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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] his flesh amongst them. He looked down at the two men. Are you hurt? he asked. A groan was all the answer he was given. Are you hurt? he questioned each as he shook him. After a short pause, Harrison gasped, Thomas, lad? Yes, Chris, Thomas replied. Are you all right? I believe so. How is the mate? Is he injured? Think not, Harrison said. He rolled up into a crouch and added, He s been knocked about like me, but no worse. He was strong in the water, but when we got near shore, he was spent. Never seen a man so winded. I pulled old Tobit in. He s about the same, Thomas said. I had Gabe, but he was hurt badly. He slipped from me. He s gone. Harrison gripped the lad s arm to give urgency to his words and shouted over the thunder of a breaking wave, You must find some- place in the lee. We cannot be long in the wind all wet and naked as we are! Mr. Morgen stirred and murmured. He s coming around, Thomas said. I ll see to him. You go fetch the captain here. Then you must find shelter, back there amongst the rocks, trees, or whatever you may find. But shouldn t we look for our mates first? I can feel you shaking, the carpenter explained. None of us will last in this wind. We will be of no use to our mates after much longer out here. They are no worse off than we are. They must look to them- selves for help. Let me go down the beach. Just a-ways to see if anyone else got ashore. No, you will be chilled through. Cold breaks the reason. Soon you will not know which way you are going. Do what I tell you. We can wait no longer. 58 MOTOO EETEE Thomas thought for a moment. He knew Christopher was right. He had been shivering for most of the time he had been on the beach. He rose to his feet and started back to the captain. He walked fast, hoping the effort would warm him. Being partly rested and with the wind now partially at his back, he covered the distance in half the time. The indistinct form of the captain, showing a dull white in the starlight, appeared ahead on the shore. Tobit hadn t moved. He was still on his left side with half his face in the grit. Thomas knelt beside him and spoke close to the captain s ear, We must go now. Tobit remained still. Surely, Thomas thought, he must have recovered by this time, but the captain was the oldest by far and the least fit of all on the barque. He might have died of an apoplectic fit while Thomas was away talking with the carpenter. He turned his head and listened. The rasp of shallow breathing was audi- ble. He grabbed the officer s shoulder and called, Captain, can you hear me? A long, low groan was the only answer. Thomas shook the captain and said, I ll help you to the others. Then we must find a place out of the wind. No, no, leave me be. Want to rest. Those yonder are M-Mr. Morgen and Harrison. I h-had Gabe for a minute, but lost him. He went under . . . never came up again. Get on your feet. We must f-find a place to shelter. Done in, lad . . . can t move. The officer s words came out faint and wavering, nearly in a whisper. He never opened his eyes while he answered. I will search for a place in the lee and come b-back for you. Then you must be ready to move. Good lad. Let me rest for a w-while longer. Thomas listened to the boom of the surf and the hiss of the waves as they neared and hauled back. It didn t appear that the captain could rise and walk. He got to his feet and started up the beach toward the dark mountain or cliff that blotted out all that part of the sky. Away from the foam of the waves and its reflected starlight, he could see MOTOO EETEE 59 nothing. He slid each foot ahead to avoid tripping or stepping on any sharp thing. Some deadly serpent or animal could be on the shore, and he would have no warning if either attacked. As he edged for- ward, he held his hands palms out before him. Step by step, he advanced. There were pieces of what must have been driftwood that he pushed aside or felt with his foot and stepped over. His left hand touched the leaves and branches of a tree or bush. In an attempt to pass around it, he discovered more to the right and left. The growth presented a continuous, stiff, and intertwined barrier at the back of the beach as he edged along. When he tried to force a way in, twigs poked his face and body. He feared he might have an eye pierced. Then he eased to his hands and knees and attempted to crawl in under the bushes. The lower limbs were as numerous and tangled. He could smell wet leaves close by. It was damp under the bushes, and drops of water fell from the leaves and limbs when he pushed on them, but he could find no entry. The bushes seemed to have grown in crevices between the rocks, but below them was sand or soil that could be hol- lowed into a rude shelter. Even if he found or dug a space large enough for the four of them, he thought, they would not be wholly sheltered from the wind and would have to lie or squat on wet earth. Thomas moved to his right and, instead of twigs and leaves, he felt the cold surface of a rock. It was rough and pitted and higher than he could reach. Farther on there was more of the dense growth and yet another great boulder. Now that he had traveled a bit in the dark he could sense, like a blind man, that a great rock fall lay along the back of the beach and all the narrow openings in it were filled with tough, springy bushes. He could only keep moving and hope to discover a hollow at [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |