Deep Water

Alex awoke to the crying of a baby somewhere in the distance. She wasn’t sure whether it was day or night but she knew that she couldn’t sleep any longer. Carefully she got to her feet, remembering to stoop down so as not to bump her head again. Running her fingers over her clothes she was able to take inventory of her belongings. She found that her holster was empty and that once again she was without boots. For all she knew her things could be lying in a corner of the room but she just couldn’t see them. With outstretched hands she made her way tentatively through the room with the hopes of finding her way outside.

She let out a scream of pain and surprise as her foot stepped on something hot, no doubt she had just wandered into a fire pit. She hopped backwards bumping her head on another beam. With one hand holding her burnt foot and the other cradling the lump already forming on the back of her head she was quite a spectacle to see. Just as two women rushed into the little hut, Alex tripped over a basket and fell with a thump onto the dirt floor causing another cry of pain to escape her.

“’Ere ya go dear, take me ‘and.” Alex felt a rough calloused hand encircle her own thin one and with a slight tug she was back on her feet. “Now let me ‘ave a look at ya. Ya shouldn’t ‘ave gotten out of bed withou’ proper ‘elp.” The rough hands were very gentle as they examined her foot and head. “Not burnt too bad, lucky for you, you didn’ fall in the fire. Ya’ve got a nasty lump on the ‘ead but you’ll live.”

“Look at the mess she made, ma” Alex could tell by the voice that it was a young girl who spoke maybe of 10 or 11. She still had the high pitched voice of a child but was old enough to be her mother’s helper.

“Shh! Mind yer manners, Evilin, the poor woman can’t see.” The girl went about straightening up the room grumbling under her breath.

Alex strained in frustration to see the people who were in the room. She reached up to rub her eyes but found that there was a cloth bandage over them. She was about to undue the wrap but her hands were gently stopped. “Ya best be leavin’ that be, miss. Let the salve do its job, ‘opefully ya’ll get some of your sight back.”

Alex dropped her hands pliantly into her lap. “Where am I? What happened?”

“She’s stupid and blind!” came the quick retort from Evilin. There was a loud smack and without even seeing it, Alex knew that the girl had been disciplined for her remark.

“Overlook the girl; she thinks she knows everything now that she’s to soon be married off to the king. She’ll be wife number four but at least she’ll ‘ave food.

As for where you are – you’re on Antipodes Island. From best we can tell, a storm came up and the ship was pushed onto the rocks a ways to the north of ‘ere. ‘Ow ya survived is a miracle but ya washed up on shore tied to a beam from the ship. ‘Aven’t seen any others from the vessel but that’s not to say that they’re all dead. Maybe just washed up on a different part of the island.”

“Capin’ there’s a storm a brewin’. Best start battin’ down the hatches.”

A shrill whistle resonated throughout the ship as the warning was passed to make ready for rough seas.

“Ya best get below decks, miss. Tie yourself to a beam incase we take a wave or two. Don’t want our only passenger getting washed overboard.”

“Capin’, it’s gonna be a spinner.”

On that word the boat came alive with crew members running to and fro, strapping down anything that moved. Those that were not needed on top moved with Alex below decks to tie themselves to anything that would float and not move.

“Here ya go, miss, I’ll give you a hand.” One of the galley workers who had been so kind to Alex on the voyage set about tying her to a beam. He had just finished when there was a loud crack as a wave hit the side of the ship causing it to rock viciously from side to side. The man would have gone flying through the air but Alex grabbed him. “Thank you, miss. Now that I’ve got you secured, I best see to myself.” That was the last time she ever saw any one from the boat again.

In a matter of seconds the ship was being tossed about by the vicious storm. There was an earsplitting crack as the vessel struck a large rock. Water filled the haul of the deck and panic welled up inside of Alex. She struggled with the knot that secured her to the beam; if she couldn’t get loose she would drown. Suddenly the upper deck broke away and her beam was loose. She was afloat in the icy water, rain pelting at her face. A wave flipped her over causing her head to strike a rock that was just below the surface. Darkness mercifully enveloped her so that she was unaware of the punishment her body endured from the great sea.

“I remember,” she whispered

“Wha’ was that, miss?” The woman paused a moment in her cleaning to look at the patient who had been forced upon her.

“I remember the ship wreck.” Looking in the direction from which the woman’s voice came she asked, “Other than my vision, is there anything else wrong with me?”

“Well, you ‘ave a nasty gash on your back, but from the looks of it, your back is used to pain. The rest are just scratches and bruises, nothin’ too serious. We’ve ‘ad a time of gettin’ your back to close, but I think it’ll do ya right now.”

“And my things? Did anything make it to shore?”

“You’re boots and the guns you were wearing are in safe keeping with the elders along with the key that was about your neck. Nothin’ else from your ship has washed up other than drift wood.” Alex was relieved to hear this bit of news although she would dearly miss her larger weapons; at least she had her pistols.

“Evilin, take the lady outside for some fresh air while I get us some food cookin’” The girl gave an audible “humph” but did as she was told. “Walk slow now; she can’t see where she’s gonin’”

Although the girl had a sharp tongue she had gentle hands and carefully guided Alex out of the hut. The air was damp and heavy with heat taking Alex’s breathe away. She could hear movement all around but nobody seemed to be in close proximity to them. Evilin carefully lead her to a log where they could sit down. “Where were you going, anyway?” The girl was much friendlier when her mother wasn’t about.

“Here actually.”

“Why would you want to come here?”

“I’m looking for an old friend.”

“Who is it? Maybe I can help you?” The girl was all too eager for an adventure of some kind.

Figuring it couldn’t hurt to ask, specially seen as how she couldn’t exactly look for the man herself, Alex answered, “Jake Small. At least that’s what name he used to go by when I knew him.”

“Why that’s the king!” Exclaimed the girl.

Alex hoped she masked her reaction to this bit of news. “This might be more difficult than I had thought.” She would bide her time here for now, at least she was on the right trail but she needed to gather more information and devise a plan. “If only I could see!”