-‘?. otter had completed a preliminary inspection.
^ “She’s fully stocked, she is, though the packin’s bloody
jl strange.”
iJ “Let me have a look.” Jon-Tom went first to the galley.
| Cans and packages bore familiar labels like Hormel,
~i Armor, Oscar Mayer, and Hebrew National. There was
,| more than enough food for an extensive journey, and they
! could fish on the way. The tank for the propane stove read
full. Jon-Tom tried a burner, was rewarded with a blast of
blue flame that caused Roseroar to pull back.
“Ah don’t see no source of fire.”
“The ship arrives already fully spelled for traveling,”
Jalwar murmured appreciatively. “Impressive.”
“hi the song she’s supposed to be on a long voyage,”
Jon-Tom explained.
90
Alan Dean Foster
There was a diesel engine meant to supplement the sails.
Jon-Tom didn’t try it. Let it wait until they were becalmed.
Then he could dazzle them with new magic.
“Roseroar, since you’re the most experienced sailor
among us, why don’t you be captain?”
“As you wish, Jon-Tom.” She squeezed through the
hatchway back onto the deck and began familiarizing
herself with the unusual but not unfathomable rigging. As
with any modern sailing ship, the sloop would almost run
the sails up and down the masts all by itself. It didn’t take
the tigress long to figure it out.
An electric winch made short work of the anchor.
Roseroar spun the wheel, the sloop hove around with a
warm breeze filling its sails, and they headed out to sea.
Within an hour they had left the gravel beach and the
Muddletup Moors with its confused fungoid inhabitants far