Basil makes a phonecall to his brother Lloyd [Both NPC]
Who: Basil McCloud and his brother Lloyd [Both NPC] When: Currentish Where: Basil's crewquarters What: "Well The bleedin' Calypso certainly 'as enough 'istory ter be 'aunted."
Basil had paced for hours around his cabin as he sought to find a signal from his cell phone. The new fangled tools sometimes confused him when he went to use them but he did know by the wee small bars when he could actually call his brother. It was near eleven in the evening [and most assuredly] he had all his lights on in his quarters. It would be close to five in the morning Lloyd's time. But Basil dinna care. This was too much of matter for him to sit on for long. 'Specially after the rack holding the can goods had spilled most of its contents onto the floor. The phone took a long time to ring, but that stood to reason because of the distance back to his homeland.
"Awrite Lloyd. Hoo uir Mum? Still alife an' kickin' ur has she foond 'er way next tae Da's grae yit? " Course that was a retorical question for Basil, their Mum would never die.. she would outlast both boys for she was still a spry young age of 90.
"Basil Oi swear if yer werenae me own kinsman I'd 'ave yor loaf of bread on a stake for wakin' me up frae a sound sleep I would! Oi!" He rubbed his face and sat up in bed, cellphone pressed to his ear. "Mum's braw. She's still kickin' up a fuss wen she don't cop her way. An' if that's the real reason yor callin' now, I'm bloody well nae so certain I shouldn't be murderin' yer after all."
Basil settled down onto the corner of his bed with almost an audible sigh of relief. If anyone could trackdown a wee ghostie it was Lloyd. If it was a banshee he was taking the next delivery flight off this ship and back to shore. Wasn't getting nearly paid enough to have his death fortold or his soul stolen by some banshee that was for certain.
"Ye ken Ah wooldnae be wakin' ye up, ye Lunkhead, if it wasnae an emergency. Ah need ye tae gie inside 'at wee new fangled black box ay yoors an' swatch an' see if th' ship.. th' Calypso min' ye.. is haunted ur nae."
"The Calypso yer say? Well now, right, I fink I can be doin' that." He swung his legs out from beneath his blankets and stood up. Basil might be a bit of an odd duck, but if he thought the place he worked was haunted, Lloyd would certainly check into it. "Jist let me cop my "black box" up and runnin'."
He stretched then lifted his laptop up and hit the power button. The bright screen flickered on and he squinted against the light, eyes watering. His eyes adjusted, and he sat down in the chair. "Awright I'm checkin' now."
At least Lloyd would know if he was just hearing things or not. No.. He wasn't just hearing things because the young slave he was forcing to go down into the storagehold had heard them too.
"Shooldnae be tae stoaner. Thaur is noises ay things fallin', lights comin' oan when thaur is nae a body byself an' puckle ay th' scullery crew wi' access tae th' hauld. Footsteps. 'at sort ay hin'."
Lloyd typed in The Calypso plus deaths and came up with a surprisingly list. "Well The bleedin' Calypso certainly 'as enough 'istory ter be 'aunted. " He told his older brother. "Le's spot if we cannae be comin' up wiv the bloody particulars." He clicked on a particular link, "Le's see hyar. Wal yo've got this hyar bloke named Jerry died loadin' th' hull a couple months ago-mind ye Th' Calypso ain't such a auld ship, realitively new she is. So's enny deaths is recent. But this hyar Jerry man he was in th' hold whil'st they were buildin' th' thin'. Sto'y is nobody noticed an' th' pore laddy died tryin' t'git out." He shook his head. "Likely he's thar, le's see whut else."
"Jerry, ye say. Och aye most likely he is. Thaur is soonds ay crates bein' moved aroond an' sic'. Likely he was tryin' tae make a ladder ay sorts tae gie it ay th' hauld. Didne see onie bloodstains an sic'. Things be aye movin' an' creakin' aroond doon thaur when th' lights ur aff." That would explain some of things that he had been hearing if it was a dockworker in the hold. "Nae lasses ur banshee reit.? Thes fraggin ship is foo ay slae lasses, surely 'at will gie us aw sunk eventually. Lasses aboard a ship ur sic' bad luck."
Lloyd shook his head. He didn't know why Basil had taken the job in the first place, and said as much. "Sure now yer must 'ave known that gahn in nay, isit? Oi thought ol' Da taught yer better than that Ah did." He opened another window. "Well sure now yer ken that a couple of slaves died ter. Wen the ship first started out. They fought they'd 'ave an easy time of it escapin' over the rail. Only the chuffin' sharks were a waitin' thaur. T'ain't seen no lasses fough."
"The moneys guid Lloyd. An' Da woods nae be denyin' 'at. But if thaur was a banshee 'en nae amoont ay bunsens woods be worth 'at. Ah hae mah cross 'at mum gae me afair Ah left an' Ah pit salt aroond mah room an' oan th' portal. Slaves bein' eaten by sharks arenae a surprise. Most likely they slipped when they waur paintin' th' sides. Ah teel ye Lloyd thaur is some yoong ones oan board, an' they dinna use them tae dae paintin'. Nae hoo."
"Ooch well, there's a welder that might'n do the trick. Wee blonde bit of a kid, put dahn 'tween some skins. They uvver workers moost 'ave forgotten it- 'cause they sealed the laddie up inside, right, and 'e werenae never 'eard from again." he shivered slightly. "T'ain't a pleasant way ter die, let me tell yer bruvver."
Those words brought Basil straight to his feet. That was him. The ghostie in the downstairs hold of the storeroom.
"Och aye! Nae doobt thaur is 'at a body aboard ship tay. Some ay th' slaves hae claimed seein' a ghost wi' shockingly white hair jist afair they turn oan th' lights. Scares them tae death since thaur is nae a body in th' scullery crew 'at has white hair. Other than me. Whats th' kid's nam. Micht an aw ken th' nam ay uir wee bit ay a nemesis."
"Says' 'is name were Charles, right, no last name known. 'Course 'e ain't the bloomin' last one. Yer've got a donner died in yor boiler room too. 'e were sposed ter give evryfink a last lookover see, but got trapped and 'e boiled ter deaff 'e did- they say the heat fried 'is michael caines."
" 'is brains?!? Cor." Basil looked down at his feet towards the engineering levels of the ship. "Glad Ah dinna hae tae gang doon thaur oan a regular basis. Ur at aw. Ah woods hate tae see a ghostie ur ghoolie wi' half his heed an' michael caines a gon' missin'." Charlie. Though. That was the name of the ghostie serving in his hold. Should he be consulting with the cap'n about doing an exorcism? Not sure that the cap'n would go for free standing candles and live chicken slayings aboard his ship. Still the ghostie hadn't hurt any of the slaves.
Yet.
Lloyd rubbed his eyes. "Yep. Yer be cannie on that thaur boat yer 'ear, isit? Mum would 'ave me own loaf of bread on a platter if'n she kent yer died 'cause of some ghostie 'auntin' a ship and Ah didnae do anyfink ter about putting the mockers on it."
"Mum will hae baith ay uir heids in a sack if she foond it Ah was stayin' oan th' ship. But th' bunsens is pure guid an' Babylon pays it's crews weel. Especially if th' guests enjoy th' scran an' keep comin' back fur mair ay th' sam. Ah will wear th' cross when Ah hae tae gang doon th' stairs.. Och 'spikin ay which. Send me a body mair frae St.Thomas's. Ah hae tae gie it a body ay mah assistants. Ah hae tae send heem doon intae th' hauld most ay th' time."
"Och thass sho'nuff th' truth. Wal mum's th' wo'd whar ah's corncerned." he says. "An' ah can send yo' a crost, but ah dunnae kinn how t'git it t'yo' eff'n yer on a ship. Does it even come t'po't?" he asks.
"Och aye, she comes intae ports frae time-to-time but mostly she stays at brine. We dae hae helicopter draps tae restock us sae jist address it tae me mah post box. They ken whaur tae forward it ontae. Hae th' priest bless if fur a body Alex. Fraggin' Ruskie ur nae th' loon needs a cross tae keep awa' th' ghoolies belaw."
Lloyd shakes his head. "Aye, nae doubt the laddie will loose 'is wits uvverwise workin' in a place like that. Will they lit 'im keep it fough,? I didnae know that they 'old wiv such fings fer slaes."
Of that Basil had no doubt. He had seen Slaves given gifts from masters before. What was one small cross than something like that. If it kept the laddie safe from what ever went bump in the night in the hold, then he would be okay with whatever repercussion came from it, if any.
"Aye, th' loon will be allowed tae keep sic' things. They arenae allowed tae hae anythin' when they first shipped aboard but they ur allowed gifts frae th' guests. An' Ah hud better nae gang onie further wi' whit services they provide tae th' guests ower thes wire. Micht be findin' yer ain brither a-doin mair than cookin'. Nae 'at onie guest woods want a wrinkled auld craw loch myself." He laughed to himself at that image. No doubt Babylon would never put him in with the slaves, he would just be shark bait for sure for that breach of his contract.
"Welladay then. I'll cop a cross blessed and shipped off ter yer then, right, ne'er fear, init? 'Course, right, i'll bide ter do it until the post actually opens. Wich it decidedly ain't at O'dark firty in the chuffin' mornin'." he grumbles good naturedly.
Basil chuckled along with his brother. Lloyd would have been a bit put out if he had someone else to research the history behind the Calypso's ghosties. "Well-a-day tae ye tae wee brither. Yoo woods hae bin a bit radge if Ah hud speart someain else tae dig up thes information fur me. Ye Lunkheid. Sae noo ur ye gonnae agoin' back tae scratcher ur will ye continue tae reid abit ghosties oan yer black box? Ye aye waur diggin' intae mair than ye coods chew."
Lloyd snorts into the phone, but he knows Basil speaks the truth. If he'd found out that Basil had asked someone else...He shakes his head. "Oi'm bloody well gahn hammer and tack to me nice warm bed, see if Ah don't. Ah need all the sleep Oi can cop if Oi'm bloody well gonna be fresh as daisies ter nanny goat race mum for ye and do some 'splainin'."
Basil would much rather face ghosts then face down their mum. "Ye definitely hae th' harder job wee brither." Basil settled onto his rack and kicked off his shoes. "ain noo 'at Ah hae gain an' woke ye up properly Ah am gonnae say mah midnecht prayers an' heed tae sleep myself. Gie mum a solid kiss oan th' cheek fur me when ye tak' 'er tea. If she isnae it an' abit drivin' wi' 'er coosin again."
Lloyd laughed louldly at that. "Ah surely will, an' 'en come up wi' a reason Ah was talkin' ter yer an' didnae wake 'er up ter talk as well Sleep tight now and keep that cross 'andy on yer." he tells him. He shakes his head. "Heaven 'elp us if she are out drivin'. Cousin 'elda is a waur influence than ever yer'll find. Next fin' Ah know I'll be peelin' 'er off the rub-a-dub floor, drunk, and then where'll Oi be?"
The vision of his mum and auntie passed out on the pubroom floor again brought another soft laugh passed Basil's lips. Better you than me Lloyd.
"Ye can teel 'er Ah was lookin' fur yer recipe fur haggis insteid ay hers. 'at will gie a rise it ay 'er fur certain."