Muddles and Puddles

The Flying Fantasy ship crew and the Phoenix Philadelphia ship crew were very good friends. But the crews had not seen each other in years. Jake, the captain of Phoenix Philadelphia wanted to surprise his best friend James, the captain of Flying Fantasy. But to do so, he needed some time off, and a way to reach James. He was wondering how to make it happen, when came a pigeon with a letter.

Jake wondered if it could be from James. Excited, he grabbed the letter from the pigeon, but as soon as he saw the seal on the envelope, he knew it wasn’t from James. In fact, it was from the head of the navy. Yikes! Jake thought. Why is she writing to me? Did I do something wrong? Did something bad happen back in Philadelphia? With trembling fingers, he opened the letter.

As Jake read, his expression gradually changed from trepidation to elation.

1/1/1809

Dear Jake Adermint,

You have been promoted to an admiral. You will be sailing The Wolf with your crew. In addition to The Wolf, The Galion, The Phoenix Philadelphia and The Flying Fantasy will be under your command. Congratulations and have a nice day. You will be starting on the 7th February.

Yours sincerely,

Sama Expiliarma

“Finally, I’m an admiral.” Jake danced around. “Yay! I should tell James all about it and invite him to a party. What a fun surprise it will be for him. I know he’ll be so happy for me.”

Jake went down to his cabin, grabbed a piece of paper and pen and started scribbling.

1/1/1809

Dear James,

I have important news. Let’s meet at the port of Philadelphia on the 15th at 10:00 am. Don’t be late.

Yours truly,

Jake

He dispatched the letter by pigeon. The pigeon reached James a few days later, at 6 pm, local time.

The crew of the Flying Fantasy were on an important mission to disrupt enemy communications. So, they were busy shooting their enemy’s pigeons. This was hard, and had to be done by experienced officers who were good at aiming. That is why the old admiral John had trusted James with the job. James never missed the bullseye in the training sessions.

James shot down another pigeon. “Woohoo! That’s 12 pigeons in 20 minutes. Pretty cool, right?”

Ensign Mary nodded. “You’re, awesome Boss! But this is a record, even for you.” She gave him a thumbs up, and they proceeded to the deck to check on the message the pigeon was carrying.

“Oh no! It’s Jake’s pigeon,” James cried out in anguish, when he saw the wax seal, but sadly the letter had fallen in a puddle. When James picked it up, the soaked paper disintegrated. That might have been important, James chided himself. While James brooded, his crew shot down five more pigeons.

Two days later, Rose, the navy postman servicing the sector the Flying Fantasy was currently passing through, arrived with a message. Her job was to deliver urgent messages from head office, that pigeons were too slow and vulnerable to be trusted with. She had a specially constructed high speed boat to accomplish her tasks effectively.

This morning she had to deliver a single message to all the ships in her sector. “The head of the navy wants you to know that the new admiral is Jake Adermint. All ships in this sector are to head for the port of Philadelphia right away and receive revised orders from the new admiral,” she called out, as she passed by the Flying Fantasy.

Following orders, James’s crew headed toward the port of Philadelphia at top speed. James wondered if Jake’s letter was about the promotion.He hoped he hadn’t missed anything too important, but he would know soon enough. Ensign Mary found a spare pigeon. She put it in a cage to give to Jake as a replacement for the one they had killed.

On the 15th at the port of Philadelphia 12:00 pm, when James wasn’t there Jake was very worried. What could have possibly happened? Where was James? Jake wondered pacing up and down the docks. Finally, at 4:00 pm, Jake saw James’s ship docking. Phew, Jake thought. Nothing had happened, James was just late.

Mary was the first to leave the ship. She walked up to Jake and handed him a cage.

Jake raised his eyebrows.

“We accidentally killed your pigeon. I’m sorry. Should I call James? Because he wants to see you.”

“Yes, send him over right now!” Jake demanded, feeling impatient.

“Jeez Boss. Calm down, or you’ll burst a blood vessel. I’ll go fetch him right away.”

James arrived panting and sweating. “I just got here at top speed. My helmsman managed to shave a good day and a half off our travel time thanks to favorable winds. What’s the rush, Old Friend?”

“Rush? You’re 6 hours late, and now I hear you killed my pigeon.” Jake grumbled.

“Sorry,” James apologized, “but I had no idea it was your pigeon and the letter you sent was damaged when I­ shot the pigeon down, so I couldn’t read it either. I only heard the announcement two days later when Rose came in her speed boat. I was supposed to be shooting down enemy pigeons, pal. I was only following orders.”

“That’s true,” Jake conceded, as he calmed down. “Yeah, I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later, so I ask you what might have helped you recognize that the letter I sent was friendly?” Jake asked.

‘‘Maybe, if I had a telescope with me, it would help me see the seal and recognize the source.

“Brilliant. I’ll arrange to have telescopes sent to the captains of all the ships under my command. It will be my first policy decision as Admiral! Thanks James, now let’s get this party started. The food is getting cold.”

“Sure, Old Friend, just so long as we’re not eating pigeons.” James winked.