away.
Am I having a religious experience?
My head swims and the place seems to move under me...
Me? Jacky Faber, the skeptic ... the mocker, the maker of Biblical jokes. Could it be?
No, it couldn't.
I open my eyes and look up. Among the wafts of incense smoke, I see strands of white powder, which looks like falling plaster ... and then a grinding noise...
That doesn't sound very spiritual. That doesn't—
"Jah-kee!" screams Sidrah, grabbing my arm and hauling me to my feet. "Run!"
I'm mystified.
Run? Why?
She drags me toward the portal through which we had so recently entered. She sees me confused and screams yet again...
"Earthquake!"
Chapter 15
My mind reeling from the feel of the earth moving in waves beneath me like some earthen sea, I struggle out of the temple. Looking down to the shore, I can see the
Eastern Star
resting quietly there despite all the pandemonium that swirls about us. Our two bodyguards begin pushing her out to sea and the cowards are manning the oars. They are probably regretting their lazy decision to let us go to the temple alone, because if anything happens to Sidrah, their lives won't be worth a farthing. Chopstick Charlie, mild though he might appear, would see to that, for sure.
Sidrah listens, head up, watching the shore intently.
"It was but a small earthquake," she says, her hand still on my arm.
Small?
I shudder. It felt pretty
big
to me! I look back to the temple, which is still standing, but there are some other buildings nearby that are not—they are now piles of rubble. Piteous screams rend the sudden, uneasy silence.
Oh, Lord...
"There may be aftershocks ... but that is not the only thing to fear. Come, let us run."
All right.
But she doesn't run toward the boat. She drags me in the opposite direction—inland.
What...?
"The boat's thataway, Sidrah. Why—?" I protest, stumbling along behind her.
"After earthquake," she shouts, panting, "sometimes comes the tsunami, the Great Wave ... And look, Jah-kee, it is going to happen!"
She points to the shore. The water is fast receding and there is a great sucking sound, like it's being drawn out by some giant whirlpool far out to sea. When first we had landed in our little boat, the beach was about twenty-five yards wide. Now it is a hundred ... now a hundred and fifty ... The
Eastern Star
is aground on the sand, her oars now useless to the two men who still sit within her ... Now two hundred ... and then we can see the shoreline no more. All manner of sealife lies exposed to view. Whelks, conchs, giant clams, lobsters, all kinds of fish—all just lying there.
Oh, Lord, if we could just harvest some of these, even a few,
I'm thinking.
"Quickly, Jah-kee, as fast as you can! The wave will come fast!"
I need no further encouragement. Lifting our sheathlike skirts, we race for higher ground.
"To that tree there! It is our only chance!"
She points to a large tree with low drooping branches that sits to the left, way beyond the temple, and we pound toward it. I get there first and vault up onto the first limb, lock my legs around it, and reach back for Sidrah, as she cannot have had the experience in climbing that I do.
She goes to take my hand, but there is a cry of anguish and we both look down to see a baby, a girl, sitting naked upon a rock next to some washing her mother had been doing, the child now plainly alone in a suddenly very cruel world. Sidrah reaches down to scoop her up, then slings the child on her back, and the girl wraps her arms around Sidrah's neck as she runs to the tree. I reach under Sidrah's armpits and haul her, and the burden on her back, up to the first branch.
"Higher!" gasps Sidrah. "We must get higher! Look!"
I look and I see it.
Good God!
The Great Wave looms up ... and up ... and ever up ... out there on the horizon, and it is coming on like the Wall of Doom, and judging from the masts of the boats it is devouring, it's gotta be fifty feet high!
The Wave from Hell roars ever onward,
Am I having a religious experience?
My head swims and the place seems to move under me...
Me? Jacky Faber, the skeptic ... the mocker, the maker of Biblical jokes. Could it be?
No, it couldn't.
I open my eyes and look up. Among the wafts of incense smoke, I see strands of white powder, which looks like falling plaster ... and then a grinding noise...
That doesn't sound very spiritual. That doesn't—
"Jah-kee!" screams Sidrah, grabbing my arm and hauling me to my feet. "Run!"
I'm mystified.
Run? Why?
She drags me toward the portal through which we had so recently entered. She sees me confused and screams yet again...
"Earthquake!"
Chapter 15
My mind reeling from the feel of the earth moving in waves beneath me like some earthen sea, I struggle out of the temple. Looking down to the shore, I can see the
Eastern Star
resting quietly there despite all the pandemonium that swirls about us. Our two bodyguards begin pushing her out to sea and the cowards are manning the oars. They are probably regretting their lazy decision to let us go to the temple alone, because if anything happens to Sidrah, their lives won't be worth a farthing. Chopstick Charlie, mild though he might appear, would see to that, for sure.
Sidrah listens, head up, watching the shore intently.
"It was but a small earthquake," she says, her hand still on my arm.
Small?
I shudder. It felt pretty
big
to me! I look back to the temple, which is still standing, but there are some other buildings nearby that are not—they are now piles of rubble. Piteous screams rend the sudden, uneasy silence.
Oh, Lord...
"There may be aftershocks ... but that is not the only thing to fear. Come, let us run."
All right.
But she doesn't run toward the boat. She drags me in the opposite direction—inland.
What...?
"The boat's thataway, Sidrah. Why—?" I protest, stumbling along behind her.
"After earthquake," she shouts, panting, "sometimes comes the tsunami, the Great Wave ... And look, Jah-kee, it is going to happen!"
She points to the shore. The water is fast receding and there is a great sucking sound, like it's being drawn out by some giant whirlpool far out to sea. When first we had landed in our little boat, the beach was about twenty-five yards wide. Now it is a hundred ... now a hundred and fifty ... The
Eastern Star
is aground on the sand, her oars now useless to the two men who still sit within her ... Now two hundred ... and then we can see the shoreline no more. All manner of sealife lies exposed to view. Whelks, conchs, giant clams, lobsters, all kinds of fish—all just lying there.
Oh, Lord, if we could just harvest some of these, even a few,
I'm thinking.
"Quickly, Jah-kee, as fast as you can! The wave will come fast!"
I need no further encouragement. Lifting our sheathlike skirts, we race for higher ground.
"To that tree there! It is our only chance!"
She points to a large tree with low drooping branches that sits to the left, way beyond the temple, and we pound toward it. I get there first and vault up onto the first limb, lock my legs around it, and reach back for Sidrah, as she cannot have had the experience in climbing that I do.
She goes to take my hand, but there is a cry of anguish and we both look down to see a baby, a girl, sitting naked upon a rock next to some washing her mother had been doing, the child now plainly alone in a suddenly very cruel world. Sidrah reaches down to scoop her up, then slings the child on her back, and the girl wraps her arms around Sidrah's neck as she runs to the tree. I reach under Sidrah's armpits and haul her, and the burden on her back, up to the first branch.
"Higher!" gasps Sidrah. "We must get higher! Look!"
I look and I see it.
Good God!
The Great Wave looms up ... and up ... and ever up ... out there on the horizon, and it is coming on like the Wall of Doom, and judging from the masts of the boats it is devouring, it's gotta be fifty feet high!
The Wave from Hell roars ever onward,
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