Chapter Twenty One is Always A Winner

Thursday, June Sixteenth, Still Just Before the Lunchtime Feast, Since the Lunchtime Feast Was Delayed, Walli-Wo island time

Alex and Bruce followed Harry and the other islanders to what they assumed was the sea port of Walli-Wo.  Alex still wasn’t sure that there was anything to be concerned about, but everyone else seemed pretty freaked out about the arrival of multiple ships.

Getting to the port didn’t take very long, since they walked directly there, and Walli-Wo just isn’t a very big island.  Alex was impressed with the port.  There was a large concrete pier and associated machinery (most of which Alex could only guess was for unloading boats.), as well as a small marina that had a few boats tied up.

“Wow, you guys have a marina?” Alex said to Harry. 

Harry said, “Yes, Mr. Minor.  It’s where we keep our boats.”

“Right, right,” Alex said.  “I just hadn’t realized…”

The other islanders had gathered behind King Lemmy, and all of them were looking out to sea.

Out in the water, was a sailboat.  It was hard to judge size based on the distance, but Alex guessed it couldn’t have been more than forty feet long, and might even be smaller than that.  Further out was another sailboat, and there was another one beyond that.

Some navy, Alex thought.  He kept that thought to himself, however.

Everyone stood and watched as the boats slowly approached.  Eventually the first boat furled it’s jib, and sailed even more slowly into one of the slips in the marina.  The other boats followed suit.

King Lemmy looked around and the other people surrounding him, and announced loudly, “Well, let’s go down to the marina and welcome our guests!”

As they got down closer to the marina, the crew of each of the boats could be seen tying up to the dock, and bustling around the decks getting things put away, as well as taking other things out.  Every now and then, one of them would glance up at the approaching islanders and say something to the others on their boat, after which all of them would take a moment to stop what they were doing and stare at the islanders before getting back to whatever it was they were doing.

Once they had reached the marina, the vast majority of the islanders stopped walking and just waited at the end of the pier where the newly arrived boats had tied up.  They seemed unsure of how to proceed.  King Lemmy, however, continued up on to the pier and started making his way down to where the new visitors were.  Harry hurried after King Lemmy, and after a moment’s consideration, Alex followed too.

Shortly after, Bruce came running up behind Alex, and whispered, “So, why are we following these two?”

“Because King Lemmy seems like a good guy, and I hate to think he only has Harry for back up at the moment,” Alex said.

“OK, so it is because we have a death wish.  Just wanted to clarify,” Bruce said.

“Oh, come on Bruce, they’re just sailors.  They’re just like RV people, only they’re usually also kind of soggy,” Alex said.

“That’s not as reassuring as you seem to think it is, Mr. Minor,” Bruce said.

“…Says the guy who flew a Cessna to some tiny island in the Pacific, hundreds of miles from anything else, to hand-deliver a statue.” Alex said.

Bruce didn’t say anything else.

King Lemmy had already reached the boats.  “Welcome to Walli-Wo!” he said, with his arms spread wide. 

“Thanks!” said a chipper woman wearing a huge, broad-brimmed hat and enormous sunglasses.  She was also wearing a t-shirt that Alex guessed had been white when it was new, and cargo shorts.  At the moment, she was the only person on deck aboard the sailing vessel “Titan Uranus.”

King Lemmy waited a moment, apparently expecting her to say more, before he said, “I am King Lemmy.  What brings you to our small island?”

“Oh, wow, island royalty!” the same woman said.  She called down the hatch into the boat’s cabin,   “Sugar Buns, come up here and meet King Lemmy!”

King Lemmy looked back at Harry, Alex and Bruce, and (almost imperceptibly) shrugged.

Sugar Buns came up out of the hatch.  He was wearing a baseball cap that was thoroughly salt-encrusted, and huge sunglasses of his own.

“Hi!” Sugar Buns said to King Lemmy.  He waved at Harry, Alex and Bruce.  “I’m Jim and this is Tammy.”

“Welcome to Walli-Wo, Jim and Tammy,” King Lemmy said. 

A man’s voice from the neighboring boat (“Fishing for Dollars”) said, “Did you say King Lemmy?”

“Yeah!  Can you believe it?” Tammy said.

Another head in a baseball cap and sunglasses popped out from behind some rigging. 

“Wow!  I haven’t met a King yet.  I’m Stan.  Laurel is somewhere below deck.  I think she’s powdering her nose,” Stan said.

Yet another voice chimed in from the third boat (“Bluebird IV”), “My ass.  She’s down there heaving her guts.  I’ve never met someone with worse sea legs than your wife, Stan.”

“Shut your stupid mouth and come meet King Lemmy, Anne,” Stan said.

Anne (presumably) poked her head out from the hatch of her boat, said, “hey!” to King Lemmy, and went back below deck.

“Wow…” Alex said.

“Kind of makes you wish it had been pirates, or a navy, doesn’t it?” Bruce said.

Harry stifled a laugh.

King Lemmy glanced at Harry, Alex and Bruce again, and then said, “Welcome, all.  Please, come ashore and join us for lunch as our guests!  And you must tell me, what brings you to Walli-Wo?  We are not accustomed to receiving many visitors.”

“Well, we’re trying to get out of the way of the storm, of course,” Tammy said.

“Storm?” Alex said.

“Yeah, there’s some nasty weather out there,” Bruce said.

Alex turned to him.  “Were you going to share this information with me any time soon?”

“Sure,” Bruce said.  “But there was no rush.  We’re not going anywhere until it’s cleared up anyway.”

Meanwhile, King Lemmy was still conversing with the crew of Titan Uranus.

“Storm?” King Lemmy said.

“Yeah, a real humdinger, it sounds like,” Tammy said.

“But…  Would your vessels be safer far out at sea rather than here so close to shore?” King Lemmy said.  He seemed baffled.

“They sure would be,” Anne chimed in.  “But a certain couple of ladies noticed your island here and insisted we ride out the weather here.”

“Just because you want to pretend you’re Davy Jones doesn’t mean the rest of us have to,” Tammy said, sharply.

Anne blew a raspberry at Tammy.

“Yeah,” Alex said to Bruce.  “Pirates would have been better company, I think.”

King Lemmy, the islanders, Alex and Bruce, and the sailors, all walked back to the great hall together, to begin the lunchtime feast.

Alex and Bruce were both still so stuffed from breakfast and second breakfast that they both felt a little ill just walking back in to the great hall again.  Plates were set in front of each of them, each piled high with Walli-Wo delicacies, but they were barely able to managed the few bites they each took to be polite.

Note to self, Alex thought, take it easy at meal times tomorrow.

The crews of the three sailboat all noisily chattered among themselves, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the great hall, the islanders, and recollecting the adventures they’d had together on the way there.

After some time, Jim turned to Alex and Bruce and said, “You fellas aren’t from around here either, are you?”

“No, we’re not,” Alex said.

“I figured.  So what’s the deal with your bunny slippers?” Jim said.

“They’re comfy,” Alex said.

“Are those approved footwear for a soldier such as yourself?” Jim said, with a hint of a smile.

“Nope, a soldier such as myself would find himself in a huge heap of shit if he were caught in these,” Alex said.  “Good thing for me, I’m not a soldier any more.”

Jim looked confused.  “So why are you wearing a dress uniform, then?” he said.

“It’s more formal than my bunny suit.  We are, after all, in the presence of a king,” Alex said.

“Huh?” Jim said.

Bruce said, “Mr. Minor is a bit eccentric.  Sometimes it’s best just to smile and nod.”

“Hey!” Alex said to Bruce.

Jim was already smiling and nodding at Alex.  He turned back to the rest of his group.

“Eccentric?” Alex said to Bruce.

“It shut him up, didn’t it?” Bruce said.  “If you want to get rid of someone, just convince them that they’re in the presence of someone else they don’t know how to handle.  They’ll go away.”

Alex was still stinging a bit from the “Excuse him, he’s eccentric,” but he had to admit that Bruce seemed to have a point.

He happened to take a look around the room then, and made eye contact with the woman in the red dress again.  She pointed down at his slippers and giggled, but her expression was kind and Alex started smiling despite himself.

“Mr. Minor,” King Lemmy said.

Alex snapped back out of his reverie, and turned to look at King Lemmy, who had clearly seen him making eyes at the woman in the red dress.  King Lemmy was barely containing a smile.

“Yes, King Lemmy?” Alex said.

“Do you know why the statue you have returned to me is so valuable to me?” King Lemmy said.

“Well, no, I guess not.  I figured it was sentimental value, perhaps,” Alex said, then caught himself and shut up before he said anything even more dumb.

King Lemmy laughed, and said, “Much more than sentimental value.  I didn’t think you understood when I thanked you for returning my great great grandfather.”

Alex did his best to maintain a poker face. 

He didn’t know it, but his poker face was about as hard to read as a large print edition of a Dick & Jane primer.

“As I thought,” King Lemmy said.  “You see, on Walli-Wo, we treasure the wisdom, courage, strength and kindness of our ancestors.  And what’s more, our ancestors watch over us, just as we will watch over our descendants after our own passing.”

“OK,” Alex said.  He still didn’t have any idea how that made the statue King Lemmy’s great great grandfather.

King Lemmy continued, “The reason that the statue you recovered for me is so valuable, is that it is the vessel my great great grandfather uses to watch over me and my family.  After we have eaten, come with me.  There is something I wish to show you.”

“OK, sounds good,” Alex said.  He’d thought they’d already seen all of Walli-Wo that morning.  What else could there be?