She dropped the staff to the deck with a dull thump that seemed to shake the ship and used it to pivot to her right and face the east. She raised the staff again.
“I call on the Guardian of the East, Breath of the World, to hold the winds that threaten this ship and allow us to pass through this storm in safety.”
Again she dropped the staff to the deck and the dull thump felt more like a drum beat. Once more she pivoted and faced the south. As she raised the staff she saw the startled looking faces of the crew looking down at her from the raised bridge. If she hadn’t been so intent, she might have laughed at their shocked expressions. Even the younger Groves staring up into the rigging looked pale under his sea-grown tan.
“I call on the Guardian of the South, Fire of the World, to grant us the gift of passion to sustain us through the storm that threatens to snuff the fires of our lives.”
The staff boomed on the deck and Tanyth felt a fire growing in her middle that had nothing to do with fear. She turned again to face the west. Her staff felt heavier, or maybe she was just getting tired. She couldn’t be sure.
“I call on the Guardian of the West, Blood of the World, to smooth the seas and calm the waves, to keep the force of storm from breaking this ship and dousing the lives of those aboard.”
The staff boomed again and Tanyth turned, glad it was the last turn. She lifted the staff once more to the north, barely able to lift the heavy oak staff against the buffeting wind.
“May the Guardians hold the circle around this ship and all who sail her. Grant them the strength to endure, passion to live, and flexibility to survive the winds and waves and fire that drive this storm. In the name of the All-Mother, and in the name of the All-Father, I ask. So mote it be.”
She brought the staff down for the last time and the sound of it crashed around her.
“Bother,” she grumbled. “After all that, we get hit by lightning.”
She gnawed on the wood some more. The hole was nearly big enough to get into, but she worried that she might not be able to get out. She could thrust her head in, but it wasn’t enough for her shoulders. She needed to make the hole bigger.
The ground shook a few times and she stopped. There were no others. She heard them up above, but they didn’t let the light in, so she knew she was safe. After a time, she wondered if there was still food in the Small Place or if the others had taken it away. Perhaps her sister mothers had found it and eaten it all.
She stopped chewing on the wood and cleaned her whiskers. Food would be good, she thought, and scampered toward the wet crack and had almost squeezed all the way through it when she smelled the sharp smell, the smell of danger. She froze and looked. A fat ball of food rested on the metal. The metal was danger. She knew danger and it made her angry.
She squeezed through the wet crack and walked around the food. Not touching it. Not looking at it.
She found the round edge that had spilled food. The others had come down and lifted it up, but she found spilled food in the corners and ate until her belly was full. She went back to the wet crack and walked carefully around the food. She was no longer hungry now, but the food smelled good. She squeezed through the wet crack and went back to chewing the wood.
Tanyth awoke to find herself wrapped snugly in her bedroll. Watery light shone through the salt-rimed glass and the ship’s movement was a gentle rocking-horse motion, up and down, up and down. Rebecca stirred in the bunk across from her but seemed safe enough. She had a moment to remember the storm and wonder how she’d managed to sleep through it all before the up-and-down movement rocked her to sleep once more.
Chapter Twenty-Six:
Aftermath
The sound of four bells woke Tanyth again. Bright morning sun streamed in through the porthole, and her bladder told her it was time for a visit to the water closet. Rebecca stood beside the bunk, looking down on her, a gentle smile curving her lips.
“Well, there you are, mum,” she said. “I was beginnin’ ta wonder if you’d sleep all the way to North Haven.”
Tanyth managed a weak grin. “I’m glad ta see you, too, my dear, but if I don’t find the water closet, there’s gonna be a problem.”
Rebecca giggled and stepped back to give Tanyth room. “’Course, mum.”
Tanyth untangled herself from her bedroll and clambered down off the bunk. Her knees almost gave out on her when she put her weight on them, and she leaned on Rebecca for a moment to catch her breath.
“That’ll teach me to miss a meal,” she said with an apologetic shrug. She wasn’t sure when she was supposed to have had that meal. “It’s been a long time since breakfast and here it’s breakfast time again,” she grumbled.
Rebecca helped her steady herself along the passageway to the water closet and back. She felt much better by the time she got back to the room. She raked her fingers through her hair to flatten it out a bit and then pulled her knit cap on over the top to hide the mess.
“What’re you doin’, mum?” Rebecca asked.
“Goin’ to get a cuppa tea and see if Cook has a biscuit or two for a poor old hungry woman.” She grinned at Rebecca and reached for her coat.
“That’s prob’ly not a good idea, mum. You’re still pretty weak.”
Tanyth snorted. “I’m not likely ta get much stronger without eatin’ now, am I?”
Tanyth caught sight of her staff standing in the corner again where it had started the trip and she took a moment to put it back into the slot between the mattress and bunk.
She stood there frozen for several moments, hands curled around the rail, remembering the storm, remembering falling down, trying to remember how she’d gotten up off the deck. Trying out her memory to see if there were fragments that she could splice together to figure out what happened after. She couldn’t find a trace and her heart banged in her chest.
“You all right, mum?” Rebecca asked, stepping up to touch her elbow.
“I’m not going mad.” Her fierce whisper almost hissed in the air.
“No, mum. You’re not.”
She took a deep breath, then another. She willed her heart to slow.
“Tea,” she muttered. “A cup of tea.”
Her stomach grumbled.
“And some oatmeal maybe?”
“I’ll get it for you, mum,” Rebecca said, fumbling for her own outer garments.
“You’ll do no such thing,” Tanyth snapped.
The look of hurt in Rebecca’s face captured Tanyth’s attention and she took a deep breath.
“What I mean is I can take care of it myself, my dear. No need for you to bother.”
Rebecca’s look changed to one of soft sympathy and Tanyth wasn’t sure it was an improvement.
“Of course, you can, mum.” Rebecca continued putting on her wrap. “I’ll just go along with you and get a cup myself.”
Tanyth let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and nodded.
Together, they left the cabin again and made their way across the deck to the cookhouse.
Tanyth’s legs still felt a little shaky and she had to concentrate on walking across the gently rolling deck once more. She slipped through the door and found Cook staring at her, eyes all but bugging out of his skull.
She stood there for a moment, shocked by his expression before she thought to say, “Good morning, Cook. Is there tea?”
“Mum? You’re up.”
“Well, of course, I’m up. Where would I be?”
“In your bunk. What are you doing up?”
She blinked at him. “Well, it is morning and my bladder thought I should be. Why wouldn’t I be up?”
Rebecca placed a calming hand on her shoulder. “Is there tea, Cook? Perhaps a biscuit?” she asked.
“Oh!” Cook scrambled about and grabbed a mug, sloshed tea into it and offered her the hamper of biscuits.
Tanyth had to reach well down to find a biscuit but find one she did. She propped herself in the corner and took a sip of tea and a nibble from t
he biscuit.
Cook offered Rebecca a heavy mug and the younger woman accepted with quiet thanks and huddled into the opposite corner.
Tanyth smiled to herself, savoring the warmth of the tea and already feeling better for having the flakey bread in her hand. She noticed Cook still staring at her.
“What?” she asked.
“Are you feeling all right, mum?”
She shrugged. “A little weak. Hungry, but it’s been a long time since breakfast.”
“A long time since breakfast, mum?”
“Yeah. Last thing I remember is the storm comin’ and I said a little prayer and then the ship got hit by lightning. I musta slept through the storm and everything. Was anybody hurt?”
“Hurt, mum?” Cook cast a look at Rebecca who shrugged and gave a small shake of her head.
Tanyth took a deep breath and another sip of tea before she got too exasperated with him. “By the lightning? That can’t be a good thing at sea.”
“No, mum, we have lightning catchers on the mast heads. Sizzles a bit, but takes the lightning to water without burning up the ship and crew on the way.”
“Oh, that’s good.” The biscuit tasted delicious and she nibbled it down.
“But we didn’t take a lightning strike, mum.”
She looked up at him, tearing her eyes off the biscuit, and taking a sip of the tea. “Of course, we did. I was standing right there on deck.”
He shook his head. “No, mum. I was standing right there watching. You did your...I don’t know what to call it...”
“Well, I call it prayer.” Tanyth smiled and held out her mug for more tea.
“Your prayer, then, mum.” Cook refilled her mug without stopping. “Then you smacked the deck and the whole ship shook.”
“Oh, dear! I didn’t hurt the deck or anything, did I? I was worried about that iron shoe. Thought it might gouge the deck.”
“Mum?”
“Yes?”
“Mum, you stood there on the deck and screamed at the storm. Every time you hit the deck with your staff, the whole damn thing rang like a bell. Every time it rang louder. When you got all the way around, you smacked it one last time and then stood there with this fierce look on your face. I didn’t know whether to run or hide or both.”
Tanyth smiled. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration, I’n’t it, Cook?”
“I’m not done, yet, mum.”
She blinked at his tone.
“You stood there for maybe a minute and then you just keeled over.”
“Well, yeah. I remember keelin’ over. I think.” She blinked, trying to remember it. “I don’t remember actually hitting the deck, though. I don’t seem to have any bumps or extra bruises that I’ve found.”
“Well, Mr. Groves scooped you up and took you down to your cabin and tucked you in, mum.” He paused. “We didn’t know what else to do with ya.”
“Well, sure. Silly old woman faintin’ on deck just when a storm is comin’.”
“Mum? That was two days ago.”
She grinned at him and then at Rebecca. “Don’t be ridiculous, Cook! It was just yesterday morning.”
Rebecca said, “No, mum. T’was two days.”
“Can’t be—”
The door slammed open startling Tanyth so much she nearly spilled her tea. Mr. Jameson burst in, his eyes racing around the deckhouse. “Cook! Mother—” When he saw her standing there drinking tea, his voice cut off. “You’re up, mum.”
“People keep noticin’ that. What’s got into all of you?”
“You’ve been flat on your back in your bunk for two days, mum. We were getting worried.”
Tanyth looked from Jameson to Rebecca to Cook and back again.
“Told ya, mum,” Cook said.
“Is this a joke?” Tanyth asked. “Because if you’re playin’ some kinda prank, I swear I’ll brain you with this biscuit.” She held up the heel end of her biscuit like it was a twenty-pound hammer.
“Mum, if it’s a joke, I’ll get you a fresh one to use,” Cook said.
“No, mum. Truth,” Rebecca said. “You’ve been conked out in your bunk since you fell over on deck two days ago. We were all getting’ rather worried that you’d hurt yourself.”
Tanyth stretched her shoulders and twisted her torso a bit as an experiment, then shook her head. “I feel all right, other than a tad peckish. My knees are a little weak this morning.”
“Mum, you wait right here? I need to go let the captain know you’re up and about,” Jameson said.
Tanyth shrugged. “All right. Sure. I wasn’t plannin’ on goin’ anywhere.”
“Thank you, mum. I’ll be right back.” Jameson bolted from the door and pulled it closed behind him with a slam.
Tanyth finished the scrap of biscuit and then looked to Cook. “Is there a little oatmeal? I really am feeling hungry this morning.”
“Oh, yes, mum. O’ course.” He spooned a healthy portion into a bowl, drizzled it with a bit of honey and handed it over. “Get on the outside of that, mum, and you can have as much as you like.”
“Isn’t it almost time for the lads to have their breakfast?”
He nodded. “Soon, mum, but I have a feelin’ you’ll be done with that before they get here.”
Tanyth wolfed down the sweet, sticky oatmeal and realized that Cook had been right. In a matter of moments it was gone and she actually looked around for more.
As if reading her mind, Cook said, “There’s more right here, mum.”
She almost held her bowl out but the full feeling in her stomach made her think twice. “Maybe I better let this settle first.”
“Might be wise, mum.”
“I can’t wrap my head around the idea that I slept for two days.” Tanyth said.
“It’s true, mum,” Rebecca said.
She grimaced. “I’ll take your word for it, but I never got up to use the water closet or nothing? It’s a wonder I didn’t wet the bed.”
Cook turned to the stove, checking the oatmeal and tea. “Well, nothing in, nothing out, I guess. I was beginning to worry that there was something else wrong with you, mum, but what you did to the storm musta taken it right out of ya.”
“What I did to the storm? What do you mean?” His words made Tanyth feel a bit dizzy.
Before he could answer, Mr. Jameson returned with the captain, the two of them bursting in with a rush of cool air. “See! There she is,” Jameson said to the captain.
“Good morning, mum.” The captain’s greeting seemed a bit forced, as if she were some stranger he wasn’t sure about.
“Good morning, Captain. I seem to have missed the pleasure of dinin’ with you the last couple of days.”
“It’s quite all right, mum.” The captain spared a glance for Jameson and then Cook before looking back at Tanyth. “You were indisposed. How do you feel now?”
She shrugged. “Fine, I guess, Captain, but I’m hearing odd tales. They’re a bit hard to swallow.”
The captain offered a short, dry laugh. “I dare say, mum. I know the truth and I’m not sure I can fathom it myself.”
The long string of seven bells rang out and the crew started lining up outside the cookhouse. The first sailor in line stuck his head in, spotted the captain, and withdrew so quickly, it struck Tanyth as comical.
“Mum? Would you come sit with me a bit in the cabin? I think we might have a bit of a chat, and the crew needs this space for breakfast.”
“Well, I usually help Cook with servin’, Captain.”
He nodded slowly. “I know, mum, but I’m pretty sure Cook can handle this on his own.”
Cook nodded furiously at the captain’s glance. “Don’t you worry, mum.”
She shrugged. “Well, all right.”
Cook held up the teapot. “Would you like a refill to take with you, mum?”
She eyed the empty oatmeal bowl, surprised that she still held it. Her tea mug was likewise empty and she couldn’t remember draining it.
“Yes, Coo
k. Please.”
She put her mug on his counter for a refill and placed the dirty bowl in the tray by the door.
“Thank you, Cook.” She took up her tea and looked to the captain. “You sure you won’t have some?” She held up the mug.
The captain gave a little shake of his head. “I’ve had my tea for now. I’ll get some more in a bit. Shall we go, mum?”
He nodded to Jameson who opened the door. A crowd of curious faces peered in but pulled back as the captain strolled out. Jameson held the door for her and Tanyth followed with Rebecca by her arm. The sailors who nodded to the captain and offered him greetings as he passed became silent when she emerged from the cookhouse.
Tanyth smiled and nodded to them but couldn’t help but think she’d done something wrong, the way they all just stared at her—some with bugged out eyes, others with slack jaws. One made a warding gesture with his hand, apparently thinking Tanyth wouldn’t notice. Near the end of the line she found one face that offered a tentative smile.
“Good morning, mum. Beautiful day, eh?”
“Good morning, Scooter.” She looked around at the clear, blue sky and the gently rolling waves. “It looks like a marvelous day indeed.”
The captain waited for them at the companionway and she nodded a farewell to Scooter before joining the captain and following him down into the ship and along the passage to his cabin. He waved her into a chair and she sank into it with a sigh.
“Musta been tireder than I felt, Captain. Sittin’ feels good.”
The Captain took a seat and nodded Jameson into the chair across from her.
“Should I report to the bosun now, Captain?” Rebecca asked.
The captain shook his head. “He’ll get by without ya for a while longer.” He indicated a chair beside Tanyth and Rebecca sat.
Turning back to Tanyth, the captain said, “Well, mum, a couple days in the bunk will do that. You took no nourishment the whole time and, frankly, mum, I was getting worried.”
Tanyth sipped her tea and nodded. “That’s what Cook was sayin’, Captain. I can’t believe I slept so long or so sound.” She shook her head. “Not since—” She stopped and glanced at the two men.