Page 29 of 1000 of You
North Atlantic Ocean, 1849
Muambecame aware of the fact that he was lying on his backwhen he felt his body falling. Instinctively, he tried to clutch the groundbeneath him. One hand found smooth wood, and his fingers automatically curledaround it. The other hand lay tangled amid cloth.
His bodyrose. When it reached a peak, he began to fall again, for a moment he wassuspended in the air until his back reconnected with the padding beneath him.
Somethingmoved along his side. A warmth shifted from his ribs and hip. He heard a sigh,and he opened his eyes.
A woodenlid of sorts sat no more than three or four hands’ breadth above him. Thepossibility that he may be lying inside a covered wagon crossed his mind, butthat wouldn’t explain the smooth, almost flowing sensation of rising andfalling. A wagon would jolt him as it bounced and swayed over the road.
The personnext to him sighed again. There was no mistaking the more feminine sound. Thistime she rolled over and snuggled next to him. Her head adjusted to a morecomfortable position as it rested on the crook between his arm and shoulder.
A thoughtflashed through his mind. What if, in this life, he already had a wife? It wasa circumstance he’d never faced before, having a wife and possible family whenhe awoke. As he contemplated what difficulties might arise when he left to seekGova, he heard creaking noises behind him. Above hisface, he observed shadows from a nearby light swinging from side to side.
A handreached over his chest, to lie palm-down above his heart. Licking his lips,Muamturned his head to look at the woman cuddled besidehim. In the flickering brightness, there was no mistaking the beautiful curvesof her face.
Gova.
They werealready together. Whatever had happened in this lifetime, the gods had beengenerous, and allowed them to find each other before they awakened. Unable toresist,Muamrolled onto his side to face her, anddrew her tightly against him.
They fellagain, rolling and dipping sideways as if whatever they were on was moving overa vast and rolling terrain. Lying on his side was also better than being on hisback. His stomach had started feeling queasy.
Muamnuzzled her hairline, breathing in her unmistakablescent. The uneasy feeling in his gut settled somewhat, and he kissed herforehead. She adjusted her legs, then stopped, and he felt her body go rigid.There was no mistaking her awakening, and he chuckled. “We have been blessed bythe gods,Gova.”
She lifted herface as she opened her eyes and stared at him. In the weak light, her violeteyes were the color of the night sky. Their world fell again, and she clutchedthe front of his tunic.
“What…Muam, what has happened? Where are we? How did we end uphere together?” She glanced over his shoulder. “And why is the bed moving likethis?”
“I do notknow or care, my beloved. All that matters right now is that we have thischance to be together, and to console one another before our next death.”
Before shecould respond, he bent to kiss her, and she eagerly responded. Sliding her freearm around his neck, she pressed herself closer to him. He lifted his hand tocaress her hair, when his knuckles brushed the side of her breast. Anunexpected shiver went through them both, andMuamfelt his loins tighten.
“Gova, I know we have not had the chance to become husbandand wife in the physical sense.” He started to say more, when she placed afinger to his lips, then replaced it with her own mouth. He felt her hand reachdown between them, and he tensed. His mind went blank as the thought that theymight finally be able to consummate their marriage rose like a hungry beastwithin him.
Theydropped with a hard, unexpected jerk, hitting the bottom of whatever they’dfallen into with a force that left them shaken and breathless. They liftedslightly, and when the fall came again, it ended with another bone-jarringslam.
The soundof heavy rain came from behind them. The skies cracked with flashes of light,illuminating where they were lying, and a voice yelled, “We’re taking on water!Everyone topside! We’re taking on water!”
Muamrolled over to discover they were lying on a bed aboveanother bed. A little more than arm’s length away, another set of beds were setagainst the opposite wall of what appeared to be a very cramped room. One manjumped down from his upper bed and glanced up at them.
“This stormlooks like a bad one, Hugo. Pray to the saints they’ll see us through.”Pressing a cloth headdress over his head, the man scrambled up a narrow flightof stairs, through the open doorway where the wind and rain blew in.
Muameased himself onto the rolling floor and reached up tohelpGovadown, when their room tilted nearlysideways. A hard wave of water thundered into the room, drenching them in itsfrigid wetness.
Govawiped her face. “It is salty.Muam,are we on the seas?”
He shookhis head in answer and carefully made his way over to the steps as their roomslowly righted itself. He felt her grab onto his belt, not so much to keep herbalance, but to make sure they were not parted by another onslaught ofseawater.
Rain wascoming down in torrents when they managed to emerge from their room. It onlytook them one look around for them to understand what was going on. They wereon a boat, a big boat, in the middle of the seas. They were also caught up in ahuge storm that tossed the boat about like a leaf in the wind. The sky was adark, ugly gray-green, the color of a deep bruise.
In thesemi-darkness, several men could be seen through the curtain of raindrops asthey struggled to keep their footing on the slippery floor. There was no waythey could fight this tempest. Another man, also wearing a cloth headdress,approached them and handedMuama length of rope.“Here! Tie yourselves to the deck, or else you’ll be washed overboard!” Hisnext words were drowned out by the sound of another wave slamming into the sideof the boat.Muammanaged to snagGovawith one arm and part of the boat’s railing with the other as the floor liftedsideways, nearly throwing them into the waters.Govascreamed and clung to him as they were soaked to the skin.
He groaned,fighting to keep his grip on both her and the boat, when the floor righteditself. One man made his way over to them, one end of a rope tied around hiswaist. Rain sluiced off his headdress.
“Makes youwish you’d stayed in the mother country, doesn’t it?” he halfway teased. “Idon’t know what would be worse. Dying of starvation because of that damnedpotato blight, or drowning.”
“Why werewe forced to come up here?”Muamshouted to be heard.“We could have remained below, where it is drier.”
“They saywe’re taking on too much water,” the man replied. “They’re pumping it out asfast as they can, but this leaky old tub has seen better days. If this stormlasts much longer, we’ll all be goners for sure!”
