Page 4 of Valka

“It’s no use now,” she said.

“You, you hold your arm just like that,” he said, arranging her wrist just on the corner of the beam she was chained to, leaving the lock hanging barely over the edge. “Don’t move it! Do you hear?” he demanded, then got to his feet. He lifted his leg and brought his boot down on the lock, once, twice, then three times.

A pinging sound was heard, and both he and Delia, who’d looked away to protect her eyes if the lock or chain broke, looked hopefully at the lock.

Delia’s breath caught when she saw the slight separation between the shackle bar and the latch plate. She released a desperate sob as Ridley knelt in the water again and tried to force the lock to open the rest of the way.

His stomping of it had broken the old lock at its most rusted part. He glanced quickly around the hold for something to use to insert into the break in the lock and pry it apart. His gaze fell on one of the old metal plates he’d forgotten to collect after bringing them food that morning. He grabbed it and brought it back, forcing its edge into the split in the lock. He used all his strength to press it into the slight split in the metal, then stood up and raised his foot to bring it down on the plate wedged into the lockagain. But he hesitated, his foot in the air looking askance at Delia.

“I die here, or I survive with an injured arm… stomp it!” she demanded.

Ridley brought his booted foot down, a creak of metal was heard.

Delia screamed, then Ridley was beside her, removing the chain and dropping the broken lock into the water. He helped Delia stand, then over to the ladder where he got her started on the first rung as she held her injured arm with her other hand.

“I’m sorry,” he said, putting his shoulder under her bottom and lifting her up to the next rung.

“Stop apologizing and get the rest of these women up this ladder!” Delia snapped through her tears.

“Get up the ladder! Get up the damned ladder!” Ridley shouted, jumping back down into the water and splashing his way around the hold, shooing them all toward Delia.

She jumped down to make room for them all to go first.

The women all started up the ladder, the first of them stopping just before she stepped out onto the deck. “I’m afraid to go out there!” she sobbed as the sound of screeches and the terrifying peals of raptors soaring overhead cut through the howling of the wind and rain.

“Go out there or I’ll wring your bloody neck myself!” Delia screamed.

The second girl in line urged the first up and out, then followed her right away. The rest were right behind them, until finally there was none left except for Delia and Ridley.

“I’ll help you out,” Ridley said, waiting for her to step onto the ladder again.

“I can do it. Just make sure I don’t fall back using only the one arm.”

“I’m sorry I hurt your arm,” he said as they started up the ladder with him up against her to make sure she didn’t fall back.

“You need to stop wasting time apologizing so much and concentrate on doing what you need to do!”

“I’m trying. I really am,” he said, his voice belying his near panic.

“You’ve done well. Don’t stop now,” she said, taking pity on him. He was after all, just barely old enough to be out on his own.

Chapter 3

The moment Delia reached the top of the hold, she realized one of the other women was still cowering near its opening. “Go on,” Delia encouraged.

“I can’t. The birds took them all! They’re waiting for us to step into the open and then they snatch us up.”

“Then rush out, and jump over the side. Swim away. Birds don’t swim.”

The woman, Louise, looked back at Delia. “Do you think I can make it?” she asked hopefully.

“Absolutely. And I’ll be right after you. As soon as I step over the edge of this hold, I’m running toward the nearest side and jumping in!”

“Okay, okay, I can do this,” Louise said.

“Of course, you can. Just dart out of the shadows there already running and go over the side without pause!”

Louise did just as Delia said. She stepped away from the outer edge of the hold already running and dove over the side of the ship some ten feet away.

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