Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen- Day Two at Sea, the Afternoon

The storm clouds had been rolling in slowly. Josey could see the storm would be a big one, so he had instructed the crew to steer the ship towards land. He worried a little now. It looked like the storm would begin before they made it to land.

Just as he was thinking this, a light drizzle began to spill from the dark skies above. Josey tried not to let the crew know of his worry as he shouted out to them, "Let's hurry and get to the mainland, men!" The men worked faster as they manned the sails to steer them towards land. They had been sailing close to the land and would now be stopping at a little pier in the northern parts of France, near to Paris. As the men sailed on, a strong gale began to blow across the waters. The heavy winds caused the rain to become stronger as well.

In less than a minute, the storm was underway. The men could barely hear each other over the sound of the deafening winds and the pelting of the heavy rains onto the ship and into the sea waters below. The men could hardly see each other because of all the rain and sea water blowing into their eyes and stinging them, so they had to squint to try and see anything. The clouds darkened even more, and soon the ship was in pandemonium as the men tried to get to land.

Josey steered as fast as he could, but soon he began to feel the steer become heavy as the waters below roared and crashed in the storm. He tried to turn the ship towards land, but the steer kept turning the other way, towards the open waters. He pushed his full weight against the steer, but it barely helped.

Mack ran around the top deck, securing safety lines and ordering the men to work harder. He tried not to slip on the wet deck and fall into the ocean as the ship began to lean sideways with the waves of the ocean. He saw Dianna holding on to her cabin's door frame and slowly made his way to her.

"Go back inside!" He shouted at her over the wind and rain. She shook her head and pushed herself against the wind and water to walk forward. "What are you doing? Are you mad!" Mack tried to get her attention but she could no longer hear him as she walked towards Josey and the steer.

When she made it, she hung on to the steer so she could stand and yelled, "Let me help!"

"We're fine! Go back inside to safety!" Josey yelled back. Dianna shook her head and continued.

"I know what to do!" Dianna had been watching Josey try to steer to boat to no avail, and had figured out a way to turn the ship towards land. "Help me turn the steer towards the water!"

"Are you mad! We want to get to land, not water!" Josey struggled to yell as he tried to force the steer to bid his command.

"Just trust me, Josey!" Josey looked at Dianna's eager face, her long, dark hair whipping crazily around her as she tried to reason with him.

"Fine," Josey gave in. He pushed while Dianna pulled the steer towards the waters. They pushed and pulled until the steer reached its turning limit.

"Hold it!" Dianna yelled. They held the steer in place, both of them struggling not to let go. "Everyone hang on!" Dianna shouted down to the men. Everyone grabbed onto a safety line or to a solid part of the ship and waited. When the waves crashed the right way, Dianna yelled to Josey, "Now!" And they both let go of the steer.

The force of the waves and of Dianna's and Josey's weight against the steer combined to roughly shove the ship towards land. As the ship violently turned and surged forward, the men all hung on for dear life. Josey and Dianna flew the second they let go of the steer. Josey grabbed onto a safety line. Dianna fell through the air towards him, and Josey grabbed her and held her against him as they waited for the ship to right itself.

The ship finally straightened and entered the calmer waters of the shoreline. All the men let go of the safety lines and slowly eased the ship towards the pier. Josey let go of the safety line and stood up straight, still holding a shaking Dianna. She swallowed deeply and slowly stepped away from Josey.

As the men anchored the ship into place, Josey said, "Thank you. You were right to say I could trust you. And it turns out a ship could use a woman's help." Dianna looked up at him in surprise, not expecting his kindness and gratitude. She smiled and nodded.

Mack hopped up next to them and said, "We're docked, Captain."

"Good. Let's find a place to spend the night. And also a place to send a telegram to Mr. Desmond. He needs to know we will be delayed due to the storm." Josey instructed. Mack nodded, smiled at Dianna, and walked off to do as he was bid.

"I suppose I'll go pack some things, and prepare a letter to send to Father." Dianna said to Josey. He nodded, keeping eye contact with her. She nodded back and quickly turned away to go to her cabin.

Before Josey went down to his own captain's cabin to pack some things to take onto land himself, he took a moment to stand under the rain. The rains were calmer near the shore than they were out in the waters a moment before. He let the steady rains pour down onto him, soaking through his shirt and completely drenching his golden hair. He closed his eyes and breathed in the wet air. Thanks to Dianna, they had survived the storm and made it to land. She had become a very useful and necessary part of the crew, and he would be sorry to return her to her father and let her go.

More sorry than he knew, because when she went back home, he would never see her again.

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