The Storm Hag
They set sail from the harbor one sunny day in June 1863. The ship, “The Plaid Piper”, a merchant vessel with cargo of fine Vernon’s silver. Captain Stokes kissed his wife goodbye and boarded the Piper. He was confident that smooth sailing would ensure a profitable delivery, paying well and an early retirement for him.
Jimmy Weldon, first mate, had just finished logging the last of the cargo and entered the ship’s galley for a cup of coffee. All looked promising for the ship and the crew
looked forward to a little time ashore, after unloading their cargo and a promised bonus. With the general attitude of the crew today being good spirits, it seemed that nothing could go wrong; it was going to be a great trip.
Danny, the Galley master, was grinding coffee beans as Jimmy sat down. “Come for a cup, mate? It’ll be ready ‘bout ten minutes.”
“No hurry, Dan, I’ve gotten the cargo log finished, still have to secure some of it, but it’ll wait till I’ve had a few swigs.”
Danny grabbed two small crocks with coffee and sat down across from Jimmy. “Looks like a fine day for sailin’. I’m glad, I wouldn’t want to end up like those poor fella’s on the “Marquesas Might”, last week; sleeping in old Davy Jones’s locker.” He shook his head and took a big gulp of coffee.
“It’s the worst storm in five years, Dan; you never know. Rob was a darned good Captain too, had that same ship for over thirty- three years and never an accident. And Jim, his wife just had a baby.” The two sat sipping coffee for about 15 minutes, in silence, remembering their lost friends. Jimmy broke the silence, “Well, I’d better finish up and report to the Captain. Thanks for the coffee Dan, see you later.”
All went quite well that first day, smooth sailing as they say and the reddening sky that night seemed to promise an even better forthcoming day. The sea lulled the sleeping crew into dreams of a bright future and slapping waves rocked them in their slumber.
At around 4 am, Jimmy had just begun navigating the ship, it was his duty while on watch, as the Captain slept. He thought he heard something, an unusual sound, it sounded like a voice, a female, singing. As he listened, he found it quite beautiful. He listened for a few more moments, enjoying the sensual, lilting voice, then realized that, there could be a stowaway on board, but why would one be singing? He planned to check but, appearing just off the starboard bow, he thought he saw someone, a woman, a green woman with the most luminescent yellow eyes, walking on the water! Her eyes seemed to glow like ships lanterns, in the distance and that face! It was only comparable in his mind to a hag. I’ve been awake, way too long, he thought to himself; there’s no such thing as a Sea Hag.” He called to the lookout, to take over.
Joey, take a look over there”, he said pointing, “do you see anything unusual?”
“I don’t see anything, Jimmy.”
“I need you to keep watch; I need to check the cargo hold, I’ll be right back.” A thorough search of the cargo hold turned up nothing. That’s strange, he thought, there’s no one here but, the singing is louder. I’d better alert Captain Stokes.
He didn’t quite make it to Captain Stokes cabin; the captain met him halfway and asked, “Where the hell is that noise coming from at this hour?”
“You hear it too, then. I checked for stowaways Captain, there’s none that I can find.” When they reached the upper deck, where several of the crew had gathered, talking about the noise that had awoken them. Then, the sound got louder.
“Come down into the water, my love,
Dance with me beneath these waves,
Where dwell the bones of sailors true,
Inside my silver-blue cave.
Come down into the watery womb...”
“You, you and you (the captain said, pointing at various members of the crew), check the entire ship, I want that stowaway and I want her here, in front of me, now!”
Several men scattered, a thorough search was done of the whole ship while the song continued, lilting louder with each minute. The Captain and first mate waited, while the search continued. They were interrupted by a ringing bell from the crow’s nest, the captain picked up his hone to hear, “Storm approaching from the west, about fifteen miles, it’s moving in fast!” Orders were, issued and the ship was prepared to take it on the storm, or so they thought.
In no time, the tempest hit; waves rocked and battered the hull of the ship, some spilling over the sides and onto the deck. Sailors donned their life vests, coats, boots, hats and anything they could grab to hang on. All the while, hearing the voice.
“Come down into the water, my...”
The life boats had been well-prepared, they were ready to drop with sailors aboard at any moment. At some point, a thunderous crack resounded from the starboard side, in the belly of the ship; men were, sent down for an assessment of the damage. One shipmate returned to report that the cargo hold was beginning to take on water.
“Come down into the water, my love,
Dance with me beneath these waves...”
Giant waves thrashed the bow, fish were washing up on deck when the crow’s nest bell rang again; officer, Stanley, shinnied quickly down screaming, “Whirlpool!” Captain Stokes looked up to see the swirling abyss before the bow.
There was no time, in minutes the entire ship and crew were sucked beneath the unforgiving waves. Each sailor endured the stinging bite of her sharp teeth as she pulled them down, one—by-one, through the swirling funnel and down into the frigid sea bed.
Copyright, 2019, M.L. Kiser
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