Ahab's Daughter

by Ron Vitale

  “I tended him for weeks on my own and watched him waste away. I fed him broth and water, hoping that he would wake up. I kept thinking of his younger sister and how she would want to see him again. I prayed to God to help him and bring him back to us. I prayed night and day, begging God to help Christoph. But he didn’t. He never woke up again.” Josep faced Nathan with tears in his eyes. “After the first bedsores were found, the captain ordered me to ease him into the next life.”

  Nathan sat up and went to argue but thought better of it and remained quiet.

  “I didn’t want to do it, but I just sat there watching him in my free time. I remember how he used to laugh and the jokes he used to tell. He was so full of life and young, but he had wasted away to only a husk of his former self. He had lost a lot of weight, and nothing I did seemed to help him. I tried making loud noises to wake him, soft ones, I pinched him, tickled him—I tried anything I could think of—but nothing could wake him. His spirit had gone and now only the shell of his body remained.” Josep ran his hand through his thick curly head of hair. “So I did as I was ordered. I took a pillow, covered his face, and he passed without a struggle. Up until the last few moments, I thought he would rise up and push the pillow off and come back to us, but that did not happen.”

  “Why did you listen to the captain’s orders? Why didn’t you fight longer?” Nathan asked.

  Josep did not shy away from the question. “Because I became tired of taking care of him. He was gone and nothing I could do would bring him back. I knew that but didn’t want to believe it.”

  “Oh.” The weight of the word hung heavy on Nathan.

  “There are things that happen that are beyond any of our control. It wasn’t my fault that Christoph hit his head. I tried to help him, but no medicine we had could bring him back.” Josep grabbed Nathan’s shoulder and shook it hard. “There was nothing we could have done to save that sailor. You couldn’t, Zeke couldn’t, and I couldn’t save him either. He would have bled out soon on the ship, and Zeke took the responsibility for putting him at ease.”

  “But he was still alive, I could see the hope on his face. Maybe we could have saved him somehow. Maybe…” Nathan’s voice rose up in a higher pitch and then cracked.

  “I know what that feels like, but sometimes there isn’t anything any of us can do to fix what’s already happened. I don’t know about you, but I want to get to the island and bring back my share of the treasure. Bringing that sailor on board would have jeopardized everyone on this ship. It might be a hard lesson to learn, but sometimes things are in God’s hands and not ours.” Josep made the sign of the cross and then kissed his thumb and forefinger, sending a prayer up to the heavens. “Just let it go.”

  Warring emotions broke out on Nathan’s face and he began to cry. Josep patted him on the back and gave him space. “Don’t let anyone tell you that how you feel now is wrong. It’s what separates us from the animals. Remember that.”

  Nathan wiped the tears from his face and turned toward the wind, letting the increasing rain blind him and wash away his tears. He nodded and coughed into his hands. “Thank you.”

  His voice strained and weak, Josep gave him a hard pat on the back and said, “Don’t be too hard on Zeke. I’ve known him a long time. He’s upset too, but just deals with it differently than you. Give him some time and you’ll see. Trust me.”

  “I don’t want to think about Zeke right now. I know why he did what he did, but he’s not here right now to help me. You are.” Nathan turned toward Josep, and the hardness had set in on his face. It always happened this way. Josep had seen it time and time again. The boy turned into a man, letting childish things go and waking to the cold realization of the coarseness of man.

  Chapter 5

  Clarence kept his pistol pointed at me. “After a long chase, we finally meet again. I knew you were on the Marcella, but I didn’t think that I would get so lucky to have you come right to me.”

  “Who are you?” John stepped forward, unafraid of the guns pointed at him.

  “John, please.” I grabbed his arm and pulled him close to me.

  He pulled away from me and stood at the foot of the bed. “We came to help your crew, and we deserve to know your name.”

  A surly-looking man with a gun trained it on John. “Step back.”

  John faced him and said, “I’ve no weapons and we’re not threatening you. What—”

  The sailor fired his gun, and in the blink of an eye, John went down.

  Clarence jumped up on his bed and aimed his gun at Uriah. “Everyone calm down.” He turned on his own two crew members. “And that means you!”

  They stepped back into the shadows, and I dropped to the ground, holding John’s hand. “John?”

  Uriah dropped to my side and tried to help, but blood was everywhere. John’s eyes fluttered and then closed for good.

  “Move away from him.” Clarence stepped off the bed and pulled me away from John’s body.

  Uriah went to get up, and Simon pulled him off to the side, placing his knife against his throat.

  “This is how this is all going to go.” Clarence led me to the door and pushed me through. “We’re going to meet our friend Ishmael, and if he doesn’t give us the real map to the island of nightmares, then you’re going to suffer. That map in the knapsack you left for me to find would have led me in the opposite direction. You didn’t think I’d check on that, did you?”

  I kept quiet and walked in the direction he led me.

  Leading me toward the ladder up to the deck, Clarence said, “But before I left, I talked with the local sailors, and rumors had spread where the Marcella was truly headed, so we’ve been chasing you ever since. Now if you don’t do exactly as I say, we’re going to have more problems. Got it?” With his free hand, he slicked back his hair.

  “I hear you. Stop jabbing the pistol into my back, okay?” I climbed up the ladder in front of me and tried to think of a plan.

  All around me, men loaded their rifles, and I had no way to warn the crew of the Marcella. Clarence led me to the deck and brought me to Captain Donaldson. He barely gave me a glance and asked, “Did you get the map from Morgan?”

  “No, but—” Clarence started to reply but was cut off.

  Ignoring him, Captain Donaldson whistled, and members of the crew came running up on deck with their rifles ready. Turning toward Clarence, he said, “Now we do this my way.” He pulled his own pistol out of his belt, aimed at someone on the Marcella and fired. “Attack!”

  Pandemonium broke out on the ship, and I covered my ears from the roar of gunfire. Clarence pulled me down to the deck and shielded me with his body. “Damn it!” He put his mouth against my ear and yelled over the firing, “When this is done, I’ll need your help with Ishmael. I didn’t want it to happen this way.”

  After the first volley of firing, Captain Amos waved a flag of surrender. Ishmael stayed close to him, but I couldn’t warn him. Clarence pinned me to the deck and kept me there. I tried to get up, but he pushed me down. “If you want to live, stay down!”

  Captain Donaldson yelled over the few yards to Captain Amos. “Order your men to lower your weapons. We’re coming on board. If anyone disobeys, I’ll personally kill every crew member on your ship. Do you understand?”

  “Men, drop your guns.” Captain Amos shouted the order, and his crew followed his command.

  “Come on, let’s go.” Captain Donaldson lifted me up off the deck, and Clarence followed to the nearest rowboat. Another boat of men, all armed with rifles, was lowered into the water and headed to the Marcella. We followed in our boat, and I glanced back over my shoulder. More than a dozen men aimed their rifles at Captain Amos and Ishmael.

  “Follow my led and keep her close to us.”

  Clarence nodded but kept quiet. When we arrived at the Marcella, members of the crew attached the ropes to the pulleys, and we were pulled up. Captain Donaldson wasted no time and headed straight toward Captain Amos.

  He k
ept his pistol jabbed into my side and said, “Give us the map to the island of nightmares or she dies.”

  Captain Amos put his hands up. “I don’t have a map…”

  Clarence had his pistol at the ready and stayed close to his captain. From behind the mast, one of the Marcella’s crew leaned over and fired his pistol. The shot hit Captain Donaldson in the chest and he collapsed. Clarence dived for cover, and Ishmael lunged forward as a blast knocked me forward, followed by a wave of sound. Cannon fire.

  Ishmael pulled me away from the noise as quickly as he could. Another cannon fired, and the explosive sound deafened me. I heard the shot and the crash as the ball ripped through the ship, tearing through wood like paper. A ringing in my ears blocked out most other sounds, and I clamped my hands over my ears and stayed low. I did not know where to go or what to do.

  Staying low, Ishmael and I crawled away to hide behind two barrels. I peeked out from behind our hiding spot and quickly pulled back. Amos had fallen, riddled with bullet holes and covered in blood, but Clarence had survived without a scratch, scrambling for a safe place to hide.

  Several more rifle shots went off, and cries from the stern signaled they had hit their targets.

  The hatch to down below deck popped open to my right, and rifle tips protruded out quickly followed by several of my fellow sailors. They took positions behind barrels, and in a matter of seconds, they fired three shots at the Jeroboam. In retaliation, another cannon fired, and this one cut through the mainsail but thankfully missed the mast.

  Over at the Jeroboam, more rifles fired, and I heard screams from the sailors around me. Another cannon shot blotted out my shouts, and the deck around me exploded into pieces. Wood splinters flew up into the air, and I fell back hard onto the netting. The smoke and smell of gunpowder filled the air, and I heard muffled sounds all around me but could not make sense of what they were. I tried to sit up but fell back, and my eyes focused on the clouds above. The sun had illuminated the clouds with bright light, and I stared at them, thinking for a moment of a time long past on the beach back on land.

  When I tried to move, my body reacted slow and unsteady. I turned my head and saw Ishmael making his way toward me with a grimace of pain on his face. A ringing in my left ear came upon me hard, and I fought against pain.

  Ishmael spoke to me, and I tried to get up and listen to the words he spoke, but though I could see his mouth moving, I could not hear any words. The ship shook again, and I knew that another cannon had been fired by Ishmael’s reaction. He fell onto the deck and covered his ears with his hands. The smoke increased and the light of the sun began to fade. My head rolled onto my shoulder, and I fought hard to stay conscious, but my body would have none of it. The light drained away, and I found myself in a tunnel with the darkness increasing until all fell dark and the sounds around me disappeared into oblivion. All had vanished, and I lost all sense of who and where I was until the moment when the darkness won and dragged me into its lair.

  ***

  Nathan scrubbed the blood off the deck with a large broom that had a wide brush on the end of it. He flexed his arms and scrubbed at the blood, mixing it with a soapy solution. The blood turned the foamy solution pink, and then he swirled his brush around, pushing the mixture toward the side of the boat.

  He dropped his broom, picked up a bucket of water and tossed it across the deck, splashing the bloody foam off the boat.

  “I thought you could use some help.” Zeke picked up a second bucket and threw it at the mess, using the water’s force to clean more remnants of whale blood.

  Nathan rushed forward and used the brush to help push the frothy mess off the ship. “Thank you.” He kept his voice low and eyes downcast, concentrating on his work.

  “You did a great job this morning on the sighting. The whale may not have been a big one, but he’s your first.” Zeke picked up a third bucket of seawater but waited for Nathan to do more scrubbing. “You should be proud of what you did.”

  “I am proud. We all worked together as a team today to bring the whale in. Josep’s harpooning slowed it up enough so that we could catch up, and then the rest was easy.” Nathan stopped working and looked up at Zeke. “I learned a lot since I’ve come on board. Without the crew teaching me, I would not have been able to spot the whale today. Josep was right in that he came up toward the stern, chasing our wake. I would not have thought to look there if he had not taught me that.”

  Zeke put the bucket down and crossed his arms against his chest. “Look, I know you’re angry at me. Don’t you understand that you’re a much better man than I could ever be and I’m sorry that I let you down by killing that wounded sailor. I shot him because I wanted to protect the crew.”

  The words hung heavy between them, and for a moment, they could only hear the chatter of the rest of the crew. Each man working with another, pairs of close-knit teams, sharing the workload and struggling together.

  “With my head, I could understand why you did what you did”—Nathan put the broom in his left hand and placed his right on his chest—”but I can’t with my heart. That man had a family and deserved a chance. We owed it to him to bring him home.”

  Zeke brought the bucket with him and came up close to Nathan. He lowered his voice, not to be overheard by the crew, and said, “Maybe you’re right, but I can’t go back and change what I did. I acted in the moment to do what was best for all the men on this ship.”

  “You’re really afraid about that werewhale curse you told me about, aren’t you?” Nathan grabbed the broom tight with both hands. “I really do think that Pahukumaa was bitten, but you won’t believe me. Why would I lie to you?”

  Zeke ran his hand through his beard speckled with gray. “Look, I do believe there could be a curse, and seeing that wounded sailor made me certain that he wouldn’t get on the ship. I know that you think you saw Pahukumaa get bitten, but he’s recovered fine, and there’s been no issues. I agreed to keep an eye on him until tomorrow night’s full moon and we’ll stick to that.” He listened to his own words and lowered his voice. “If he does change into something, we’ll be ready to catch him. Either nothing is wrong with him and there’s no curse or you really did see something. But without proof, the captain and the rest of the crew will think us mad. I cannot simply accuse Pahukumaa if I have no evidence. But we must be wary, and I need your help. We have to stop fighting and work together.”

  “You think that the survivor that you killed was also infected by the curse?” Nathan stopped talking as Josep passed them. He nodded at him but kept silent until Josep left them both alone. “Does he know anything about any of this?”

  “No, I’ve not told anyone. If I speak without proof, I would only be causing the crew to worry, and if wrong, we’d be cast off the ship at the next port. I need the money for my family and cannot do that to them. Let’s work together and keep an eye on Pahukumaa tomorrow night.”

  “Tomorrow night I’ll pretend to go to sleep and watch him. If something goes wrong, I’ll call you and you’ll rush in to help me tie him up with some rope.” Nathan swept the remains of the clear water off the deck and put the broom back into its holder. “But you didn’t come here to tell me just that. I can see it in your face.”

  “No, I didn’t.” Zeke scratched his beard and made certain none of the crew could hear him. “You told me that you heard a loud whale sound the night of the storm. A sound that carried all through the ship, and you asked me if I had heard it, but I never did.” Zeke put the empty bucket down and folded his hands over his belly. “I’ve been thinking about that for a long time and none of that makes sense. I’ve known you for a while now. You’ve not ever lied before…”

  “And I haven’t lied to you. I really did—” Nathan’s voice rose.

  “I know that. That’s not what I’m saying.” He put his hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “I know that you didn’t lie, but no one else heard the noise either. I cannot fathom that mystery out.”

  Nathan’s eyes glazed
as he thought back to that night. “I saw the beast crawl away in the dark, and I heard this sound, like a giant whale call, that rose up from the deep, rippling through the hull like a bell. I’ve never heard anything like it before. The sound chilled me.”

  “I didn’t hear it and neither did any of us working on the broken beam.” Zeke tightened his grip on Nathan’s shoulder and asked, “Were you also wounded that night? Tell me true.”

  Nathan stood still and looked straight into Zeke’s face. Weathered with wrinkles around his eyes, he resembled the father that he never had. “I speak true. I was not injured that night. The beast never came close enough to touch me. But Pahukumaa had his leg bitten. I saw it happen, and then the noise called the creature back home. It was a sound that I’ll never forget all my days. That sound will haunt my dreams even when I’m old and frail, but no, I swear to you that it did not touch me.”

  Zeke patted Nathan on the back. “I believe you. I do.” He removed his arm from Nathan and put the bucket back on the rack. “But I still do not understand why you heard something, but no one else did.”

  “Have you spoken to Pahukumaa? Did he hear it?” Nathan asked.

  “I have not approached him yet with any of this. I wanted to tread with caution and not speak to him. If he is infected with the curse, he may not have his own mind and we might tip our hand.” Zeke laughed and put his hands on his side. “Even my saying these words makes me think that I’m crazy. I have no proof, and I decided it best to play along and watch him.”

  “He seems normal enough to me. He has done his chores, worked hard and not been slowed down at all over these past few weeks. I have seen nothing unusual with him.”

  “Exactly. I say we keep an eye on him tomorrow night, and if all stays normal, then we forget this and move on.” Zeke secured the ropes around the buckets to finish keeping them in place.

  “But you don’t believe that he’s normal. I can see it in your eye. You think he’s going to change tomorrow night.” Nathan whispered the words. “Don’t you?”