Anna's Crossing: An Amish Beginnings Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

Additional provisions would be acquired in England; afterward, there wouldn’t be room in the hold to swing a cat by the tail.
    Employing nearly the full extent of his Dutch vocabulary, Bairn shouted that the hold looked good and to keep going. Like he did in every port, he had picked up enough foreign language to communicate what needed to be said to the stevedores. He climbed the ladder to the lower deck, where the passengers would stay. If all went well, this would be the last time he would be in this part of the ship until it reached Port Philadelphia. He, as ship’s carpenter, along with the first mateand the captain, would never venture down below except for an emergency. The captain’s Great Cabin and the officers’ quarters might be small, but they were in the stern of the ship where fresh air came in through the windows, providing relief from the pervasive stench of the lower deck and bilge, and they were protected from crashing waves.
    Bairn climbed the companionway stairs to the upper deck. He heard a strange squeal—an animal in distress—and bolted over to the railing. He watched in disbelief as he saw a stevedore try to lead a large pig up the gangplank with a rope around its neck. The pig wasn’t cooperating. It eased back on its haunches and then down on its forelegs, refusing to budge off the dock, squealing unhappily. Bairn gripped the rail and leaned over the edge, watching the scene unfold with amusement. The stevedore tried to pick the pig up, but two hundred pounds of hog was too much for even the goliath strength of the man. The pig buried its head under its front legs. The stevedore pushed the pig from behind and Bairn started chuckling. When the stevedore tried rolling the pig up the gangplank, he burst out laughing.
    If he wasn’t in a hurry to get this ship loaded and ready to sail the channel, he could have stood there all afternoon, enjoying the sight. Instead, he went to the galley and took a handful of oats from the crock, then went down the gangplank. The stevedore had worked himself to a frenzy. Bairn held one hand up to stop him from his wrestling match with the pig. He took the rope leash from the stevedore and spread oats up the gangplank. Like a docile dog on a lead, the pig followed the oats trail straight up the gangplank. When it reached the deck, Bairn tied the pig’s rope to a bollard. The stevedore ambled up the gangplank with an embarrassed look on his red face.
    “Y’need to think the way a pig thinks t’get it t’do what you want it t’do.”
    The stevedore didn’t comprehend what Bairn was saying, but he understood that he meant him no disrespect. He shrugged, then grinned, and Bairn smiled with him.
    “Bairn! Get the captain and get down here!”
    He spun around to locate the voice and saw the recruiter, Georg Schultz. If there was anyone who could set his teeth on edge, it was Schultz. To most, Schultz appeared to be a carefree fellow: a cockalorum, a jolly little man who drank for the pleasure of it. Bairn knew those small eyes bespoke a cunning shrewdness; he knew that every action Schultz took was motivated by money. He was a cagey character who was able to import a steady stream of innocent Germans, vetting them with visions of a land of milk and honey just waiting to be enjoyed on the other side of the ocean. Ultimately bilking them out of their hard-earned savings. Along the way he alienated more than a few people, but Schultz managed to keep the ship captains happy by filling the lower decks with passengers.
    Down on the dock, Schultz was waving frantically to Bairn. Beside him was a long line of bonneted and bearded people in dark, somber clothing, milling silently about on the dock, peering up at the ship. They were known on the docks as the Peculiar People. He scrutinized the faces, wondering what they were thinking as they waited to board. Did they feel fearful? Anxious? Certainly, they must be judgmental of the profane deckhands. But he read no