Ahab's Daughter

by Ron Vitale

  “We’re headed toward the island of nightmares. I’m using the map that you showed me on your chest.” He kept his voice low and spoke to us more like compatriots than prisoners. “I promised to help you, and I’ll keep my word. If you work with me, then I can get you out of this cell. The first mate will trust me if I can give him reason to.”

  Ishmael folded his arms across his chest and balanced the small bowl in his hand. “And will you stop us if we try to escape.”

  I put the canteen down and coughed. “He knows that there’s nowhere for us to escape to. We’re all stuck on this ship together.”

  I used my true voice, and the freedom of speaking as a woman rose up within me, and I liked seeing Clarence’s reaction to me. His eyes went wide and he said, “What did you just say?”

  Taking my cap off, I ran my hands through my hair and stood tall. “My father chased the great Moby Dick, and he told me all his stories before his last voyage. I’m tired of hiding who I really am. Together, we’ll get to the island, and you can find what you seek to save your daughter, and I’ll be able to stop the curse.”

  Ishmael smiled at me and took a step back, watching me as I spoke. He waited until I finished and faced Clarence. “I have agreed to help her on her journey. You know of me to be an honorable man. I am not on this journey for money or power, but it is the right thing to do. After all these years, we’ll be able to find the island where the curse originated and stop it.”

  Clarence rubbed his chin with his hand, thinking. He did not respond right away but chewed over his words, pondering the best course of action on how to proceed with us. “If I release you, the men will not take well to there being a woman on board. It will signal a bad omen, and some will grumble.”

  I cut him off before he could go on further. “Then let them grumble. My father was Captain Ahab, and he taught me more than some of this crew. I can hold my own and do not wish to be treated any different than the rest of the crew. It is only their eyes that deceive them. I’m one of them and my sex does not make me weaker or fairer. Rather, I bring more to this ship than they might expect.”

  Clarence’s eyebrow rose and he shook his head. “Some of the crew might wish to take advantage of you. I cannot promise that advances will not be made—”

  Again, I cut him off and this time raised my fist. “Any man who comes to me against my will better be prepared to fight. I will not take kindly to such nonsense.”

  Ishmael crossed his arms and said, “Any man who touches her will also have to come through me.”

  With a quickness that surprised Clarence, I reached up the back of my shirt, pulled out a secreted knife hidden in the bandages wrapped tight against my chest, and lunged forward. Pressing the tip of the blade under Clarence’s chin, I used his surprise to knock him back against the wall. He raised his hands in protest and chuckled. “Good, then you are not a flower that will wilt in the hot sun. Let’s go up on deck and talk with Captain Levi. You make your case with him and I will support you. He’s had some time to calm down, and if you can convince him that we can work together, then your worries will be over.”

  In a flash, I stepped back and hid the blade, securing the weapon back into its hiding spot and then waved my hands in a flourish. “Lead the way and we’ll follow.”

  Clarence left the room and Ishmael made way for me to follow him. He grabbed my arm to stop me and asked, “What if something goes wrong and the men rise up against you?”

  “I’ll deal with it.” I shrugged and gave him a wink. “It’s the best we can do.”

  Shaking his head in worry, Ishmael tried hard to hide a chuckle. He let me go and asked, “Life is never dull around you, is it?”

  I grinned at him and shook my head. “Never.”

  ***

  Nathan hung out in the corridor, leaning against the wall. A nearby lantern cast its light around him and Josep. Through the locked door to their right, he could hear people talking but not what they said. The smell of boiling whale blubber hung heavy in the air. Although late in the evening, sailors still worked on the whale they had caught.

  “Can you hear what they’re saying?” Josep asked. He had his arms crossed over his chest and had earlier cleaned off all the blood and grime from the whale from every inch of his body. With hair slicked back from oil, he stayed half in the shadows.

  Nathan shook his head. “I can’t hear more than a mumble.”

  “Get closer then and put your ear on the door.” Josep uncrossed his arms for a second to motion at the closed doorway and then re-crossed them.

  The voices behind the door grew louder, and Nathan leaned in as close as he dared, but still could not make out any words. The ship rocked more than normal, and he feared they might not outrace the storm they had seen on the horizon. With his ear pressed against the door, he held his breath and heard a man walking in the room, possibly pacing back and forth, and a few words became clear that frightened him. He came away from the door and took his original spot way back from the room and noticed other members of the crew had now come down to wait.

  “What did you hear?” Josep came to stand by Nathan.

  “I don’t want to say.” Nathan thrust his hands in his pocket and shrunk back from the room.

  “It couldn’t have been that bad.” Josep elbowed him in the side and gave a small laugh. “Come on, what did you hear?”

  A few other members of the crew had edged closer to him and were also curious to learn what he had heard. The words caught in his throat and he could not release them, but he fought and overcame his fear. “I thought I heard someone say that…”

  The door to the room opened and immediately Captain Eldon and James, the first mate, left the room deep in conversation. Eldon’s troubled expression could not be mistaken. He always wore his feelings on his face, and the crew respected him for his honesty and willingness to include them in his reasoning.

  Behind them, two other men came out of the room and lastly Zeke. He blocked the doorway so no one could see behind him and shut the door.

  Seeing they had a small gathering of the crew, Eldon stopped and tucked his thumbs in his belt. He raised his head up high and pursed his lips, thinking of what to say. “Evening. I see that some of you are curious about the mummy we found today in the belly of the whale. I expect many of you have questions and concerns. I have a few answers for you, but what we know may not be much when added altogether.”

  James stood by his captain’s side as if to protect him from any of the crew’s fear.

  “We examined the mummy and from his clothing learned that he had been a member of the British fleet. The uniform and some of the coins found in his pocket clearly prove that to be true.” Eldon stopped to let the words sink in and then continued, “We also found an item in his hand that we found to be a bit of a curiosity.”

  James raised his right hand in the air and opened it. A long cone-shaped tooth, as wide as the palm of his hand, could be seen. Off-white in color, the tooth’s size looked to be near eight inches in length.

  Josep stared at the tooth and called out, “That’s not from the whale that we killed today.”

  Eldon faced Josep and nodded, again measuring his words before he replied. “Yes, that is correct. The tooth is from a sperm whale, and from the size of it, an enormous one.”

  Nathan turned to Josep, and they exchanged glances. He kept quiet and glanced away but noticed Zeke searching him out in the crowd. They made eye contact and Zeke nodded his head, confirming what Nathan feared.

  A rumbling murmur went through the crowd as sailors talked to each other, all whispering the fear that hung on everyone’s mind.

  “It’s from the famed white devil, isn’t it?”

  Nathan could not see who had spoken, but Eldon took the tooth from James and weighed it in his hand. He quieted the crowd down and replied, “There are markings on the tooth that we found.”

  He turned the whale tooth over in his hands, and even in the half-lit corridor the crew cou
ld clearly make out that someone had carved an “M” and “D” into the tooth, staining the grooves with some sort of dye.

  Josep crossed himself upon seeing the letters, and the men all spoke at once. Qayshaun from the back yelled, “Throw it back into the water now!”

  A sailor Nathan could not see shouted, “Get it off the ship!”

  Eldon hung back and let the crew voice their fears for a few moments. Additional shouts, a few angry and more forceful than Nathan would have expected, could be heard from the crew. Eldon glanced at James and nodded.

  At his command, James stomped his foot down hard on the ground and commanded, “Quiet!”

  Josep silenced himself at once, and the others did the same.

  Eldon edged closer to the crowd and put the tooth away in his pocket. “I do not believe in superstition or in curses or black magic.” He let his words roll out with purpose and intent. “As for the devil, I believe the only demon on this ship is the one we bring within our own heart. We have a job to do, and all of you have been doing that well. No one has seen Moby Dick in years, and for all we know, he’s since died or is on the other side of the world. But we found a man today, a sailor like one of us, and we owe him the honor of treating his remains with respect. I don’t know how but he’s been preserved. We’ll bring his body back with us to shore and let the authorities get his body back home to his family. He has some distinguishing items on him that could help his family identify him.”

  The crew pressed closer to hear their captain’s words. “As for the tooth, I will not throw it off this ship. It’s an item of such rarity that it could help others find more about how this man died and where he might have been. And if I toss the tooth back in the sea, some of you will think I did the wrong thing while others will think me wrong for keeping it. I could have lied to all of you but wanted to tell you the truth.”

  He straightened his back and stood tall and faced his crew. “Those of you who have come with me on other tours know me well. I tell the truth and what I know now is that a man lost his life, probably died on a boat, and then, somehow, was mistakenly eaten by the whale we captured today. How he has the tooth and why he carved what he did on it, we will never know. We could guess, we could wonder, and we could fret and worry about what we found here today, but that fear will only feed on itself and cause us to chase after shadows. I understand you have doubts, and that is fine, but I will not have anyone spreading superstitious nonsense on my ship. Does everyone understand?”

  Eldon’s words hung heavy on the crew, and Josep leaned in close to Nathan and said, “Never taunt God or revel in your glory.” He crossed himself and mumbled a short prayer. “The Malocchio will come worm its way into the heart of this ship. Trust me, the hard times have just begun.”

  The captain pointed out Josep and asked, “Do you have a differing of opinion?”

  Josep clenched his jaw, and the men around him started to whisper quietly to each other. He raised his head high and replied, “In my family, we give God his due and don’t brag on how well we do for fear that we invite bad fortune down on us.”

  Eldon nodded and took in the crowd of men around him. Sailors of different nationalities, creeds and beliefs all came together to earn a living and take their earnings home to either help their families or raise their own status in life. “I do not brag about our luck, but want to make it clear that I favor science and not stories told in the Bible. I will have none of that sort of talk on my ship. Is that clear?”

  Josep kept quiet when the rest of the men spoke their agreement. The captain and his first mate headed away, and Zeke came toward Nathan. He had a look of concern on his face as Josep left and went in the direction of his cabin. “What do you believe in all of this?” Zeke’s words remained neutral, and he walked away from the cabin with the mummified remains.

  “I’d rather not test God’s wrath.” Nathan thrust his hands in his pockets and kept his voice low. “I don’t know whether there is a god or not, but I’d rather not tempt fate.”

  Zeke kept his opinions to himself and headed up on deck with Nathan following. When they climbed out on the deck, off in the far distance, they saw lightning, resembling far-off cannon fire, sparking off in the sky. The distance was too far for any thunder to be heard. The Truelove sailed east at a good clip outpacing the storm behind them.

  “We’ll not have to deal with the storm. From the looks of it, we’re lucky that we made the course correction when we did.” Nathan glanced out at the choppy sea. In the sky behind them, a line of puffy dark clouds hung low in the sky. Ahead clear sky and stars lit their way.

  A few other sailors came up behind them, talking low together, and they passed without a word being too preoccupied with their private conversation. Zeke spied the full moon peeking out among the clouds, only to be covered again. He leaned on the railing and stared out at sea, pensive and quiet.

  “I think I might head down. It’s been a long day, and I could use some sleep.”

  Nathan turned to go, but Zeke said, “Wait.”

  The word came out soft and pleading, unlike him in every way. He turned and started to speak, looked conflicted, and then remained silent. Nathan stayed put and asked, “What is it?”

  “There is more to what we talked about in the captain’s cabin tonight.” Zeke started to say more but held back as though compelled to silence.

  “But you were asked to not say anything.” Nathan came closer to his friend and said, “If you don’t want to break an oath you gave, it’s okay. Just knowing that there’s more is enough. I wouldn’t want to see you get in trouble with the captain.”

  Zeke shook his head in frustration. “It’s not that. I don’t fear that at all. I know how to be my own man, and when something’s not fair or puts others at risk, then I have to speak up.” He put his hand on Nathan’s shoulder and leaned in close. “I know you signed up to head out on the sea to hunt whales but also to find a way to redeem your father’s memory.”

  “That’s been no secret. I’ve not kept that from you.”

  “But what you are keeping from me is that you’re also hoping that you’ll find the fabled island that your father talked to you about when you were a kid.” Zeke held Nathan’s shoulder firm and went on. “You want to get to the island of nightmares, don’t you?”

  “You knew my father?” Nathan’s surprise expression grew.

  “Yes, and I’ll tell you true. I want the same thing, and I’ve been working with the captain and first mate to get us there.” Zeke held up his hand to silence Nathan when he tried to interrupt. “I’ve never told a soul this, but I’ve been to the island with your father when I was young. Your father was a good man, and I want to look after you because he can’t be here to do it himself.”

  “Why are you telling me this now and didn’t tell me sooner?” Nathan asked.

  “Because we found a map on the sailor’s body. It showed a series of islands, and one of them is marked as the island of nightmares. I knew the whereabouts where the island was, but now the map has helped pinpoint it exactly. That’s where we’re headed now.”

  “So we didn’t change course just because of the storm?” Nathan’s curiosity piqued and he stood next to his friend staring out at the night. The wind had picked up a bit, blowing them faster in the direction their captain wanted to go.

  “No. We’ll be there in a few days. Captain Eldon and James think they’ve found something worth investigating. The island had a spot marked on it, and they think it might be some sort of treasure or lost gold.” Zeke laughed at his own words. “I told them that I found no gold or treasure when I was there, but they wouldn’t listen. Fool’s gold is always the downfall of man. The shiny coin could lead all of us to our dooms.”

  “Then what should we do?” Nathan became more animated with each passing second. “We can tell the others and then—”

  “Stop it.” Zeke’s command came sudden.

  “But I just wanted to help you find a—”

&nbs
p; “I said to stop.” Zeke put a firm hand on Nathan’s arm. A subtle threat of muscles and bone. “If the crew found out that the captain is lying to them, your talk will lead to mutiny and cause everyone to tear at each other. Some will want to turn back, others will want the promise of gold, and some will cause trouble just to incite the feud between the two. I didn’t tell you this so that we could start a fight among the crew.”

  Nathan kept quiet and pushed Zeke’s hand off his arm.

  “I told you this so that we could prepare and be ready to take the right side. I followed you to this ship because I owe it to your father to take care of you.” Zeke watched another round of lightning in the far-off clouds.

  “And that’s all we are going to do? Go along and hope we don’t get killed? Yes, I want to get to the island, but I’m not stupid.” Nathan shook his head and pounded on the railing before him in frustration. “And what about Roderick missing and the things I’ve seen. There’s something odd going on, and maybe it does have to do with the curse of the werewhale. Maybe the creature is using its powers to bring us back to its island where we’ll all die.”

  Zeke nodded. “You could be right.” He faced his younger friend and said, “The sea is a strange and foreboding place but not as bad as the mind of greedy men. We must tread carefully and be watchful for what is to come. No matter if there’s a cursed sailor on board or not. We must be ready.”

  Nathan lost his temper a bit and snarled between a clenched jaw. “Well, I don’t like any of this.”

  Zeke patted him on the back and replied, “Neither do I. Neither do I.”

  Chapter 8

  I lost count of how many weeks had passed. The uneasy alliance between Clarence and us held like a nebulous cloud in the night sky. With a puff of wind, we would blow apart and go our separate ways.

  My hair had grown, and I no longer hid my sex from the rest of the crew. Having a woman on board made me unique among the crew, but Captain Levi gave me my own room protected by guards day and night. He left nothing to chance. I stared out at the sea lost in thought.