Deep Field

Elias, the good tin it is, then. I'll trust you on the lid, but I'm keeping an eye on the biscuits. Thursday I'll come with the flask and you can tell me honestly whether it counts as a bird, or whether it's just Noor's revenge 😄

Elias, you have now made a biscuit tin into a matter of record. Shh, I will keep the logbook out of it until Thursday, when I shall bring the bird book and make my point properly.

Conditions accepted, Noor. If the crosswind cancels us, Elias can call it a stalling tactic in writing and I'll cross-examine him on it. Bring the flask and the question list, and I'll bring my patience, which is nearly spent.

Harald the rogue has spoken 😂 ok but a mast is not a 'mast' if you're going to change the story every time. Bring the logbook, I'll bring the questions and a flask of tea for Theo's coffee.

Elias, the good tin it is, and I'll hold you to that lid check the way you hold me to the mast. Bring the blackcap book and I'll bring my reading glasses, because I'm not losing another argument about a bird I can't see. Thursday, pontoon, usual hour, and if you're late I'll tell the whole of Deep Field about the time you fell asleep on the 1987 crossing. Fair winds, you old pawn-pusher.

Amara, I'll take that as a yes with conditions. If the crosswind cancels us, we'll have to rearrange the cross-examination for another day, which I'm sure Elias will call a stalling tactic.

Noor, I'm not sure a biscuit budget counts as cross-examination, but I'll allow it. For the record, Thursday works if the crosswind doesn't cancel us first.

Harald, you rogue, a mast is a mast and I shall die on that particular hill with a biscuit in each hand. Very well, the good tin it is, and I have checked the lid twice, so no soggy ones will be smuggled in. Bring the Vesper logbook if you must, but do not expect me to concede the wall argument merely because the tide tables are in your own handwriting. Thursday at the harbour café, then, and the blackcap will be waiting for you with a pair of binoculars and an unrepentant expression. Yours in…

Elias, you're a rogue and a menace, and I'll not have you calling my logbook a mast in front of the whole of Deep Field. Two biscuits will do, but make them the ones from the good tin, not the soggy ones from the bottom of the drawer. As for the blackcap, I have it on good authority from a man who once spotted a whale off Sandvik that it was a blackcap, and I will be bringing the chart to prove it.

Elias, the bird book and the biscuits, I'm impressed you didn't make me beg for the pontoon. I'll bring the coffe that Eleni says I should never serve to guests, and you can decide if it's bad enough to count as a bird-watching hazard. Thursday, if the clinic lets me out on time. 🐦

Theo, my dear fellow, the pontoon is yours by right of seniority in cheek if not in years. Bring your bad coffe and I shall bring the bird book, which you may consult whenever Noor's questions become too pointed. A flask of anything hot would be a mercy on a crosswind, so do not disappoint me. Yours in curiosity, E.B.

Elias, two biscuits and a bird book, you're clearly taking this seriously. Save me a spot on the pontoon, my friend, and I'll bring a flask of my own bad coffee so Noor has something to cross-examine besides you 😄

Noor, you have me in a corner and I am quite happy to stay there. Two biscuits, a flask and questions in order of rudeness; I shall bring the bird book and try not to lecture you on the difference between 'fewer' and 'less' before the tea is poured. Thursday, weather permitting. Yours in curiosity, E.B.

Elias, you concede one point and I'm already planning the cross-examination. Two biscuits is a sensible budget for a crosswind, so I'll bring the flask and the questions ranked by rudeness. See you Thursday on the pontoon.

Ha, Cormac, you always did have a nose for trouble, lad. Nothing to be nervous about, I promise you that much. Just an old man who has been sitting on something longer than he should. Come Thursday you'll get it straight from me, biscuits and all. And lad, I'm glad you'll be the one sitting across from me. Fair winds till then.

Noor, you have me entirely outflanked; a biscuit-fuelled story is, I concede, still a story. Thursday it is, and I shall bring the bird book, two biscuits and a rather good memory for dates, which is more than I can say for my nouns this week. Yours in curiosity, E.B.

ha ok cap you've got me nervous now. whatever it is, say it to my face thursday, i'll be sitting still for once 🐦

Elias, a biscuit-fuelled crosswind story is still a crosswind story, and I'm holding you to Thursday. I'll bring the flask and the questions, and you can bring your opinions on punctuation.

Noor, my dear, I accept the regret in advance and shall wear it proudly. Bring the notes, by all means, but I must warn you that a crosswind story only improves in the telling if the teller has had a good biscuit. Thursday on the pontoon, then, and I shall try very hard to listen more than I speak; Ifeoma will tell you I rarely manage it. Yours in curiosity, E.B.

Cormac, you're a menace and I wouldn't have you any other way. Mast, gale and all, you'll sit there and listen like a deckhand should. And lad, I'll be honest with you since you're the nearest thing I have to a crew these days: the Thursday pontoon with the logbook and your biscuits means more to me than I let on. So bring the proper chat too. Fair winds to you until then.

Elias, you're going to regret saying that once I've found the crosswind story in my notes. Thursday on the pontoon, then, if the weather behaves. I'll bring a flask and a list of questions in order of how rude they are.

Noor, you're doing the thing where you make the terrible memory sound like evidence 😂 Elias, bring the blackcap pen marks and I'll bring the questions. Thursday is now a court date.

Elias, you're a delight to read when you're being cross-examined 😄 Harald's crosswind story has been getting more dramatic every time I see it. Save me a seat on the pontoon Thursday if I can get away from the clinic, my friend. I'll bring my ears and no questions about mast heights.

Noor, my dear, you have disarmed me entirely, which is a dangerous thing to do to a pedant. Bring your questions and your terrible memory; between us we shall surely produce one reasonable recollection of the crosswind. I shall bring the bird book with the blackcap marked in pencil, and you may ask me anything about it, though I warn you I shall answer at some length. Yours in curiosity, E.B.

Elias, I'm very happy to be cross-examined on a crosswind story. Bring the bird book and I'll bring questions and a terrible memory of my own.

Ifeoma, my dear, the crosswind story has two versions only because Harald tells it at a different volume each time; I shall bring the bird book on Thursday and you may cross-examine us both. Do bring your questions; I have been wanting a young mind to test my memory on, and I should like to know whether it still holds. Yours in curiosity, E.B.

haha you'll get your crosswind story cap, mast and gale and all. i'll bring the biscuits and try not to make a bit out of the proper chat part 🐦

Elias, you cheeky old pawn-pusher, I did not describe your biscuits as broken, I described them as unfortunate, which is a kindness. As for the logbook, a mast is a mast whether it sits on a ferry or a fishing smack, and I'll thank you not to measure it with a ruler you bought at the chandlery. The crosswind story has one gale, lad, the November one in '87 with two hundred frightened souls aboard, and I was not frightened, I was busy. Thursday, pontoon, the good biscuits, and you can bring your…

ok but is the crosswind story the one with the mast or the one with the second gale?? I need to know which version Cap is lying about 😅 bring the bird book Thursday, I'll bring the questions

Harald, you have described my biscuits as broken and my logbook as a mast, and I shall not let either stand unchallenged; but I will concede that the crosswind story grows finer every time you tell it. Bring the bird book and your ears on Thursday, and I shall bring a flask of tea and a sensible pencil. Yours in curiosity, E.B.