Read Into the River for Free Online Page B

stopped only for a day, long enough to take on fresh water and provisions. Unlike the other impressed men, Diego was locked below deck in a tiny storeroom where galley supplies were kept. Here, amongst the sacks of flour and barrels of olive oil, he pondered his position. He realised that he was treated differently from the others. Money had changed hands. His brothers had paid the captain to make sure he neverreturned. Something would happen to him, maybe even before the next port.
    “Diego bided his time. The next stop was Colombo on the island that hangs like a pearl below India.”
    Ra pointed to the old fly-spotted map on the sitting room wall.
    “Sri Lanka!” Te Arepa barked, as if it were some sort of competition with Rawinia.
    “Ceylon, it was called in those days. Once again he was locked in the storeroom before the island was even sighted. He could smell the thick tropical air, even deep in the musty hold. He lay on a pile of sail cloth in the darkness, waiting, listening. Through the wooden hull he could hear the deck hands calling to the hawkers in small boats; the scraping on the deck as barrels were hauled aboard; then finally silence. Everyone had gone ashore.
    “Some time later he awoke, to unfamiliar noises. Something was wrong. He heard running feet. Fighting. Screams. Then voices from different parts of the ship. Foreign voices. Raiders. After a while the voices became less frantic. There were new sounds. Hammering and smashing. The voices came closer. It was only a matter of time before he met the same fate as the men left on watch.
    “Soon, the raiders were on his own deck, then, in the next room, and finally, just outside his door. A flicker of light showed beneath it. Someone began to attack the thick wood with an axe. Stripping off his shirt, Diego rubbed olive oil on his arms and upper body. He would make himself as slippery as an eel. Perhaps he could barge past the invaders and down the narrow passageways. Surprise was his only weapon. As the door began to collapse, he reached into a flour sack and coated his face with powder.
    “The door split down the middle and yellow light flooded the tiny room. The raiders were greeted by a glistening figure with glaring white face, who rose up from a crouch, hissing and waving his arms. The men’s eyes widened and they turned and ran offscreaming. Diego waited, as their shouts echoed up and down the ship.
    “As he reached the deck, the last of the invaders was struggling down a rope to a waiting boat. The moon was full and it was easy to see the trail of loot left behind. Nearby, two small boats were being frantically rowed to port, half a mile away. Diego walked to the railing and peered over. A heavily laden man was so startled by Diego’s glowing white face that he half jumped, half fell, into the waiting boat.
    “Diego looked about him. The barque, deserted now, seemed his for the taking. With a lantern he hurried through the dark passages, searching to see who remained. There were only three men still on the boat. All dead. The blood and debris made it easy to see what had happened.
    “Diego was faced with two possible choices. He could swim ashore and hide out until the boat sailed on. Or he could take the ship.”
    Ra paused, letting the decision play in the children’s heads.
    “This ship was a barque, built for a crew of thirty. Ten men per watch.
    “Diego did what others could never dream of doing. He took the ship.
    “The first and most difficult task was to raise the anchor. Turning the bollards was usually a job for three. He found a saw in the carpenter’s cabin and freed the ship from the sea floor. Once unsecured, the vessel immediately felt the tug of the outgoing tide and began to drift.”
    “Yea!” cheered Rawinia.
    “But a drifting ship cannot be steered, so he made busy, unfurling a sail. With a single sheet he could luff and head the barque towards the open sea.”
    Ra sank back in his chair. “That’s all for now,