A heavy hook tipped by spiked metal served as the Quagmire’s anchor. Rust heavily coated the large piece. Thick rust stains smeared the front of Nadia’s sleeveless shirt as she bent her knees and pulled it from its compartment. Why was it so heavy? Was she getting weaker? With a single heave, she threw the anchor into the water. Vestor’s eyes glinted in the moonlight from the other side of the boat. Rusty grime covered her palms, so she dipped them in the ocean before wiping them on her jeans. Next, she went back to the cabin and slid open the door.

“I dropped anchor. Thanks for nothing.”

Dew sat up again, Darrell rolled on his other side. Awlena peeked with exhausted eyes from having her sleep interrupted again.

"It’s too crowded in here. Is somebody going to clear out so I can sleep?” Nadia asked.

No one said anything.

“Did you hear me!?”

“I can sleep outside,” Awlena said, “The air is cool and the moonlight may be nice.”

Dew motioned her to not get up, “No! Nadia volunteered for night duty and offered us the cabin of her own free will. We’re not prepared to relinquish it until morning.”

“Since when did you get so snotty?” Nadia asked.

“My nasal passages are quite clear.”

“You can’t leave a girl out here by herself. It’s getting cold.”

A thin blanket landed against Nadia’s face.

“My sister is very much a lady too and you would gladly interrupt her slumber several times only to force her outside during her rightful turn? You claim to be a man. I’m sure you’ll do fine with a little ocean air. It’s not even raining. Wake us at dawn.”

“Fine! You’re a stupid idiot and I hate you anyway.”

The door slammed shut. Awlena gripped the barrier between herself and guys and stared at her brother. She blinked a few times as Dew clutched his chest.

“Are you okay? Thank you.”

“She behaves selfishly on occasion. It’s not her usual deportment. The voyage wears on her patience.”

Awlena reached out and gave her brother a pat on the shoulder, “Let’s get some sleep and be fresh in the morning.”

As everyone in the cabin settled themselves back to sleep, Nadia laid with her back against the storage compartment. It wasn’t that cold, forty degrees at the worst, she thought. She watched a plethora of stars mixed with streams of cosmic dust. They ran together into a brilliant mosaic beyond the great dragon. The starlight was as significant as the moonlight. The moon phased a bit faster here. Nadia found herself longing for Awlena to answer more questions about the other constellations. The view made her shiver, or was that a cool wind from the continent?

“I’m cold?” Vestor said, looking right over top of her.

“Why don’t you grab a pillow and go in the cabin then? You’re small enough to squeeze in between the guys.”

Vestor slid under the blanket and nestled against her. He fell asleep quickly. She wrapped an arm around him. After adjusting so her arm wouldn’t go numb, she fell asleep with Vestor in her arms.

 

---

 

Grunting, Josh and Darrell pulled the anchor upwards by its heavy chain. Rust stained their clothes and bronzed the palms of their hands. The work progressed slowly, but the anchor finally landed in its bin with a snapping clank that awakened Nadia, whose head happened to be against the bin where it landed. As she sat up, Vestor sprung from her chest into immediate wakefulness. A warm breeze toyed with Nadia’s hair as she rolled some hardened crust from her eyes. The tumbling of oars began as Dew latched them to the sides of the boat.

“We’re going in,” Josh said.

Without further ceremony, Dew and Josh each took an oar on opposite sides of the boat and rowed toward the inlet between cliffs. Darrell sat at the stern with a thick paddle to navigate between natural whirlpools. His muscles tensed as he struggled to control the improvised rudder against constantly changing currents. Soon, the dark corridor closed in. Foaming clouds rolled against the cliffs.

“Could you guys row a little faster?” Darrell groaned. “I’m having trouble keeping this boat steady.”

“You’ll have to hold out,” Dew called, “It will only get worse the closer we approach.”

Nadia jumped on the storage compartment lid and took hold of the paddle from the side to help Darrell steer against the wild currents. Vestor took the other side and tried to help as well, only he pulled with the current instead of against it.

“You have to keep the boat straight,” Nadia explained as she wrapped a hand around Vestor’s, “So you’ll have to work against the current when it pulls the boat away. Since we’re on opposite sides, you’ll have to pull when I push and vice versa. Got it? I’ll tell you how much force to use.”

“Okay!” Vestor said.

“Hey, I don’t need help! There are too many people. It’s confusing!” Darrell said, “Woman and children to the back!”

“Stupid goat head!”

Vestor kneed Darrel in the hip but the attack wasn’t even registered.

Nadia kept one arm on the paddle and used the other to give Darrell a moderate blow to the head with her clenched fist.

“Who are you calling a woman?”

“You. I don’t care what you say, you look like a girl, you act like a girl, you talk like a girl, and you even smell like a girl.”

“Smell like a girl! Have you been sniffing me or something!?”

“No, well- I… You have a smell! Okay? I don't know, we all desperately need a shower.”

“She does have a nice smell,” Vestor agreed.

“Fine, but do I fight like a girl?”

She snatched the paddle to herself. When Darrel tried to take it back, she kicked him overboard. Vestor gasped.

“Sailor overboard!” Dew called.

Nadia jumped for the side of the of the boat, which left Vestor under the harsh influence of the paddle. The boy lifted it from the water so as not to have it pulled from his hands into the ocean. As Dew ran toward the aft, Nadia reached out and clutched Darrell’s arm. The ocean tugged at his body with more strength than she was prepared for. Dew reached out and pulled as well as the ship went off course. Josh frantically swung his oar to influence the vessel away from the rocks. Awlena ran from the cabin with sleep in her eyes and took the oar Dew abandoned.

With a strong grip on Darrell’s arm, Dew and Nadia managed to pull him from the stubborn currents. Once his palm latched to the boat’s edge, Darrell pushed himself up and rolled inside. A puddle of salty water dripped on the boards around him as he breathed heavily. Sole possession of the rudder paddle remained with Nadia while Vestor checked on Darrell.

“That was uncalled for,” Dew said.

“Don’t even think of getting me wet. I can handle the steering. Darrell isn’t needed here.”

“Did you not hear me the first time? That was uncalled for. Not only uncalled for, but downright murderous. I explicitly stated the dangers of these waters, did I not? Do you want your friend’s blood on your head? Is that what you desire? Because you were this close to achieving it with your temper tantrum.”

“Harsh,” Josh whispered while keeping to his rowing, “But, when ya know, ya know?”

“It’s not like I’d let anything happen to him!”

“This isn’t a game you nitwit! You felt the undercurrent! He was mere moments from being pulled under! If this is how you help, then go into the cabin and take a nap until we reach the shore! Do I make myself clear?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Just let me handle this and keep him away from me.”

Dew threw up his hands, “Keep him away from you!? Astonishing! I have to return to the oars before we wreck. Please don’t get any of us killed, that’s all I’m going to ask of you.”

The ocean felt calm for a few minutes as Vestor timidly returned to the rudder. He looked up to see tears staining Nadia’s cheek but said nothing. A fierce current took control of the rudder, swinging the handle to the left and taking Nadia along with it. It hit Vestor in the mouth, but only hard enough to shock him as he backed away. He rolled off the storage bin and felt his lip while holding back tears. The corridor was close now. The cliffs loomed from both sides over the speck that was the Quagmire. The boat pulled toward a death trap of whirlpools and jagged rock formations by the port side cliff face. Nadia dug her heels and pulled the paddle rudder with all her strength.

Fists tensed; veins bulged. The rudder slowly repositioned to steer against the current. Victory. They could see the natural harbor. A heavy current caught the paddle and Nadia struggled alone against it.

Snap!

The handle broke below Nadia’s palms. The paddle floated toward the ocean until it rushed around in circles near the barnacle laden rocks. The boat wobbled as it turned awkwardly. The oarsmen couldn’t steer it alone, not here. The vessel turned one-hundred-and-eighty degrees. The boat swept forward with an inward rush of water. Jagged rocks at the opening to the harbor threated to slice its sides. Salty water splashed as Nadia jumped into the strait with her hands gripped against the boat’s side. Dew shot up and left the oars to Awlena.

“For a grain of rice! What is she doing now!?”

Kicking against the current with all her power slowly steadied the vessel. It turned slowly truer to the passage. The current pulled at her even as Darrell’s hand clutched at her wrist and pulled in the opposite direction.

She ignored it all and kept kicking. Between her and the vessel, the walls of the cliff closed in.