Page 17 of Beneath the Haunting Sea
Talia bit her lip andmet her mother’s gaze, forcing herself to smile. “I do. Thank you for writing it down for me.”
Her mother grinned, laughed, reached across the table to hug her. “I’d like to go on deck and watch for a while now.”
“The captain and I have been watching in turns so you can get some rest, Mama. Don’t worry, you can watch again soon.”
Her mother nodded. “I can’t watch all the time.”
“Of coursenot. No one could. Now let’s get you back to bed.”
She allowed Talia to help her up from the table, leaning on her with her good arm. Talia led her through the door to the captain’s bunk, and she climbed under the covers, pulling the blankets up to her chin.
“I’m glad you understand now,” she whispered, her eyes drifting shut.
“Me too, Mama.” Talia kissed her forehead and slipped back out ofthe cabin. The moon was directly overhead now, flooding the whole deck in silver.
She thought she might be sick.
The story her mother had written for her was complete and utter nonsense.
Chapter Eight
TALIA’S MOTHER GOT BETTER AFTER THAT, INbody, at least. Her fever broke. She smiled again. Her wrist even started to heal. But she seemed very far away. Talia thought Captain Oblaine would make her move back belowdecks, but he didn’t. The pity burned even darker in his eyes than before.
Because Talia’s mother wasn’t well. Not at all. She wandered about the ship, speaking nonsense,laughing for no reason, and standing straight as a pillar for hours on end as she stared into the sea. Watching, she said, always watching, or they would die.
The wind blew colder as the ship sailed further north. The sea grew choppy.
Talia spent her days with Hanid and the other men, learning how to work the lines and trim the sails, keeping them at the proper angle to the wind. If the sailswere let out too far they flapped uselessly; if taken in too much they were equally ineffective. They required constant adjustment to keep theLazy Jackalmoving steadily on.
Hanid taught her how to understand the captain’s sea charts and take readings with a compass or sightings of the sun and stars above the horizon with a sextant. She learned how to patch sails and tie knots. Hanid even persuadedOblaine to let her take the ship’s wheel a few times. She got the feeling Hanid was trying to distract her and she welcomed it, throwing herself headlong into his lessons. She tried to force away her worry for her mother and the continual ache of homesickness by exhausting herself.
But she couldn’t shake her sense of dread. Every day the ship drew them further from Enduena and closer to Ryn.Every day her sense of foreboding intensified. What did Eda have in store for her there?
They had been three months at sea when another storm came, with little warning.
Hanid was teaching Talia how to tie a masthead knot, and an icy wind tore suddenly across the deck, ripping her hair from its braid. A wave crashed over the rail. She jerked her eyes up to see black clouds knotting tight acrossthe sun.
They broke all at once.
“All hands!” came Captain Oblaine’s sudden cry from farther down the deck. “All hands!”
Alarm bells clanged, and sailors shot up the riggings to furl the sails.
Hanid squeezed her arm. “With me.”
A bolt of worry for her mother tore through her, but there wasn’t time to think.
She and Hanid fought together through the raging wind and up the rigging to thefore topmast. They crawled out horizontally onto opposite sides of the topsail, clinging to the lines as they went. The rain nearly blinded her, bits of ice stinging her face and hands. Talia grabbed for the bottom of the sail and nearly lost her grip on the rigging. She gulped for breath and reached again. This time her fingers found the canvas. She pulled it up to the yard and scrambled to tie itin place, her hands so stiff and cold she could barely manage the slipknot. But she did, at last, and scooted backward to the mast, then down the rigging.
Hanid was already on deck again. “Many thanks!” he shouted to her above the storm. “Best get below now, m’lady.”
“I have to find my mother!”
“It isn’t safe!”
The ship lurched beneath them, the bow slanting nearly vertical into the ocean.Talia lost her footing and slid down the deck, choking on seawater, feet and hands scrambling for purchase.
She skidded toward the rail and barreled straight over as the ship jerked back up in the opposite direction. Somehow, she managed to grab the rail before the waves pulled the ship away. She screamed, forcing her fingers to hang on, struggling and failing to pull herself up. The sea graspedat her heels, yearning to drag her down into the depths. She thought she heard music.
