into the box.
“How—”
“When you fell.”
He reached a hand toward the jumbled pieces, then drew it back again, as if afraid to touch it and make the loss real.
“Serena said some things were broken.” He looked up at her.
Katherine nodded. “Some of the tea bowls.”
“Well, they were valuable, but not irreplaceable.” He sighed heavily. “Not like the Anne here.”
They sat in silence while the wind battered the windowpane with raindrops and moaned through the eaves of the old house.
“Tommy came by today. It was the first time since your accident.”
“How is he?”
“I think he’s ok now… He’d been feeling like he was to blame for your fall.”
“Poor lad! And does he still think that?”
Katherine smiled. “No. We had a talk, and he seems back to his old self now.”
“Good.” Captain Braddock looked down at the ship in front of him with a thoughtful look on his face. Then, he began gently sifting through the pieces. “Go to the closet there, will you Katherine, and bring me the long wooden box up on the shelf.”
“What’s this?” she asked, bringing the box, which looked a little like a smaller version of one of the sea chests at the Harborside.
“William Braddock’s woodworking tools. They’ve been passed down as somewhat of an heirloom, along with a bit of his skill.”
“You mean, you know how to use all these?” Katherine felt a thrill of wonder as he raised the lid and she looked over the antique tools, the dark wood of their handles bearing the smooth polish that comes with generations of use.
“I know just about enough to get along.” Captain Braddock said, pulling the tray out of the box and rummaging through an assortment of pieces of wood, all different shapes and sizes.
“What are you looking for?”
“A new mast. Braddocks tend to hold on to things, if you hadn’t noticed by now. There might be a piece in here I could use to repair or remake the main mast. But I’ll have to take the rigging apart to see what else is amiss.”
