The Stars for a Light by Lynn Morris

Author:Lynn Morris
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781598569049
Publisher: Hendrickson Publishsers
Published: 2011-07-21T00:00:00+00:00

“We gotta hurry, Beans,” Bull Lynch warned. “They’re gonna announce the fight at midnight at the captain’s li’l soiree—” He pronounced it “SWA-ree,” and Beans looked mystified. “—and we gotta make a showin’. Sybil said so.”

It was ten minutes after ten. Beans and Bull had just finished their shift at the furnaces, hurried to steerage to grab Beans’ seabag, and then scuttled furtively down the stairs to the cargo hold, the music from the ball faintly following them until they reached the bottom of the ship.

Bull reached into the seabag and brought out a kerosene lantern and lit it. Both men breathed a sigh of relief; the cargo hold was spooky in the wet, subterranean darkness. Now Bull held the lantern high to look at the worn, greasy piece of paper in his hand. “It’s gonna take a while to do this right, so don’t bug me with all your fool questions. Just do what I say, all right? I gotta think.”

Beans was awed by this and obediently kept quiet.

“Now, Beans, you go get them four boxes of nails—oh no, I better go with you,” Bull amended hastily. He dropped the seabag at the still-padlocked door of the crew quarters and started threading his way down the packed cargo hold.

Together they picked their way cautiously, Bull holding the lantern high in the clammy darkness. He was always more than a little jumpy in the cargo hold. The sounds of the sea were underwater mysteries here, echoing the murky songs of fish and sirens. Bull was determined to hurry as fast as he could to get this part of the plan over with.

“Here! Pick up these boxes. We gotta get four of ’em to the door of the quarters.” He hefted two three-by-four-by-six-foot boxes of Duvall’s sixteen-penny nails and staggered back toward the crew quarters’ door, the lantern teetering precariously on top of his load.

“Wait, Bull!” Beans cried. “It’s dark, an’ I’m scairt!”

“Grab two o’ them boxes and follow me,” Bull gasped. Beans hefted two of the boxes. A sharp pain immediately shot across his back, but still he shuffled as fast as he could to get into the flickering amber light that surrounded Bull.

Dropping the boxes at the door with relief, Bull looked again at the paper in his hand. “Number two: Unlock the door. Put the padlock and key in your pocket.” Sybil had written idiotically simple instructions on the piece of paper Bull held.

“Wisht I could read,” Beans said enviously.

“Well, I cain’t read too good,” Bull admitted as he squinted at the paper. “But I just about got this here list mem’rized, like Sybil said. Should have,” he added darkly. “She read it to me about a hunnert times, like I’m dumb or somethin’. And she drew me these little pitchers, just in case. Here, heft these here boxes inside.” Bull obediently pocketed the “413” padlock and key and swung open the heavy door; then the two pulled the crates of nails and the seabag in after them.

They

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