Sail With Me (A Discovery Series Book)
Read Sail With Me (A Discovery Series Book) Online
Authors: Christy Major
SAIL WITH ME
A Discovery Series Book
By Christy Major
Copyright 2014 Christy
Major
Cover Art by Dar Albert at
Wicked Smart Designs
Edited by Janet Hitchcock
www.theproofisinthereading.wordpress.com
All Rights Reserved
This book or any portion
thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the
express written permission of the copyright owners except for the use of brief
quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Any
resemblance to actual persons, places, events, business establishments or
locales is entirely coincidental.
Author Contact:
Website:
christymajor.weebly.com
Email:
[email protected]
FB:
www.facebook.com/christymajorauthor
Dedication
To
all who yearn for more,
all
who wonder “what if,”
all
who have the courage
to
follow their dreams.
From the Author
The fictional Sunal Empire found in this book is based upon the Aztec
civilization which Spanish conquistador, Hernando Cortés, defeated in the
sixteenth century. I’ve always been fascinated by this historical event—a vivid
illustration of what can happen when two cultures collide. The Aztec Empire did
not fare well against the powerful Europeans. Their beauty and innovation were
destroyed in the name of exploration. I decided to weave a tale with a more
hopeful outcome for the Sunal.
Human history is full of amazing events. Asking questions and playing the
“what if” game with these events can lead to interesting fiction ideas. What if
the Spanish didn’t conquer all the Aztecs? What if a small group outsmarted
Cortés and found their way to safety? What if they rebuilt their entire empire
in another location? What if Europeans helped them do it? These were all
questions I asked myself as I researched the Aztec Empire and outlined
SAIL
WITH ME
.
What historical period fascinates you? Learn everything you can about it
then toy with the facts. You’ll be surprised at the characters that leap into
your brain and share their stories with you. You might even be inspired to pick
up a pencil, hunt down a piece of paper, and rewrite history.
Names and Pronounciations
Acalon:
(ah CAH lon) means canoe
Chimalli:
(chee MAHL ee) shield
Citlali:
(seet LAHL ee) star
Coatl:
(Kwa tl) serpent
Eréndira:
(aay RAYN dee rah) smiles
Adanitupachi:
(ada NITU pah chi) Sunal god
of sun and war
Itzli:
(eets LEE) obsidian
Ixchell:
(Ish ELL) rainbow
Matlal:
(mah tlal) dark green
Dimazuno:
(dima ZUNO) leader
Teiuc:
(TAY yook) second born
Aochmin:
(a OCH min) listener
Tiegan:
(TY gan) little princess
Tizoc:
(TEE zahk) chosen
Tochtli:
(TOCH tlee) rabbit
Yaretzi:
(yah RET tzi) loved
Yaoti:
(YAY oh tee) warrior
Xochitl:
(SOH chee) flower
Zolin:
(ZO lin) quail
Words and Meanings
cihuapilli:
princess
hueltiuhtli:
sister
nantli:
mother
pilli:
son
tahtli:
father
The
sea kisses the sky
and
stretches
to
the ends of the Earth
like
a waiting embrace.
I
stand on one shore
wondering
what secrets
the
horizon holds.
She
whispers my name,
pulls
me from my daydreams,
and
promises adventure.
“One of these times, we’re going to get caught out here, Charlotte.”
Benjamin huddled in the darkness beside me.
“We’re not going to get caught.” I scanned the docks. Empty of people,
but full of beautiful boats. “And so what if we do.”
“Easy for you to say,” Benjamin said. “By the time your father gets back,
too much time will have gone by for him to punish you. Me? I have to go home
where my father will enjoy giving me a good whipping.”
“You’ve been afraid of a good whipping since you were seven,” I said.
“You’re sixteen now. Have you gotten whipped yet?”
“Well… no.” He fiddled with the buckle on his boot. “But it’s coming. I
can feel it.”
“Don’t be silly. You’re taller and healthier than your father. He can’t
whip you. Besides, Lady Elizabeth
would
punish me if we got caught.
Which we won’t.”
I motioned for him to step up onto the dock behind me. He did so because
he always did what I wanted. That was why he was my best friend.
“Lady Elizabeth won’t whip you,” he said.
“No, she’ll sit me down and remind me how a proper young lady is supposed
to behave.”
I scurried to the end of the dock, and Benjamin followed behind me like a
silent shadow.
“How many times has she done that now?” He poked my shoulder.
I had to smile at the playful smirk on his face.
“I can’t seem to get the hang of proper young lady etiquette.” I
shrugged. “She probably wouldn’t let me see you anymore either, if we got
caught.”
“How come?” Benjamin’s mouth turned down at the corners.
“Well, I’d undoubtedly blame you for dragging me out here.”
His mouth dropped open now. “Me dragging you? I don’t think so, missy.”
He nudged my shoulder then grew serious. “You don’t think she’d stop us from
being friends, do you?”
“She couldn’t stop us, Benjamin. Don’t worry.” He was always worried
about something. “Come on. This is the one.”
I led him to the smallest sloop tethered to the end of the dock. The
vessels around us bobbed up and down against their lines like prisoners eager
to break free of their bonds. Wanderers longing to drift wherever the sea might
carry them.
Cloaked by the night, we climbed up the rickety ladder at the stern and
boarded the boat. We crept to the bow, a faint sea breeze awakening my senses.
When we reached the front of the ship, I clasped the railing, its
splintered wood rough but welcome against my palms. I was aware of Benjamin
standing beside me. He was a good sport about all this sneaking around.
“There it is.” I traced the moonlit horizon that kissed the ocean’s
silvery surface. The scent of sea salt and sun-baked wood danced around me. The
gentle sway of the ship soothed my restlessness.
“I don’t know why you like coming out here so much, Charlotte. It’s just
water. A great deal of it.” Benjamin turned around, his back to the sea, and
leaned against the railing on his elbows. He didn’t hear the call. Didn’t feel
the pull. Didn’t wonder what was at that distant and mysterious line between
sky and sea.
Not like I did.
“It’s getting to the other side of the water, Benjamin, and seeing what’s
there that’s important.”
“What do you think is on the other side that you don’t have here?”
“Something… everything.”
I closed my eyes and breathed in the sea’s fragrance until all that water
whispered inside me.
“You don’t know how to be happy with what you’ve got,” Benjamin said. The
moonlight illuminated his face as he looked at me.
“What have I got, Benjamin? Tell me. My father and brothers are off
sailing while I’m left here serving Lady Elizabeth. What have I got?”
He was about to answer, but other voices stirred below decks as footsteps
knocked on the ladder amidships. A faint lantern glow built in intensity as the
footsteps grew louder.
“Don’t move.” Benjamin slipped in front of me, shielding me from whatever
was headed up the ladder. I pushed him out of the way, but he stood more
solidly than usual. “Charlotte, please. You can get mad at me for trying to
protect you later.”
In all our times coming out to the docks at night—and there had been many—we
had never gotten caught. I had stolen a couple of precious moments, dreaming on
the bows of various ships, imagining the day I’d actually set sail aboard one
of these marvelous, canvas-winged seabirds. Benjamin had accompanied me most of
the time, allowing me to chase my dreams, but trying to tether me to the land
at the same time.
Now we were steps away from being found by the rousing crew of this
particular vessel. The lantern light swept across us, and I caught a flicker in
the eyes of our discoverers.
“You there.” The gruff voice was enough to tell me we didn’t want to
tangle with its owner.
“A pretty treasure, Arthur, eh?” another voice rasped as the lantern
light grew closer. “We’ll have to do something with the boy.”
I grabbed Benjamin’s wrist and hopped up onto the bow rail. He climbed up
behind me.
“What are we doing?” His grip tightened on my hand.
“Hold your breath!”
“No!” the voices bellowed together behind us.
“Charlotte… I can’t—”
“Jump!”
I leaped off the rail, pulling Benjamin with me. We swooped down to the
water, the men cursing from the deck above me and Benjamin howling beside me.
When I hit the water and slipped below its surface, all sound was replaced with
the rippling melody of the ocean.
With powerful strokes, I towed Benjamin to the shoreline and pulled him
up onto the sand. He coughed and sputtered for some time before raking his
shaky fingers through his tangled, brown hair. He rose to his feet, wrung out
his soaked tunic, and glared at me with fiery green eyes.
“Charlotte Denham, if you ever do that again, we’re through. You know I
can’t swim.” Water ran down his face in rivulets. He spun on his heel and
stomped away.
“Cripes, Benjamin, I saved us,” I called to his retreating back.
“Saved us? You could have killed us!” He marched over the sand. His hands
flapped out to either side of him as he ranted to himself.
I sat and drew wavy lines in the sand with my finger. As far as I was
concerned that jump into the water had rescued us from an inevitably unpleasant
situation. Who knows what those men would have done to us if they’d caught us?
The night breeze coming off the water raised goosebumps on my wet skin,
and my heart was still pounding from the moment of fear, the glorious swim, the
excitement of being this close to the ocean. This close to my dreams.