Page 45 - Drinks Jorunal Vol 3

in the distance; the thundery sky fills me with unease as the distressed sounds of the
caged animals on board start to rise in crescendo.

Shortly after leaving the safety of the river a booming impact reverberates on the
hull. I jump up to find the sea churning with leviathans, causing flashbacks to my

terror with the squid on the small submersible ‘Resurgam’. I freeze and it is only the
sound of all the animals going berserk in their cages that releases me from my reverie.

The animals’ cacophony continues all except one, a Monkey whose eyes calmly appear
to follow me with an eerie intelligence and menace as I rally the crew around the

boat. The seas calm and we realise we had merely passed through a shoal of harmless
Basking sharks feeding on plankton.

I awake at midnight to a frantic knocking on my cabin door - a terrified Miss
Langtry lands in my arms and begs sanctuary. A scene of mayhem ensues behind her

on deck.

I jump out to assist the crew. The Governess, Sophie fights snakes coiling on the
ship’s wheel; Artist Thomas is fearlessly using an easel and his brushes to push a
lion back into its cage; our Dandy, Benjamin, uses his new cane to see off a pair

of chimps, shouting ‘Insolent beasts’. We discover a young lad fighting a particularly
obnoxious ferret while quoting lines from Shakespeare - we later discover that this

most recent stowaway and addition to our crew is called Louie.

40