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“Uh-huh, come with me, and we can get a closer look.” He stretches out his hand to take mine. I give it to him, and we both get on the boat.
I shudder when my feet touch the wooden flooring and the boat rocks.
Pushing away my fears, I focus on Malik and the prospect of sharing this adventure with him.
“Hold on here.” He places my hand on one of the silver rails on the side of the cockpit, then leaves me to switch on an old-fashioned light and undo the ropes holding the boat moored to the boardwalk.
Malik lets out the main sail, allowing it to capture the wind. A thrill races through me as it puffs out and propels us forward with a force I didn’t expect. I’ve seen this before in Wilmington, and I’ve always thought it looked intriguing. As if the sails have come alive and are taking their first breath of life.
As apprehensive as I am, being onboard is definitely more exciting.
I hold on tight, watching him with interest to see him in his element outside the world of the Knights.
Moments later, we’re adrift. I look back at the boardwalk to see it’s far, far away. I’m surprised how quickly we got out to sea. It’s barely been a few minutes.
Malik comes back to me and brushes his finger over my cheek. Then he retrieves a handheld telescope from the bag he loaded on and looks through it.
“There we go.” He smiles wide, aiming the telescope toward the sky. “Have a look. The brighter one is Jupiter.”
He reaches for me and slips an arm around my waist, then holds the telescope out so I can see, too.
Everything instantly looks a hundred times brighter, closer and absolutely stunning.
“Wow,” I gasp. “This is amazing.”
Jupiter and Venus look like giant balls of diamonds beaming in the sky, and the crescent of the moon is sharper. There are also several bigger stars beside one of the planets.
“I knew you’d like this. The other things you can see are four of Jupiter’s moons.”
I glance back at him. “This is unreal.”
“I know, right? Space is so extensive it makes you wonder about all the things that are out there.”
“It feels like a whole other world.”
“It is.” He nods. “And it just so happens that it’s always better when you stargaze from the sea, like the sea captains of old who used the sky as a map.”
He lowers the telescope.
“Have you always done this?”
“Always.” His face brightens. “I can’t remember not doing it. I blame it on my uncle. We used to play pirates whenever he’d come to visit me, which was practically every day. He and my father were close.”
“That must have been nice, having them both around.”
“It was. My father was strict with all of us boys, so Uncle Leif was the fun adventure guy. I took to him like a house on fire.”
I giggle. “I take it he was the one who encouraged you to join the Navy.”
“It all began with him, and he set me on the path.”
We crest a wave, and I stumble into him, squealing and grabbing his shirt as if I’m going overboard.
Embarrassed, I laugh at my silliness. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Come, let’s go sit over there. We’ll stay out for a little while until the fog rolls in.” He points at the padded leather seated area. “You’ll be less scared sitting down.”
“That sounds good.” It’s dark, but I know he can see I’ve gone pale. It’s the anticipation of being out here.
