First Light at Pelican Wharf

The harbourmaster's hut at Pelican Wharf smells of salt, old rope, and yesterday's tea. You arrived at dawn to collect the tide-register for the district office — a routine errand, except the register is locked in Harbourmaster Goss's desk, Goss is already out on the water, and the morning's first supply vessel, the Cormorant, will blow her horn at the top of the hour to signal she's ready to berth. Somebody needs to raise the harbour flag before that horn sounds, or the Cormorant's captain will assume the berth is occupied and divert to Sable Cay — a full day's detour. You have perhaps twenty minutes, a cold kettle, and whatever Goss left within reach.