He took his rope with him and immediately secured himself to the rail before he went on both knees to see better the men crouched over another lying on the deck.
One looked up. Talon could barely discern the bearded face of the captain. “A wave came and smashed into us. It took Tarif down so hard he is unconscious and needs to be taken below! I think he has broken something. Thank God he was not washed overboard.”
Talon felt a presence alongside him.
“I shall take him below,” Reza said loudly over the din of the wind. Talon slapped him on his soaked back.
“I’ll take his place here with the captain, Reza. God protect you!”
“And you, be careful!” Reza shouted. They all flinched when a long streak of lightning struck the sea within fifty paces of them on the starboard side. It sizzled and writhed, lighting up the sky in an unholy glare, and the clap of thunder that followed made them all duck again. Reza shook his head as he gave a lopsided grin to Talon, who only saw the faint gleam of his teeth; then he helped the other steersman carry the unconscious Tariq below decks. It was a perilous journey across the deck and down the steps, but they managed it and disappeared from sight, leaving Talon and the captain alone on the top deck. It felt lonelier than ever to be here with no one else but the captain for company; however, he was determined to help fight the storm in any way he could. Just standing a spectator had been its own torment.
“I have sent for replacements,” the captain shouted. “I do not wish to be disrespectful, Master Talon, but can you assist me while we wait for them? The steering is hard on one man.”
“Of course I shall,” Talon shouted back. “You need not ask. Show me what needs to be done.”
*****
A cold, gray dawn found them still floating over mountainous seas, held on course with only the jib sail to keep them going with the wind. Reza had reappeared, but not the other steersmen, which angered the captain.
The mess on the steering deck now became apparent, a tangle of ropes and sail remnants, along with pulleys, any one of which would have killed a man had it struck him on the head while falling. Other than this, however, the ship did not seem to have sustained major damage, at least not on the decks. They had not lost a mast, which would have been a disaster. Talon was glad to see that they still had their boats. It remained to be seen if there had been major damage below.
While the ship heaved and rolled in the agitated seas, the captain explained to Talon how they needed to read the sea and take advantage of every small opportunity it presented. It was exhausting work, but now at least the visibility was improving with a watery light. Low clouds scudded past the ship, barely as high as the top of the mast. Of the sun there was no sign, other than a faint glow in the East. The wind had eased, so that the ship was not buffeted as it had been most of the night, and to the exhausted, soaked men on the steering deck it was a huge comfort not to be chilled by the crazed wind.
A man showed his face on the waist deck. It was Umayr, calling up to them on the after deck. Talon could not hear what he said, but the captain left him and Reza holding the steering pole and strode over to the rail overlooking the waist deck.
This time Talon could hear him clearly over the wind. “Get all hands on the deck, and I mean all hands!” the captain bellowed. “I shall whip all your rotten hides purple if there is one son of a dog left below. Go!” he waved his hand at Umayr, who vanished.
Minutes later, the crew gathered on deck. They huddled in the waist while the captain harangued them from above.
“While you craven lickspittles have been cowering in the holds, I, your captain, and Masters Talon and Reza here, have been keeping the ship on course all night long, and by doing so have probably saved your worthless hides. I want a sail on deck immediately to replace the one we lost last night, and men to bail the ship. Where are the steering crew?” he bellowed.
Two men stepped forward, looking sheepish.
“Where were you last night when I needed you?” he demanded.
“We were afraid, Rais,” one of the men whimpered.
“You were afraid!” the captain shouted. “How do you think we felt up here on the top deck all night? Do you think we were not afraid also? It is fearful men who die, as you should, for your cowardly behavior. You will be punished when we are done!” he threatened. “Get your scaly hides up here and take over from the owners of this ship, who should never have had to do this work!”
He waited until they came on the deck, then slapped them around their heads and kicked them, cowering, to their posts. Talon and Reza, barely able to keep from laughing, stood aside as soon as the chastened men arrived and seized the pole from them.
“If you let this ship drift off the wind I shall cut your throats and give you to the monsters of the sea, although they are likely to spit you out once they find out what you are made of,” the captain roared at them. They nodded mutely, cringing.
He turned away and began to issue orders to the crew, putting Abdullah, a large muscular man man with a huge mustache, in charge of the bailing party, while Waqqas was given the urgent task of replacing the lost after-sail. He came back to where Talon and Reza now stood, on the port side away from the steering post. They had left the life saving ropes tied to the rail but had untied themselves, as their lives no longer depended on them. The sea was still dangerous and the ship was still being tossed about like a twig in rapids, but the storm was moving away. Nevertheless, they needed the sail, which men under the direction of Waqqas now struggled to bring up from below and drag onto the after deck.
Now there was a problem. The pulleys which were used to haul the sail up to the top of the mast were in a jumbled heap on the deck, and one important pulley was missing at the top of the mast. The only way they could be repositioned was for someone to climb the wildly swaying mast and attach the ropes that would hold the pulleys in place at the top of the mast, which would then allow the sail to be hoisted.
The captain turned to Waqqas and demanded that he send someone up the crude rope ladder attached to the thick stays that held the mast in place. The four men on the deck at the base of the mast refused to meet his eyes. None would volunteer, although he threatened to throw them all overboard. They were afraid and sullen, which bothered Talon; but before anyone else could say anything Reza stepped forward and called out over the wind.
“I shall go up there, but you must show me what to do when I am there.”
Everyone stared at him as though he was out of his mind; but the captain, after a long thoughtful pause, shrugged, and with a wry smile at Reza and Talon said, “By God, but you have a lot of courage, Master Reza. Very well, here is what you must do.”
He explained what was needed, and Reza shook off his cape and gave it to Talon with a grin, saying, “Someone has to show them how it is done, Brother.”
“Indeed they do, my Brother, but take very good care up there. It is going around in crazy circles and you could be thrown off into the sea. I do not know how we could save you if that happens.”
“Insha'Allah it will not be necessary. I shall tie myself when up there,” Reza responded.
Talon knew Reza was lithe and strong, with little fear of heights, but this was very dangerous work and he was apprehensive. “God protect, Reza. Be careful.”
Reza leapt onto the railing on the starboard side and then, taking a rope with him, he began to climb. The ship was still rolling and pitching up and down and from side to side. As the men on the deck watched, he seemed to be hanging from the ropes one minute and lying on them the next as the ship lurched to the port side. He was catlike, clearly able to deal with the dizzying changes, and before long he was at the top with his legs wrapped around the main beam of the mast.
He had been instructed by the captain to only make a temporary repair, as to do otherwise would entail much more work. He locked one rope through another, which allowed him to pull up a large pulley from the deck and to secure it to the loops at the top, whereupon th
e crew at the bottom fed up to him, the main rope which would be used to haul the sail boom back up. It took some time, and all the while Reza was being spun about in a dizzy circle that Talon was sure would have made him feel too sick to work. His friend, however, managed to feed the rope through the pulley.
Reza was thus engaged when he happened to look up and stopped in the midst of fiddling with the repair. He was staring intently off to the East in the direction their ship was heading.
“What is it you see?” Talon shouted up at him.
“I see something, Talon. Yes, by God, it is a ship, but it is in trouble. It does not seem to have any sails, and only the stumps of two masts!” Reza yelled back down to them. Suddenly he slipped and had to grab and hold tight as their own vessel lurched into a trough.
“Do you see anyone on it?” shouted the captain.
“No, I do not. I think it is sinking.”
“Come down as soon as you can, Reza; we do not want an accident,” Talon called up to him.
Reza nodded, then to everyone’s amazement he took the end of the rope in both hands and let himself drop down instead of coming back down the stays.
He let out a yell of exhilaration as he flew through the air, but everyone on the deck held their breath with alarm. The crew who were holding the other end of the rope only just had the presence of mind to grip their end and let him down to the deck gently. Even so, he swayed out over the sea in an arc, then flew back and landed on the deck with the grace of an acrobat with a great smile on his face. Talon seized him in a bear hug. The men cheered, singing his praises.
“You have shown much courage, Master Reza!” The captain shouted over the wind. “We all thank you!”
“Idiot! You could have gone swimming with the sharks. Your courage is already legend, my Brother, without having to demonstrate it to these fools,” Talon said in when he put Reza down. Then, “Tell us about this boat. What did you see?” he asked, as they stood aside and watched Waqqas and his men bend the sail to the boom and haul it up to the top. The sail bellied and then went taut, and they could feel the ship surge forward.
For a moment Reza watched the sailors complete the work he had begun. “Now all we have to do is to find out where we are and in which direction we are sailing,” he remarked with a grin.
Some succour yet they could afford;
And, such as storms allow,
The cask, the coop, the floated cord,
Delayed not to bestow.
But he (they knew) nor ship, nor shore,
Whatever they gave, should visit more.
—William Cowper
Chapter Eleven
Strange Survivors
The ship became much more manageable with the lateen sail raised on the after mast, although the captain kept casting apprehensive looks up at it whenever there was a stronger than usual gust of wind. With more control of the ship and with a strong breeze behind them, they began to make good progress. Safa even said he might be able to raise the main sail once the storm had moved on. The seas were still high and agitated, making life on the ship uncomfortable, but the men were able to stand unaided and go about the business of cleaning up the wreckage left by the storm. Food was brought up from the galley by the cook for the hungry men at the tiller, flat bread and some cold rice with cold cooked fish. Nothing hot was available, but Talon didn’t care; he was ravenous, and so was Reza.
They finally persuaded the captain to go and rest; he had been on heavy duty for the entire time and was shivering with cold and exhaustion. He left the deck reluctantly, first admonishing the two replacement steersmen and threatening them with becoming shark food if they did not keep on course until he came back. He said he needed to get a sighting on the sun when the sky cleared and to call him the moment there was an opening in the clouds.
Talon rushed down the stairs to tell Rav’an that he and Reza would be remaining topside until they knew the fate of the ship that Reza had sighted. The women looked pale and exhausted, but they insisted upon coming up on the deck to get some fresh air. The atmosphere in the cabin was fetid and unpleasant.
Talon had informed them of the sighting, so once on deck they shared the general sense of expectancy as they stared forward, hoping to see the other vessel. The crew, too, were very interested in what they would find. It might contain a cargo that could be salvaged. Rostam was delighted when Rav’an pointed out a huge rainbow that glowed in the distance.
A man who had climbed the stays to the mast-head shouted and pointed ahead. “I see it! It is a ship, just as Master Reza said.”
“Is there any sign of life on board?” Talon shouted back.
“No... I don’t think so. It is hard to tell, but we are coming closer. I will see better in a short while.”
Not long after that, everyone got a glimpse of the vessel and saw that it had indeed been dismasted in the storm. There was a jumble of tackle hanging off the side and drifting alongside. Everyone peered forward, trying to make out the details.
“That does not look like any kind of ship I know,” commented one of the steersmen to his mate.
Neither Talon nor Reza had ever seen a ship of this kind before either. It was low in the water, which was level with the waist of the ship; water from the rough sea was washing along that deck so that the only safe place was on the high afterdeck which was where he thought any survivors would take refuge.
“It looks as though they had a fire on board,” Reza commented, pointing to the front of the dying vessel.
“I agree, it looks as though they did have a fire, and I see something else. Yes, there is movement. There is someone still on the ship!” Talon exclaimed. “Go and get the captain, and hurry!” he shouted down to the men on the waist deck.
Dandachi came hurrying up from his cabin, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Having greeted them, he turned to peer forward.
Talon pointed. “Look, Captain! There are signs of life still on board. We should try to help if we can.”
Dandachi looked at him doubtfully. “My responsibility is to this ship, Master Talon, to you and your passengers. It might well endanger us all to do anything for those souls. It is God’s will and we should not interfere.”
“We must do what we can for them, Captain. It would be wrong in God’s eyes to abandon them to this fate,” Talon countered. His features were set in such a determined manner that the captain shook his head.
“You and your friend have shown us what real courage means, Master. Very well then, we shall approach the ship and see what can be done.”
“It is not an Omani ship,” Dandachi informed Talon, “but I have seen something like this before. Yes, I know it now!” he exclaimed. “It is a China ship. It is one of their vessels!”
Talon and Reza looked at one another. This was the very first time they had ever seen a Chinese sea-going vessel, albeit a badly damaged one. They could now make out the blackened and burned forward part of the boat, which was wallowing half submerged. Talon studied the design with interest, as it contrasted sharply with his own ship. It appeared to have a blunt prow and three masts, two of which were now jagged stumps. The after part of the ship was much more elaborately designed. There were no less than three after decks for his own ship’s two, but theirs were short, sloping decks. There were many windows below each deck, most of them shuttered, but a couple hung open, broken and splintered.
Captain Dandachi was speaking again. “We are only a week or less by my last estimation from the coast of Sumatra and the long straits between that Spice Island and the land of the Malay people. That must be a merchant ship on its way to the town of Kalah Bar on the coast of Malaya, where we are also heading. It is a grand meeting place for Omani Arab merchants and Chinese merchants. Goods are exchanged and news is discussed.”
He got not further. There were suddenly signs of life on the upper deck of the wreck ahead of them. Three figures on the topmost deck who waved energetically at them, one of them holding a cloth like a flag. They looke
d very ragged. By now, only about five hundred paces separated the two boats.
“Where is their crew?” someone asked out loud. “Are those the only survivors?”
Those who were not working the sails crowded to the starboard side along the railings to stare curiously at the wreck they were approaching.
The captain roared at them to get back to their stations in case the Sea Eagle had to wear away from the wreck. They scurried back to their places but still peered over at the other vessel. The captain stayed close to the steersmen to direct operations and carefully brought their ship to within hailing distance.
Talon leaned on the rail and shouted across.
“How many of you?”
The response was hard to hear, but they could just understand some of the words and the number. “… four... sinking... Full of water. Save us!”
The men on the Omani ship looked at one another. “Only four? Where are the rest, I wonder?” Talon said to no one in particular. Turning towards the captain, he asked, “How could we get them off, Captain?”
“We could throw ropes and they could come across on those, perhaps?” Reza suggested.
“If the rope broke that could be dangerous for them, don’t you think? They look too worn out to make it along a rope. We need to do something very quickly.” The sea was washing higher than before across the mid section of the ship.
“Then we must make a raft and run it across with ropes. Either way, it will be dangerous work,” Reza stated.
The captain corrected Reza. “We still have our boats, one of which we can use, although I would want it to be tied off to this ship in case anything happens, so that we can at least haul it back.”
He reluctantly gave orders for a boat to be unlashed. It took many men to lift it and heave it, using pulleys to swung it over the side. The space between the two ships was not wide, but in these high seas it did not look like an appealing venture. Already sea water was slopping into the open boat. There were few men interested in taking the perilous trip across the heaving waters, but as soon as Reza and Talon stepped forward, Waqqas shrugged and said, “Allah protect us! I think it is madness, but I will go too.”
The Dragon's Breath Page 16
