The white hot sun over the vast and endless swathes of the Atlantic baked down mercilessly on me as I drifted in and out of consciousness. My world was spinning and my throat was on fire as the course ropes bit into my exposed skin. After last night’s incident in the brig, the soldiers manhandled me up to the deck and tied me around the main mast. They had left me there all night, constantly guarded by two soldiers. I could hear them whispering in trepidation to each other as they often glanced over to me. Even for battle hardened soldiers, the old superstitions still held sway and I heard the name witch often mentioned in the night. Their muted conversation was only interrupted by the shouting I heard coming from the captain’s quarters. It wasn’t difficult in figuring out what the captain and his officers were discussing and none it foretold any good news for me.
I knew I was to be executed in the morning.
They had thrown Adelmar into a make shift cage near my feet. The cowards wanted to throw him over the side but were too scared of the wrath of the so called witch on board. The wolf cub was pacing back and forth in his cage, growling often at the nearby soldiers. He was putting on a brave show but I feared it was for nothing in the end. The deep blue ocean would claim our bodies at the first rays of the morning sun. Our time had run out and there was nothing left for us to do.
The inevitable came true only a few hours later as the night’s gloom finally lifted and the morning sun broke through the clouds over the blue Atlantic. But the bastards didn’t kill me immediately. No, they left me and Adelmar in the godforsaken heat till we were on the verge of blacking out. Finally, when the sun was at its midday peak, I heard the captain and his officers approaching. They were closely followed by the rest of the crew but they still kept a fearful distance from me. He looked me over closely, then pulled out a small flask of water and it put it to my chapped lips. It stung and burnt as it flowed down my parched throat. When I was finished drinking, the captain stepped back and took a deep breath; picking his words carefully.
“We had a long and heated discussion about you last night child. The men wanted to hang your corpse from the yard arm but I do not condone the murder of a child, no matter the heinous crime she committed. I tried to convince them to let you live and stand trail when we dock at the next port; but they would have none of it. If I spare you today, we would surely have a mutiny on our hands and I cannot afford to take that risk. So I took the only option left to me, no matter how hard a decision it was. We will let the ocean decide your fate. You are to be cast off at sea and may God have mercy on your soul. I wish there was another way to do this but the well being of my ship and its crew is paramount and will always come first.”
“You had better make sure I’m dead. If anything of me is left, I swear I will kill you myself.” My words were hard and cold as they rolled over my cracked and bloody lips. The Captain shook his head, then turned away from me.
“So be it. Throw her and the beast overboard. None of us will ever speak of this act is that clear? None of us!” He angrily addressed the crew as they untied me from the mast and shoved me towards the edge of the ship. Captain Reynolds stood back and looked on without any emotion on his face as I slowly walked down the outstretched plank. The waves crashed menacingly against the wooden hull, waiting with outstretched arms to receive my body in the briny deep. With one last look and without waiting to be pushed, I stepped over the edge and plunged downwards. The ice cold water of the Atlantic hit me like a hammer blow, instantly taking my breath away from me as I fought my way upwards again. By all rights, I should have drowned that day but something that I could never explain kept me alive. The dark silhouette of a piece of drift wood appeared above me in the skies. In between the frothing bubbles, I realized the cruel final joke that the ship’s crew played on me. They could have easily let me succumb to the demon depths but instead they gave me hope. A vain, pathetic hope of a plank in the middle of the vast blue desert. My hands lunged out and grasped the flotsam as I pulled myself upwards, gasping for air. The crew’s laughter rang in my ears as I saw Adelmar being tossed like a ragdoll overboard. He landed with a splash but the brave cub quickly surfaced and swam over to me.
