Allison; Taking Control

Chapter 102

The travelers looked up to see an aged man with a full grey-white beard standing next to their table leaning heavily on a gnarled wooden cane. His worn and weathered face featured a conspicuous red bulbous nose which stood out in contrast to his otherwise tanned skin. Short of stature with a crouched back, there was probably a great deal more hair on his chin than on his balding head. He wore baggy galligaskins and a long coat of canvas with the sleeves rolled up past the elbow. While much about the man’s appearance gave the suggestion of frailty, his swart complexion, sinewy forearms and rough knobby hands marked him as a man who had hauled on more than his fair share of hawsers and halyards during his lifetime. Even if his bent back didn’t allow him to perform these tasks any longer, it was a fair guess to expect this elderly man was a former sailor with a significant store of tales to tell.

“Oh?” answered one of the two visitors – the one who wore a floppy wide-brimmed hat and plai