Chapter Seven

 

“So didja dream 'bout that girl again, Jasper?” Jacob asked the next day, grinning as he and Jasper worked next to each other in the rigging.

“No,” Jasper lied. “So stop talking about it.”

“Methinks yer lyin',” Jacob said as the two shortened a sail.

“Methinks I'm not,” Jasper snapped.

“Be easy, Jasper, I'm just teasin' ya. What's wi' the snappin'?”

Jasper sighed. “Sorry. It's nothing.”

They finished the sail and climbed down the mast. “Can't be nothin'. What's troublin' ya?”

“You know already.”

“'Twas only a dream.”

“I know. But it seemed so...so real. I could see all the details and everything. And you said you thought I'd meet the girl from my dream...then again, I don't really believe you.”

“Believe me, Jasper, believe me. I knows what I's talkin' about.” Jacob winked. Then, lowering his voice, he said, “Was she pretty?”

Jasper punched him on the arm. “Batten down your hatches.”

“Well, look who's learning new ways to tell ol' Jacob to shut up!” Jacob laughed. He knew Jasper was quoting him. “I can take a hint. But I probably wouldn't stop teasin' ya if it weren't for the storm comin'.”

Jasper looked up at the sky. He had noticed it too; all of the sailors had. It would be a bad one, they all knew. The big, dark, threatening storm clouds would reach them that very day, and the wind was already building. They were pretty sure they couldn't outrun it. Captain Porter kept ordering for more and more sails to be shortened, but not completely taken in. They were on a schedule, after all, and they had to get as far as they could before the storm hit so they could deliver the cargo sooner.

But the clouds seemed to be promising lightning, and the waves were already starting to swell, little by little. And what would the lightning strike when it came? What had two tall masts sticking up into the sky?

This was not good. Fire was no trivial matter, even in the middle of the ocean.

Especially in the middle of the ocean.

Author's Note

A very short chapter...does it need more length or is it okay?