Mighty Maximilian: Samuel Clemens's Traveling Companion Book #4
The round buoy was painted with the boat's name Mississippi Belle Maximilian began putting together the pieces to the puzzle He was on the deck of a moving boat He turned his face into the soft breeze The warm air felt refreshing after being in the time machine for so long Maximilian slowly made his way out from underneath a bench An impressive sight was not ten yards in front of him A massive paddle wheel churned its way slowly through the water It threw a cool crisp mist into the air as it turned Maximilian's eyes grew bigger He slowly backed himself underneath the bench again Something about the size and scale of the wheel scared Maximilian It was like a slow moving giant wading through the water Large wooden planks worked to power the Mississippi Belle through the currents The planks were whitewashed and fastened securely into place by large iron bolts Air released from the hydraulic compressors sounded like the breathing of a hibernating bear
Maximilian had become used to something very similar to this paddle wheel back home in Tanner's Glen Over the years Farmer Tanner had expanded his farm He had added an old pine waterwheel that helped grind grain to make flour Maximilian had spent days watching the waterwheel turn He had studied it very closely He began to see many similarities between Farmer Tanner's mill wheel and that of the riverboat After a few minutes of watching the paddle wheel Maximilian took in the rest of his surroundings The boat passed large low hanging trees draped in moss Even with the noise created by the paddle wheel Maximilian could hear music and talking Although the music was soft Maximilian recognized some of the songs He could not quite put his paw on exactly what songs they were though What kind of boat is this Maximilian wondered as he pondered his next move A scrap of paper suddenly fell into Maximilian's paws He took a moment to read
it as his pocket watch reminded him what time it was It was still the morning ten o clock to be exact Maximilian read the simple typed script Ticket exchangeable for one seat aboard the Mississippi Belle Vicksburg Mississippi to the Port of New Orleans Louisiana New Orleans Maximilian mumbled He read the boat ticket a second time Its one end had been torn when its passenger had boarded earlier that morning Maximilian breathed a heavy sigh of disappointment and placed a paw on his hip The possessor of this ticket should board at 7 30 a m at the Port of Vicksburg on Saturday December 24 1875
Chapter 3 BOGIE it was Christmas Eve Somehow that made not making it home that much more painful The small field mouse sat motionless on the deck of the Mississippi paddleboat in shock Maximilian watched as a large fly landed on the wooden railing of the boat Coarse dark hair covered its body and its bulging eyes darted from one end of the deck to the other Finally those eyes fell squarely on Maximilian It looked him over as its wings shook to dry themselves What is it looking at Maximilian thought uneasily The fly began to make its way down the railing toward Maximilian Maximilian felt more and more uneasy Should he move What could an oversized sluggish black fly possibly want with him
