Mibbet chose to stay until the repairs were completed, much to the surprise of Sir Leeroy, Errol, and Elvira. Not that they minded, it gave them an excuse to take a little time to rest and recuperate before hitting the road once more. Because travelling with her definitely kept one on their toes.

Soon enough the repairs were completed, as gradually the townsfolk started to dig a channel for the pontoons all the way from where they were set up, to the waves. Everybody had been super careful to keep to the conditions imposed by the goddess. Even going so far as to wince The Wellerman high above the waves until they were well away from the shallows.

There was a hell of a party went on for the few days preceding the launch, and looking at how green about the gills several of the crew looked, maybe it would have been advisable to wait for the party until post launch. As loud celebrations, plus hangover, usually result in a party that would cause as much pain as joy.

As the ship was carefully pushed back out to sea, they started to oh so gently lower her back down, until she was almost resting on the water. This celebration was quite new though, it wasn’t just attended by the humans. This was a joint celebration with the Mer, who usually refrained from such nonsense, but today was special, so exceptions were made. As the Mer did their best to use the broadcast crystals to share their music with the world. (The world unfortunately at that point in time, in that localised area, was still incredibly hung over. So really could not appreciate a mermaid choir, especially not when a handful of nearby dolphins decided to join in.)

So the Wellerman returned to the waves, without, well, returning to the waves. An outcome that delighted the crew who never expected such an outcome. But no matter how hard they searched, they just couldn’t catch a glimpse of “her”. Not that they minded, it was a rare privilege to even come close to a ship's spirit, much less talk to one. She had worked her hardest to keep them safe, and if, after all that, she wished to remain obscure, then they would respect that. They already had one hell of a tale to share with the grand-kids one day anyway.

High up in the rigging, a young lady watched the celebrations happily, unnoticed by the world. Had anybody bothered to pay attention they would likely have noticed she bore a remarkable resemblance to the figure on the bowsprit, in fact apart from looking younger, and a little less worn you could even go as far as to say she was the spitting image.

“Wow, I’ve got so many brothers and sisters momma.”

“That you do Jolie,” the older lady beside her replied. “always remember, look out for them like they look out for us, it is the way a good ship, or boat should be. If one day you are hurt, know you can count on them to bring you back.”

“I know momma, like they hauled me back up after the crazy frog lady got me to help her against the big duckie. Or even like how they fixed you up.”

“Proud of you honey.” Wellerman said, with a smile to the little one.

************************************************************************

Gidea was pissed off, she was turning the city upside down, but these people were the kind of people who would off their own granny if they thought they could profit from it.

Judging from the large crater below the tower where she had held her recent “interview” they certainly had no compunctions about dealing with each other should the need arise, it seemed every clue so far had led to a corpse. Or at the very least a witness who didn’t get a chance to speak before becoming a corpse. At this rate it was starting to feel like she didn’t have to kill them all off, she could practically just go round asking questions very loudly and watch them turn on each other.

But that wasn’t good enough, the curse was still in effect, and likely to remain so even if she succeeded in dealing with every individual involved. To undo this she needed answers, even if she had to beat them out of the fools who had cast it to start with. This whole thing reeked of the infernal, or rather the kind of wazzock who went around trying to make deals with them. Why did nobody ever tell these people, the Demons always got the better end of that deal, and usually sold you out in the end. Well they’d learn soon enough, and Gidea was more than happy to send them to hell personally.

She had heard Rumours about the involvement of Chancellor Porque, and she could easily believe that of Chris. He always was such a short term thinker, now to get close before the short term thought in his head was changed to “run like hell, they’re on to you.”

This had led to some careful plotting on her part, a whole pot of hair dye. Some dull, and rather hideous glasses, a disguise, and a job application for his mansion as a maid. She’d passed of course, though it had been touch and go when she’d been startled while holding silverware. Employers tend to frown on those who nearly kill their interviewer, of course there are exceptions to this rule of thumb. But usually only for those in a line of work that definitely disqualifies you from potential employment at a chancellors manor.

************************************************************************

Chris was getting anxious, there are times when you suspect somebody is messing with you, and there are times there is little doubt. Within a week most of his “human resources” related businesses had been raided. His trading firms had suddenly met with difficulty procuring grants, and worst, a ledger had vanished. After that he had made up his mind, he was getting out of the city for a while. He quickly boarded his carriage, not even noticing the distinctive appearance of the coachman. Hardly surprising, he wasn’t the type to pay attention to staff.

This time, maybe he should have.