Mary Celeste chapter 3

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http://youtu.be/sXcYJNOt064

Onboard SS ERIN 0300 08NOV17:

Tom Dodge quietly entered the hold carrying a lantern in one hand and tools in the other. He set the tools down until he found one of the things he was looking for. Returning to pick up the tools, he returned to the the crate and began to open it wispiring to himself with satisfaction "Now let's find some scripture."

Before he could lift the lid to see what was inside, he heard footsteps behind him...

He heard a man with a heavy European accent say "raise your hands above your head and turn around." Tom dropped the mallet he still held onto the crate and slowly turned around. When he recognized the seaman who held a German pistol pointed at him, Tom said "Spec in Ze Deutsch?"
"Silence! I will ask the questions" came the reply.
Tom then responded confidently "You should look behind you".
The seaman started to respond "No one is dumb enough to fall for...", but before he could complete his sentence the man died as the knife thrust pierced his heart.

Tom waked over to the dead man, picked up the pistol and put it inside his pants. Looking at Tom Junior With disgust in his voice, Tom Dodge said" ARGH! You scurvy dog. Dead men tell no tales!"

His son responded "Do I look like a Pirate?"

"IDIOT! A Dead man can't talk JUNIOR!"

"Don't call me JUNIOR OLD MAN".

"Just wipe up the blood". Turning around and opening the lid, Tom pulled out some rags and paper and threw them at Tom Junior. "And wrap up the wound so he doesn't bleed all over before we throw him over the side.

After examining the contents of the crate, Tom closed the lid, picked up his mallet and pounded the nails until the crate was sealed. Tom then picked up the lantern and started to look for another crate. Quickly finding a crate marked "Machine Tools", Tom opened the case and examined the contents. Carefully he closed the lid and resealed the crate.
He turned to his son and said "Let's pick up the body and throw it over the side before the next watch change.

They carried the body out of the hold without anyone seeing them. The quickly moved to the side of the ship and proceeded to throw the body, the lantern, the knife, and the tools over the side. After they had completed the deed, they retraced their steps looking for drops of blood. Finding nothing, they entered the lounge finding it empty except for Rick Lealand (another passenger) who seemed to be suprised to see any of the other passengers still up. Rick said "Goodnight, it's late and I'm going to bed." Rick left the ship's lounge but instead of returning to his cabin, he waited in the shadows until he watched the father and son leave the lounge and enter their cabin...

Rick waited for a few minutes then proceeded to another hold where he had already hidden a lantern and tools. Lighting the lantern, Rick started looking through the passenger luggage until he found two steamer trunks identified as belonging to Dr. Lorenz. He quickly picked the lock on each trunk, opened it up and looked inside. When he was finished, he returned the lantern and tools to their hiding place and exited the hold. Without being seen, he entered his own cabin...

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ARGH! I used the wrong date - only one chap. allowed per day

The second line should read:

Onboard SS ERIN 0300 08NOV17:

Vice:

Onboard SS ERIN 0300 20NOV17

I was just informed that you are only supposed to post one (1) chapter per day - I didn't know, so my plan to post two (2) chapters per day is Kaput (along with Seaman Martins).

So This Chapter...

...comes around three hours after #2?

Eric

Re: So this chapter...

Yep, about three (3) hours later. If you are going to break into the holds, illegally inspect cargo/baggage, and kill members of the crew, you want to wait until everybody except the mid-watch are asleep.

I was wondering how you would

I was wondering how you would work cabbage into the story, guess you went subtle ;)

I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime

Working Cabbage into the Story

If you go to chapter 1, at the beginning is a partial cargo list. I suggest you check to see if cabbage is listed. If the ship is carrying a large amount of cabbage, you might ponder WHY? (Hint: Think beyond just including cabbage to check off a contest item)

lesson learned, never read

lesson learned, never read while falling asleep as you may see see words wrong and recalled the wrong words or the wrong thing.

Cabin is not the same as a cab used to drive a train, which is part of the portmaneau I thought I saw there(cabin + baggage = cabbage). Sorry!

I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime

If there was corned beef also

If there was corned beef also, I'd expect the Irish had something going on

Re: Corned Beef

Now that's getting too close! Ignore what she just said.

Date

Beoca's picture

You can probably just edit the date in the story to fix it - no need to stress out when the problem can be fixed. Besides, that way people don't see it and wonder silently.

I think that worked!

I tried to edit the date. It looks like your suggestion worked. Thanks.

Das is goot,

Das is goot, A video of a lesser known Bogart WW2 movie, one of my favorites! Phoney Big Chicken Dinner (Bad Conduct Discharge) gets Bogie out of the Army.

Love this story reads like a 40's film noire movie. 'Machine Parts' hummm......firearms?

Karen

Across the Pacific

For those who haven't seen this 1942 movie, Across the Pacific was a Bogart movie about a disgraced [?] former U S Army Officer who gets involved with Japanese agents on a tramp steamer headed for the Panama Canal just before Pearl Harbor...

I was able to use the you tube clip of a scene in this movie and insert three (3) of the characters into my story set on a tramp steamer in 1917 (seven (7) months after the United States entered World War I).

If you read the beginning of chapter one, part of the cargo manifest includes cases of bibles and machine tools. Apparently Karen suspects the machine tools are actually firearms...

To add to the mystery surrounding the SS ERIN, officially the ship is headed for a port in Chile (but as it will soon be apparent, at least some of the passengers and crew will know that the ship will be stopping along the way at another port...).

"You don't have the same sense of humor I have"

Someone wrote me today:

"You don't have the same sense of humor I have."

I thought I would share my response to the comment:

Back in the 1980(s) I worked for a small division of an aerospace conglomerate. One of my co-workers was the proud recipient of a new laser jet printer. He was the first person in the division to have his own personal printer. He reminded me of a teenager who just got his first car...

I went to a novelty store and bought fake puke (a piece of plastic that could be rolled out and resembled throw up). The next day I approached his desk carefully hiding the rolled up fake puke in my hands. I moved next to his brand new printer and proceeded to loudly dry heave over his new printer (carefully unrolling the fake puke onto the paper tray where you place sheets to be copied). I then stepped back to see his reaction. He just froze! The sheer terror on his face was priceless...

Imagine someone looking at a man sized spider dressed like a pirate and about to bite off your head!

I don't know about anyone

I don't know about anyone else, but I hate spiders. Had to watch the movie Arachnophobia with someone's arm around me. (any excuse)

Karen

Well, I have no idea where you're going

with this story, but the story of the Mary Celeste has always facinated me so I'm gonna stick around and see where you take this.

For real, I have wracked my brain trying to think of what could have caused the entire crew of the Mary Celeste to leave/disappear an otherwise seaworthy ship. My Father and I used to sit and discuss things like this, so it brings me back to fond memories of those talks.

Thanks for writing and sharing.

Catherine Linda Michel

As a T-woman, I do have a Y chromosome... it's just in cursive, pink script. Y_0.jpg