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Voyage of Slaves

“You were found on the upstairs verandah, stabbed by a sword. Mother Carmella tended you—at first she thought you would die, you had lost so much blood, Ben. But the Mother Superior is a wise and clever doctor. She nursed you through it, keeping you asleep with her own special medicine. Your dog was found by Herakles, hanging on to the rocks amid the water. Ned’s leg was broken, but my friend Mother Carmella treated him, too. I went back aboard the Sea Djinn. Yanni and I turned her own cannons into the hold. We blew out the keel and sank her. You look tired, Ben, try and rest.”

The boy’s good hand shot out. He gripped the Greek’s arm, yelling, “Serafina! Where’s Serafina!”

Kostas seized Ben’s hand, nodding to Yanni. Though he tried to struggle, the boy could not resist. Babiko and Herakles held his head as Yanni poured the Mother Superior’s medicine into his mouth. Kostas Krimboti nodded. “That’s enough, Yanni, he’ll be asleep soon. Leave him now, I’ll speak with him again tomorrow. Sleep, Ben, sleep. . . .”

With his eyes blinking groggily, Ben heard Ned’s words filtering into his mind. “You’ll remember sooner or later, mate, so I’ll tell you. We fell through the verandah rail, Misurata, the Scar-face, Serafina and me. I was the only one who lived through it all. Both the slavers were killed as they hit the rocks, and it’s hard for me to say, but we lost Serafina, too. I pulled her from the sea, and held on to her through the night. Herakles found us both as dawn was breaking. You were unconscious, there was no way I could let you know. Our poor beautiful girl is gone, but I hung on to her, the Dutchman did not take her. Can you hear me, Ben?”

From the realms of merciful slumber, the boy replied, “My faithful Ned, I can hear you. Where is she now?”

Crawling to Ben’s side, Ned placed his cheek against the boy’s arm. “She rests in the grounds of Santa Filomena, in the shade of an almond tree. The troupe and the Sisters laid her there in peace. It was a simple ceremony. The Rizzolis wanted to take us both with them to Vicenza, in Italy. Kostas gave them gold to buy a dairy farm there. I think our friends will be happy with their new life. But Mother Carmella and Kostas both agreed that you and I should not go along with the troupe, too many painful memories for us there. I lay at Serafina’s graveside, watching them go off in their old battered cart, with Poppea pulling it. I knew that we would be going with Kostas, because that night I heard the angel’s message. ‘Now the Dark Angel has fallen, you must go from here.’ So, here we are, back at sea once more.”

The dog’s thoughts faded from Ben’s mind as his thoughts drifted back. He recalled Serafina as she spoke to him that last afternoon they were together.

“I will never forget you. If you go I will stay here forever!”

Did she know what was going to happen?

Through the enveloping darkness, a soft light began to shine. It grew until it filled the boy’s whole being. There was the angel, tall and imposing. The celestial vision had placed both hands upon the shoulders of a girl. It was Serafina! Ben spoke her name loud.

“Serafina.”

The soft, gentle eyes smiled at him. “I will always be with you. Do not grieve, I will wait until you join me one day. Be at peace.”

A calmness descended upon Ben, a tranquility of spirit he had never known before.

From cloudless azure vaults the great, golden eye of the sun shone down on the sea below. It saw the ship, a small, blue-sailed, weather-beaten craft. On the fo’c’sle deck, a boy and his dog lay sleeping, side by side. Orphans of the seas, bound through the years to only the Lord knows where. Waiting for the angel’s command. Always waiting.

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