And as the sky traded the blackness of the storm for the blackness of the night, there towards the horizon, she saw something. It was hard to make out at first; it appeared and disappeared with the waves. But as time crawled on and the black figure got closer, she became more and more sure it was a boat, and not just any boat, a dinghy, something no one could have taken out so far on its own and especially not on a night like tonight.
She swore, then prayed, and then she was off down the stairs, taking them three at a time. This wouldn’t be like last time, she assured herself. She wouldn’t let it.
And already, as she threw the door open and ran to the dock, she could tell it was nothing like last time. The waves weren’t even half as big. They didn’t explode upwards like they were trying to swallow her lighthouse. She could do this.
Feeling confident, she stepped in her boat, and untying it from the dock, she started off.
Thankfully, the familiarity of the oars in her hands only made her confidence rise. These waves were no worse than what she used to practice in throughout her teens. She could do this.
She pushed back any last dread as she headed for the horizon, though she felt unashamed to feel it. Papa had always said that braverycould not exist without fear, for anything was easy if you were not afraid. True courage started when your stomach leapt into your throat and your heart clenched and you pressed on regardless, sure of the righteousness of your course.
She could do this.
CHAPTER 55
It was a long paddle. The wind and waves fought her at every step. A second’s rest and she was pushed back a dozen feet.
Suddenly, there was a head floating beside the boat.
“Kallias!” she practically chided. “What are you doing? I almost hit you with the oar!”
“What amIdoing? What areyoudoing? I didn’t see a shipwreck.”
She kept paddling, now trying not to swing the oar too close to him. “There was a small dinghy like this one. It’s moving towards the lighthouse, but I’m not sure if that’s from the current or someone rowing.”
“You don’t even know and you’re going after it?” He was as incredulous as he was chiding. “Daria, please,” he practically moaned. “Please go back. I’ll check it out.”
She shut him up with a look.
“Fine,” he huffed. “At least let me help you. I can go see—”
“What if they see you? Kallias, I’m fine. These kinds of waves are nothing, I promise you.”
Rejected, he huffed a pout but seemingly relented. “Fine, but I can still help,” he said, going to the back of the boat and starting to push.
“What if a wave slams the boat into you?” she cried. “Really, I can handle it.”
But he was pushing like his life depended on it. “I’ll be fine,” he called. “Like you said, these waves are nothing.”
She wasn’tsosure of that when it came to him and his safety, but she let it go. It looked like she had plenty of room for her oars even with him back there, and the faster this was over with, the faster they both could be safe. “Can I still row?”
“Please do.”
CHAPTER 56
“I see it up ahead,” she said, as hushed as she could be over the rain and the waves. “Go hide.”
He frowned, but with one long look at it and then her, he dove into the water. She didn’t like how discontented his last expression was, but with the boat up ahead, the thought could not linger long.
“Hello!” she called, loud as she could. “Hello!”
“Yes, yes!” someone screamed. “Here!”
It was only then that she saw a figure as he sat up. Had he been lying down then this whole time? The boat must have been going on its own with the currents.
He looked deathly pale, almost sallow. Seasickness perhaps? She couldn’t think of anything else unless he was truly ill, but being both ill and in a shipwreck was horribly bad luck.
He looked like he was struggling to even sit upright. He swayed a bit. Was he drunk? But his expression didn’t look drunk. No, he looked purely exhausted.
