Lost at Sea

Maybe it was a shift in the wind. Maybe it was the temperature drop. Maybe it was the choppiness in the waves. No matter what it was, Jasper could feel that the worst storm he’d ever weathered was on its way there.

He looked up at the sky, but it stretched impossibly blue in every direction. If this wasn’t the work of sirens, he didn’t know what was.

“Sirens!” He shouted, waving his arms over his head. “Man your stations! Reel in the sails! Prepare for a storm!”

“I think this one swallowed a little bit too much sea water,” one of the sailors chuckled, clapping Jasper on the back. “There’s no such thing as sirens, lad, they’re just a superstition.”

“That’s what I thought, too,” he snapped, shoving the man away from him. “But they’re real, and they’re coming for us. If we don’t get ready, their storm will overtake us in mere moments.”

“That’s quite enough of that,” the captain growled, pulling Jasper to the side. “What are you doing? Trying to spook my men, are you?”

“No, sir,” Jasper replied, struggling against his panic in order to appear calm and collected. Hysteria would not help him then. “This is how my last ship sunk, Captain.”

“There is not a single cloud for miles, son. How about you go on below and take a little time to calm yourself?”

“But-”

“That’s an order, sailor.”

Jasper nodded once, gritting his teeth to hold back any arguments that may try to slip out. He couldn’t save them, but he could save himself. Eleanor would only try to save him again, and he couldn’t let her die.

He piled his most recent drawing into an extra shirt and tucked them into the elastic around his pants, along with a dagger he’d found on the floor. That was really all he had to call his own, since his belongings had gone down with the last ship. The thought brought back the memory of Johnny Boy, his old friend. A pang of longing rippled through him as he realized he’d never have a friend like that again.

Jasper set his grief aside. With everything that was going on, he hadn’t had a chance to figure himself out. He had to focus on getting the hell off that ship first before he could deal with the heaviness of his heart.

He forced himself to walk casually back onto the deck, his hands shoved into his pockets. He thought about whistling a tune, but decided that was much too suspicious. He made his way over to the sole dinghy and stood beside it for a moment, considering. There was a bag of apples tossed haphazardly inside the small wooden boat, with two oars at the bottom. It was suspended by a rope, which would be relatively easily to slice through with his dagger.

“It’s now or never,” he muttered under his breath. He inhaled deeply and then let it out with a quick huff, then tossed one leg over the side of the ship and leaped into the dinghy. Apparently, he hadn’t been as inconspicuous as he’d thought, because the shouting started as soon as he’d lifted a leg.

“Shit, shit, shit,” he chanted as he struggled to right himself. The suspended boat swung randomly at his less-than-graceful entrance and seemed to fight again his every attempt at standing. He pulled the dagger out of his waistband and clamped it between his teeth as he steadied himself on his hands and knees. Slowly, by placing one hand in front of the other, he made his way over to where the rope held him above the water.

As soon as he thought he might make it, the boat swung wildly again. Jasper felt a strong arm loop around his chest and yank him to his feet. He slammed the back of his head into his captor’s nose and made a wild swing for the rope. He missed, however, and it gave the other man enough time to regain his footing. Jasper was tossed like a sack of potatoes over the side of the boat and landed hard on his shoulder on the deck.

“I told you you should have stayed below,” the captain said, shaking his head sadly with what looked like pity in his eyes. “Put the poor delusional man in the brig. We’ll have to keep him there until we arrive in Lisbon.”

“No!” Jasper shouted, struggling against the hands that dragged him against his will. “Listen to me! They are coming! We’re all going to die now.”

“Sure we are, laddie,” said one of the sailors. He patted Jasper’s shoulder condescendingly as he lowered him into the hole that was the brig. “But you’re safe now, aren’t ya?”