Invisible World Read Online Free PDF Page B

Shakespeare believed in magic?” I wondered.
    â€œIt certainly sounds like he does in The Tempest , but I don’t know. It’s only a story.”
    I returned to the upper deck, and immediately a warm breeze ruffled my hair. I saw Bronwyn looking out to sea. Her hair danced around her head, swept by the ocean breezes. The setting sun illuminated her face in a soft glow. “Beautiful night, pet, isn’t it?” she commented when I joined her.
    â€œWindy,” I replied, holding my hair back so it wouldn’t whip around my face.
    â€œI love the wind. It’s thrilling. One never knows what will blow in on a strong breeze.” A powerful gust threw us both into the side of the ship. Bronwyn clutched my wrist to keep me from toppling completely. She laughed merrily, exhilarated, her blue eyes shining.
    The wind flapped her skirts violently and she seemed to lift from the deck. A strong image flashed before me. I saw Bronwyn chuckling gleefully as she swooped and dipped, riding the air currents.
    The picture was joyful yet unsettling. I closed my eyes to dispel it, and when I opened them once more, Bronwyn was in front of me, gazing into my eyes with concern. “Are you all right, Bethy? Did something frighten you?” she asked.
    It felt foolish to ask her if she had just then been riding air currents, so I shook my head. “I’m all right.”
    Bronwyn put her arm around my shoulders and pulled me tight. “What an adventure we are having, eh, pet? What fun!”
    I understood what she was feeling. I felt it too — that this trip would turn out to be the adventure of a lifetime.

F ELIPE HAD READ THE STARS INCORRECTLY. THE CONDITIONS near the Bermudas were very turbulent. And the rough weather continued for the next day and through the following night.
    That night, I lay in the upper berth of the small sleeping compartment I shared with Kate and Bronwyn. The Golden Explorer pitched terribly in the howling wind and I could hear rain lashing the sails. Our only light was the short stub of a candle flickering in a glass lantern nailed to the wall. The candle threw long, wavering shadows against the wall and floor in an eerie display.
    Below me, Kate moaned pathetically, one hand clutching her stomach while the other arm was flung across her forehead, in the grip of persistent nausea. How I pitied her! Bronwyn had soaked cold ginger tea in cloths and tied them around Kate’s wrists. She had given her another cloth soaked in the ginger to inhale. I had no idea what further help I might be.
    The Golden Explorer continuously dipped to one side and then rolled to the other. This relentless motion created a horrible queasiness in me, as well. If this was what Kate was experiencing without relief, I didn’t know how she could bear it. Sometimes the tilt of the Golden Explorer was so extreme that I clutched the sides of my bed to keep from being tossed off. Pressing my head into the pillow, I fought the greasy stew I’d had for supper from coming up.
    Strangely, Bronwyn was sleeping soundly on her cot, seemingly unaffected by the storm. “How can she sleep through this?” Kate complained to me, her voice thin and miserable.
    â€œMaybe she isn’t here,” I suggested. “Perhaps she’s left her body.”
    There in the wavering light, we both looked to Bronwyn, buried deep in the covers on her cot, noting her shallow breathing. Our governess was a sound sleeper, but she seemed especially lost to slumber’s grip that night.
    â€œI wish I could leave my body,” Kate said. “I would give anything to be out of my body right now.”
    A deep wave of nausea swept through me and I had to wait for it to pass before I could reply. “So do I.”
    Shutting my eyes, I imagined Bronwyn’s astral self flying back to the shore of Bermuda, the Isle of Devils. Was Felipe right? Did the Devil himself wreck ships; reach up to pull ships and