Leftrin spoke hastily. ‘Your youngster looks like he knows his way around a deck. When you think he’s ready to try a term under a different captain, he’d be welcome aboard Tarman. Things are a bit more rustic and he’d be sleeping in the deckhouse with the crew, but I’d be glad to foster him for a trip or two.’ Brashen and Althea exchanged a look, but it was not the boy’s mother who said, ‘Not quite old enough yet. But I’ll take you up on that offer when he is.
