Burnt Sea: A Seabound Prequel (Seabound Chronicles Book 0) Read Online Free

arms
wrapped around her stomach like she was holding a football. Simon grabbed her
arm and helped her stand.
    “We need to move,” he said. The woman stared at him wildly, unseeing.
They had to be fast. The ship was going to pull away, and his daughter was
inside. “Let’s go!”
    “I’ll help.”
    The blond jogger appeared by his side. She took the pregnant woman’s
other arm and helped Simon guide her to the gangway. Still winded from running
to the ship, Simon tried not to breathe too much as the ash cloud neared.
    “Hurry! We’re moving. I can’t stop it,” the sailor shouted, but he
didn’t raise the gangway.
    The ship started to creep away from the dock. The gangway scraped along
the pavement, getting closer to the edge. In seconds it would pull away from
the dock completely. Their chance to escape was slipping away.
    The trio wasn’t walking fast enough. Simon made eye contact with the
jogger. It was now or never. They lifted the pregnant woman between them,
almost dragging her across the pavement.
    Almost there. A gap appeared between the
gangway and the dock. They were too late! The gap widened. His daughter was on
that ship!
    “Jump!” Simon gasped.
    The jogger didn’t hesitate. They jumped, hoisting the pregnant woman
between them. The gangway shuddered under their weight as they landed, but it
held. Simon caught a glimpse of the water beneath them, dark in the shadow of
the ship. It was at least forty feet down. That would be like falling on
concrete.
    They scrambled toward the ship, pulling the pregnant woman forward. The
young sailor reached out both hands and lifted her onto the deck. Simon and the
jogger followed. The gap between the ship and the dock widened.
    People further back on the dock screamed for the ship to stop, but it
was too far away now. There was no turning back.

 
    Judith

 
    As
Judith darted from the gangway to the deck, there was a crash. The ship
shuddered violently, tossing her off balance. The man grabbed her arm to keep
her from falling. She started to thank him, but he was already helping a tall
black sailor lower the pregnant woman onto the deck.
    The sailor swore liberally. “Something hit us. I need to check the
hull.”
    A plump woman wearing a cat angel shirt and a cross necklace rushed
forward. She had been huddling just inside the ship with three towheaded boys.
    “Let me help. Honey, just breathe . How far
along are you?”
    The man nodded gratefully and pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. He
pressed it to his ear like he was staunching a wound and turned to stare at the
clouds consuming the city behind them.
    “Eight months,” the pregnant woman said, her eyes the size of dinner
plates. “What’s happening?”
    “Never mind that now. Breathe in. Breathe out. The Lord’ll watch over us.”
    An older woman with lavender hair and a floppy hat joined the plump
lady, trying to calm the pregnant woman. She brushed the sweaty hair off the
woman’s forehead with tiny hands.
    Judith stood frozen beside them, not sure what to do. They were on the
promenade deck right beside the ship’s entrance. A gleaming rail ran along the
edge of the ship, with a gap for the gangway. A doorway led inside, where there
was some sort of check-in area. Dozens of people crowded in the entryway,
sobbing, calling out names, and tapping cell phones. A few stared at nothing,
in shock. No one seemed to be in charge.
    The ship shuddered. They were moving faster. The pregnant woman whimpered
and gasped.
    “There, there,” said the woman with the lavender hair. “You’re safe
here, sweetheart. Just breathe.”
    The lady with the cross necklace had both hands pressed against the
woman’s stomach, feeling it carefully. She seemed to have things under control,
so Judith hurried along the railing toward the bow. There was a wider deck
there with an unobstructed view of San Diego. She had to see.
    The gray cloud stretched across the sky for miles, bearing down on the
city with the