Michael Spradlin: Keeper of the Grail

Without thinking, I stood up, unbuckled my sword, dropped the satchel to the floor and dove into the water. I was an adequate swimmer, having learned in the river near the abbey, but I hadn’t swum in a long while.

I kicked forward, plowing through the water with my arms, trying to keep my head up and the dog in sight. It was difficult and I slipped beneath the water a few times to confuse the bowmen, but I slowly closed the gap.

When I reached her, the dog was nearly exhausted. I grabbed her in one arm and turned toward the boat. I was in range of the crossbows, and although I was completely disoriented in the water, I could hear Sir Hugh shouting, “Shoot him! Shoot him!” The bolts whistled over and around me in the water but miraculously none of them hit me.

I paddled away with my one arm, the dog clutched tightly in the other, kicking furiously. Off somewhere I could hear Robard shouting to the captain, but I was tired and the boat slipped farther away.

I drifted under the water once, then again. Each time I burst to the surface spitting out water. My legs were cramping and I had no strength left. Exhausted and not sure I was going to make it, I came to the surface only a few yards away from the boat. With every ounce of strength I had left, I kicked mightily. It was not enough.

I felt something hard knock me on the shoulder. Reaching up I grabbed a piece of wood and was pulled through the water. It was Robard leaning over the side of the boat and pulling me in with his bow.

Hands lifted me up and over the side. I slumped to the floor with Robard holding me up by the shoulders. He shouted at the captain to get moving, and Maryam took the dog from my grasp. She set it on the seat in front of us, and it shook the water from its coat, looking at me and barking happily, its tiny tail wagging. It jumped into my lap eagerly licking my face. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

When I could lift my head, I looked back at the dock to see Sir Hugh pacing back and forth yelling at his men to “find a boat!” but they grew smaller and smaller as we moved farther out into the harbor.

Safe at last.

The crew took up a fast rhythm as the oars sliced through the water. We moved past the ships lying at anchor, around several galleys and barges, until we came to the last ship, anchored farthest from the shore. Well, at least the captain called it a ship. It looked as if it could barely float. Of course the lighting was poor. The moon had set, and only a small flame came from the torch the captain had lighted. As we drew closer, I saw that it was true. The ship was a wreck.

First of all, it was small. Very small. A quarter the size of a Templar ship, and with very little draft, so it sat high in the water. Three oars reached out from each side, and a single mast held a tattered sail hanging from it. The railing around the main deck was broken in places, and it looked all in all like it might sink at any moment.

“You booked us passage on this?” Robard said, his voice full of disbelief.

“Well. Yes. But looks can be deceiving,” I replied. In fact, I thought in this case, looks were perhaps as accurate as could be. I had a horrible feeling about it.

As the longboat pulled alongside the ship, one of the crewmen scampered up the anchor line, and in a few minutes a rope net came over the side. We climbed aboard. Standing on the deck of the ship I saw that it was even worse than I had first thought. After the captain fired several torches to give us light to see by, I wished we had stayed in the dark.

The deck was warped and rotting. Several of the boards were curved up at the ends. The sail was in terrible shape. It looked to have more holes than fabric. And it stank-an odd combination of unpleasant odors.

While the crew hurried about in an effort to get us under way, the captain approached me. “You can stow your gear below if you wish,” he said. Since the smell on deck had already made me nauseated, I didn’t believe the hold would be any better.

“No, thanks,” I replied. “I think we’ll sleep up here on the deck.”

“Suit yourself. I know she doesn’t look like much, but trust me, she’ll get you where you want to go. Eventually. Long as you’re not in a hurry, she’ll do you fine. Now, you owe me some money. Don’t forget you’re going to have to pay extra for the dog and the girl,” he said. “An extra ten crosslets each should do.”

“You’ll get an extra five crosslets total and be happy with it,” I answered.

The captain started to protest, but with a hiss from Robard, and seeing the venom on his face, he decided not to press the issue. I felt around inside the satchel until I found the bag of coins. Turning my back to the captain, I counted out half the promised price and handed it over. There was no sense in letting him know how much money I had. I vowed then and there that the satchel would never leave my side while we were aboard ship. The three crewmen lowered the long oars into the water, and slowly the ship began to move. The captain also took a position on one of the oars. With each stroke of the oars, the little ship crept closer to the mouth of the harbor. The eastern sky was starting to lighten, but the stars were still magnificent, and for a moment I was captured by the beauty of the night sky.

The thought of Sir Hugh managing to rouse a ship to give chase intruded on my reverie, and I began pacing the deck.

“Can’t you go any faster?” I asked the captain.

“We’re short some crew. If you and your friend there take an oar, that’ll even things out and we’ll go faster. We can’t raise the sail until we clear the harbor,” he said.

Robard, who was standing by the mast, snorted, pulling at the tattered sail.

“Yes. Raising this sail. That will certainly help,” he said.

“Besides, if we raise sail now, we risk running her up on the rocks at the mouth of the harbor. Wouldn’t want that. Best to row around them,” the captain said.

Rocks? Why were there always things to vex me on a ship? I hated ships.

With a heavy sigh, I moved behind one of the crewmen and took an oar. Robard did the same and now the oars were fully manned.

“Grab hold of this oar here, missy,” Denby said. “Someone’s got to man the rudder now. It gets tricky around these rocks.”

Maryam switched places with the captain without complaint. He took the rudder, and for the next several minutes we did nothing but rock back and forth to the rhythm of the oars. A short while later he gave the order to raise sail and two of the crewmen hoisted the canvas, securing the rope holding the sail to the railing. It was a small sail, simply hung from a crossbeam tied to the top of the mast, but it did catch what little breeze there was, and we began moving faster.

For the rest of the early morning we sailed and rowed toward the west. I kept a sharp watch for pursuers but saw none, and slowly began to think we had finally escaped Sir Hugh. If there truly were Saracen patrols spotted near the city, as we had heard in the jail, perhaps he would be unable to divert men and resources to come after us. But he would try to avoid the battle, coward that he was, and get out the fastest way possible without arousing suspicion or calling attention to his cowardice. He would most likely try to escape by ship or ride farther west before the city was encircled, under the guise of gathering reinforcements or alerting other Templar Commanderies of the coming attack on Tyre.

That would disguise his real purpose, however. He at least suspected that I had the Holy Grail or knew where it was. Sir Hugh would be coming for me. Maybe not right away, but he would not give up. I needed to make sure I got to Rosslyn before he did.