The Song of the Sea

7. A Bed for the Night

By late afternoon, the wind had picked up dramatically and the ship was being tossed around like a feather in the wind.

Jacob stood at the helm shouting out orders to his men. As soon as he'd got the sense that there was a storm brewing, he'd reset their course, heading towards land. By his reckoning, they should only be a couple of hours away. But storms had a way of throwing out even the most meticulous calculations.

It was dark before he heard the shout he'd been praying to hear.

"Land! Ho!"

His men were exhausted by the time the Flying Bountry limped into the relative shelter of a harbour. They laid down the anchor and everyone took a moment just to breathe.

It was only then that Jacob remembered.

"Raephier!"

He jumped up and ran to his quarters. He had no idea what he was going to find when he arrived at his quarters.

As soon as he burst through the door, a figure jumped up off the floor.

For a split second Jacob though there was a stranger in his room. Raephier had transformed from a dirty cowering street rat, into a dashing young man.

Jacob's jaw dropped at the site of the man in front of him, but before he could say anything, he watched as Raephier wobbled then collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"Raephier!" he shouted, before darting over and dropping on the floor next to him.

"S-sorry," Raephier said, trying to sit up. "I-I just got a bit dizzy."

Jacob held Raephier down gently to stop him from getting up.

"Are you ok? Take your time. Just..."

Jacob paused as he caught sight of something under Raphier's hair. He reached out his hand and gently pushed back the hair from Raephier's forehead and sucked in a breath at what he saw.

"When did you do this?" he asked, staring at the deep gash across Raephier's forehead.

"Oh, erm, about an hour ago, I think. The ship lurched suddenly while I was standing up and I fell and hit my head against your desk."

"Did you lose consciousness?"

"Erm maybe, but only for a second."

"How would you know?" Jacob said, feeling slightly alarmed. "You could have been out for longer than that."

Raephier just shrugged. Jacob wanted to say more, but realised he was sounding rather like his mother.

"Come on, I'll help you stand," Jacob said, holding out his hand.

Raephier took his hand, but he didn't look comfortable about it.

Once he was on his feet, he immediately let go of Jacob, but that only resulted in him swaying dramatically to one side.

Jacob immediately grabbed him by the shoulders and led him to his bed.

"Sit," he instructed, and Raephier did as he was told.

Although the ship was relatively sheltered in the harbour, the wind was still strong, so the room was rocking from side to side.

"I think it would be best if I get you onto land," Jacob said.

"I'll be fine," Raephier replied quickly, clearly uneasy about the idea.

"I'm not going to leave you here. We'll go and get some food, then I'll find us a room for the night. One that's not moving."