Chapter Seven
Strength of the Sea
I ambled up the gangway from my cabin, Bible in hand. The Celestia’s Prize had taken a beating, but the damage was largely cosmetic. She still ran well and hadn’t sprung any major leaks. It hurt though to see the paint scraped off her and her railing and salvage equipment all mangled up.
My abilities to mount a salvage operation were next to nothing, because of how much of my equipment had either been washed overboard or was damaged beyond repair. I had gotten the impression though that our purpose here wasn’t for salvaging Confederate gold off of the seafloor.
I stepped up to the railing beside Christina. She had been silent for two days now. When she wasn’t sleeping she was here at this spot where her Aunt had been ripped away from her.
She glanced at me from her bruised eyes and then at the Bible in my hand. She stared at it for a moment before looking back out to sea.
I wasn’t going to preach at her, but I was going to extend an invitation to her. I extended the Bible out to her, “Would you like to learn more about what you’re Aunt believed in and perhaps find some hope and closure for yourself as well?”
She stared at the sea a moment longer before nodding her head as I saw her start to cry again. I pulled her to me and held her for a long moment.
I set her back a little from me and said, “Christina I wish I could take your pain away, but I can’t. There is One who can though. I encourage you to build a relationship with God and let Him heal and comfort you. Don’t be like me and run away from the answer for years on end piling up bitterness.”
I left her then confident that she would pursue faith for herself. Even in death Serena was an individual worth being like and I could see that determination in Christina’s eyes. I prayed for her the rest of the day hoping that in the moment of loss that she would get it right where I hadn’t. It had been a mistake that had cost me seven years of my life.
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Christina sat down with her back against the forward cabin. She looked at the Bible in her hands, which she hadn’t opened yet. A shadow fell across her, but she knew who it was without looking up. It was Big Jim.
He found her two or three times a day always to do the same thing. The big man got down to his knees and tenderly took her shoe off and pushed her pants leg up to reveal the ugly swollen bruise that encompassed her ankle and lower calf muscle.
Tenderly after dipping some kind of ointment out of a can he began to massage it into her bruised skin as he pushed the fluid away from the swollen area in order to promote healing and prevent the formation of blood clots.
He glanced up briefly at the Bible in her hands and surprisingly commented out loud, “You should read that.”
Christina didn’t say anything for a moment, but then asked off topic, “You loved her?”
Jim looked up and nodded before letting his head drop back down.
“Can I talk? I need to talk! I have no one to talk to now.” Christina said, as the ever present tears came back up to the surface.
Jim glanced back up and gazing deeply into her eyes he said, “I will listen.”
It was like the opening of a set of floodgates as Christina spoke all that was on her mind of the insecurities that she had as a teenage girl with nowhere to go in the world and no place to call home.
Jim listened to all of it attentively. He massaged her other foot just to have something to do in order to give her the time to unburden herself. Finally she came to an end as her pent up burden of words emptied her of anything else needing to be said.
Sorrowfully she commented, “I don’t think we’re ever getting out of this place. It wouldn’t matter anyway, as I don’t have anyone back there waiting for me now.” Christina hugged herself tightly the Bible laying forgotten on her lap.
Jim looked up from putting both of her shoes back on and said, “I will take care of you. I will protect you and care for you as if you were my own daughter.”
Jim moved to sit back against the bulkhead beside Christina. He then looped an arm around Christina and pulled her to lean against him. Christina relaxed against the strength of the man beside her in complete trust as she gave the man holding her the part of her heart a girl gives her father, until the day comes when the right man asks to have what the father has safeguarded.
Jim reached out with his free hand and opened the Bible up. He leafed through until he found the book of Psalms, “I always liked this one.” He said before he began to read out loud.
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Matt stepped up beside me as I stood in the wheelhouse manning the wheel. He glanced out the broken window and smiled a little at the sight of Christina fast asleep against Jim’s side further up the ship.
“Nice to see something positive come out of all this.” He said softly.
I nodded in affirmation.
It was a touching scene that I’d watch unfold for hours. The big man hadn’t been quiet this time. He’d read to Christina for hours flipping back and forth throughout the Bible, while engaging her in conversation with answers to the questions I saw her ask, until she’d fallen asleep an hour ago.
It was a God thing that there was one less orphan in the world tonight. At least it felt like it should be night, even though it was as light as day all around us.
I glanced at Matt, “Still glad that I let you come?” I asked.
Met shrugged and smiled ruefully, “I could’ve done without the storm. I…… what’s that?” He asked pointing off to the side.
My eyes swung in the direction of his pointing finger. After a moment of shock I managed to get out, “That is our first sea monster sighting it would appear.”
The sea monster in question consisted of a long neck with a small head that stuck up above the waves a good distance of perhaps about ten feet.
“I think it’s a plesiosaur!” Matt exclaimed.
I wasn’t sure what that was and I asked in order to verify the alarm I felt, “Is it friendly?”
No sooner had I asked that than the small head attached atop the long neck lashed out threateningly at the boat’s approach. It bared its teeth, which were menacing to behold and snorted viciously. Oh this was not good!
Flynn came storming into the wheelhouse his eyes wild, “Should I break out Betsy?”
“That sounds like a good……” I swallowed the rest of my words, as the elongated necks of more monsters rose out of the water all around the ship.
“What do we do?” Ortega asked clearly panicked, as the longnecked sea creatures came closer hissing and lashing their long necks.
“Pray!” I said.
Oh God we need you now! Show me You have a purpose for bringing us here other than to destroy us!
The boldness of my words gave me fear of censure, but I felt none given. It was about to get bad as the snake headed monsters got closer to the Celestia’s Prize.
The onslaught of the strange looking beasts, which I had no doubt could rip and smash the boat apart, abruptly halted their snarling as they swiveled in the water to face outward from the boat. I breathed a sigh of relief at the loss of being the source of the monsters interest, but something else was up and I began to mentally gird myself against whatever was to come next.
All of a sudden all the sea monsters heads dipped below the surface. The water began to boil all around us with underwater activity and the Celestia’s Prize was rocked around like a cork in a bathtub.
The surface of the surrounding sea broke apart as great marine bodies rose to the surface with blasts of water and air. The first thing that I saw break the water were tusks and I thought of narwhals, but then the mass behind the tusks became unmistakable as that of a whale. Whales with tusks!
What would be next, sea snakes as thick as trees and a football field long?
Oh God I hoped not!
I grabbed a hold of Matt to keep him from falling as the boat pitched up and down, because of the disturbed water all around us as the whales surfaced. This was just all too wild!
These whales were like none I had ever seen before. They were big and very tough looking. Their gray blubbery sides were scarred and literally chewed up with the signs of war. One whale’s tusk came out of the water only to reveal the gored through body of one of the snake headed creatures that had been about to attack us.
The whale rose up out of the water impressively far and then with a drawn back twisting jerk release of its head the whale sent the impaled sea monster the size of a large elephant soaring over top of the Celestia’s Prize. Blood and seawater rained down upon the boat, as the dead carcass of something most likely thought extinct sailed up and over to the sea on the other side, only it didn’t reach the sea.
Another whale on the other side rose up out of the water and caught the carcass in its mouth with one massive toothed bite. The sound of bones snapping and water splashing was drowned out by the sudden uproar of squeals given off by the congregated whales that sounded almost like cheerful applause!
My jaw had long since fallen open, but now it fell wider. They were playing!
What did these whales do when they were angry?
“They are your guides to land. Follow those whom I have set as the rulers of these waters for they will not lead you astray.”
Humbled, I clutched onto the wheel as the pod of thirty or more whales broke away from the boat as one and began swimming in a spread out formation away from us. Obediently I eased the wheel over and began to follow after them.
Matt looked at me incredulously, “Are you crazy? Let them go!”
I shook my head negatively and said, “Can’t.”
“Why on Earth not?” Matt exclaimed.
“Because God said so.” I said wondering what his reaction would be.
He gave me an odd look and then looked forward at the whales I was keeping a safe distance from. “Whales it is then.” He said commenting softly.
After a moment he asked, “Did you ever think you would experience anything like this in life?”
“Can’t say that I did.” I responded truthfully.
He glanced over at me, “God has laid something on your heart to do hasn’t He? That’s why the sea lane was opened up to us wasn’t it? And why we’re following the whales?”
I nodded.
“That’s a big change for you.” Matt said studying me further.
“A needed one.” I said in reply.
The whales swam on and on and I faithfully stayed back in their wake following their every move. I didn’t even let anybody else have the wheel.
Flynn eventually butted in between me and the wheel and said, “Take a load off your feet Captain. When we get into the action you’ll need something to still fight with.”
Reluctantly I stepped back and let the smaller man takeover.
Curiously I asked, “You’re expecting a fight Flynn?”
He didn’t take his eyes off the whales ahead as he answered, “I’ve been at sea a long time Captain. After a while you have a way of sensing when a storm’s brewing. Storm’s coming Captain and we need to be ready for it.”
I looked out at the mangled equipment on deck. I hadn’t asked before, but now I did, “how did everything fair through the storm?”
“Betsy’s all mangled up, but the Children are still here.” He said stoically.
I nodded grimly. It would have been good to have had the fifty caliber machine gun, but now we would have to manage without it.
I didn’t go to my cabin, instead I stayed in the wheelhouse and lay down on the floor. Surprisingly I fell asleep.