Title: Commodore's Envoy
Fandom: Swallows and Amazons
Rating: G
Length: 695 words
Author notes: set after Picts and Martyrs.
Summary: Swallow's Ship's Baby is reluctant to sail in Scarab.

Standing on the Holly Howe landing stage, John frowned down at the heavily laden Swallow and the equally crowded Scarab. This was the second trip to Wild Cat Island already; with more tents and bigger, hungrier explorers, their camping gear and stores had proved impossible to take in one voyage. They had left Titty on the island during the first trip to start setting up camp with the Amazons, but all the rest of the Swallows were here, and he couldn't quite see how he was meant to fit them all in. Roger was already curled up in his usual spot before Swallow's mast, clutching a bundle of stores Susan had handed him with stern instructions to keep a good hold of them. The Mate had left a clear space for John by the tiller, but John wasn't sure the tiny gap she had left on one of the seats would be enough for her by herself, let alone for Bridget too. The Ds had even less space, though; he couldn't see anywhere on Scarab where Susan could possibly fit. The Ship's Baby (who was insistent on being an able-seaman now), on the other hand…

“Captain Dick, Mate Dorothea, do you think you have room for Bridget?”

Dorothea nodded. “Plenty of room for a little one! She can squeeze in next to me, can’t you, Bridgie?”

“Better if she's in the bows, out of the way of the boom,” Dick said, looking anxiously up at the flag on the crosstrees. “The wind's veering round, I think we'll have to tack.”

At that point, Bridget herself piped up. “But I'm a Swallow! I should go in Swallow!”

“Of course you're a Swallow, but we're short on space,” John pointed out. “If you don't go in Scarab, you'll have to wait here and we'll have to make another trip to fetch you.”

“You always leave me behind, it's not fair,” Bridget complained, the corners of her mouth drooping.

John looked at her rather helplessly, then turned to Susan. She was the only one who could deal with Bridget in these moods!

“One of us has to go with them, Bridgie, you can see yourself there's not enough room for all of us in Swallow,” Susan said patiently. “And you’re the smallest, you’ll fit best in the bows of Scarab.”

“But it's always me you leave behind,” Bridget repeated stubbornly.

Susan looked up to catch Roger's eye, hoping he'd offer to go with the Ds, but Roger just scowled. He liked Dick and Dot and had nothing against their Scarab - except that, like Amazon, she didn't have enough room in the bows for his taste - but Bridget got her own way far too often, in his opinion!

“John's the Captain, you should do as he says if you're going to be an able-seaman,” he pointed out, not moving from his place.

“He's not just the Captain, he's the Commodore,” Dorothea added, a sudden idea coming to her. “You can be the Commodore's envoy in Scarab for the voyage!”

“What’s an en-envoy?” Bridget stumbled over the new word.

“It means I send you with them to do something for me,” John explained, thinking fast as he tried to come up with something that would satisfy Bridget without making her into an annoyance to the other two. “Scarab needs a look-out, and someone needs to sail Swallow. I can’t do both at once, so I’m making you my envoy to be look-out for Scarab.”

“I’m still a Swallow?” Bridget asked.

“Of course! You couldn’t be John’s envoy if you weren’t,” Susan reassured her.

“Well, Able-Seaman Bridget? Will you be my envoy?” John asked, deeply hoping this would work. 

Bridget suddenly smiled. “Aye aye, sir!”

Greatly relieved, John helped her down into the small space Dorothea had managed to clear in the bows of Scarab while he and Susan talked Bridget into it. As he did, Susan flashed Dorothea a grateful smile and helped her re-stow the box of plates she'd had to move out of Bridget's way. Then, once everything was secure, the Commodore pushed Scarab off, sending her - and Bridget, Ship's Baby no more but Able-Seaman and Commodore's envoy - on their way to Wild Cat Island.