A recent book I read — ‘Hops and Glory’ — had the writer (and the main character) in a precarious situation. Namely, they — Pete Brown — had to transport a keg of ale on a riverboat for a considerable distance. Having lost his previous co-journeyman, Pete turned to his other friends.
In short, what can be said is that his phone calls were answered negatively. No one was terribly keen in joining a riverboat journey the next day; mostly because of various reasons but often invariably grouped under the term ‘work’.
Pete’s story ended in success, naturally, when he turned to his mother who came and helped him out. That is one way of solving such a conundrum.
My preferred way, however, if someone turned to me with such a request, would be to go and join in on the riverboat journey. Hence, this could be rephrased: one needs to be in a position that if they are invited along for a next-day riverboat journey, they can go for it.
