Five Sisters (16 page)

Sawyer stuck his hands in his pockets and glanced up at the dark clouds overhead, "It won't be long now."

The twosome walked around the deck several times, talking, and watched as the ocean surrounding Violet grew darker and rougher. The sailors were growing anxious, wondering when the storm would finally hit.

On their sixth time around, they passed by the pail containing Nora's catch. She ran over to it and peered inside at her fish, which was growing rather bored and restless.

"Should we let it go now?" Nora asked Sawyer, "I don't think he likes it in there."

He kneeled down beside her, "I suppose so."

Picking up the bucket, he walked to the railing and turned around, "Would you like to say goodbye?"

Just at that moment, a drop of rain fell from the sky and into the bucket, making a ripple in the water.

"So long, Mr. Fishy," Nora said as she watched Sawyer throw the fish back into the ocean.

Sawyer set down the pail and held out his hand. Just as he'd suspected, only moments had passed before a drop of water had fallen into his palm.

A flash of lighting caught Nora's eye in the distance and was followed shortly by a crash of thunder. And then, without any warning at all, a magnificent downpour began, coming down upon the deck with no mercy at all.

Sawyer grabbed Nora's hand and ran to the door leading downstairs with her close behind. Although the rain had only just begun, both were already soaked.

"I'd better go change," Nora laughed, gazing down at her sodden skirts, "But would you like to play a game of Rummy later?"

"I'd like to, but I can't," Sawyer replied, "During storms, all sailors are needed on deck."

"Oh, right," Nora nodded, "Well, I'll see you later then, I suppose."

Sawyer nodded, "Alright."

He quickly ran into his room to grab a raincoat and hat before heading back up to the deck. Although he'd been aboard ships many times before during storms, Sawyer wasn't prepared for the intensity of this particular storm.

Nathaniel and Gail were in the middle of yet another game of Chinese checkers just as the clock struck seven o'clock. They'd resolved their differences after the argument that had occurred earlier, and were now laughing like the best of friends.

"Hey!" Gail grinned, "I was going to move
my
marble there! That would have been five jumps!"

"I know," Nathaniel replied with a smile, "That's why I blocked your path."

"Well you watch out!" Gail giggled, "Because the next time I see a great move on your side, I'm not showing any mercy, Mr. West!"

That's when it happened. Neither had been expecting it, or they would have prepared themselves better. Nathaniel was taking a sip of his tea while Gail hugged her knees to her chest and contemplated her next move.

Then, all at once, the ship jerked to one side, causing the entire room to tilt to the right.

Nathaniel had just been about to set his glass on the table, but the sudden movement caused it to slip from his hand and crash to the ground. A puddle of tea intermixed with glass shards soon lay on the floor.

Gail toppled out of her chair and struggled to get to her feet again, clutching on to the side of Nathaniel's bed.

The game board tumbled to the ground and twenty red and yellow marbles rolled in various directions across the floor, beneath the bed, and under the dresser. And as the boat shifted with the waves again, they all ran out of their old hiding places and into new ones.

"I suppose the
storm's
begun then," Nathaniel muttered, scratching his head.

Emy had been hiding in the dining room all day, knitting scarves and sweaters out of boredom. She didn't want to see anyone- not the sailors, or Charlie, or even her sisters.

She knew they must have realized now that something was wrong. Sara had even asked her about it several times, and so had Nora, but Emy denied anything being wrong. They knew her so well that it was only a matter of time before they figured out what was troubling her. Emy dreaded the day that would occur though. Oh how embarrassed she would be!

As the day went on, the light in the room continued to diminish until Emy was left in darkness. She considered leaving for a brighter space, but then decided that this was the only place she could be left alone, in her own calm solitude. So she stayed, and continued to knit in the black shadows.

Once again, like so many other days before this one, she found herself completely absorbed in her thoughts of the man she adored. But of course, she knew he could never love her back. If only she weren't so shy then perhaps he wouldn't think of her as the silent, boring sister. Of course she'd never actually heard him say that, but Emy doubted that it wasn't true.

Suddenly, she was taken out of her reverie as the door opened and a dark figure entered. They sat down and leaned again the wall, pulling their legs to their chest and burying their head in their knees. It was Sara, Emy determined after a bit of squinting, but she obviously hadn't realized that Emy was present.

Emy stood up and walked over, "Sara?"

Slowly, Sara lifted her head, revealing red, tear-stained eyes, "Is that you Emy? I thought this room was empty."

"Yes, it's me," Emy confirmed, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You look as though you've been crying," Emy said, kneeling down beside her sister.

Sara shook her head and lied, "No, no. I'm fine. My eyes have just been feeling really aggravated lately.
Must be allergies or something."

Emy nodded, but she didn't believe it. The room was silent for a few moments before Emy remembered how distraught Mary had been earlier and asked, "How is Mary doing? Is she alright now?"

Sara scratched her head. After all that had just happened with Charlie, she'd forgotten all about Mary, "Perhaps we should go downstairs and see."

Emy nodded and followed Sara out of the room. They were just about to open the door and head out onto the deck when a clang of thunder sounded, causing both girls to jump. Sara poked her head through the curtain and gasped.

"I didn't know the storm had already started," she said, "Did you?"

Emy shook her head, "It must have begun just after you came downstairs."

An extremely heavy downpour of rain was coming down outside, beating down like a drum on wooden planks making up the deck. Lighting flashed followed by yet another clatter of thunder. The wind was blowing fiercely, blowing the sails around like mad and causing the entire ship to rock back and forth.

The rain was coming down so hard it was difficult to hear anything, and one had to shout if they wanted to be heard. The sailors were yelling orders to one another and all were dressed in big, yellow raincoats along with rubber galoshes and black hats.

"Take down the sails!" Cary cried, "Buddy and Jacob, hoist the storm sail!"

The men rushed about, doing as he said.

They'd obviously known that the storm was coming, and had spent the day preparing old Violet. Hatches and passageways had been battened down to prevent seawater from washing below and lines had been strung all over the ship to give the sailors something to hold on to during the storm so they wouldn't lose their balance and fall over.

In the kitchen, the cargo and boxes of food had been tied down so that they wouldn't shift around and be lost to the waves. Sawyer had been stationed down below to search for and repair any leaks the storm might cause. The pitching and rolling the ship would be subjected to during the storm would probably strain the hull and open the seams, so Sawyer was responsible for keeping all water out.

While the other sailors took down all of the regular sails, Buddy and Jacob hoisted up a small, thick sail called the storm sail. It was placed low on the forward-most mast to avoid strain on the mast. Without the storm sail, a ship could be turned sideways to the wind and seas and would be overturned by any large wave that came along.

"We'll have to hurry," Sara whispered, removing her sweater and holding it over her head. Emy did the same. "Are you ready?"

Emy nodded and Sara opened the door. Instantly, they were hit by the angry wind and rain. Although the door leading downstairs was only a few feet away, by the time they reached it they were both rather wet. Without a second look towards the deck, Emy ran downstairs, but Sara took a moment longer and glanced upwards to where Charlie stood. He had his hands glued to the steering wheel and was looking straight ahead, raindrops running down his face and his hair dripping wet.

Emy grabbed Sara's shoulder, "Come on! You're getting soaked!"

Sara wearily closed the door and followed Emy down the steps. Both had to hold onto the shaky rails as they headed down, for the ship was swaying back and forth with the waves.

They headed into their room to find Mary asleep in bed, apparently oblivious to the constant rocking of the ship, beating of the rain, howling of the wind, and the men's yelling and shouts.

Nora was sitting on her bed, playing a game of solitaire, but she quickly changed the game so that Emy could join in.

Sara found Gail in Nathaniel's room, on her hands and knees searching for marbles while Nathaniel pointed them out to her. Both were laughing gaily and seemed to be having a merry old time, despite the storm. Sara knew they hadn't been on the best of terms, and wondered what had made the sudden change, but she didn't dare ask. They were already enjoying themselves and she didn't want to interrupt.

Instead she headed back into the girls' room. Sawyer had joined the group, and although he assured Nora he really
would
like to join in on the game of cards she was sharing with Emy, he was quite busy at the moment. Kneeling down close to the ground, he searched the walls for signs of any sort of leaks. The girls promised him if they saw any that night he'd be the first to know, and with that promise, Sawyer headed back into the hall to search Charlie's room next.

The evening seemed to last an eternity. To her sisters' worry, Mary kept rolling around under her blankets uncomfortably, mumbling to herself. The girls could only make out several words, but soon realized that the words repeated most often were "Ethan," "love," "marry," and "mistake." Sara didn't tell her younger sisters what was troubling Mary, but they figured it out quite easily on their own.

Nora and Emy sat on the top of one of the bunks playing a friendly game of Rummy, but they soon realized this wasn't such a smart idea. Every so often the ship would take a drastic turn, this way or that. The cards often flew straight off the bunk, and several times the girls almost followed. They soon had to settle themselves on the ground instead.

Gail was busy with Nathaniel the whole night. After finding all but one of the marbles scattered about the room, she busied herself packing all of Nathaniel's ointments and medicines into a box so that they wouldn't fall over and break during the storm. After that, she tried to sit in the chair beside Nathaniel's bed, but it was rather rocky and not at all agreeable or appropriate when one finds him or herself on a ship during an unpredictable storm.

Finally, she took a seat at the foot of Nathaniel's bed and sat cross-legged with a book in her lap. She and Nathaniel had a delightful time reading stories from a rather large children's book and pretending they were much to mature for such fairy tale nonsense when really both wore the hearts of children. And every time the thunder boomed outside or the rain slammed against the porthole or a large wave
tottered
the ship back and forth, both would simply pause and giggle before returning to their tales of knights in shining armor and damsels in distress.

Sara sat in bed with a book but barely finished reading a page; she couldn't get her mind off of the awful storm. The rain was pounding against the windows as though it had an iron fist, making so much noise one could barely hear him or herself talk.