Tide by Daniela Sacerdoti Page B

other men. Anders, a Dane, was the only one who occasionally spoke to the two strangers on board.
    Mike nodded. “Fine, thanks,” he replied briefly, as Anders too left the lounge. He took his woollen hat off and threw it grumpily on the table. “I can’t wait to be off this boat,” he muttered.
    “Five days to Liverpool. We’re nearly there.”
    “And then?”
    “Another boat, I suppose.”
    “Over my dead body,” growled Mike.
    “Swim?”
    “Ha ha.”
    “Ah well, we’ll think of something. We always do,” said Niall good-naturedly. But Mike didn’t hear what Niall had said. His eyes were fixed on the waves out of the window, his coffee-coloured skin suddenly bleached with fear.
    “Niall …”
    Something in his friend’s voice made Niall’s heart quicken. “What is it?”
    “I don’t know. I think I saw something. Out there.”
    “Like what?”
    “Like an eye.” Mike pointed to the porthole.
    “An … Shit! I saw it too!” Niall rushed to get a closer look.
    A grey mound had risen from under the waves, and a black eye as big as a horse was staring at them. They barely had the time to register what they’d seen, when the eye disappeared under the water.
    “It’s not a whale,” whispered Mike.
    Niall’s voice was shaking. “No. It’s not a whale. It’s a Makara.”
    Mike’s eyes widened as he recognized the word from the ancient language: sea monster. “We can’t do this on our own. We need to tell the captain,” he said. His Gamekeeper training had kicked in. No time for panic.
    “You go tell him. I’m going up on deck to try the Song.”
    He’ll get killed, thought Mike despairingly. But he knew there was no choice.
    They both knew they had no choice. There was no way they could fight the demon without Niall’s power.
    Mike ran up the steep steps and barged through the heavy door, into the bridge. “Captain. You need to listen to me now. There’s something out there.”
    Captain Young was examining a map and didn’t even turn around. He hadn’t been entirely happy about taking these two lads on board for the crossing but until now they hadn’t been much trouble. Still, he had no intention of making them feel welcome on board.
    “I’m busy. Next time, knock,” he said coldly.
    “Captain Young. There’s a monster out there,” Mike repeated, trying to keep his tone even. He knew that if he started shouting he’d be dismissed.
    “Are you drunk?” the captain growled, turning to face his visitor.
    “No. You must call your men—” Mike couldn’t finish the sentence. The boat made a sudden jump, as if something had hit it, and then kept rolling on the crest of subsequent waves.
    “What was that?” yelled the captain. He moved across to hang onto the brass rail that ran along the inside of his cabin.
    “It’s a sea creature. A big one.” Mike swallowed. He knew it must sound like something out of a children’s fantasy novel.
    Captain Young’s eyes widened. “I knew you were trouble,” he whispered, but as the ship pitched and rolled, he realized that whatever his feelings about the boy, the ship was in trouble. He strode towards a low cupboard. Inside were several guns. He threw one to Mike and kept one for himself. They made their way downstairs, struggling to stay upright on the swaying boat.
    There was an eerie silence on deck, men standing in clusters, some of them armed, holding onto the rails and waiting for orders. And then Niall started singing, his head to the sky, his eyes closed, the words of his ancient song sounding soft and sweet like a lullaby. Mike blinked – was that a song of war? Because it didn’t sound like it.
    The boat was still undulating violently, but there was nothing to be seen, nothing emerging from the waves. The men were staring at Niall – what was the daft Irishman doing? Singing? At a time like this?
    Suddenly something grey and vast burst out of the water, soaking them all. “Shoot!” screamed the captain and his men let