Chapter 14

Act 2

Scene 7

Paul was busy directing his boys, trying to squeeze every bit of speed out of the wind. So he wasn't the first to see it.

Even with his dad urging him to concentrate on the sails, Clark's eyes wandered to the south, anxiously trying to pick out the Pirate ships as they rounded the reef south of Roanoke. Instead, he saw the water near the tiny islands they'd just passed turn dark and churn, as if boiling. In horrified fascination, he watched the darkness spread around the islands amorphously, and swept towards them. Paul was in the middle of correcting Lewis' trim of the main when Clark tried to interrupt.

"Dad."

Clark's low flat tone didn't penetrate his father's firm instructions. He tried again, more insistently, trying to convey his urgency.

"Dad!"

At the insistent tone in Clark's voice, Paul stopped his dissertation on the finer points of trimming the Dragon Lady's mainsail. He followed his son's gaze over the stern. When he saw the darkened waters, he leapt to his feet for a better view. Standing on the transom, and hanging off the rear stays, he was able to pick out details. Above the darkness, the surface rippled and churned. Many large shapes darted in toward the edges of the dark mass, and it recoiled away.

Clark had hurriedly taken over the helm when his father leapt passed him. Concentrating on holding their course, he asked through clenched teeth. "What is it dad?"

"Damned if I know!"

Paul intently watched the dark mass move ever closer, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. He put the binoculars to his eyes, trying to pick out some of the large shapes at the edge of the huge dark mass as they broke the surface. Finally, as the range closed to three hundred yards, he managed to pick out a single target and heaved a huge sigh of relief. He jumped back down and clapped his hand on his son's back with a barking laugh.

"I think it's just a huge school of bait fish, coming in to feed with the tide. The larger shapes on the edges are seals and larger fish feeding."

Freed from his helmsman duties and from correcting the sail's trim, Paul took advantage of the moment to take stock of the situation. Looking to the south he could see the leading Pirate ship finally coming about in pursuit, after rounding the reef. With the binoculars he could just barely see scores of men working the rigging to tack her onto a pursuit course. Satisfied, he dismissed them. If the wind held, they had no chance of catching Dragon Lady. He dropped the binoculars and scanned the sea for other dangers. Paul could see the dark line of the advancing school of baitfish extended unbroken as far as he could see. Something in the air caught his eyes as he swept them towards shoreline.

Now, he could see a line in the sky. It took him a moment to swing his eyes to the closest portion of that line. But when he did, he could see that it was a flight of seabirds from the mainland. It seemed to be terns, boobies, and gulls mostly. An odd series of trails seemed to overlay his vision. He shook his head and blinked his eyes, but when he looked back, the odd double exposure was still leaving streaks in his vision. He took off his sunglasses and looked at the overwhelming numbers, as the flight seemed to stretch as far as he could see in either direction. His vision finally cleared, and he tucked his sunglasses in his shirt. Suddenly, as the two lines met, the seabirds circled lower, and began diving into the water all around them. Between the splashing, flapping and cries of thousands of seabirds, the sound rose to a roar as loud as a jet engine.

Lewis could barely be heard, even as he screamed, "Jesus Christ Dad!"

Clark hunched his shoulders and his eyes darted fearfully, trying to see in every direction at once.

Paul just threw his head back and laughed heartily. Just then, a passing bird dropped a load of guano, which splashed off his cheek and dribbled down onto his shirt. Laughing harder, he tried to wipe his cheek and only managed to smear it onto a wider area.

Angry at his own fear and his father's dismissive laughter, Clark turned furiously on Paul. He snapped, "What the hell is so funny?"

Just then, Pam's face appeared briefly at the hatch. She looked at the swirling mass of seabirds circling the Dragon Lady and recoiled back inside. Paul just laughed louder and fell to the seat holding his sides.

Now, Lewis too was getting angry and frustrated with his Dad's uncontrollable laughter. He kicked the bottom of his shoe, and demanded, "Damn it Dad! What is so God damned funny?"

Paul carefully wiped the tears from his eyes with his clean hand. Finally, he managed to wave at the surrounding seabirds. He wheezed, "This is the greatest thing that could happen. That's what! Look around, how far can you see through all these birds?"

Paul watched as his sons looked around in bewilderment. He waited for the moment that each realized if they couldn't see a hundred yards through all the birds, than neither could the Pirates. Lewis looked about in puzzlement, but then his eyes narrowed in surmise he turned to Clark.

"He's right, Clark! Visibility is below one hundred yards, so now, we are invisible to the Pirates!"

Paul clapped his hand on Lewis' shoulder and gave him a squeeze. He said, "Very good son! Why don't you go below and get us some hats. Reassure the girls that this development is noisy and messy, but very good for us."

As Lewis dove through the hatch, he was grateful as the screeching and splashing sounds muted somewhat. Pam was still sitting near the hatch manning the radio. Lewis saw her cringe as a bird flew passed the hatch nearby. She didn't appear to register his presence at all. He drew her into a hug and kissed her nose to get her attention on him. When she finally met his eyes, he said, "This is good Pam. Nothing to worry about, and now the Pirates won't be able to see us."

Pam's stiff body finally relaxed into his arms. She threw both arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest. She sobbed, "This place is just freaky! You may be having fun, but I'm sick of it. I'm done. I'm ready to go home."

Lewis smelled her hair and luxuriated in the feel of her body pressed against his. He stroked her hair and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Pam just settled in closer, so Lewis let his hands drift down towards her butt. At which, she shoved him away, and stomped her foot.

Through teary eyes, she berated, "You are so immature! That is so inappropriate! Don't you care about the danger? We are in the middle of who knows what, and you are making moves on me? Give it a rest. Just get away from me!"

Just as Lewis was about to defend himself, the radio crackled to life.

"Dragon Lady. This is Topaz Fire. Dragon Lady, come in. Over."

Pam held up a hand right in Lewis' face to shut him up. She keyed the mike, "Topaz Fire, this is Dragon Lady. We read you. Over."

"Dragon Lady. Be advised, there are dozens of the big crocodiles like the one that attacked us earlier headed out to sea. Over."

Pam looked at Lewis with her eyes flashing in anger. She gestured furiously at the radio. Then she demanded, "See! Now we have that to deal with, too! Go tell your dad, since you obviously have nothing better to do!"

Lewis raised his hands as if to ward off an attack, then turned, grabbed three baseball caps from the hook near the door and fled back through the hatch. As she watched him go, she smiled and said under her breath, "Boys!"

Keying the mike, Pam said, "I copy Topaz Fire. Captain says with all the birds, Pirates can't see us. Dragon Lady out."

Lewis handed his brother and father each a cap, then pulled his own on, low over his eyes. With the view of the swooping birds above him cut off, it was easier to make sense of the scene. Below the water, small fish about six inches long swam in a swirling maelstrom, blotting out the bottom with their numbers. Seabirds swam and dove from above. Swarms of middle-sized fish were cutting through the edges of the school of baitfish, as larger predators; like salmon, tuna, seals, dolphins and barracuda were tearing into them in turn. It was a very confusing scene, and more then a bit overwhelming. Especially with all the noise, that made conversation nearly impossible.

Lewis leaned close to his Dad's ear and bellowed. "Dad! Topaz Fire said there are dozens of the big crocs headed this way!"

Paul looked at his son and nodded his understanding. He leaned in and hollered, "Ok. Don't worry. I think they'll find plenty of food in the water."

Lewis gulped in relief, and then raised his other concern. "Will we be able to find the stream mouth in all this?"

Paul rubbed his chin. He didn't want to tell his son all of his worries. True, the Pirates couldn't see them through all the seabirds, but they had already seen the Topaz Fire make for the stream. So, they knew his destination, and now he couldn't see the Pirates either. He knew with certainty that he could find the mouth of the stream, but would they find it before the Pirates found them? Or vice versa? Hell, he wasn't sure how long their cloak of seabirds would last! Did the baitfish spread out over the reef, and seabirds follow? Or did they stay in a concentrated mass all the way to the Mangrove swamps at the shore?

Paul saw Lewis get more and more upset the longer he delayed his answer. He decided to give him the full story, time to start treating his sons as men. Paul motioned for both boys to come closer so that they both could hear him.

"I'm sure we'll find the mouth of the stream, even in this. But, I don't know how long this will last, and the bad thing is we can't see the Pirates either. They saw roughly where Topaz Fire disappeared, and if they figure out that we are headed there too, they might get close before we can see them."

Clark asked, "What do we do then?"

"Well it depends on the situation. Even in this, we should see them before they can spot us. Most of the birds are white, just like our sails and hull, plus we are much smaller. Their hull is dark, so we should see them first. Stay alert!"

Both boys nodded and turned to watch either side, while still keeping an ear cocked to listen.

"I'm going to have to concentrate on holding our course and navigating. Also, if this holds all the way to shore, we have to worry about running into the trees or a reef. You've got to tell me if you see anything! Got it?"

Paul concentrated on holding their course. Accuracy was now much more important than speed. He hoped to be able to hold a single tack until the shore came into sight. If the wind held, they'd end up just north of the mouth of the stream, and then they could tack south and follow the shoreline until they found it.

Minutes went by. Each of them now sported a dozen or more hits from bird guano, and the deck of the Dragon Lady became spotted with the sticky, smelly mess. There was no break in the swirling cloud of birds, as they seemed to be pacing the leading edge of the school of baitfish, as they spread out over the reef. As each minute went by, the tension mounted. When they heard the first roars of hungry crocs nearby, and heard louder more violent splashes than the seabirds could produce, the strain only grew. Knowing that there was real danger nearby, but unable to see it, only made it worse for the boys.

Then, the wind began to shift, and finally, in mere moments, died completely. As the Dragon Lady bobbed with her sails flapping idly, Paul cursed under his breath, and started the blower, to clear the bilge of any dangerous diesel fume buildup. Through all the noise, the sound of the blower didn't carry far, but a few gulls and terns that had been busily gulping down their lunch, fled a short distance.

After a minute, when the wind still had not come back, and with the bilge cleared of dangerous fumes, Paul hit the switch to start the diesel motor. As the diesel coughed to life, the seabirds within fifty yards exploded from the surface. With their field of view expanded by fifty yards and the noise somewhat reduced, Paul stretched to relieve the tension in his shoulders. Then he switched hands on the tiller and flexed his fingers, clenching and stretching until the knots in his forearm eased.

Paul shouted, "Hey, you two! Lower the sails!"

His sons seemed both happy to follow his orders, and at the easing of the swarming flock nearby. The tasks gave them something to do and took their minds off of the things they couldn't do anything about, and the reduced noise and confusion from the birds made it a bit easier to deal with everything else.

A flash from a half-mile away, followed by the rumble of cannon fire over the water startled them all. Seabirds frantically rose for miles and began sweeping upward in great spirals. By now, the boys had gotten both of the Dragon Lady's sails down. Paul looked toward the source of the flash and grinned in satisfaction.

As Lewis and Clark settled in, Paul said, "It was a nice try! They scared most of the seabirds higher, but if we can't see them, they can't see us. With the sails down, our silhouette is only about an eighth what it was with the sails up. I don't know how long it will last, or if they'll fire again when the birds start to settle down, so let's find that stream! Ok?"

Pam looked warily from inside the hatch for swooping birds. When she didn't see any nearby, she gathered herself and stuck her head out.