The expedition had changed, and no one was comfortable with the changes yet. There were not enough boats and paddles for the keepers to follow the dragons as they had before. Some of the keepers had to ride on board the barge each day. After one day of leaving them in idleness, Leftrin had recognized the danger to that and found tasks for all of them. When he had time, he supervised them in the shaping of new paddles for the remaining boats, and other mundane tasks. Tarman was not a large vessel; it was sometimes difficult to find enough chores to keep them all busy. Nonetheless, he kept the on board keepers busy with any tasks he or Hennesey could think of. In his experience, idle hands on a boat made for trouble all around.

He’d already seen signs of it. Bellin had come to him, uncomfortable and shy, to tell him that she’d had a talk with Skelly about Alum. “Neither one of them means any harm. But the attraction is there, they are young, and routine demands that they see each other almost every day. I’ve cautioned her. You’d be wise to speak to the young man before any hopes are raised or damage done.”

He’d hated that task. But it had been his, both as captain and as her uncle. Skelly had avoided him for the last few days, and Alum, proud but respectful, had gone out every day since then in Greft’s boat. Greft was grateful for Alum’s help, but the older keeper would not have been Leftrin’s choice of a companion for Alum. It was more and more clear to him that Greft did not respect his authority and was not above stirring rebellion. But there it was. Greft had reclaimed the boat that Carson and Sedric had brought back. Leftrin thought it was shortsighted of the keepers to let him assert ownership to it; surely all the boats had been owned in common when they set out. But he would not interfere in keeper matters. He had more than enough on his own plate to keep him busy. Greft had assumed Jess’s mantle as a hunter, and everyone seemed content to let him do so.