Part 27 (1/2)
”Yes, it is as straight as a Roman road,” he said ”The problem is the winds at this ti direction And the expanse of water is so great that there is a natural lialley has four men to each oar, but they cannot roithout rest for days on end”
Because I had decided to enter Roo quietly to my place of residence, I had selected a modest shi+p Noondered if that had been a er shi+p is not necessarily faster,” said the captain, as if he had read, my mind ”Their heavy timbers require much more wind and muscle to move them That is why the pirates, the best sailors in the world, keep their vessels relatively light and small No, my lady, this is the best speed we can hope for”
Disappointment and anxiety flooded me Travel was so slow!
A private cabin had been outfitted for me and my attendants inside the deckhouse where the captain and officers would retire Although they had painted it in bright colors, I could see by the paint already peeling that it would be a damp journey They had built a bed bolted to the floor, and a suardrails Charmian was to sleep on a pallet on the floor, which was rolled up during the day Our chests of personal belongings were chained to rings on the floor and walls
Little Ptolemy XIV, ht hi because he had been so curious about Ro what had happened to Arsinoe would be a warning to hi hiht prove a teurehead and start another dreary round of civil war--the last thing I needed
I went in to see what Caesarion was doing; he was playing with a bag filled with lentils, which one of the sailors had given hi and he dozed off to sleep
Poor child! I thought This will be a long journey
The next e on the far horizon; it was the coast of North Africa, the desert that lay to the west of Egypt Gradually it receded fro endlessly on all sides
On the eighth day a squall came up; the skies blackened and released torrents of rain But in its wake ca around and turned into an easterly Levanter, blowing us where ished to go Up went the sail to harness it
Noe see as the wind continued We reached that point in the sea where ere opposite Crete, then Greece; and then ere swept out into the greatest stretch of open sea on our entire voyage
Chare; for the first few days she had been grievously seasick Now, pale and shaky, she eed froer e be on this wretched sea?” she moaned
”I'll put you on a ca way round--by the time you reach Alexandria we shall both be old Caesarion will have randmother”
”I don't care to waste my youth on a caravan journey,” she said ”But I feel as if this journey has already e, but it had had the opposite effect on , and the unfamiliar smells and sounds I encountered every day fascinatedsea-salt odor, and the s of the land it had blown over There was the rich sht fish--so different from those sold in markets--and the musty dampness of the soaked ropes The tar and resin found everywhere on board gave off a warer as the sun rose
As for the sounds, I loved the slap-slap-slap of slap-slap-slap of the water against the hull of the shi+p; it lulled ainst the hull of the shi+p; it lulledand the whoosh whoosh of the sail as it filled and deflated was like nothing else How ordinary the sounds of street and market were by comparison of the sail as it filled and deflated was like nothing else How ordinary the sounds of street and market were by comparison
Water had lost its terror for rateful First I had ventured the harbor, then the Nile, now the open sea--I was cured of my fear, thanks be to all the Gods!
”You will not even remember the misery as soon as you set foot in Roh in Caesar's villa”
I hoped it was true I was beginning to lose count of how ht Ieven at night, since it was impossible to anchor in these deep waters For so it easier to see the stars, but nothing else
Toway around Sicily
”If this Levanter keeps blowing, it will be er,” he said ”The Strait of Messina is best approached from the opposite side, with a north wind at your back That way you encounter the whirlpool and the rock at the outset, when you have theroom”
”Scylla and Charybdis,” I said ”Are they as fearsoend says?”
”Indeed they are,” he said ”The rock--Scylla--is al to escape the whirlpool, Charybdis Of course the whirlpool is not there all the ties, four times a day”
”Have you ever seen her seize a shi+p?”
”Yes, I watched froot pulled down into hercircle--and anything nearby gets drawn into the circle Then, once in it--the boat spins faster and faster I saw it break up, saw its timbers come apart where they had been fastened, and the fisher to a piece of tiht into the center of the funnel--it has an indentation that's dark and sucking The pieces of the boat followed hi so fast they were just a blur to my eyes; then they disappeared”
I shuddered
”Charybdis disgorges things, but not the things she ss,” he said ”The fisherman never returned But the monster vorotesque appendages on their heads Enore sea serpents” He paused ”So we'll go the other ith your perator, no sailor”
”Yet you have a feel for the sea, I can tell”
Surprising but true ”I will leave the command of the vessel to you,” I assured him
Landfall! The ed tops shi+ning like a rely clearer I felt relief flooding through me We had reached the other side of the Mediterranean
Then, as unexpectedly as one of Homer's Gods, the wind shi+fted quickly to the south--a hot, damp wind, oppressive and heavy At the sa The as forcing us toward that shore, and we could see no rocks or other natural features
”No more sail!” ordered the captain The deckhands rushed to disengage the now-dangerous sail ”Oars! Oars! Row to the west!”
I was standing, watching all this with bright interest, when I saw the little shi+ps e at breakneck speed--how could they go that fast? They o
”Look!” I pointed them out to the captain I expected hi boats,” and explain about them
Instead he went pale and cried, ”Pirates! Pirates!”
They werefor us--three boats
”Heht Po it would norant then--I trusted in so er on--like lions in the far ain ”Sails again! Sails again!” he yelled ”Come about! Make for the strait!”
The shi+p spun wildly around as the sail was let out and the fierce wind filled it, dragging the shi+p northward We were headed toward the shore, where rocks waited in thetheir shi+ps to follow They were hoisting their sails now, too
I could hear the dashi+ng of the waves against the rocks ahead, even though I could not see the
”Turn! Turn! Hard astarboard!”
The shi+p thrust itself to the right, riding on the crest of a wave Suddenly ere in the channel, the opening of the strait Was the current flowing north or south--with us or against us?
I was dismayed as I saw the pattern of the waves The current was co toward us; the wind and the waves would battle, and ould make little headway The pirates would catch us easily--if they dared follow us into the strait