My Voice for My Heart

Chapter 23: A New Land

Keela

Rolling. Pitching. Slamming.

The water was all around me. It filled up my mouth and nose. It covered my face and left me coughing and gagging. There was no escaping it. Torturous hours passed. Moments of awareness followed by unconsciousness.

The men who took me called out to each other; their voices loud, directive, but calm. I was ignored, but secured. I felt the ropes lashing me to the bench, and I think they may have done it to keep me from tumbling into the sea. The sky was colors I'd never seen before. The first time I woke up, the black clouds separated, showing a bright starry sky. As the rain pounded on my face, I thought that maybe the storm had passed, that we'd sailed through it, but a moment later the clouds converged, so low it felt like they blanketed the ocean, and the storm began in earnest.

The men had to bail the water out of the boat.

I held out my hands to one of the men, silently asking to help. His skin was dark, and he watched me warily. I could see the dislike in his eyes.

"Secure the rope around her waist!" someone yelled.

"Do it!" another voice commanded.

He rolled his eyes at them, loosening the saturated coils and threading it around the bench before tying it around my waist.

A huge hulking form lumbered toward me, pulling on the knots to make sure they would stay. "I would not want you falling overhull."

"Overboard," the man corrected.

"That also, but hull is more specific." He thrust something into my hands and I began bailing. My swollen fingers could barely grip the edges of the container, and with the cold, I dropped it frequently.

"Almost there," someone said. "I can see the cliffs."

A flash of lightening illuminated the boat and I stared in the same direction the men were looking. I could see cliffs ahead and beneath them, the churning water exposing black, rocky shoals. There was a thunderous boom, and the boat seemed to come to a standstill. The man closest to me began untying me quickly.

"We're going to have to jump," he yelled over the thunder. "Can you swim?"

 
Not well enough to jump into that whirlpool of death, I thought. But my options were limited. Die tied to a sinking ship, or die trying to swim to... I looked up, swim to cliffs? Where was I supposed to land?


I nodded.

"I'm the best swimmer," said a man I hadn't seen before. He took the rope and tied it around his waist. "I'll pull her in if I can get to shore." 
It seemed none of us were feeling very confident.

The water was swirling around my knees. I felt around my shoulders. My bundle was still tied to me and I pulled it even tighter, holding the knot with my hand.

The man's eyes flicked to chest and then back up to my face.

"Ready?" he asked.

I took a deep breath, and looked up to the sky. The lightening flashed and I swore I saw the form of a bird pass over my head. I was afraid it was a sign of my imminent death, my mind showing me what I most wanted to see. As darkness enveloped us once again, I nodded. I felt a tug on my hand and we jumped.