The Deep Gate by Chris A. Jackson

Author:Chris A. Jackson
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Published: 2018-06-12T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Devil Reef

Light slashed through the rain as they rounded the last bend in Blynman Canal, and Silas breathed a sigh of relief. The wind only kicked up wavelets in the narrow waterway, and the tide was still flowing in, instead of out, but that was about to change. He’d been surprised to find the tide at Blynman Bridge dead low when it should have been flooding, but that had been to their advantage. The laborious process of lowering the mast and boom had been worth it. They’d slipped under the bridge with feet to spare. The light swept like a scythe over them again, a great cyclopean eye questing through the night.

“That’s Wigwam Point Light.” Silas pointed. “The bar’s just beyond. If the wind’s backed too far to the north, it could be breaking, but we’ll see. The tide seems to be flooding still, but it should be on the ebb! That’s good for us. The storm must be causing a surge.”

“I didn’t understand a word you just said!” Abigail gripped the pilothouse console as if hanging on for dear life, even though the boat barely rocked. She’d changed into flat shoes, trousers, flannel shirt, and a raincoat buttoned up to her neck, hardly the prim librarian any longer. She’d asked him about life preservers, but he didn’t have any. The bulky things were more likely to kill you than save you on a working fishing boat.

“That lighthouse marks the opening of the canal to the sea.” Silas pointed. “If the wind’s blowing from the north, the waves will be big across the mouth of the channel where it shallows. The tide’s still coming in, which it shouldn’t be doing, but that’ll help. If the waves are breaking, we won’t be able to pass.”

“Oh.” She swallowed hard. “Okay.”

“Just hang on. It’ll get bumpy, but Sea Change can take it.”

She nodded and gripped harder, bracing her back against the aft bulkhead.

The run from Kingsport to Gloucester had been rough, but not dangerous. Despite her terror, Abigail had been only mildly ill. The Annisquam bar, however, would be the telling tale. The winds of a nor’easter backed from east to northeast to north as the storm progressed up the coast. If the wind had already shifted to the north, the seas would race right into the mouth of the canal, and they’d be in for a real trouncing. Passing the bar in daylight with this weather would have been dangerous enough. Silas didn’t tell Abigail that doing it in the dark bordered on suicidal.

Silas squinted into the gloom as the lighthouse beam swept the sea. The swells rose across the bar in dark lines of shadow through the rain-streaked windows. They were large, but they weren’t breaking. Good timing or dumb luck, I’ll take it. He eased the throttle forward and Sea Change picked up speed.

The bow lifted as they mounted the first real swell, then tilted down into the trough. The next was steeper and the next even higher as they passed Wigwam Light.

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