Why the Sailors Took to Farming

Henry did not press Astra for more information about her background. He said, "Astra's a nice name. I think that it meant star in the old language. Not that I am an expert in that, but the Captain dabbles in it, and one of the crew knows it well. Anyway, you were wondering why we sailors would long for a farm. It's a good question. Every man has his own reasons, but for me there were two. When you are actually on land, that is when the adventure starts. When you are out at sea, you are working hard to keep the ship going, and that is the hard and boring part. The second one is that a ship is a nothing more than a small and fragile piece of land. If you are mad at a bunch of people for some reason, or the weather gets bad, there are not too many places to escape to. There were times where I was scared, or angry, and I had to pretend that I wasn't, because it was my job to be cool and in charge. And at that time, I would dream of having a big plot of land that wouldn't leak or move around to places I would rather it not go. And also not worry about weevils in my bread or foul water. But most of all, I really wanted to be free just be alone on a whim. I have that now, although I must admit, there is more work on the farm than I thought there would be when I was out at sea. And there are now times that I wish that I could make a little journey on ship - maybe a week or two out to some island, where I could shoot the breeze with some old friends. I guess that I am not going to be completely satisfied no matter what. But I am pretty happy with my life now. How's the food?"

"It's good, thank you. I will be ready to go to sleep soon."

After dinner, Astra took a couple of heavy blankets and a pillow sack, and Henry led her to the barn. Astra stuffed the pillow sack full of hay, and nestled between the blankets, on top of some hay, quickly fell asleep.

Astra woke up when

1. she heard some noise from down below. Someone was working on the ground floor of the barn.
2. sunbeams pierced the hayloft.
3. she heard the galloping of horse's hooves. Someone else was arriving at the farm.

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