The Secret of Abdu El Yezdi by Mark Hodder

Author:Mark Hodder
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781616147785
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 2013-05-30T16:00:00+00:00

“My hat!” Swinburne exclaimed. He untangled his legs, stood, and moved to the bar. “They spent more than a month on that island. Wasn’t the ship reported missing?”

“They were sailing from Melbourne,” Burton said. “With a voyage of that length, a month’s delay isn’t so unusual.”

Swinburne claimed fresh bottles of ale and brought them back to the table.

“What on earth was it?” he asked. “The globe of light? The aurora? It’s astonishing!”

“Born from the wreck of the SS Britannia,” Burton murmured.

Swinburne regarded him curiously. “What? What? What?”

“I’ll explain later. Here, I’ll pour the drinks, you continue with the log.”

The poet’s green eyes fixed on Burton for a few seconds then he gave a grunt, looked down at the book, and resumed.

Monday. 10th day of October 1859.

7.00 p.m.

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Fernando Po is receding behind us! Admittedly, the going is slow. The steam engine was designed to augment the sails, not replace them, but at least it drives us from hell and gives us hope.

Tuesday. 11th day of October 1859.

3.00 p.m.

Crawling along. Currently at 1°34′N, 3°23′E.

Wednesday. 12th day of October 1859.

9.00 a.m.

Passenger Colin McPhiel found dead this morning. No ascertainable cause. Have ordered corpse preserved in lime for Christian burial in God’s good earth. Crew and passengers now convinced the ship is blighted. I argue against superstition, but in the name of the Almighty, I feel it myself.

3.00 p.m.

The lassitude that immobilised us on the island is still with us. Many men, women, and children affected, in various degrees, some practically comatose.

Thursday. 13th day of October 1859.

9.00 a.m.

Seaman Henry Evans and Second Steward Thomas Cormick both died in the night. Again, no reason apparent. Placed in lime.

Noon

2°38′N, 13°8′E.

9.00 p.m.

Passenger Benjamin Eckert has committed suicide by hanging. Used the last of the lime to preserve his corpse. What doom weighs so heavily upon this vessel?

Friday. 14th day of October 1859.

7.00 a.m.

Joseph Rodgers mad with terror. Insists he saw passenger Colin McPhiel walking the deck in the early hours of this morning. I have sent him (Rodgers), Seaman William McArthur, and Quartermaster Thomas Griffith to the hold to check on the corpse.

7.30 a.m.

They report the body is present but has been disturbed; lime scattered around the casket.

8.00 p.m.

Have put Seamen Edward Wilson, William Buxton, and Mark Mayhew on a rotating watch over the hold.

At 8°55′N, 20°39′E. Making for Cape Verde to resupply.

Saturday. 15th day of October 1859.

3.30 a.m.

Shaken from my bed at 2.30 a.m. by Cowie and Rodgers. Utter chaos in the hold. Buxton and Mayhew both dead. No marks on them, but by God, the look of horror on their faces! Edward Wilson a gibbering lunatic. Struck out wildly at all who approached him. Had to call upon John Judge to restrain the man. Corpse of Colin McPhiel stretched out on the deck, powdered with lime, a dagger embedded hilt-deep in its heart.

I’m at a loss. I’ve ordered the bodies of Buxton, Mayhew, McPhiel, Evans, Cormick, and Eckert cast overboard.

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