Dark Day in the Deep Sea (4 page)

T
he captain turned and strode away.

“Sorry, friends,” Henry said to Jack and Annie. “But the captain’s in charge.” He looked around. “I see Joe and Tommy are helping the men bring up the catch now. As soon as they are free, I will ask them to take you back to shore. I am very sorry.”

“That’s okay,” said Annie. “You did what you could.”

“Before you young people leave, perhaps you would like to see today’s specimens?” asked the professor.

“Sure!” said Jack and Annie together.

“Then come along!” said the professor. “Every single day we make new discoveries!”

Hurrying with Annie across the deck, Jack couldn’t wait to see what had just been brought up from the deep. They followed Henry and the professor to a team of sailors pulling up large nets. The nets were shaped like giant bags with mops attached to the bottom.

“What are those mops for?” asked Annie.

“They sweep up sea animals from the floor of the ocean,” explained Henry.

“We pull them from pitch-darkness into the light of day,” said the professor.

“That must scare them!” said Annie.

But the professor didn’t seem to hear her. “Over the years, we’ve hauled up tens of thousands of specimens!” he said.

As the sailors dumped the bags onto the deck, Jack saw mostly mud. But lying in the mud were tiny, squirmy pink and yellow fish and fiery orange sea stars.

“No monsters there, huh?” asked Annie.

The professor looked at her. “Not today, my dear,” he said.

“I was just kidding,” said Annie. “Do you believe in monsters?”

“Oh. Well …” The professor looked serious. “The sea is very deep, my dear. It covers nearly three-quarters of the world. So I say to myself, ‘Might it not indeed hold many mysterious creatures, including monsters?’”

Good point
, thought Jack.

“But don’t be afraid, children!” said the professor. “Someday we’ll catch all the monsters and study them! We will conquer our fears through knowledge! Won’t we, Henry?”

“Yes, sir,” said Henry.

“Conquer our fears through knowledge!” The professor repeated his thought with enthusiasm. “I shall add that to my lectures.”

Low thunder rolled in the sky.

Jack looked up. Black clouds hovered overhead. A strong gust of wind swept over the deck.

“Attention!” the captain shouted, heading toward them. “A squall is headed our way! For now, take the children below to the main deck.”

“Yes, sir!” said Henry. He smiled at Jack and Annie. “Well, friends, I suppose you get to stay with us a while longer, after all.”

“Yay!” Annie said softly.

“Only those on watch stay on deck!” the captain shouted to his crew. “Everyone else get below.”

Henry led Jack and Annie away just as the rain began to pour down. Water dripped from Jack’s hair and backpack and life vest as he and Annie followed Henry down a steep flight of stairs to a dimly lit hallway.

“Our ship was converted from a war vessel to a ship of sea laboratories,” Henry said. “The navy removed sixteen of the eighteen guns on board to make room for them. Would you like to see mine?”

“Oh, yes!” said Jack. He couldn’t wait to see an actual sea laboratory.

“Follow me.” Henry unlocked a door and
showed Jack and Annie into a large, dim room. There was a small skylight overhead. Rain pounded against the glass.

Henry struck a match and lit a couple of oil lamps. Shadows danced around the room.

Jack smiled and let out a deep sigh. He loved the sea lab. Shelves were lined with hundreds of different-size bottles. The bottles were filled with floating blobs. In the middle of the room was a wooden table. It held maps, rulers, thermometers, bowls with gooey-looking stuff, and a big microscope.

Henry pointed at the microscope. “Would you like to see something remarkable?” he asked.

“Oh, yes!” said Annie. She peered through the eyepiece. “Whoa—that’s amazing,” she breathed.

“Let me see,” said Jack. He put his backpack down on the table and looked in the microscope. He saw the tiny skeleton of a sea horse. “Cool …,” he said.

“That sea horse is no bigger than a grain of
sugar,” said Henry. “But of course I’m fascinated by larger creatures as well. Why, just yesterday I spent several hours studying the ear bone of a dolphin and the tooth of a shark.”

“And what’s in all those bottles?” asked Annie. She pointed at the rows and rows of bottles on Henry’s shelves.

“Many curiosities,” said the scientist. “That large one, for instance, holds a creature that looks like a giant sock. Some call it a blubber fish. But it’s not a fish at all! It is made up of millions of tiny sea creatures.”

“Eww,” said Annie.

“And there’s a rare sea slug,” said Henry. He pointed to a bright yellow blob floating in a clear liquid.

“Nice color,” said Jack.

“We study whatever we bring up from the deep,” said Henry. “We measure the specimens and identify them. Then we preserve them in bottles of alcohol and label the bottles.”

“So all those bottles are full of dead sea creatures?” said Annie.

“Oh, no. Many bottles are simply filled with ooze from the bottom of the sea,” said Henry.

“Ooze?” said Jack.

“The official name for mud,” said Henry, smiling. “Here, feel it.” Henry picked up one of the plates on the table and held it out to Jack and Annie. They rubbed the sticky, wet mud between their fingers.

“Ooze
is a good name for it,” said Jack.

Henry gave them a cloth to wipe their hands.
Then he picked up a large book from the table. “And here is the notebook where I transfer my drawings of natural history specimens,” he said. He opened the book. Inside were beautiful watercolors of shells, plants, and butterflies.

“These are great,” said Jack. Henry’s notebook reminded him of the notebooks he’d seen in Leonardo da Vinci’s studio.

“This is beautiful,” said Annie. She reached across Henry’s table and picked up a gleaming, round seashell. The shell was white with curved reddish brown lines.

“Yes,” Henry said softly. “My nautilus shell.”

“Is this one of your specimens?” asked Annie.

“No,” said Henry. “I don’t consider that a specimen. It’s more like a treasure. I’m afraid I grew quite fond of the little creature who once lived inside that shell.”

“What did he do?” asked Annie.

“Oh, he just swam around a small tub I had for him,” said Henry. “But he moved backwards.
Rather funny. He filled himself with water and then squirted it out—all over me!” Henry smiled. “I was quite sad when he died. I wished I had returned him to the sea.” Henry put the shell down and let out a quiet sigh. “Silly to think that way, I know.”

“Not silly at all,” said Annie.

The ship’s bell rang.

“Ah, time to go,” said Henry. “The captain runs a tight ship. It’s against the rules to be late. So let us be off to the wardroom.”

“What’s the wardroom?” Jack asked.

“That’s where the scientists and naval officers eat,” said Henry.

“Eat?” Jack said weakly. The thought of food made him feel queasy again.

“Yes,” said Henry. He blew out the two oil lamps. “Come along! You must join us! It’s lunchtime!”

H
enry led Jack and Annie out of the sea lab, locking the door behind them. Then he led the way through the hall and down another flight of steep steps. In the faint light of the lower deck, Jack saw naval officers and scientists streaming through a door ahead. He, Annie, and Henry lined up behind them and filed into the wardroom.

Still wearing their bulky life vests, Jack and Annie sat awkwardly on a long bench in front of a table. Many of the men stared at them with
curiosity. The professor smiled, but the captain did not look happy.

“I thought our friends might join us for lunch, sir,” Henry said to the captain. “I promise they will return to shore after the storm.”

“Very well,” said the captain. “
Immediately
after the storm.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” said Henry. He turned to the other officers at the table. “Gentlemen, may I introduce Annie and Jack from America. They are adventurous travelers.”

“Hi,” murmured Jack and Annie.

The officers and scientists nodded politely.

Sailors in white uniforms acted as waiters, bringing plates and cups to the table. “What are we having for lunch?” Annie whispered to Henry.

“The usual,” said Henry, sighing. “Salted meat, pickles, dried biscuits.”

This is not good
, thought Jack. He was right. When he was served, he could hardly look at his food, much less eat it. He was thirsty, though. So
he reached for his cup and took a long sip of water.

Jack immediately spit the liquid back into his cup. It was unbelievably sour! He gagged and coughed. When he looked up, everyone was staring at him, including the captain. “Excuse me,” Jack said, wiping his mouth. His face felt hot from embarrassment.

“You just guzzled your lime juice, lad,” said the professor. “Most of us take it in small sips.”

“Lime juice?” asked Annie. “Why?”

“It prevents scurvy,” said the Professor. “Every day we all drink a cup of lime juice for vitamin C. Otherwise, we’d get sores and rotten teeth.”

“Yuck,” said Annie.

Henry smiled. “You won’t get scurvy if you eat fruits and vegetables,” he said. “But it is hard to keep vegetables and fruits fresh on board a ship.”

Jack couldn’t think about eating or drinking
anything at the moment. All of it—especially the pickles—made him feel even queasier. The rolling of the ship didn’t help, either. “The waves seem to be getting worse,” he said to Henry.

“They do indeed,” said Henry. He turned and looked out a small, round window. “Can’t see a thing. It’s as thick as pea soup out there.”

Oh, no
, Jack groaned to himself.
Please don’t talk about pea soup.

The ship lurched. Cups and plates slid across the table and crashed to the floor. Annie grabbed Jack as the ship rocked wildly.

“Steady as she goes!” said the captain.

“It seems the storm is fully upon us,” said the professor.

The ship lurched again. More cups and plates slid off the table. Jack and Annie almost slid off their chairs. But without any sign of nervousness, the officers and scientists stood up and hurried out of the room, as if they knew just what to do in bad weather.

“I’ll take you down to the hold,” Henry said to Jack and Annie. “We’ll wait there until the waves calm down.”

The ship pitched violently as they stood up from the table. Holding on to the back of their life
vests, Henry steered Jack and Annie out of the wardroom. Jack nearly slipped on the wet floor. His bare feet crushed some soggy biscuits and pickles. He tried not to think about it.

Out in the dark hall, the wind howled down the stairwell from the top deck, spraying them all with ocean foam.

“I must go secure my lab,” Henry shouted to Jack and Annie. He pointed to the stairs. “Go down one more flight! I’ll join you when I can!”

“We’ll come with you!” said Annie.

“’Tis better to be safe!” said Henry. “Follow the others quickly! I’ll come soon!” Henry unlocked the door to his lab and disappeared inside.

“Come on, let’s go down!” said Jack. He grabbed Annie’s hand and pulled her toward the stairwell. Officers and sailors were all heading down the steps ahead of them.

Just as Jack and Annie started down, the ship lurched again. Jack’s stomach lurched with it. He covered his mouth.
I am definitely going to be sick!
he thought. He really didn’t want to throw up on the stairs—or in front of the captain and the others!

“You go down! I’ll be right there!” Jack shouted to Annie.

“Why? Where are you going?” Annie yelled.

“Just go down!” said Jack. Then he whirled around and charged up two flights of steep steps to the top deck.

When Jack stepped onto the deck, the rain was pounding. The wind was howling. The waves looked like dark mountains. Sea foam was blowing everywhere.

Jack knew at once he’d made a mistake.
Better to be embarrassed than drown!
he thought. Just as he turned to go back down the steps, Annie burst onto the deck.

“Jack!” she cried. “What are you doing?”

Jack forgot all about throwing up. “I made a mistake!” he shouted. “We shouldn’t be up here! Go down! I’m coming with you! We have to go back down!” He pushed Annie toward the stairwell.

A giant wave crashed over the side of the
ship. Jack fell and slid across the foam-covered deck. It was impossible to see anything. The wind was screaming. Jack tried to stand, but wearing his clumsy life vest, he couldn’t get back on his feet.

Jack finally hauled himself up. But just as he did, another giant wave broke over the side of the ship! The ship rolled again, and Jack fell to his knees. Another wave crashed over the deck. Jack was swept up by the foamy water—and tossed overboard into the churning sea!