“Simon!”
A hand grabbed my jacket and pulled me backwards.
I fell to my arse on the deck of theArrowwith enough force to knock the wind out of me.The song had vanished, and I gazed into the horrified face of Captain Martin.
“What the hell are you doing?You almost went over the fucking rail!”he shouted in a burst of anger.He rubbed a hand against his face.“Jesus, I don’t think my nerves can take anything more,” he admitted in calmer tones.He sank down beside me, holding his head.
“I’m sorry,” I said.“You aren’t hurt, are you?”
“No.No, I’m all right.”
He lifted his face and regarded me silently.After a moment or two he spoke.
“What on earth came over you?You leaned so far over the rail, I thought you might fall.”
“I was trying to see something.”
He blinked.“You were trying to see something?”
“Aye.Where the song was coming from.”
“What song?”
“The song from my dream.I heard it again and… I can’t describe the melody or recall the words, though it always begins with my whispered name, spoken at my ear as if the being is standing right next to me.The music entrances me.I needed to find the source of the dirge.”
He stared at me with a look of grave concern.
I needed to distract him and I had to know the answer to this question.“How many men did we lose?”
“Thanks to their skill, and to you, we lost no one.”
“But…” I said, confused.“I saw at least two men go down.”
“They’re with Faraday.They’ll live, and with all of their limbs intact.”
“Thank Christ.”
“Yes, well, thank someone.Not me.I don’t know what Hillier and I were thinking.Overconfident, I suppose.It happens.”
I gaped at him.“Really?‘It happens’?What the bloody fuck?”
“Yes, well, I feel rather rotten at the moment; you don’t need to rub it in.”
We sat there in silence, whilst the Eloise drifted away and the crew got theArrowmoving under a brisk wind.
“So, the incredible Captain Dinesh Martin ain’t perfect.Well, I’ll be fucked.”
He gave me a stern look as seagulls shrieked and theArrowcreaked and rolled beneath us.
Chapter Ten
Distraction
Theshockoftheambush on theEloisetook a few days to recover from.Even though the men who had been injured were faring well and would recover under the surgeon’s excellent care, the attack had been a setback and a humbling occurrence.
The occurrence of the compelling song that had caused me to almost go overboard had been alarming, and I wondered once again if I was losing my senses.The only solace was that I didn’t see the dream creature or hear its ghastly song for the next several nights.A respite that I was grateful for.
Domingo and Squid, who’d stayed on theArrowminding Pearl and had watched the skirmish from the decks, described how the battle had looked from their vantage point.
