Far Tortuga (41 page)
Authors: Peter Matthiessen
See dere, Copm Raib? Down by de point? Dey up to something.
Yah. Takin dem outboards off—dass
dere
mistake!
We lift de hook, den?
No, mon. Let dem come a little way downwind. Once dey see us underway, dey got to row back into dat breeze to get dem motors, and den dey ain’t no way dey can come up with us.
Okay. Dey comin. In two boats. You ready?
Yessir.
I goin aloft. You fellas raise dat hook when I raise my hand.
Black wind.
The ship heels as the wind takes her, and the sea quickens; across the wind fly shards of human voice.
The skiffs turn back toward the cay.
LET HER RUN FREE!
Black clouds in a black sky, and the reef booming.
At the blind helm, Speedy is alone: he can see no man but the Captain, who swings to all four quarters on the masthead, holding a shroud with one hand and cupping his ear with the other.
SOU’WEST BY SOUTH!
SOU’WEST BY SOUTH!
dancin on dat masthead like a child!
de wind in reefs like dis! He crazy, Will, he crazy! Hear dat surf? We never—COPM RAIB! WE SAILIN TOO FREE, COPM RAIB!
He got to keep steerage way
BYRUM!
laughin
up dere! We in de mouth of hell, and dat mon
laughin
!
BYRUM? CALL DE SEAMAN’S UNION, BYRUM! TELL DEM I SAILED TOO FREE ON DE BLEAK OCEAN!
YOU A CRAZY MON, KNOW DAT?
Hush, Byrum, hush! Dat mon de
Coptin
!
YOU HEAR ME, RAIB, YOU HEAR ME?
GET DE HELL BACK ON DAT LINE! HAUL HER UP CLOSE!
CRAZY OLD WIND COPTIN SONOFABITCH!
HAUL HER UP CLOSE, I SAY!
Wodie and Buddy crouch in the galley door. They stare at the deck, not daring to look outboard.
SHE NOT FAR FROM DE OPEN WATER, BOYS! NOW FALL OFF A LITTLE TOWARD DE SOUTHWARD!
SOUTHWARD!
Byrum and Will, exhausted, stare into the blackness. The ship is encircled by white wraiths of reef.
Oh
Jesus
, Will—!
Hush, mon, hush! We got to trust him!
WEST-SOU’WEST!
WEST-SOU’WEST!
HOLD HER ON DAT POINT! SHE GONE TO MAKE IT!
Black clouds rush past the mast; the sail is ghostly. On the cross-trees, the Captain flings his free arm wide, exalted.
SHE CLEAR, SHE CLEAR! WE IN DE CLEAR!
The ship strikes.
A shriek of twisting timbers.
The gear in the galley crashes, and bound turtles slide overboard.
Shuddering, the
Eden
rights herself, and in a din of flopping canvas, screeching blocks, drifts downwind from the reefs.
Black wind and rush of water. Figures running.
—
Shit!
My shoulder!
—Christ A’mighty!
Hear dat water?
Shit!
Get dat boat
over
board!
Got him, Speedy?
We got most of him.
Got enough to start dese engines?
Shit!
I
told
him! Domn old rotten riggin!
Shit!
Never mind dem engines, Byrum, mon! Dey flooded out!
A gathering of oceans.
The
Eden
drifts downwind in the black seas.
The crewmen hunch in a circle around the Captain, who lies on deck beneath a soiled gray blanket. They eat rapidly and gulp down water.
What you think, Will?
Maybe she got till daylight. Maybe not.
The Captain’s eyes are wide, but they see nothing. His mouth opens.
Copm Raib? You hearin us?
Ain’t no rock dere. Ain’t no coral in dat reach at all. We in de clear now, boys, we in de open water.
Lie easy, Copm Raib—don’t stress yourself.
He right, y’know. I knocked down dere by de rails, nearly went overboard when she heeled over, and I look down to see what she had struck on, and all I seen was darkness. And de next moment she had righted herself in good deep water—
It were dark, mon, with no moon! How in de hell—
Mon, mon, don’t matter how she mashed up. I knew she were gone soon’s I heard dat water rushin.
first light
She goin now—dere go de stern. Dem diesels gone to corry her down fast—
Dere! She slidin! Oh! She gone! De
Eden
gone!
