Down at the town canal basin, forty flat-bottomed freight barges were tied up along the newly paved stone wharves.
Master Duncan Stone-Splitter stood on the unloading pier, his leather apron coated in gray stone dust as he signaled the steam-driven derrick cranes.
“Swing those cargo nets with a steady line, lads,” Duncan bellowed. He gestured to the swinging timber booms.
“Every barrel of molasses in those holds is earmarked for the master batch.
Don’t drop a single cask into the basin.”
Barge captain Orson Vance wiped salt spray from his grizzled beard as he handed over his cargo manifests.
“I’ve hauled grain, iron metal bars, and siege timber for thirty years, Master Duncan,” Orson said. He shook his head in sheer wonder.
“The dockworkers in the south thought Lord Giles was opening the world’s biggest confectionery.”
