waiting

'Is this all there is then?' asked Captain Bill.

'I told you before,' replied Norma,'the others have gone to find a new mast.'

'Er?' said Captain Bill

'The tall stick thing that holds the sail up,' replied Norma.

'Right,' said Captain Bill,'....and we have to have one of those?'

'We can't sail the ship without it!' mooed Norma.

'OK,' said Captain Bill.

And for a while they stood in silence and watched the two men who were rowing towards them.

'Still,' said Captain Bill at last,'it's not much of a welcoming committee. The Captain's School Handbook clearly states that senior officers are to be piped ashore by a qualified individual using a bosun's whistle... and what do we have? A truly bizarre person wrapped in cotton wool strumming a banjo! I wouldn't be surprised if they took off half a point before they even get out the boat!'

'I heard that!' said Annie, who then herded forward missed her hoofing and fell into the dock.

'Make that a whole point,' said Captain Bill, as he and Norma hurried down the steps to pull her out.