Page 31 | Chapter 1 | The Ghost Ship | A Free Serialized Online Novel by Scott Telek

“I don’t know, Sammy,” his mother said, leaning forward. “Perhaps because it’s been such a long trip.” She paused, smile waning as she straightened.

“Don’t suppose there’s been a fever working aboard, do you?” asked a man next to her. “Them with the sunken eyes….”

John saw the two other women that had rushed by him at the tavern. One held her young girl in her arms, trying to get her to wave at her father. The other woman alternated between waving arms wildly in greeting and using her hands to cover her mouth as she sobbed with joy.

“Don’t look so sad now, Richard, here I am! Here I am!” She jumped in place, waving at the invisible ship.

John felt Iris take his hand and squeeze it. He understood her need for reassurance; the scene left him with a queasy feeling in his stomach, tightness and tension in his shoulders. His lips had risen over his teeth. He found himself shuttling his gaze between the crowd of excited people, and the empty surface of the sea, hoping at last to see something. The people below were so convinced! The very length the illusion persisted seemed to argue for its reality, but before him lay the stark, undeniable space of nothingness.