Chapter 12

It was not very heartily nailed down to the deck.

You'd expected the wind to pick it up, you with it, and throw it into the sea an hour ago.

But then, the Captain spontaneously threw the door open.

To see the door fly open, at first you screamed, but then you saw it was him and stopped. He grabbed your wrist without question, and pulled you out into the rain.

You'd dried off a long time ago, and to feel the rain again, it was a real shock.

The wind was much harder than before. The crew had taken to cutting the sails down, as they couldn't hold them back any longer.

The storm was at its worst.

"What are you doing?!" you exclaimed to the Captain.

"Saving your life! That cabin could go any second! Now hold on, I'll get you a rope to the mast!"

"But the door?!" You had to yell very loudly to be heard in that wind. "All of your gold is spilling out!"

He turned and saw a large chest full of gold and jewels spill out from his cabin across the deck, but he didn't care. "Let it go! It's just gold! I came back here for you!" He'd given up his stash of gold to get you out of the cabin...

The ship began to lurch again. He grabbed you tight, and you held onto him back, feeling like a feather in the wind as a wave crashed over the ship, dunking both of you, and opening your eyes again in a completely different part of the upper deck.

The thunder boomed loud enough to deafen you, and the lightning that flashed looked like it touched the water whether it did or not. It was so bright, it illuminated the whole sky, as bright as if the sun itself had been given a fraction of a second to flash its light.

He let go of you again, and only held you by your wrists now that the wave was gone. "How much longer is there of this?!" you yelled.

"It's around midnight, I think we're halfway!" he yelled back. "Twenty foot waves, hundred or so mile per hour winds, probably a category two!"

"Category two what?!"

"Hurricane!"

You gulped. "Are we...going down?!"

"I hope not!" he exclaimed back. "But we need all hands on deck!"

"Why not all hands below deck?!"

"Because below deck you'll be the first one sucked underwater if we go down!"

"But we're going to be alright, right?!"

"If I have any say in it, yes!"

"You don't have any say in the weather!"

"I know, I'm just trying to make you feel better!"

"Well it's not helping!"

Another wave crashed over you, and left you sputtering for air. The Captain grabbed you tightly again, and you held on for dear life.

You came up, and he released you again, now holding onto your shoulders so you could wipe the water out of your eyes and spit the salt from your mouth.

He couldn't tell in your eyes because of the storm, but you were crying.

But he could see it in your expression.

And he gave you a comforting hug, and you cried in his shoulder.

"Listen, I promise you, I will protect you, you hear me?" he called over the storm.

That didn't help. "But how can you...?"

"Anika, on my life, you will be safe! Wherever you fall, I will catch you, I will find you!" he exclaimed, and you held onto each other as to not be washed away, trying to get to the mast.

You looked up to see the largest wave you'd ever thought possible, as high as the ship itself, rising like the mouth of the sea had come up to swallow its prey.

The Captain had just enough time to grab you even closer, and jump to the floor of the deck before the wave crashed down and you felt yourself get swirled away from everything, spinning in the water, thumping against the deck, the saltwater washing over everything and into the sea.