The Home Stone

The gentle rocking of the ship woke Roma to half lit cabin. The only source of light was a tiny porthole just over the bed. The sun of the early morning lit the room as much as last night’s candle did. Sitting up Roma bent forward to put on her boots and promptly hit her head on the opposite wall of the narrow cabin. Swearing under her breath she rubbed her head and finished dressing. A few minutes later she made her way up the steep staircase and onto the deck. There in the roofless pilothouse stood the captain. The same one who she had met last night when she boarded.

“Good morning,” he called from the pilothouse. “There’s a pot of fresh coffee over there,” he continued pointing to the pot with his head. “It’s good and strong. Gets the cobwebs out of your throat. One might even say that it’ll grow hair on your chest.”

Roma just smiled and walked over to where the outdoor stove was and poured herself a cup. She took a sip and almost choked. This was not good coffee, but it had more chicory in it, because it tasted similar. Taking the cup, she walked to the side rail and stared out over the southern sea. It was a calm day and Roma hoped that the next three days would remain the same. The captain who called himself William looked to the eastern horizon and said, “there’s a storm’s coming. Strange one. Normally the greater blows come from the west, but this one is coming from the other way. From what I can tell; we had better try for the bay on this island. It’s well protected. There we can ride it out.”

Roma looked to the same direction, but did not see any storm. In fact, the sky was so clear that not a cloud or strong breeze could be detected. Smiling to herself, she sat down on a bale of cloth that William was delivering, amongst other items, to the island far to the south.

They were still a few hours away from the entrance of the bay when the storm hit. The little craft was buffeted from one wave to another. William had advised Roma to tie herself to the railing so she wouldn’t be swept overboard. Before doing so she had secured everything below and the captain made sure that his cargo would not be swept away by a huge wave. The sails were pulled in all except for one small one at the rear of the craft. William needed it so he could steer the ship.

The storm grew in its intensity and the waves grew so large that they threatened to swamp the ship and send them to the bottom. The wind suddenly picked up and tore the sail from the mast, sending the boat sideways. Another huge wave crashed over the deck, but everything that was secured stayed where it was. Then a second wave, as large as the previous one, swept over the ship and almost knocked Roma over the side. A loud crack was heard and a cry of desperation escaped from William’s lips.

“We have just lost the steering.” He cried. “The ship is lost and without the rudder if another large wave hits us, we will capsize. Get ready to swim.”

Roma had some experience in sailing, as she did just that when she was a kid. Then an idea hit her, “what if you were to drop the anchor. Wouldn’t that create a drag and turn us into the storm?”

A smile appeared on William’s face as he stepped out of the wheelhouse. “You know, as a landlubber, you sure know your way around ships.”

Roma moved to help the captain drop the anchor. Immediately the fishing boat swung her nose to face the oncoming storm. Again, the two secured themselves one to the railing and William to the pilot’s box. All was going well and it looked as if they were going to come out of this intact, when an even larger wave hit the bow of the boat, snapping the anchor chain. It had not been designed to withstand such a storm. Now with no hope of correcting their course, William and Roma were at the mercy of the tempest. The rain also intensified making it hard to see where they were heading, until, it was too late. Roma saw it first. They had been blown onto the sharp rocks that made up the eastern coast of the island. There was a thunderous; crunching sound and the tiny craft was hurled onto the jagged rocks. Then from out of nowhere, something hit Roma in the back of the head sending her over the side. Only the rope that she had secured herself with kept her from slamming into the sea and onto the rocks below. Then all went dark.

When she came to she found herself dangling off the side of the boat. Looking around and trying to focus, she found that the ship had been wedged between several of the larger rocks that made up the coastline. With a tremendous headache Roma untied herself and lowered herself to the ankle deep water. On the port side, she saw a large hole running almost the length of the ship. Moving away from where she stood, she staggered over to the other side of the boat to see if she could find its captain. She called out his name several times, but no answer came back. She made her way to the stern and still found no one. All she could see was that the cargo had been jarred loose and was scattered all over the shore. A small boat, used as a lifeboat was lying upside down on the shore and upon examining it, Roma found that it was still intact. The tool chest had been smashed and it contents spewed over the small pebbles and half submerged in the shallow water. Looking at the sky, Roma saw that the storm was over and the sun was shining once more.

Roma then made her way back to the port side and climbed into the cabin that had once been her room. Now everything was wet and dirty from the sea and sand that had been churned up by the storm and had landed in the craft. Here she found her weapons and backpack. Everything was wet, so Roma brought her items outside and laid them on the ground to let the sun dry everything. She then set out to find the captain. She entered the ship once more and made her way to the rear of the cabin and climbed up and onto the deck. From here she had a greater view of her surroundings. The island was large enough that she could not see the opposite shore. All that Roma saw was a lush green forest that hugged to shoreline. Turning to the stern and where the pilot’s box was, Roma found the captain. A piece of wood from one of the railings had broken loose, had impaled him to the back of the wheelhouse. He was quite dead. Now what? She began to think. Taking stock of what she had and could use Roma made up her mind that she could use the small rowboat and add some outriggers to it and sail over to the big island, where she would eventually meet up with Brianna. She found some rope and with the aid of an ax that had been lying in the shallow brine, Roma made her way over to the forest and chopped down some small trees. Lashing them to the tiny boat she added two outriggers. This would keep the tiny craft stable if the seas acted up again. When her task was completed, Roma then went into the woods to find some food, as all that was aboard the ship was ruined by the sand and salt water. She walked for hours and didn’t see one single animal. All she found was some roots and plenty of berries.

“Well I guess this will have to do for now,” Roma said out loud.

Returning to the ship she found some of the cloth that had been soaked in the seawater had begun to heat up. Fearing that the ship would catch fire and burn up her supplies, Roma removed all that she could need on her journey to the larger island. She then removed the body of the captain and buried him near the ship, just inside the tree line. It was almost dark when she finally sat down and lit a small fire and made herself some tea from the leaves that she had collected along with the berries. The warmth from the hot brew and the sweetness from the berries gave her the energy that she needed to set up a small structure under which she would stay dry, if it decided to rain again. Using some of the sails, she fashioned a tent large enough to house her and all of her belongings. In front of her makeshift tent Roma started another fire. She had made her camp in such a way that her fire was placed in front of a large boulder that would reflect the heat back into the tent keeping her warm throughout the night.

As the dawn broke, the cry of sea birds woke her. Her fire had gone out during the night and dampness had settled over everything. Looking over to the ship she saw a flicker of light coming from the cabin. One of the bales that had broken loose and landed in the cabin below, as the ship crashed on shore, was now on fire and in no time the tiny craft was aflame. Luckily, Roma had moved her outrigger far enough away from the now burning ship, or it to would have been lost to her. The ship burned brightly and the heat was great enough to send its warmth all the way to where she lay.

During the day, Roma went back out into the forest and gathered more food, as she didn’t know how long it would take to make for the larger island. She hunted and gathered, but all she came back with was more roots and berries. This island was devoid of any living thing, she thought as she returned to her camp. Checking her larder and seeing that she had enough food for at least four days, Roma decided that she would attempt to reach the other island by leaving early the next day. Her camp had held out the two days that she had been marooned and she was reluctant to leave. The uncertainty of reaching the other island made her hesitate, but she knew that she could not stay here much longer without proper supplies.