Free Happenstance Found (Books of Umber #1) by P. W. Catanese

of dogs! Make yourselves busy. Anchors and sails, anchors and sails!”
    Umber put a hand on Hap’s shoulder. “Thank you, Captain Sandar. Now I want you to meet a new friend. His name is Happenstance.”
    Sandar bowed, transforming instantly from stern captain to gracious host. “A pleasure, Happenstance. As a friend of Lord Umber, you can count on my loyalty and service.” He seemed to mean it, and so Hap found himself liking the man immediately.
    “Excellent,” Umber said. “Now, good Captain, I wish to quietly put in at the outer dock of the Aerie. I don’t care to deal with Hoyle just now; she’s probably in a snit.”
    Sandar’s handsome face went pale. He coughed into his hand. “Lord Umber, about Hoyle …”
    Umber blanched. Not far from where they stood was a door to a cabin on the Swift ’s main deck. That door exploded open, hitting the wall with a thunderous crack. A short, squat woman with a doleful expression on her chunky face filled the shadowy threshold. She raised a finger and pointed. “You!”
    Umber drew his head between his knobby shoulders, much like a turtle. “N-now, Hoyle,” he stammered, raising his palms. “You know perfectly well that I need to take the occasional jaunt …”
    Hoyle advanced and Umber retreated until his back was pressed against the railing and she was an inch away. She mashed her fists into her plump hips and glared up into Umber’s face. “A jaunt ? Is that what you call these silly expeditions? Do you have any idea how much you’ve cost us? Of course you do! That’s why you were going to sneak into the outer dock like a common smuggler. You wanted to avoid me! Well, that’s exactly why I came on board to intercept you! You’re an impulsive pudding-head, that’s what you are, and a ridiculous businessman. The leviathan barge is the most valuable asset in our fleet, you dolt. While you were gone, word came of a wondrous opportunity: rare perfume out of Andobar! And where is our best cargo ship, the one that’s impervious to headwind and doldrums and buccaneers? Off on a lark, a fool’s errand, a goose chase, in search of some pointless and probably mythical treasure. And you didn’t even tell me you were commandeering Boroon! You snuck away, and I’ll wager you came home empty-handed! Well, what do you have to say about it, Lord Umber?”
    There was a grim silence. The sailors edged away as if their eyebrows might be singed if they stood too close. Sandar leaned back, massaging his throat. Nima observed with interest from the barge. From under the sea came a comment from Boroon: a long, deep hmmmmmmmm .
    Umber coughed and tugged at his collar. His head slowly emerged from between his shoulders. His voice squeaked at first, and then gathered strength as he spoke. “I do have something to say, in fact. Firstly, at a time like this, Hoyle, I almost forget that you work for me and not the other way around. Secondly, much of our mutual success has sprung from these jaunts , and I trust you’ll bear that in mind. Thirdly, I was presented with information about something important that might be retrieved, and I had reason to believe that haste was crucial. That is why I asked Captain Nima to take me. Fourthly, I am not a pudding-head. And fifthly, I did not come home empty-handed.”
    “Oh, really?” Hoyle said. Her glare had lost a fraction of its heat. “And what did you find?”
    Umber raised a finger toward the sky, twirled it in the air, and brought it down over Hap’s head. Hoyle looked at Hap for the first time, and she took in a sharp breath when her eyes met his.
    “A boy ?” She turned to Umber with one eyebrow arched high. “Lord Umber, you can’t just run out to a distant shore and collect a boy .”
    “Normally I’d concur,” Umber said, “but this particular boy—who has a name, incidentally, which is Happenstance—needed to be collected. Rescued, in fact, from a cruel fate. Happenstance has no memory, you see, and no one to take