Tears of the Moon - Di Morrissey [61]
‘A long way till a break in the coast, tuan.’
‘Get me the chart.’
The Malay opened the hatch and dropped down the steps beside the bunk on which Olivia was resting. He smiled, found the map and bounced back on deck.
Shortly afterwards she felt the boat change course and begin to roll dramatically. She stumbled up the steps. ‘Whatever is happening?’
‘We’re heading out to sea.’ Tyndall gestured to the fast-moving clouds to the north. ‘There’s a bit of a blow coming up. I’m running for shelter at an island I know. Just a precaution,’ he said calmly, but at that moment a wave of green water came over the port gunwale, swirled deeply across the deck and caused the boat to roll violently.
Olivia screamed.
‘Now, don’t panic, woman. We’re not sinking, but we’ll have to ditch some of the deck cargo.’ He shouted to the crew and they leapt at the lashings, slashed them with their knives and quickly dumped the bags over the side. ‘Right men, the sails,’ he shouted as soon as they were finished. ‘Olivia, on deck,’ he commanded. ‘I’m going to put her nose into the wind. Take the helm and hold her there while we take in the sheets.’
She clambered out of the hatch, lurched to the stern and stood by Tyndall as he swung the Bulan into the wind and the waves until the sails were flapping wildly. She took the wheel, panic rising, but remembered how Tyndall had shown her how to point into the wind when they had dropped anchor at the beach. She held the boat steady for the few minutes the crew needed to expertly reef in the main and mizzen.
Tyndall then dashed back to her, swung the wheel and instantly the smaller sails filled and the lugger surged west, handling noticeably better.
He turned and smiled at her. ‘Thanks. You look lovely when you’re wet.’
She was suddenly aware that she was drenched with spray, her hair plastered, clothes clinging to her body. Then, choosing to ignore her appearance and his remark, she asked, ‘How serious is it?’
‘A willy willy on the way, I’d say. We’re coming into the monsoon season so it’s not that much of a surprise. It could peter out or blow like the devil. I’m not taking any chances. There’s an island a couple of hours away where we can shelter safely. You’d better get below.’
He spoke lightly and calmly but Olivia could sense a tenseness. However, his air of being in control of any situation reassured her and she stumbled back across the heaving deck to the cabin.
For several hours she sat on the bunk listening to the crash of the water and the howling wind, and became worried when the night began to set in and they were still at sea. It was a huge relief when Tyndall shouted triumphantly, ‘Land ho’.
The island was not much more than a dark smudge rising and falling behind the waves but the entrance to the sheltering lagoon was clearly marked by the white wash of the pounding surf on the rocks. They went in at speed with the wind astern and immediately found themselves among a fleet of luggers at anchor.
They anchored well clear of the other boats and paid out a lot of line for a secure hold on the bottom. The Koepangers and Ahmed scurried to the fo’c’sle for shelter and Tyndall climbed into the cabin and secured the hatch.
It was stuffy and muggy and Olivia felt uncomfortable patches of perspiration well from her body. ‘It sounds like it should be cold, not hot,’ she said, as the wind howled around them.
‘It’s going to get worse. We’ll be down here for some time I’m afraid,’ said Tyndall. ‘Have some water. When the eye comes, it’ll be calm for a bit, then comes the other side of the storm and we have to sit that out. But at least you know it’s almost over,’ he added with a grin.
During their seemingly endless wait, Olivia asked Tyndall about his early years in Ireland, but he brushed that aside and regaled her instead with outrageous tales of adventure from