FLOOD

To Steal a Ship

We didn’t waste any time. It was staring to get lighter, the cover of darkness slipping away. As we crept closer I found myself slipping in behind Eli as he took the lead. It irked me, I’d freely admit that, but it made sense. He knew where he was going. Where the boat was.

Eli slunk closer to the building, pressing himself against the wall just below the nearest window and I followed suit, my back pressing into the wood. There was a faint light seeping out of the window, as if there was a candle or a lantern burning somewhere inside

“He’s probably asleep or something,” Eli whispered. “We should just go quietly onto the dock. He probably won’t see us.”

I nodded an affirmative, gesturing for him to lead the way to the dock. Eli darted forward, half crouched down and I followed, edging our way around the side of the old wooden shack. Once we were around the corner, a wide expanse of darkness stretched in front of us. The ocean. It seemed impossibly huge, and doubts began to bite at the edges of my mind.

How were we going to get across this huge body of water in a ruby dingey with just the two of us? This was already looking hopeless.

The dock was old and rickety, and it creaked with each step we took, making me wince. Hopefully the old guy was as deaf as Eli thought he was. We weren’t exactly being subtle. Of course, our surroundings were dark. The huge expanse of water all around us seemed to suck the moonlight in and make it vanish, making Eli and I into long, wavering shadows creeping down the dock. If the old man looked out, he would have to have pretty sharp eyes to spot us.

Eli stopped at the end of the dock. “Here, this one.”

I squinted through the darkness, incredulous. The boat Eli was pointing to was a lot bigger than I’d expected. A medium sized speedboat bobbed alongside the rickety dock, painted in sharp red and white. It was hard to make out the name written in shiny silver letters along its side, but I thought it might have said “Mermaid”.

“Do you know how to run one of these things?” I didn’t want to admit my abysmal ignorance of all things electronic. If we were in my world I could have shown him how to ride a horse or hook up a sleigh, but this boat…it was beyond me.

“My gandpa used to let us drive sometimes.” He hesitated. “I mean…not for very long, but I think I could do it.”

“You think?” My voice went an octave higher in protest. “This isn’t a rowboat. If you run us aground you could kill us both.”

“Do you have a better idea? Do you want to swim off this island?” His whisper came out in a hiss, and I pressed my lips shut firmly, suddenly aware that I hadn’t done much beside criticize him so far. He might belong to a crazy, horrible family legacy, but he hadn’t done what his grandpa had done, hell, he was a better man than his brother was too. Taking out my anger on him wasn’t fair. On top of that, we didn’t have time to fight.

“No,” I muttered. “I don’t have a better plan. Let’s try the speedboat.”

Eli let me go first, and to my surprise he offered me a hand. I nearly brushed it away out of sheer instinct, but then remembered I was trying not to be such a jerk anymore. I muttered my thanks, and then was glad for his steadying hand when I discovered how shaky my footing was, nearly tipping backwards as I tried to bridge the gap between the dock, and the ever-moving side of the boat. It was trickier than it looked.

Eli climbed on next, his footing sure. He’d clearly done this before. He turned back and leaned over the side of the boat, fingers fumbling with the knot that bound us to the side of the dock. Ignoring the curses he was mumbling under his breath, I glanced back over at the boat house. The tiny shack looked the same. That single light was still flickering in the window, and there was no sound. No cry from inside, no shout to rouse the others. He hadn’t even looked out. Eli was probably right, the old man had likely fallen asleep on watch.