Tempestuous Emotions Come Flooding Back - Troubled Waters by Adam Rutter

Bassa Villa - once known as 'The Magpie'                                                credit Adam Rutter

It was on a November morning. The river Severn had burst its banks. Fog made it impossible for sailors to see the buttresses that supported the bridge arches. The light given off by the candlelit lamps was fuzzy, which the sailors saw just under a feet away as they neared the bridge.  Not enough to avoid a collision. A sailed barge narrowly missed the wall of the arch. The lower half of Cartway was flooded. an oarsman rowed past two pubs, mooring outside the Magpie inn. Two rowing boats were moored outside The Severn Trow; one tied to a doorknob outside The Ship and Anchor. The oarsman dismounted, waded through the open door, wandering past the swamped out cellar. The recovered cask of ales were stacked on top of the bar. He took off his hat, slapping it down on the bar, while drawing out a tankard from his coat pocket.

‘Fill this up will ya landlord,’ he asked.

‘I can only give you half today Sid,’ said the landlord.

‘Oh! No pint today?’

‘No pint today Sid.’

‘Why not?’

‘A lot of ale got washed away in the flood,’ said the landlord, pointing at the casks.

Sid held out the tankard, his fingers gripping tightly on the handle. The landlord poured a small ration. Sid turned his back to the landlord, cutting through the water like a frigate, wet shoes squelching. He sat at the far end of the bar area, arms folded, elbows resting on the table. He took a small sip, trying to make his drink last.

Sid looked out through the door when he heard a pair of oars splashing gently. He lifted his elbows off the table, eyes fixed on the moored boats rising and falling with the ripples generated by the repeated strokes. The ripples lengthened and widened, knocking the boats against the wall. Sid knew who was rowing. He knew nearly every sailor and boatman up and down the Severn. And he knew when they dropped their anchor. Sid watched the rowing boat slide past the door, pulling over outside The Magpie. Was it the boatman Sid knew? It was him alright. The boatman was wearing a bicorn hat. Sid would know it anywhere. But how?