He now understood why Alexei had been so impressed with Harold Farnsworth and his shipyard. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the man had a lovely daughter Alexei had been writing to for the past six months. Alexei claimed they were just friends, but if the two of them were to marry, it would give Alexei access to a new world of innovation in the area of naval architecture.
What a pity the ship Farnsworth was trying to sell them wasn’t worth two pennies.
TheEmberfallsat in a neglected corner of the yard, a rusting heap that no one seemed in a hurry to fix. Its hull was streaked with corrosion and rust, proving that the vessel had been neglected in disrepair long before its shipwreck.
A gaping hole in the stern bore evidence of a brutal collision, and the metal plating was warped and buckled where something massive had struck it. The deck above the hole sagged too, anda thin layer of stagnant water pooled in the lowest parts of the hull.
Yuri exhaled slowly. Just what was he supposed to tell Alexei? He understood why his brother wanted an iron- or steel-hulled vessel. The shipping industry was moving away from smaller wooden ships like the ones their family built and toward large barges and freighters that could transport four times the cargo.
But they couldn’t purchase theEmberfall. No bank would lend them money for such a mess, and fixing it would probably cost more than their trading company and shipyard made in a year.
A man in a tailored suit and polished shoes approached. Yuri didn’t need anyone to tell him this was Harold Farnsworth. The man looked far too clean and professional to spend much time in the loud, dusty shipyard.
“Mr. Amos.” Farnsworth extended a hand. “I trust your journey to San Francisco went well?”
Yuri gave his hand a swift shake. “It did.”
“I told my manager to get me when you arrived. I’m sorry he didn’t. I wanted to show you theEmberfallmyself.” Farnsworth gestured toward the barge, a smooth smile fixed on his face. “What do you think of her?”
“Looks like she needs a good bit of work, but I have to say, I’m rather impressed by your shipyard. I see why Alexei speaks so highly of it.” Yuri nodded toward the elegant new ship rising in the dry dock.
“Ah, thank you.” The man gave him a smile that looked a bit more genuine and less polished. “She’s a work in progress. We’re always trying to improve things around here, but when I think back to where we started with only one dry dock and three workers thirty years ago, I have to say we’ve come a long way.”
They certainly had. Yuri scanned the shipyard again. There was one thing he didn’t understand, and it was probably best just to come straight out and ask it. “With all the resources and workers at your disposal, why not restore theEmberfallyourself?”
“We’ve switched to building only steel ships. It’s a superior metal to iron, as I’m sure you know. We build two a year—each one made to order and spoken for before the first rivet is driven into the hull.” Farnsworth gestured toward the workers swarming the pristine vessel. “TheBlack Marlinwill be heading to Shanghai this spring.”
That was a convenient excuse for trying to sell his family a leaky bucket of rust at an inflated price. “So what happened to theEmberfall, and how did you end up with her if you don’t want anything to do with iron vessels?”
“She was a storm casualty, and the owner owed me a bit of money. I said I would take the ship as compensation and had it towed back here before deciding there was too much damage for me to repair it myself. I need it to be gone as soon as possible. We should already be laying the keel and starting on the frame for our next ship, which we usually do right here, where theEmberfallis sitting. I know she’s a bit old, but most of the iron is solid. I’d say she’s got another decade or so in her. And for a man like your brother who’s looking to expand his fleet, she could be a fine investment.”
Farnsworth’s “investment” idea would still cost his family thousands of dollars. And no matter how thoroughly they repaired the hole in the hull, the rust climbing the frame and joints would take the ship at some point. Yuri wasn’t enough of an expert in iron-hulled ships to predict exactly when that might be, but claiming the ship would last a decade was overly optimistic.
It would cost Alexei less to build a sixth vessel in their fleet.
“The iron itself is still quite valuable.” Farnsworth said, probably because he didn’t know what to do with Yuri’s silence. “And the structure can be reinforced. She just needs the right man willing to put in the work. I’m willing to strike a good deal to have it out of my hair.”
Farnsworth flashed him another smooth smile.
Yuri made a small humming sound, his gaze drifting from theEmberfallto theBlack Marlin.It wasn’t that difficult for a shipyard that worked with steel to repair an iron vessel. All the tools would be the same, only the metal would be different.
“Mr. Farnsworth! Mr. Farnsworth!”
There was so much activity in the shipyard, it took Yuri a moment to spot the speaker, a short, slender man in a suit as ill-fitting as Farnsworth’s was pristine. He waved a letter in the air.
“I just received word from the Hollisters.” The man stopped beside Farnsworth, his chest heaving as though he’d just run a mile, though Yuri suspected he’d come from the office building inside the shipyard.
“And?” Farnsworth held out a hand for the letter.
“I don’t know.” The man, likely Farnsworth’s personal clerk, handed it over. “I didn’t read it.”
Farnsworth tore the envelope open and scanned the contents, then crumpled it in his hand.
“I assume they refused your offer?” the clerk asked.
“They’re fools.” Farnsworth’s lips pressed together in a flat line. “They’ve no reason to refuse it. It’s a perfectly good offer.”
The clerk winced. “Ah, for you, yes. But I’m sure they don’t want to sell their shipyard for a pittance of what it’s worth.”
