[img]https://i.imgur.com/jTDKXn1.jpg[/img] Mornin’ felt like mornin’. Most folk done bathed an’ had breakfast by now, leavin’ Abby with a passel ‘o’ towels to wash. Good news was they’s on a short run. On Mariposa, sheets weren’t washed til the fourth day...less’n a passenger raised a ruckus. She conjured it's just as like aboard China Doll...leastways til somoeone told her different. After droppin’ bedrolls, pillows, extra sheets an’ blankets last night to the horn-dog fishermen an’ them three in the double, Abby put that chore out of her mind. They’s full to burstin’ with passengers, meanin’ she’d be right busy once they touched down on New Melbourne. China Doll was a powerful lot like Mariposa, ‘cept a little better off fer wear. Washin’ machine was the same...even had the same cycle switch what needed a good jiggle tah git her runnin’. Didn’t take as much persuadin’, though. Once she heard it churnin’ away, Abby took her clipboard to the galley table. Afore takin’ her seat, she fished her pockets an’ hauled out what coin hadn’t been given to the cap’n yet. The girl laid it out, countin’ with great care to make sure the math was all right. First come the bills the big’un handed over. As she’d done last night, Abby shuffled ‘em out, one by one, til she had three even piles. [i]Three fares less ten percent each[/i] she recollected as she scratched in check marks next tah the names [i][b] Skye - Cyd, Isaac, Mathias.[/b][/i] She picked up one ‘o’ them bills. Abby stretched it ‘twixt her fingers an’ held it up ta tha light, squintin’ all serious like detectives in her books, though she had no clue how tah spot a counterfeit less’n somebody wrote tha note [i]”I’m a counterfeit bill"[/i] on it. They never ‘splained that part. She let it go, landin’ the bill back among the cash afore stackin’ it into one pile. Rest was all coin. Double fares from the horn-dog fishermen, bulk rate fee from Seatronics fer their crates. Only coin she didn’t have accounted for was ‘sposed to come from Ms. Baker. Capn’s notes made it look like Badger done skimmed his off the top, leavin’ thirty percent they’s tah collect...somethin’ she conjured was kinda off when yah took inta account repairs the woman done overnight. [i]I’ll let the Cap’n square that one,[/i] she decided, afore placin’ all the money in a pouch to hand off, along with her chit. [i]Ms. Baker. Prancin’ about like a nun when she ain’t.[/i] Notion struck her a might odd, ‘specially the mechanic takin’ the girl into her confidence like that. Not the first time she’d dealt with folk masqueradin’..there’s that time Uncle Bob took triple fares from a boat full ‘o’ respectable folk come to mind. Soon’s they hit black, ever’ one of ‘em put on animal costumes, got all piled up an’ commenced tah...well...let’s jest say that when a shepherd come preachin’ ‘bout the lion layin’ down with the lamb, Abby had a purty clear pitcher what that looked like. Still, last night struck the girl positive. She’d known mechanics on Mariposa. All men, either lookin’ to shoo the girl away or tah git under her clothes. Spite that, she’d learned stuff, an’ conjured she could handle the job...til Ms. Baker showed her a whole new way ‘o’ lookin’ on it. [i]There’s a heap ‘o’ learnin’ I gotta do,[/i] she conjured. With a nod of her head, Abby flipped to her lessons: [i][b]DIK-CHUN PARROT FOOD CHO YOBO JONEE MOOWEE MOOWEE KIFF SHOT[/b][/i] She put pen to paper, thinkin’ hard to tax her memory of what Ms. Baker tole her. [i][b]TRITEEUM SEEZEEUM 137 TACK WELDING[/b][/i] List was gettin’ long. Abby hadn’t put mind tah what she’d be doin’ with any coin she earned. Way things was shapin’ up, could be wise fer her to pick up a cortex of her own. Mayhaps Cap’n knew what to get...or Rex. Way she’d sassed him when he come aboard was sorta fittin’ to make nice, seein’s he’s First Mate an’ all. She rounded up her clipboard an’ the coin purse, afore settin’ off tah find tha Cap’n.