Rainy Days 2 - WfW 22/1 - 6th part

Words for Wednesday 22 January as given by Mark:

     Deviled                    and / or           Gargled
     Interdependence                             Presence
     Watery                                            Yelling
     Figs                                                Andalusia
     Zoom                                              Snowdrifts
     Headphones                                   Exfoliate

 For this installment I used: Gargled and Deviled.

Finally the moment had come. All knots were tied, all ropes fastened, every twig in the outriggers has been tested and re-tested. It was time to leave Allan's Dunes. Already yesterday most of the dunes had been under water, with only the highest tops visible as round, glassy islands in the streaming water. Now they were slowly being swallowed by the water. The boats were manned, four to each. They had decided to set out at a slow pace, rowing slowly, changing oarsmen every half hour or at even shorter intervals if needed. The air had become steadily cooler and richer in oxygen during the downpour, so only their lack of training was the limiting factor. They had also decided to have one man armed with a pole in the front of each boat, sounding the depths and watching out for hidden reefs and shallows. Slowly the plane, pulled by two boats glided towards the west to get clear of Fantasy. Allan stood in the boat to the right with a pole, testing the depth of the water along the shore. He called out the depth at regular intervals, and as the numbers steadily increased, the oarsmen in his boat took a break so that the plane was pulled due north.  Slowly they navigated the plane through the opening between the outcroppings, the man with the pole in each boat calling his measurements repeatedly, the rowers going as slowly as possible. And then the soundings were 'all clear' from both boats, they could no longer touch the bottom with their stakes. Once again the rowers  in Allan's boat rested, and the plane was pulled to the east. Still slowly, still testing the depth the eight rowers pulled at the oars, and the plane set out on the long journey for higher ground.
  It was slow and tedious work moving the plane. Each morning began with inspection of boats, outriggers, plane bottom and equipment. Those not rowing spent the days aboard the plane listening to the endless rain. On the second day of the trip, Granny T organized classes in cooking, sewing, woodworking and what skills anybody possessed. It was both something to do, and a way of making survival more of a possibility.  Each evening the windows of the plane each had a lantern hung in front of it. If anybody else should have survived, the plane would be plainly visible also in nighttime.
  It soon became routine. They all woke at first light, extinguished the lanterns, inspected the equipment and made breakfast. After eating it, rowing began, crews exchanged at half hour intervals, classes, tending of plants, washing, drying and mending of clothes, cleaning and tidying of the cabin. In short, a new daily routine. Before darkness fell, dinner was prepared, everything inspected once again. After dinner lanterns were hung in the windows they sung, or told stories, held quizzes and spelling bees until it was time to sleep.   
  A week in Granny T and Mona returned from their morning trip to the cockpit-nursery with the good news that the broad beans and black radishes had sprouted. Almost everybody had to sneak into the cockpit during the day to see for themselves the green, hopeful sprouts.
 
 A few days later, Eva was awakened by a strange noise, She jumped up, which made her sprained ankle hit something in the dark, and her cursing woke up more people. "It sounded for all the world like somebody gargling," she said. "But it has stopped now."
  Gargling or gurgling sounds sounded ominous to Hank. It could be a hole in the outer hull, letting in water, or some other sinister happening. He inspected the outer hull, as best he could, aided by father Paul's lanterns but he did not find any holes or leakages. The strange sound did not reappear during the night but next morning by daylight a strange hole was found in one of the water-buckets in the kitchen nook.

  "It's a mouse!" Allison said. "We'll have to catch it, but NOT to kill! It might be the last animal on earth." People aboard the plane had mixed feelings about a mouse. Some were happy, some found it nice with animals, but why mice! Some wanted to kill them outright. Mona and father Paul constructed a trap from metal bars, hooks, and a long, narrow piece of wood mounted in a see-saw fashion. The mouse could get in, but not out. Next morning a small mouse with bead-like black eyes looked at them through the lattice around the trap.
  Allison examined the mouse. "I know you will have a hard time believing me, and an even harder time trusting me, but this mouse is a mamma mouse, She has a litter somewhere, we just have to let her go. In three weeks we can catch them all."
  "Can you eat mice?" That was Ulla, the mother of three.
  "Yes," Allison said. "The Romans found deviled mice to be a delicacy, and luckily this mouse is not one of the disease-carrying species. Had it been, I would have suggested killing it directly. Let me release it and it could be the beginnings of a mouse farm."
  Everybody saw the  wisdom in this, even though James said: "You won't make me eat any mice."
  And John echoed him: "No, no way you'll make me eat one of those."
  The mouse, released, made a bee-line for the kitchen nook, where it disappeared behind a cabinet.
  "OK!" Mona said "I'll personally flog the person that leaves the cockpit door open to within an inch of his or her life. Mice in the plants is NOT going to happen."

  ... to bw continued