Ocean's Trial

by Carlton, Demelza

  "I'll take that for you, miss. You travelling on the Islander?" The deep voice behind me made me jump, but I allowed the smiling lumper to take my trunk to the ship.

  I straightened my hat, smoothed my skirt and fought to regain my breath. William might be aboard already and if I saw him, I'd need all the composure I could muster. I approached the vessel with my head held high. The captain was on deck, supervising the loading of the ship.

  "Pardon me," I began, "but you said to return when you were about to leave, and it appears to be the case. Now can you tell me how much my passage will cost to Christmas Island?"

  The captain stared at me for a moment, as if he had no idea who I was. "We don't have space for so much as a kitten aboard, miss. That damn engineer's gone and bought half of Fremantle to take with him and a train to lug it up to Drumsite, or so he says. He's got cargo in all the cabins as well as the hold – his own cabin's so full he's bunking with the crew. If this won't be a voyage from hell, I don't know what will. Miss, best wait for the next run. We'll be back here in a few months. It's cyclone season, now, too, so it'll be a rough trip. Pity he doesn't get seasick."

  I closed my gaping mouth with a snap. No space for me? I couldn't wait months. William was aboard this ship and I had to go with him. "Captain, you don't understand. I must travel on this ship. I can't wait. I must..."

  The man shrugged. "There's nothing I can do, miss. Ask His Mightiness yourself. Maybe he'll give you a different answer – perhaps he'll agree to leave some of his precious cargo here to free up a cabin for you." He jerked his thumb at a figure striding along the wharf.

  No, William wasn't aboard the ship. But he soon would be.

  I watched him walk across the gangplank and cross the deck. I felt like I was in the motorcycle shop all over again. "Make sure everything's aboard, Captain Hughes. Even if we have to lash some of the crates to the deck. I'll be below in my cabin." He strode past me as if I didn't exist, and disappeared down a hatch.

  The captain cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, miss. You heard him. Maybe next time." He walked away.

  I clenched my fists at my sides. I had the money to pay for my passage – ten times over, I was certain of it – and yet he refused to take it. I stormed off the ship.

  I could go home. I could wait. I could ask for someone to fetch my things from the hold and return to Merry. I could tell her I'd changed my mind and that I wanted to stay with her. And Tony...

  No. My anger blazed and the entire Indian Ocean couldn't quench this fire. No ship captain or engineer denied the ocean's gift passage on her ocean.

  I rounded the remaining crates placed on the edge of the wharf and peered into the water. The light was fading fast. If I slipped into the water and approached the boat from the harbour side...she was sitting so low in the water, I could grasp the ladder or one of the ropes on that side with little trouble. All I had to do was make it over the rail and slip into the hold.

  I sat on the edge, dangling my legs over the dark water, then lowered myself in. I kicked my shoes off as I felt my hat float away, but I didn't care any more. I had clothes in my trunk – I just needed to reach it. Ducking under a wave, I swam around the stern. I bobbed gently in the waves, looking for a suitable place to climb up. Ha – there were steps cut into the side of the ship as if people frequently needed to go from a ship to a launch.

  Trying to be quiet, I crept up the stairs and hid just below the railing, listening for anyone nearby. When I was satisfied that I was alone, I rose and hurried into the shadows before anyone could come to discover me. No one noticed me as I watched two crewmen carry crates into what looked like a cabin, already filled with wooden boxes stacked as high as the top bunk. A third man walked past at a much slower pace, lugging my trunk. This went through a hatch at the end of the passage that I presumed led to the hold. He returned a minute later without my luggage, heading back to the main deck.

  Quickly, I sneaked into the full cabin and dragged the blankets off the two top bunks, then seized the pillows, too. Bundling the lot into my arms, I carried it through the dark hatch and into the cargo hold.

  I scanned the stacked crates and found what I wanted – one slightly lower than the stacks on either side, yet large enough for me to stretch out on top of it, hidden from sight. I spread my blankets out across what I intended to be my bunk and left the pillows in the hidey-hole. I wanted to change into dry clothes, but I felt it best to hide until the ship was underway. That way, if they caught me, at least I couldn't be put ashore before Christmas Island.

  So I sat, huddled in a blanket, and waited for the boilers to fire up. The clunk of the tug hooking on to the ship took me by surprise, until I remembered that this was normal for Gage Roads. The firemen would stoke the boilers while the tug towed her out of the harbour. Once in the shipping channel, the vessel's engines would kick in and she'd move under her own power.

  More clunking against the hull echoed through the hold as the tug disengaged. Now all I could hear was the engines' hum and the swish of water against the hull.

  Time to start a new adventure. After I'd made William answer for his rudeness and the cryptic comments he'd made last night. I might pretend to be human, but I was one of the true daughters of the ocean's gift. And my trials had barely begun.

  The tale continues in

  Ocean's Triumph

  which you can get HERE.

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish.

  She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below.

  Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world.

  The Ocean's Gift series was her first foray into fiction, followed by her suspense thriller Nightmares trilogy. She swears the Mel Goes to Hell series ambushed her on a crowded train and wouldn't leave her alone.

  Want to know more? You can follow Demelza on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ , YouTube or her website, Demelza Carlton's Place at: www.demelzacarlton.com

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