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aside the tarpaulin cloak that covered him and looked round in the darkness.
    Stig had the ship back on course, and she was climbing yet another mountain of water as it bore down on them. But there weretons of water in the rowing wells now, more than the scuppers could cope with. The ship felt sluggish and heavy as she labored up the wave. Hal sprang lightly up onto the deck and moved to take the tiller from Stig. The first mate gratefully relinquished it to him. He had taken the full force of the wave. It had winded him and drenched him at the same time.
    â€œDidn’t see that coming,” he complained.
    â€œGet yourself dried off,” Hal told him. “I’ll take her for a while.”
    He was obviously reinvigorated after his long rest. Stig headed for the rowing wells, in search of a dry blanket.
    Thorn sighed and gestured to the rest of the crew.
    â€œGrab a bucket each,” he said. “We’re going to have to bail her out.”

chapter four
    T hey sailed on through the dark hours of the night, alternately climbing and sliding down the massive swells, with the wind howling at them like a wild, living creature.
    Their lives took on an inevitable sequence—climb up, smash through, swoop down, bury the bow in the sea, then begin the next laborious climb.
    It was uncomfortable and unpleasant, but the early venom of the storm had abated a little and now they were confident that, barring the unexpected, the ship would handle the conditions safely.
    The wind was still too strong for Hal to risk hoisting the slender, curved yardarms or setting more sail. The tiny storm sail stretched drum-taut against the wind and gave them steerageway inthe plunging seas. But, even though the little ship was pointing northwest, they all knew that their real course was southwest, as the wind and waves drove the ship before them.
    It was an unnerving feeling for the crew. They were being driven farther and farther into the vast expanse of the Endless Ocean, a place where none of them had ever sailed before. But, as Lydia had stated, there was little they could do about it, so worrying over the matter would achieve nothing. In fact, it was her calm acceptance of the situation that allowed a lot of them to retain their equanimity. In such situations, panic and fear can become contagious. But this time, it was calmness and stoicism that spread among them.
    They were in a routine now. The steering position, exposed to the wind and spray on the upper part of the rear deck, was potentially the most exhausting—with the exception of those times, thankfully infrequent, when they had to bail. Hal, realizing that he couldn’t possibly take on the task of steering on his own, organized a roster between himself, Stig, Thorn and Edvin.
    Edvin, of course, had trained early on in the
Heron
’s first cruise as a relief helmsman. He didn’t have the physical strength of Hal, and certainly not Stig or Thorn. But he had a deft touch on the tiller and sense of the ship’s rhythm that helped him keep her on course with a minimum of movement of the rudder. He anticipated the ship’s movements as the sea swirled around her. And, by anticipating, he needed to expend less effort to correct her.
    Lydia watched him, admiration in her eyes. She had moved up close to the steering platform to keep him company, realizing that steering could be a lonely task.
    â€œYou’re good at this, aren’t you?” she said.
    Edvin flushed, and smiled at her, pleased that she recognized his skill in handling the ship. “It’s easier to keep her going where you want if you don’t let her go where
she
wants.”
    Lydia thought about that and nodded seriously. “That’s a good way of looking at it.” On previous cruises, she’d taken her turn at the helm. Hal believed every crew member should be able to steer a course, no matter what their individual skills might be. He and Stig had been at pains