Page 68 of Potions & Pints
Tan wanted to promise her he would be back, but the words wouldn’t come. He hugged her tightly, until she complained he was crushing her and pushed him away.
“Look after him, Vir,” she said as she hugged him.
“Of course,” Vir said seriously. “With my life.”
“I want you both to come home.”
“We will,” Vir said.
“May the goddess watch over all of you.”
They boarded the ship. Goru took the gangplank up and handed it to Saru, who stowed it below deck. It was a reminder that it would be a long time before they set food on land again.
As long as we set food on land again,Tan thought grimly.
He was sure Vir’s optimism wouldn’t tire, but now that Tan felt the hardwood of the deck under his feet, he was all about reality. They had a mission and he was determined to complete it. He was also certain that there were any number of unseen forces determined to see them fail.
The moorings were pulled in and stowed. The cheers of the crowd gathered to see them off faded into the distance. Once out of the safety of the harbor, Tan climbed and felt the wind. It was favorable. He took it as a good omen and yelled for the sails to be raised.
“We are really moving,” Pili said as Tan joined him at the helm. “Do you want to take the wheel?”
“I think I should,” Tan said.
He had no doubt that Pili could steer them through clear weather, but Tan needed to get a feel for the ship before things got bad. And at this speed he knew that they would be reaching the Heaving Sea in record time. He pulled the crew together for a discussion.
He told them the humans will ride out the worst of it below deck. They will take turns sitting near the hatch in case Pili tells them they need assistance up top. No one disagreed with Tan’s decision.
As such, he had everyone in position — and tied in securely — when the Heaving Sea caught them. Tan steered frantically into the low patches as the boat rose and fell. The waves seemed to move with deliberation. Tan steered one way only to have a rogue wave fill the gap he was aiming for. Another opened up and he aimed for that.
This happened over and over.
“What are you doing?” Tan yelled.
“What?” Pili yelled back.
“Nothing?” Tan screamed back over the wind.
He wasn’t talking to Pili. Tan was talking to the sky and the water and the wind. They all seem to be in collusion against him. Tan could only imagine the goal was to exhaust him as quickly as possible and it seemed to be working.
Tan frantically turned the wheel first one way, then the other. Suddenly the ship began to tip. Tan quickly righted it and stared in disbelief.
“What happened?” Vir yelled from behind him.
Tan didn’t answer, he was too shocked. They floated for several minutes, the sea as calm as a small pond on a breezeless day. Pili untied himself and came over to Tan.
“What is going on?”
The question came from the hatch. Pili looked at Tan, who nodded.
“Come on up,” Pili called. “Everyone.”
The crew assembled around the helm. Tan didn’t know what to say. The crew speculated, wildly.
“We almost capsized.”
“Yeah, but we didn’t.”
“Maybe we did.”
