And at that, the Mariner felt a cold pang deep in his heart. Like him, she didn’t remember things. Had whatever happened to her, happened to him?
“I don’t know how I got here either.”
“Then let me aboard!” she wailed. “We can work it out together, you and I. Edward? Please?”
There wasn’t a chance. She was Mindless, albeit a part-time one. The question was, what was he?
“I’m sorry Gloria.” He had passed her now. Neptune had sensed the interlude was over and was picking up speed.
“Please?”
“Everything’s gonna be alright. Think about your philosophy!” he shouted back. “It will sustain you.” Lies of course. He was hoping he could trigger her fit once more. It would be easy to sail away from the snarling hateful creature she’d momentarily become. Far harder, as he did now, to leave an old lady alone, no thoughts in her head but that of a rotten philosophy, crying in the mist.
7. OUT OF NIGHT AND INTO DAWN
BALLS SWOLLEN AND LEG INFECTED, the Mariner remained alive. After mutilating his arousal, the temptations had continued, but with little potency. Bloody testicles make it difficult to notice anything. Sometime between the nut-cracking and dawn the eels had left, returning hungry and disappointed to wherever it is that eels rest.
As if sharing in their disappointment, the storm too had abated, gone elsewhere to find some other poor wretch to torment. All was quiet, except Grace who scampered about him as if nothing had happened. She’d emerged from below, bleary eyed and yawning.
“How the fuck did you sleep through that?”
You brought this on yourself, her eyes seemed to reply. Pssh! Men!
“Aye, I know. Stupid. Stupid.” Movement was difficult but he managed to pull himself to his feet. She barked in encouragement and hopped from paw to paw; a tiny personal trainer showing tough love.
“Remind me to yell at you next time you’ve just given birth to another batch of bastards.”
“Arf!”
“Arf, yourself.”
And then he heard the sound that had roused the Tasmanian devil. It spoke to his heart as it had to her stomach. The cries of a seagull. Land!
Taking care not to graze his swollen testicles, he shuffled starboard for a closer inspection. Before them was a large island, tall cliffs rose out the water, sheer and commanding, dark stone casting its shadow across the water. Only one point seemed to offer access, a thin gorge packed with dense trees. Circling above were countless birds, more than a normal sky-scape worth; something must have disturbed them.
Yet the Mariner’s focus wasn’t drawn to the birds in the sky, nor the cliffs on the shore, but to the shallow waters before it. Another boat bobbed silently in the waves. It was smaller than his, anchored closer to the island than the Neptune could ever hope to get. Small, yet its sleek white exterior looked capable of great speed. Once again, the Mariner was reminded that he sailed a crumbling geriatric.
Other people had found his island.
The Mariner retrieved a gun, loaded and ready for use. A Mauser; an odd looking boxy weapon with a long thin snout like an echidna’s. He had a crate of them, lined up and protected with straw.
Grace herself had hopped upon a barrel and was sniffing at the air excitedly, great globs of drool hanging from her jaw at the prospect of land.
“How about we leave the young’uns here and go for a looksie?” Grace didn’t object.
He lowered a row-boat. Grace clutched to his shoulder in an ungainly manner whilst he climbed down the rope-ladder, wincing with every step. Each moment of friction between his legs caused pain to rupture out to all four corners of his body. Not a good day to be going up against pirates. Still, no use moaning, there was no-one to listen.
The white ship seemed quiet, its crew already disembarked and searching for his prize. He rowed past it, keeping a wary eye for gunners, although he couldn’t spot a single cannon.
Near the shore were six yellow barrels bobbing in the water. As the waves hit them they didn’t shift position, rather they were anchored to the spot, trapped in perpetual surf.
Elsewhere all was calm, the birds circling the gorge were settling somewhat, their cries a distant warning of intrusion. He rowed as fast as he could, eager to catch up to the interlopers and see they not squander the answers promised to him alone.
Promised by whom? He shook his head, dismissing the unwanted query.
The first of the yellow barrels drew near. He was correct, it was secured in place, anchored to the seabed below, a chain disappearing into the murky depths. The barrel itself was rather nondescript. Its casing was made of thick plastic, with no markings to be seen. The Mariner warily nudged it with his oar. Nothing.
He rowed on, eager to reach the shoreline. Grace was equally excited, she dashed up and down the short boat, barking at the birds in the sky.
Suddenly there was a splintering crack, and the boat lurched to a halt. Thrown forward, the Mariner’s legs were pushed together upon his swollen testicles, the dull throb once again promoted to an agonizing wail. He screamed through gritted teeth.
The front of the boat was coming apart, water pouring in through the gaps as the wood contorted, behaving more like brittle dry twigs than sturdy oak. The Mariner swore and tried to steady the vessel, but it was no use. Something had the boat in its grip and wasn’t letting go. Grace backed away as far as she could, but the water was swiftly flowing over her paws.
The shoreline was still at a fair distance. Fuck it. They would have to swim. No other choice. Hopefully, whatever creature was attacking them, it would be too preoccupied with chewing the boat.
Picking up the trembling devil, he told her not to worry. “Just a quick swim, nothing to be concerned about.” He hoped he managed to keep his voice calm and that the small animal would garner some small solace from his tone, but by her trembling he feared the words had been wasted.
He jumped, plummeting into the waters, head submerged in an instant. Cold seawater rushed into his nose
And he opened his eyes.
It was not a beast attacking his boat. The rapidly shrinking remains were being torn to pieces by a great wall of coral, its rough and spiky form shifting as it moved to consume the wooden frame. How did it move? He couldn’t see, great clouds of sand bloomed about each movement, creating an impenetrable shroud, obscuring detail.
The still parts of the coral reef told the full story. It were made of sunken ships and drowned sailors. Masts jutted from between sea urchins, sponges grew on ancient rudders. All torn to pieces and held in place whilst the organism expanded through them, using their strength to fuel its own. If coral reefs were made up of the dead of the sea, then this reef was undead, a moving defence. Ruthless. Pitiless.
Human bones shone in the peculiar underwater twilight, a sign of how many had perished along this slip of coast. His eyes passed over these details quickly, focusing upon another.
Amongst the coral were fresh corpses. Held in place were men whose last breaths couldn’t have been long before, their eyes wide and unfocused, mouths hung ajar as if still hoping for that last life giving gasp. Fish swarmed about them, nibbling at the gashes in their flesh, skin torn open by sharp shells.
Suppressing his own scream, the Mariner resurfaced. Could they swim back to the Neptune? Too little strength. Besides, there was a growing cloud of blood around his leg and crotch.
Sharks!
He couldn’t see fins yet. Perhaps even they were afraid of the monstrous coral?