When Love Finds Hannah by Dan Dooley

Author:Dan Dooley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, adventure, fantasy, steampunk
Publisher: Dan Dooley
Published: 2023-05-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12 - A Boy Named Matthew

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the

firmament sheweth his handywork.

(Psalms 19:1)

Harold walked back to the ship with his heart feeling lighter than air. He walked, or perhaps his feet floated above the ground, for he did not remember the walk back. He simply walked up the ramp, and then found himself standing on the deck. Still in the rain. He did not go to his cabin, but instead, he went to the galley.

He was not alone in the galley. Sitting on a tall stool at the end of the dining table was a boy. A local boy, for his flesh colouring was brown. The boy’s light brown hair was long and straight. It reached to his waist as it fell down his back. His eyes were blue, and he wore what appeared to be a long night shirt.

“Who are you?” Harold asked in surprise. What was this boy doing aboard Abigail, and in his own galley?

A fearful look came into the boy’s eyes as well. “I’m Matthew,” he answered with hesitation. “Mrs. Lancaster brought me here. She says I am her new son.”

“That’s more than I know,” Harold retorted. “I hope you’re not lying to me.”

“I am not,” the boy replied. “They invited me aboard, and she wants to take me home. I don’t have a home. They want to make me their son.”

“Who does? I presume you mean Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster.”

“Aye. Just them two. She says she has no other children. I like them. I will be happy to be their son.”

He knew that Josias and Ann Lancaster had been married only a short while. Two years, he understood to be the length of their marriage. Both of them married later in life, they had no children of their own. This much he had learned.

And now the announcement that they had found a local boy, an orphan no doubt, to become their son, made sense.

“You’re dressed funny,” Harold stated as he began, with one good hand, to select pots and pans to be used for the preparation of the next meal. It was a difficult process, with only one good hand. But, he was determined to do his best.

“Aye. It is a funny dress,” Matthew replied with a laugh.

“Don’t just sit there. Make yourself useful.”

And that is exactly what Matthew did. Becoming the hand Harold did not have the use of, Matthew helped with the preparing of the pans with ingredients from opened food tins. And more. And quickly, Matthew learned that what he was now doing, he loved doing.

“I presume your parents are not living,” Harold began a series of questions to learn more about the boy.

“That is true,” he answered. “They are both dead. And I came here from the big city to work in Mantiba. First as a helper for a blacksmith. I was not good enough for that job. He kicked me out.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Harold replied. “Blacksmith work is hard.”

“Then where they made candles.”

“Hmmm,” Harold replied.

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