Introductions

An excerpt from "First Book of Thaddeus"

A camera flash caught Tadd’s attention and he saw that Mrs. Rutledge had just taken a picture of a group of people. He recognized Mr. Rutledge, Captain Hale and Mr. Rote, but there were others that he didn't know. Two of them looked like twins.

Mr. Rutledge stepped away from the group and started tapping something metal against the glass he was holding while he looked around the room at all the people.

“May I have your attention? Please!” he requested in a loud voice.

All the people stopped talking and looked in his direction. Tadd stayed where he was cuz he could see above everyone.

“Let me welcome you all aboard for our pre-voyage get-together. As you all know, I am George Rutledge. And I, and my wife, Emily here,” he put his arm around her, “are the proud owners of this,” he made a sweeping gesture with a hand holding a glass, “the Haleon Explorer.” He paused and took a drink of what Tadd thought looked like beer. ““Most of you will be coming on our voyage of exploration and discovery.” He paused for another sip. “So, let’s get started. As a means of introduction, for the benefit of all, I will call your name and give your station. Would you then raise your hand, for all to see, when I do?”

“Since I’ve already introduced myself and Emily, let me introduce our Captain, Captain Franklin Hale.”

Captain Hale raised his hat, clicked his heels and gave a very slight bow at the waist to everyone in the room. His smile made Tadd think he was play acting.

“Captain Hale will have a few words for you when I’ve finished,” George added.

Mr. Rutledge took another sip and looked around the room. “Over there, we have Mr. Henry Rote. He is our Executive Officer, our second in command and our banker. If you need any money, you will have to talk with him.” Mr. Rutledge chuckled at what he said and Mr. Rote raised his hand and looked pleasantly embarrassed.

“Next, we have these two handsome gentlemen here. Twins, I’m told. More like doppelgangers if you ask me. Robert is our Engineering Officer and Ritchard is our Chief Engineer. Please say “Hello” to Mr. and Mr. Shur.” Mr. Rutledge added, “I’m told you can tell them apart by the color of their pants. They are never the same. But you’ll have to ask them, on any given day, who is who?”

One of them raised his hand and said, “I’m Robert.” The other raised his hand and said, “I’m Ritchard, but tomorrow it could be the other way around!”

Everyone laughed at that. Tadd was enjoying the fun. Tadd knew from his dad that engineers were the guys that drove the trains, so those two guys were probably gonna be the drivers.

Mr. Rutledge pointed over to the tall guy that his mom called Dr. Dan. “This is our ship’s doctor, Mr. Dan Weber. He’ll be taking care of all your cut fingers and tummy aches. And, I’m told, that he is qualified to remove your appendix, if need be. Dan went with our boys to Cuba and is something of an expert on tropical maladies. As you can see, he is the tallest man in the room, so he will be easy to find if you need him.”

Dan raised his hand, put a fingertip on the ceiling and said, “I’ll have aspirin available in the morning if anyone drinks more than their share of Mr. Rutledge’s exquisite rum.””

Again, everyone laughed.

“Let me see here,” Mr. Rutledge went on, “we have Mr. Charles Dixon seated over there.”

Mr. Dixon raised his hand, but remained seated.

“Charles is our scholar. And knows everything about everything. I have yet to find a subject, of which I am familiar, that Charles is unable to contribute additional information to. Through his efforts and achievements, Charles has made the Haleon Explorer possible. I am eternally grateful and I salute you!”

Mr. Rutledge raised his glass and Captain Hale Said, “Here, here!” and everyone took a sip of their drinks and some people clapped. Tadd thought that everyone must like Mr. Dixon a lot.

Everyone started to murmur back and forth at the same time, so Mr. Rutledge tapped on his glass again and said, “We have a few more introductions left.”

Everyone stopped talking and looked back at Mr. Rutledge.

“This stunning young redheaded lass, on my left, is our own Miss Molly Stanley. I believe that tonight is the first time I've ever seen Molly in a dress.”

Everyone turned to look at Molly and Molly blushed crimson.

“You look absolutely beautiful my dear,” he added. “Molly takes care of our main engine in the gondola below and most anything else that requires a wrench. If it’’s mechanical and it breaks, she’ll be the one to fix it.”

“Molly’s brother Michael is there with her,” he continued. Michael moved halfway behind Molly, his shyness showing.

“No need to be shy Michael,” Mr. Rutledge offered, “these are all new friends!”

“We will be taking animals along on our journey,” he said to the group. “Some of them are pets. Some of them will serve as food. Michael’’s job is to see to both. And young Mr. Sherwood, over there on the landing,” he gestured to Tadd and Tadd raised his hand as he had been asked, “Mr. Sherwood will be helping.””

“Mr. Sherwood’s first name is Thaddeus, but I’m told by his mother that he prefers to be called Tadd. His mother is that charming woman standing over there next to Mr. Dixon.”

“Let me introduce Mrs. Rita Sherwood. Mrs. Sherwood is possibly the most important person on this voyage. She is in charge of our culinary and epicurean delights, in other words our food. Your kindness to her is essential to the quality of our diet.”

Tadd’s mom smiled, wrinkled her nose at Mr. Rutledge and waved at him, as if to say, go away.

Mr. Rutledge chuckled and went on, “Mrs. Sherwood will also oversee housekeeping. We have no maids or servants on board, so she will see that each and every one of us does our part to maintain a clean and healthy environment throughout our journey. Do what she tells you.”

Mrs. Rutledge handed George a fresh glass of beer in exchange for his empty and he continued, “Standing on the other side of Mrs. Sherwood is Mr. Thomas Hale. Mr. Hale was my father’s personal secretary and has overseen our household for the last fifty odd years. Mr. Hale brought me and his son, our captain, from Boston to Sacramento, first on river boats to Omaha and then over the newly opened Pony Express Trail the rest of the way across this great country. I was barely ten and the captain seven, the age of young Thaddeus over there.” He paused for a moment remembering, then looked up and went on, “Mr. Hale will continue, as always, to supervise our household. He is to be accorded the honors of a privileged guest.”

“And now,” Mr. Rutledge looked around as if deciding who was next, “seated here at the desk, writing notes on everything we say and do, we have Mr. Efrim Hauser. Mr. Hauser will be chronicling our journey. He is a writer and he is also my wife’s brother.” George moved to put his arm back around his wife. “Emily and Efrim spent most of their lives in Africa. Efrim saw some action with the Bores and their war and along the way got stung by what, Dan would call, a Spanish hornet. Flew right through Efrim’s hip. He doesn't move as fast as the rest of us because of it, so be patient with him. Efrim’’s fond of asking lots of questions, so be patient there too!”

George took a long pull on his beer and emptied the glass. “Thirsty work!” he said as he set the glass down. George looked around the room until he spotted a handsome young man paying close attention to Molly.

“Ah! There you are! That strapping, athletic looking, young fellow standing with Miss Molly is my nephew, Efrim’s son. Let me introduce Mr. Ross Hauser. Ross is an accomplished yachtsman and sailor, having competed and won more than a few cup races. He is our Chief Boatswains Mate and will be handling all rope, rigging and sails.” Ross faced the room and bowed then raised his hand before giving his attention back to Molly.

George continued. “On the other side of Miss Molly, that handsome and impeccably dressed young man is Mr. Ronald Segel.” Ronald bowed to Mr. Rutledge before raising his hand. “Mr. Segel is our navigator and cartographer. It is Mr. Segel’s job to know where the Explorer is at all times. We will be enjoying a rare opportunity here to see the earth as none but a very few have! And Mr. Segel will be mapping and charting our journey all along the way. Ronald is also a hand with Mr. Marconi’s radio sets, so he is our Communication’s Officer as well as our Master at Arms. Our very own Jack-of-all-trades.” Ronald smiled and looked as if he was standing in line waiting for his turn to speak with Molly.

“Well now! I believe that covers everyone I was supposed to introduce. I want to welcome you all and thank you for agreeing to participate in this magnificent adventure. For now, my throat is parched and my glass is empty, so I believe I will stand aside and turn the floor over to our captain, Captain Hale!”