Sanguine Tenacious Tidings

Voyage of the Magical Ship/Lost in Time/5 day mini challenge

Prompt for Wednesday, April 20: Let's continue our sojourn in 1625 England. By this third day surely we've met a friendly local or two. Tell us what a ordinary day is like in late spring.

Continued from 4/19/2016 Spring in the 1600's. Blooming crocus and daffodils, budding trees, sun and storms that kick out winter and usher in summer. Fairies wake up and sing their spring songs.

Peter stepped out the door. “Don’t worry that’s my boys, they were lost but I found them.” The riders slide to a stop. The leader dismounts. Peter goes over to them and begins a quiet conversation. The others climb to the ground.

The ship that is sailing toward us is now stopped beside the remaining fragment of The Magical Ship, which hangs, in the sky just slightly East of the farm, over the cornfield. The magical ship is no longer smiling. It seems subdued and a little scared like a small child in trouble with a parent. The new ship is larger, two times the size of the magical ship and threatening. It throws out large cables that attach themselves to our once happy ride.

The sky begins to glow. The horses are nervous and start to shift around but their riders quickly move to their heads. Calmly singing some language I never heard before, they sooth the 4 footed creatures.


All the scattered pieces of our wreaked magical ship flow back into place. The glow in the sky becomes denser.

The stalks in the corn field begin to glow and grow, first by inches then by feet. Next, it grows corn, which tassels and becomes a mature crop.

The energy stops, now two whole ships sit in the sky. A big whoosh and the larger ship has departed. Our ship hangs out a sign it says, “Welcome, all passengers may board when ready.”

Peter taps my shoulder. As I turn, there is a young man standing there, “this is my bother, John, back there is Sarah, my sister, her friend Ruth, and Samuel, and Lester.

“Hi. You have very well mannered horses. What was the language you were singing in their ears?”

“John bows and smiles. Just something we learned in our travels. We brought food and drinks. Please join us in a feast before you depart. We can share stories of travels with you.”

“Hey, Do we want to have a feast with these nice people before we go?”

“Everyone is in accord. Yay!” Peter and his friends set up tables under a tree that has by the same energy as the corn field grown full summer foliage Other trees, in the forest across the rutted path are only budding. A rather modern looking grill appears. Slices of carrots, squash, and other vegetables begin to simmer quickly. There are venison steaks and burgers.

As we gather around eating we hear a lot of Magical Ship stories. Peter tells us about the hidden society of travelers that live in the area. People who have traveled before into time and yes, gotten lost for awhile.

“Now I have a job to clean up. That corn field will have to be harvested, cut down, plowed up and replanted in the next 24 hours. And, we will have to divert any one who might travel this way, until it is done. It is to early in the year for a crop of corn to be ready. The weather here is much the same as weather in the Northern USA. It is forty to 60 degrees in late spring with intermittent storms flailing away winter into summer. Unfortunately, we will have to harvest the corn the way it is done around here; we like to stay in 1600’s mode.”

Most of the passengers from the ship volunteer to help. Staying one more day does not seem to matter and we will get some 1600’s farming experience.

After partying late into the evening rough wool blankets on straw mattresses laid out on the floor of the house, doesn’t even faze our sleep. When light from the rising sun barely makes a glow in the sky a rooster flaps through the open window lands on a chair and starts crowing, way to loudly for comfort.

With direction from John, the group fixes a quick breakfast of fresh eggs gathered from the chicken coop and thick slabs of bacon cut from a freshly slaughtered hanging pig, sloshed down with herbal tea.
Then, it is off to the field to pick the corn. We work all day picking corn into baskets loaded onto a wagon drawn by a team of horses. It is exhausting work. When the corn is picked we walk down the rows tying the stalks that are still growing in the ground into teepee shaped bundles. In reality, the stalks would be left to dry in the sun for a few days if it were autumn, but, Peter’s friends and relatives walk down the long rows wielding scythes with long sharp blades. Soon the stalks are laid down and we load each bundle onto the wagon. The corn and bundles are hidden in the drying shed.

Peter tells us out of sight will be good enough, in this rural area, to keep away any curious people. Our share of the work is finished and a good thing too, we are exhausted. Tomorrow Peter and some helpers from the group will re plow and fit the field for a new crop of corn that will not be ready for harvest until fall, he hopes.

A loud ringing started coming from the magical ship. A set of steps unfold until it reaches the ground. Andre comes blasting down the stairs, with a banana in one hand and a bell, in the other.

“I think we need to board”. Everyone starts hugging and handshaking everyone else then we start up the long stairway. At the top I turn and wave. It has been fun but, I miss 21st century convenience. Andre pulls me in and quickly slams the ship door. The Ship is starting to move. I hope everyone made it aboard.