Voyage of the Dolphin (2 page)

“Looks like there'd be
some
sailors that would go,” Josh offered. “Maybe you could promise them a bonus.”

“They're all afraid of the Lost Sea—” Daybright hesitated “—and they're afraid of the ship. It's the first one I've ever built. They don't think it'll hold up in heavy seas under those winds. But I've made it better than most ships!” he said defiantly. “Put some of my own improvements in it! They say it'll break up the first time the wind blows or the waves get high.”

“I'll bet it won't.” Abbey smiled. “I bet it's the best ship out there.”

At the age of twenty, Daybright felt a hundred years older than any of the Sleepers. But he had heard of some dramatic things they had done. He grinned at Abbey. He had known she was a flirt the first time he saw her.

Then he looked around and said longingly, “If you were all about five years older, I'd recruit you. You wouldn't be afraid to go, would you?”

“Well, I wouldn't exactly be afraid,” Josh said, “but I'm pretty cautious.”

“What do you mean, five years older?” Wash demanded. “I'm fourteen years old—and Dave there, he's sixteen and big as any man. We're big enough.”

“Well, it's not a matter of being big or even old enough, really.” Daybright smiled fondly at his small friend and slapped Wash's shoulder lightly. “You see, some people just don't do well at sea.”

“That's me.” Reb nodded. “I wouldn't do well at all on a long voyage. I'm not cut out for it.”

“Some people aren't,” Captain Daybright agreed. “You're out of sight of land. The only thing that you've got to look to is the ship that's under you and the courage of the captain and the crew.”

“That sounds great,” Wash said. He turned to the others, his eyes bright with excitement. “We've been fussing because there was nothing to do—that Goél hasn't given us any assignments for a while. Well, here's our chance. We can go on this voyage with Captain Daybright. It'll be fun.”

Reb said, “No, it wouldn't be fun! We'd all probably get drowned.”

“Oh, I don't think that would happen,” Josh said quickly, “not with a good sailor like Captain Daybright. But we're not experienced sailors.”

Daybright looked them over. They were a hearty-looking group of young people. Josh, Reb, and Dave were tall and strong. The others were healthy enough. The captain said slowly “Well. . . ordinarily I wouldn't even think of it . . . but if you'd come with me, I'd train you, and I could pay well—as soon as the king pays me—and you'd get to see some exciting things. Sailors do get to see the world.”

At once an argument broke out Josh and Dave wanted to go. So did Sarah and Abbey. But Reb and Jake were doubtful if not downright loud in their arguments against it.

Wash, of course, was jumping up and down with excitement. “We can do it!” he cried. “We can do it! You'll just have to teach us how to raise the sails and that kind of stuff!”

Daybright nodded. “I would do that.” Then he got to his feet, saying, “You talk it over. If you'd like to make a nice voyage, here's your chance. A little danger is involved—” he paused and looked around “—but I understand all of you have seen some of that. You're young, but you've lived a pretty full life, if what I hear is true.”

After the captain left, the seven engaged in an argument that lasted until bedtime.

Finally Josh said, “Well, we'll all have to agree. We're here for a rest after our adventures, and maybe a sea voyage would be fun—though I think it'd be a lot of work.”

“I don't mind the work,” Dave said eagerly. “Just think! We could learn how to sail a ship. That could come in handy a little later. We don't know what we'll be doing for Goél.”

Goél was the mysterious figure who guided their activities. He came and went without warning, often asking them to go to dangerous places.

“Well, that's just it,” Wash said. “He might come at any time and ask us to go down the cone of a volcano, right into the fire. That's the kind of thing he does. Not that I mind,” he said hastily, “but I think we deserve a little relaxation once in a while. I vote that we go.”

Josh insisted they hold on a decision until they all were perfectly agreed.

The next morning, those in favor of the voyage began a pressure campaign, and by noon they had almost convinced Jake and Reb that a sea voyage would be a good way to spend a few weeks.

Reb was the last to give in, but finally even he threw up his hands, saying, “All right! All right! You're worse than a blasted parrot, Wash! I'll go on this old trip just to get you to hush!”

Wash let out a yell and called the others around. “Reb says he'll go! Come on, let's go tell Captain Daybright! I feel like a sailor already!”

The Seven Sleepers made their way down to the harbor, where the
Dolphin
was riding on the small swells.

Captain Daybright saw them coming and came to greet them. He met Wash's big smile with “Well, it looks like I've got me a crew. Come on aboard the
Dolphin,
then. We'll start teaching you a few things about how to sail a ship.”

Reb was reluctant even to step onto the ship. He finally crawled aboard and held to the mast as if the vessel were going to drop away from under him.

“I don't like this,” he said to Wash. “I'm doing it for you. So the next time I want to go on some kind of wild goose chase, you've got to pay me back.”

“Yeah, sure. I'll do that,” Wash said. He looked up at the mast, swaying as the ship rolled, and said happily, “This is going to be a fun time!”

T
he
Dolphin
nuzzled into the sea, settling its prow into the foam. Then it lurched forward, and a cry went up from Abbey. She had been hauling on a rope at a command from Captain Daybright, but the sudden roll threw her off balance. Waving her arms wildly, she flew through the air, coming to land on the deck with a solid thump.

Dave, who had been pulling a rope on the starboard side, waited to see if she was hurt. Seemingly satisfied that she was not, he laughed loudly and said, “That was a neat trick, Abbey. You ought to do it again.”

Getting to her feet, Abbey stared at him furiously. The fall had not hurt but had offended her sense of dignity. Rubbing her hip, she glared up balefully at the billowing sails. “I'll never learn all of this stuff!” she moaned. “It would be a lot easier if this boat had a steam engine.”

“Not boat—
ship!"
Captain Daybright was standing with his feet wide apart, braced against the rolls of the vessel. He grinned at her, then came over, picked up the rope, and handed it to her. “You're doing fine, Abbey. Just give another haul now, and we'll catch a little more of this breeze.”

Abbey took the rope gingerly for she had developed blisters on both hands, as had all the Sleepers. Carefully she began to pull on it and saw the white sail climb upward as she kept pace with Dave. Then there was a popping sound, the mainsail billowed out, and she felt the ship surge forward like a living thing.

Despite herself, Abbey laughed. “You know, this would be fun if it wasn't for the blisters and falling on the deck.”

The
Dolphin
was out to sea on a trial run. For a week now, Daybright had been drilling the young people hard every day. They had memorized the names of the sails, the ropes that hauled them up, the spars, the ratlines, most of the parts of the ship.

It had been an exhilarating time for everybody—except Reb. Usually the most energetic and active of the Sleepers, he was one of those individuals who got seasick very easily. Once he even got seasick inside the harbor when the ship was almost as steady as the white sand on the beach.

As the
Dolphin
skimmed along over the blue-green surface of the water, Reb was standing on the spar that held the mainsail. He was not afraid of high places as a rule, but now he looked mournfully over at Wash on the other side of the spar. “I just wish this thing would stand still,” he complained. “I don't care how high a tree is. I can stand that. But this here ship—it's always bobbing up and down like a cork. Or skidding sideways.”

Wash knew he had an advantage over the other Sleepers. He had already been out on the
Dolphin
several times with his friend Captain Daybright. Besides, he was a born sailor, enjoying the salt spray in his face, loving to climb up to the crow's nest on the top of the mainmast. Now he looked upward and said, “Let's climb up there. We can see better, Reb.”

“I can see plenty from right here!” Reb stated flatly. “You go on if you want to break your neck.”

Wash laughed.

The ratlines were ropes tied in a ladder formation anchoring the mainmast to the sides of the ship. Like a squirrel, Wash stepped onto the ropes and scampered upward.
When he was at the top, he popped himself into the small bucketlike structure that formed the crow's nest.

Being some thirty feet above the deck, the top of the mainmast swayed alarmingly. But Wash only grinned as the crow's nest moved from side to side and dipped forward and backward. “Better than any carnival ride I ever had,” he called down to Reb. “You ought to try it.”

He saw Reb merely shake his head.

Looking over the prow, covered with white-and-green foam, Wash saw the horizon hard and flat ahead. Then he heard Captain Daybright call out a command and watched Dave and Josh scurry to change the position of the sails.

“They're doing pretty good,” Wash said, “for landlubbers, that is.”

He leaned back in the crow's nest, looking all around. They were out of sight of land for the first time, although he knew the shore lay only a few miles over to his left. Gazing out over the open sea, he nodded with satisfaction. “I bet we'll leave for the Lost Sea tomorrow,” he said. “We can sail this old ship. It won't be any trouble for us.”

Down on the fantail—the stern of the ship, which Sarah had disgraced herself by calling “the back of the boat”—Captain Daybright found Sarah and Jake sitting on the rail. “Well,” he said, “what do you think you're doing? Sailors don't sit on the rail like that.”

“I don't see why not.” Jake popped off, shrugging his shoulders. The wind ruffled his red hair, and he ran his hand through it. “I'm just about covered with salt,” he said.

“That's because the water's salty.” Daybright grinned. “That's why they call sailors ‘Old Salts.'” He looked at Sarah and asked, “How do you like the sea, young lady?”

Sliding off the rail, Sarah flashed him a smile. “It's fun. I'd never been on anything much larger than a row-boat,
but I can see how one could get caught up with ships and sailing.”

“It's all I've known all my life. I was born on a ship,” Daybright said.

“Where do your parents live?” Sarah inquired.

“Well, I don't have any. They got caught in a storm and went down. They had left me on shore with an uncle.”

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Sarah said.

“It happens at sea,” Daybright said slowly. He looked out over the ocean, rolling now in longer swells that lifted the
Dolphin
up with a much slower motion. “It looks smooth right now, but I've seen it rise up like an angry beast.” His expression grew hard, and he said, “The sea's got two faces. One is nice and full of sun and bright green water. The other is a beast that will smash a ship like an eggshell. I've seen waves higher than where Wash is up there on the mast, tearing everything to bits that got in their way.”

Jake shifted nervously. “I hope we don't run into anything like that”

“I try to avoid it whenever possible.” The captain laughed shortly, then said, “If you're the cook, Jake, you might go down and make us a little supper. I'm getting hungry.”

Jake grinned. “Try to hold this thing steady. It's hard to cook when everything's banging all over the place.”

“You're doing fine,” Captain Daybright said affectionately. He had learned to appreciate the young redhead, who complained a lot but was always faithful.

After Jake and Sarah went below, Daybright strolled forward. He took in many things at once—the winds, their force and direction, a series of menacing-looking clouds rolling across the horizon in the east, the pitch and yaw of the ship itself. A lifetime at sea had made him aware of
these things without his paying attention—things that a landsman would never notice.

Then he saw Josh and Abbey standing to one side of the forward mast, looking up at some gulls that were following the ship, their harsh cries on the air. He ambled over to them. “I guess we'll put about now. By the time we get back to shore, it'll be nearly dark.”

“How do you know where we are?” Josh said, looking around. “On land you've got a tree or mountain or canyon as a marker. Here—” he waved his hand over the endless expanse of blue-green water “—it all looks alike.”

“Except for the clouds,” Abbey added, “and they're changing all the time.”

“Well,
that
doesn't change.” Daybright pointed at the setting sun, a red globe in the blue sky. “It's always the same, and at night you've got the stars. They don't change much either.”

“How did you learn all this—the names of the stars and things like that, Captain?”

“Been doing it all my life. Just like you know your ABCs, I learned the names of the stars. I'll teach you more of them as we go along.”

“Must be wonderful to be able to get out on the ocean and find a little pinpoint of land,” Josh said wistfully. “I don't think I could ever learn how.”

Daybright clapped him on the shoulder. “Sure you could, Josh. You're as bright as I was or maybe even more so. Tonight when we get in port, I'll show you some star charts. Then we'll go out and look up, and you can start memorizing the heavens.”

Abbey shifted nervously then, looking at the darkening clouds on the horizon. “I don't like the looks of those,” she said.

“I don't either. That's why we'd better put about.”
Daybright called up to Dave, who had relieved him at the wheel. “Get ready to put about!”

“Aye, sir.”

For a few moments there was activity as the sails were shifted and the ship wheeled sharply over to starboard, laying its mast alongside. Wash cried out in delight, and soon the
Dolphin
was under full sail, driven back toward the land by a following breeze.

Three hours later they pulled into the harbor.

As they nudged in and dropped anchor, Jake popped his head up from below, calling out, “Supper's ready! Come and get it before I throw it out!”

They all clambered down the ladder leading below deck to the galley where Sarah had laid out plates. Jake had fried up some steaks and added baked potatoes with them. And after Josh asked Goél's blessing, everybody plunged in. Josh noticed that even Reb, who had a queasy appetite, seemed to find himself hungry.

Daybright certainly ate with obvious enjoyment. “You're better than any cook I've had, Jake,” he said. “One of them I thought we'd have to throw to the sharks.”

Jake looked pleased. He said he'd always liked to cook but found it a challenge to keep the fire going in the small galley. “What do you do when a storm comes?”

“You have to douse the fire,” Daybright told him. “Just one spark on this dry wood and the ship's on fire. Then you're in real trouble.”

“Tell us some of the troubles you've had—adventures,” Abbey said.

The Sleepers listened as the captain spoke of several dangerous times, and finally Daybright grinned. “Well, that's enough for now. Tomorrow we'll leave for the Lost Sea.”

“What is the bride like?” Abbey asked, always interested in weddings and brides and romantic things like that.

Daybright shrugged. “I have no idea.” He leaned back and ran his hand through his slightly curly blond hair. “I expect she's ugly as a mud fence. Her father had to sell her sight unseen to get rid of her.”

“You don't mean that!” Sarah said.

Daybright laughed. “I guess not. Seems a little strange tome, though.”

“It does to me too,” Abbey said indignantly. “I can't imagine marrying a man I'd never even seen!”

“Well, we'll see her tomorrow,” Daybright said. “They say all brides are beautiful—but I've got my doubts about this one!”

After supper they went up on deck and spent a little time tying the sails down, as they did every evening.

Suddenly a strange-looking bird appeared. Everybody looked up, and Josh asked, “What kind of a bird is that, Captain?”

Daybright stared at the bird, and Josh saw that he was troubled. “What's wrong, Captain Daybright?” he asked.

“It's an albatross.” He hesitated, then shrugged, giving a half laugh. “Some sailors say it's a bird of ill omen. Bad luck.”

“You don't believe that, do you?” Dave asked.

“Well, I'm not very superstitious. Not like most sailors.”

However, something about the way he said the words alerted Josh. He whispered, “He really is superstitious, I think. That bird bothers him.”

Everyone watched the large bird wheel, circle the ship, seem to look down at them.

“I wish he'd go away,” Daybright said shortly.

“What do the sailors say?” Jake asked.

“Oh, they say when an albatross flies over a ship the day before it sails, it's a sign that the voyage will be ill-fated.”

“Well, I don't believe that,” Wash said defiantly. He looked around. “If I had a rock, I'd knock his head off.”

“Don't do
that!"
Daybright said, his voice sharp. “I don't believe in things like that, but they say it's bad luck to kill an albatross.” Then he looked at the somber faces of his youthful crew and grinned. “But all sailors are superstitious. Don't pay any attention to me. Go get a good night's sleep. We'll leave at dawn and go pick up the bride.”

“It's gonna be a fun thing,” Wash said, nodding emphatically as he and Reb splashed ashore. “I believe it's gonna be the funnest thing we ever did.”

Reb shook his head. “I don't know about those albatrosses. The captain was sure bothered. I'd just as soon that varmint hadn't showed up.”

But Wash slapped his tall friend on the back hard, saying, “Shoot, I ain't gonna let no bird spoil my vacation. We're gonna have a great time. You'll see!”