The Deepest Waters, A Novel by Dan Walsh Read Free Book Online

happening to your people.”
    “Well, ma’am, kind a’ you to say so.”
    Micah looked back at the sunset. So did she. Most of the flaming reds and yellows had shifted to subtler pinks and grays. The sun had dipped below the horizon. When she looked back at his face, he was smiling again.
    How was that possible?

     
    Ayden Maul was almost finished.
    As soon as he’d seen the sunset and how all the ladies reacted to it, he instantly went below deck and seized his chance. By now, like ladies are apt to do, they’d all staked their claim to whatever little corner of the hold they’d slept in last night. He knew some had kept their gold in pouches tied to their waist, like that woman who got him in trouble with the captain today.
    But not all.
    He found dozens more pouches, carpetbags, and money belts, all sloppily buried under blankets and shawls. All filled with gold nuggets. Some of the carpetbags even contained little gold bricks. A staggering sight. He made mental notes of the largest caches. At the right moment, he would slip down here again and take a handful from each one.
    Who’d know? No way to prove how many nuggets were in each lady’s spot, or how many he’d have taken. He figured, added together, he’d leave this sorry ship with thousands of dollars.
    He’d finally live the kind of life he’d always dreamed of. And it was all just sitting here, like ripe apples ready to pluck. Maul wasn’t a praying man. But he might just ask the man upstairs for a few more marvelous sunsets like tonight.
    Then another thought. Why wait till then?
    He listened a moment. Nobody making their way down the hatch steps. He walked back to three of the biggest carpetbags and grabbed a handful of nuggets from each one. That’s a better plan, he thought. Grab a little every chance he got.
    Then he’d come back for the mother lode the night before they pulled into New York.

10
     
    John looked down at the raincoat. It was a grim task, the most disturbing thing he had ever done.
    “Are you all right?” Ramón asked.
    “I’ll be fine.”
    “I know it was hard,” said Ramón. “But if we’re careful and a worse storm doesn’t come and overturn the raft, the water in this raincoat might just buy us another day.”
    The storm earlier that afternoon had terrified them as it passed by, but the lightning strikes never hit close enough to cause any real harm. Sadly, John had witnessed one man die from the sheer terror that it might. The storm had pelted them with a driving rain. The lightning had flashed and the thunder exploded all around them. But the winds were slight and, if anything, the rain seemed to calm the waves. Every man except one had his mouth wide open to drink in the fresh water.
    On the outskirts of the group, one poor fellow started screaming, louder with each clap of thunder. After ten minutes, he let go of the door he’d been clinging to and swam away. Those nearby yelled for him to stop. John saw the whole thing. Where did the man think he was going? It was madness. He had swum about fifty yards when his arms began to move slowly. A few more strokes, and they stopped. Then they flailed wildly above his head, and he began to sink below the waterline.
    John slipped off the raft.
    “John,” Robert yelled. “What are you doing? Come back.”
    John swam toward the man. The raindrops felt cool on his sunburned arms. He wished he could stop and drink them in. But he kept on.
    When he finally reached the man, he understood why the man hadn’t gotten far. John found him floating facedown, wearing a large raincoat. The sleeves and pockets must have instantly filled with water. John turned him over, but it was too late. His eyes stared straight up at nothing, his mouth wide open. John lifted his head above the water and shook him; he didn’t know what else to do. Of course, the man didn’t respond. His expression didn’t change.
    John swam back to the big raft, pulling the man behind him. At first, he