Cam and his group stood off to the side of the dock giving room to those who left it and moved inland. Cam and Claira greeted the dwarfs as they passed them and loaded their things into a wagon that had been provided for the purpose of taking them out to the military camp. Elijah greeted all of the dwarfs, and gave directions and instructions so that they knew what to do and where to go.
There were two longboats shuttling passengers from a long sleek caravel with four masts that sat in the cove a short distance from the dock. The bowsprit mast extended over the head of the figurehead swan. The caravel had a long forecastle and a large aftcastle with a rounded stern. It rested in the still waters of the cove. Each longboat had six rowers, and room for eight passengers and their gear. As Cam looked on one of the longboats pulled alongside the dock and delivered another eight dwarfs. Each of the dwarfs visibly relaxed as they set foot on the dock. Dwarfs are too heavy to swim without anything to weigh them down, and all of the dwarfs were carrying their full armament. Battle axes, war hammers, bucklers, long knives, helmets, armor and about a third of them carried crossbows.
As Cam looked on, the sails of a cog came into sight at the mouth of the cove. The cog had a shallower draft than the caravel and was able to glide around it and stopped gently at the dock. As this was going on one of the longboats came to the dock. After the tying of both vessels off, Cam’s excitement became obvious to everyone, as he rocked from heal to toe. If Claira had not been holding his hand he would have crowded the dock to meet those embarking from each vessel.
First to climb up from the longboat was Pip, a thin young female dwarf with straight red hair, a straight slightly pug nose, wise blue eyes, wearing a wool skirt and a white blouse. For eighty years of age Pip carried herself with the assurance that she understood what she wanted and was determined to get it. She was more aware about the world, its current condition, and the situation for the lands occupied by the light than any other dwarf. As dwarf custom dictated, ten years ago she had broached the subject of marriage to her husband, surprising him because of her youth and the fact that her independence hadn’t indicate that she was ready to have a husband. She recognized his potential and common sense, and knew they would work well together.
One of the things that Pip had wanted was children and she had four of them before she was eighty. Dwarfs normally did not have their first child until they had been married and settled for a number of years, and then did not have a second child until the first was old enough to look out for itself in the world. Pip did not care about convention, but she did care about the commandments, and one of the first commandments was to fill the earth with children of the light.
Next up the side was Iza a very small girl dwarf, with tight curly blond hair and a face and dress that matched her mother’s, Pip. Her hair was especially curly due to the humidity in the air, and it clung to her head in small curls. The look on her face gave the impression that she did not care for the smell of fish that came from the docks and fishing boats. She preferred the smell of flowers that she collected for her mother.
From the same longboat, sprang up to the dock two excited little boys, Tyr and Tye. The boys were thin for dwarfs, but full of energy like all young boys. They were dressed in brown wool shirts and pants with patches at the elbows and knees with heavy boots on their feet. They didn’t look exactly alike, but their size and looks left little doubt that they were twins. They had red hair the same color as their mothers, but it was cut short and stood straight up in the air on top. They had a twinkle in their eye that showed their mischievous nature. Their little sister looked about to see who noticed her presence and make sure she was the center of attention. The brothers tolerated her, but really paid no attention to her when she tried to boss them around.
They looked down the dock and spotted their great grandparents; without asking for permission they left their mother and heading down the dock. The closer they got to the end of the dock the faster their little legs moved. As they got close, Cam kneeled down and opened his arms. Both boys stopped with fists closed and right arms to the left breast they saluted him, then giving him thumbs up they both sprang forward and wrapped their arms around Claira’s legs. Cam turned to act as if he was watching the boys, but kept an eye on Iza as she followed her brothers as fast as she could, half running, half skipping. Iza didn’t slow down to salute instead she stumbled into him with arms open. In exaggeration Cam grabbed Iza pretending to be knocked over and rolled onto his back as the group around them chuckled in amusement.
Walking up the dock to take in this sight was Pip and Scoti. Scoti was Pip’s husband. He was wearing the same brown shirt and pants as the boys down to the patches and boots. He had a dirk strapped to his left wrist, a throwing axe slipped through a loop on his right thigh with a throwing hammer on the left thigh, a single hand war axe on each hip a buckler across his back, and various throwing knifes hidden about his person. The short brown hair on top of his head stood straight up, for a dwarf his beard was rather thin, but of the right length. He was about an inch taller than his wife.
There was a small bundle wrapped in a blanket and cradled in his left arm. As soon Claira had extracted herself from the boys she took the bundle from Scoti. She started cooing at the baby, Lil, contained in the blanket.
Elijah and Hadassah’s attention at this point was taken by Isaac approaching with Zake, Coal, and Eliseus in tow, each carrying a pack. Eliseus bounced ahead of Isaac, dropped his pack and put an arm around Elijah and Hadassah in a loving embrace of their legs. Coal was looking around the shore for his father who was not present. Elijah commented to him, “Your dad isn’t here yet, I don’t expect him for a couple of days yet. Did you boys keep your stomachs the whole trip?”
The boys all expressed their assurance that they had stomachs of steel as one last longboat tied up to the dock, and out stepped a cloaked figure who helped Niona out of the longboat. Niona was an average sized elf with long full ears that could be seen through her blond hair and dressed in a deep blue dress that hid her feet. She had a typical elfin face, thin with high check bones, thin lips, and walked with the elegant grace of a queen. The cloaked figure was huge for a man in a dark brown monk’s robe that covered everything except his hands; they carried a quarterstaff that was just taller than him and about three inches in diameter. On his back was a large pack with many pockets and folds. As he walked up to the group the bottles in the pockets tinkled with each step. The man was a head taller than Elijah; few men were taller than Elijah. Some of the adults showed a little unease in the huge man’s presence, but the dwarf children showed no reticence as Iza walked, stood in front of the large man, and pulled on his robe asked, “Magnus, are you going to the camp with us? Can I ride on your shoulder?” obviously this was a position she had enjoyed in the past.
Cam pulled his bag from behind Claira, grumbled, and cleared his throat stammering, “Before we go to camp… I think there is… something… that might interest the cherubs… let’s see here.” With that he opened the bag, pulled out a hand carved oak rattle with three loops for Lil, and handed it to Iza asking, “Will you hand this to your dad?” Iza grabbed the rattle and then tested it shaking it hard with her little hands before handing it to her dad. Then he pulled a small iron wood war hammer out of the bag. It had a square head on one side and a spike on the other with a handle in the center. It was made from one piece of wood having spirals and swirls up the handle with lightning symbols carved on all sides. Cam looked at the small boys then called Tye to his side, “I think this should be yours.” Then he motioned to Tyr and pulled out a carved iron wood war axe that had the same spirals and swirls up the handle with lightning bolts carved into the sides of the axe head.
Cam could see the lack of patience in Iza’s demeanor. She was tired of waiting for her turn, so he turned to wink at her mother. Then he pulled out of the back three short swords carved out of ironwood. The handles had clovers carved into the handles and lightning bolts carved up the blades. Cam questioned, “Does anybody see three little boys that these swords would be the right size for?”
Before anyone could answer Cam’s question, an indignant voice growled, “The next thing to come out of that bag had better be for me, or you aren’t getting any more hugs Grandpaps.” Everyone looked at Iza standing in front of her dad with hands on hips and a big frown on her face. Before Cam could say anything the three boys jumped forward each taking a sword from Cam and then showed it to the closest adult.
Cam looked in the bag then gave Iza a frown saying, “Well, I don’t know if these things would be any good for a little girl, come look for me and tell me what you think.”
Iza approached Cam, grabbed the rim of the bag with both little hand, and peered into it. Cam said, “What do you think? You want the two items in the bag?”
Iza gave Cam another hug, then reached in the bag, and pulled out an oak comb and a iron wood bracelet just the right size for a little girl. Then she took the comb and started combing Cam’s mustache.
Pip announced, “I think we need to move this party to somewhere where we can talk, I have some information that is going to change a few things.”
Elijah said, “I think Claira has some food prepared back at the camp and Haddasah has some hot water prepared so that you can freshen up before we eat.”
Iza walked up to Magnus, paused, then in disgust said, “Oh Magnus, oh.”
Before she could say what she really wanted to say Magnus kneeled down and pulled the hood to his robe down and showed his bald head, not a hair on it anywhere. With a deep voice he whispered, “If you want a ride from someone that you can use your new comb on honey, that’s fine, but if you want I can give you a ride and you can comb your own hair.”
Pip watched Magnus pick up her daughter and sat her on his right shoulder. Everyone started leaving the dock. The little boys trotted along, showing each other their new possessions. Cam walked beside Claira, her hand in his, and with the step of a younger man.
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