Chapter 6
Stormy Weather

Scarlett and Sam were talking about what to do next when they heard the captain shouting.

“All hands on deck! Batten down the hatches! Furl the sails! Passengers go below. We’re in for some bad weather!”

“What’s going on?” Scarlett and Sam asked him.

“No time to talk. Look over there.” The captain pointed toward the horizon. Scarlett and Sam saw a thick band of black clouds approaching from the west. Bolts of lightning flashed. They heard thunder in the distance.

“This storm will be a big one,” the captain said. “We don’t have time to seek shelter. We’re too far away from the nearest harbor. We’ll have to ride it out at sea. Let’s hope our ship holds together.”

He hurried forward to direct the sailors. They had already furled the sail and were lowering the mast. “I’ll take the rudder!” Scarlett and Sam heard the captain call to the first mate. “We may just make it if we can keep the bow heading into the wind. All passengers go below. Batten down the hatches.”

“This is going to be bad,” Sam said to Scarlett.

“I hope I don’t get seasick,” Scarlett replied. They gripped the rail to keep from blowing overboard by the rising wind. Sam had to shout so Scarlett could hear him. “We’d better do what the captain says and get below!”

Within moments, the full fury of the storm came sweeping down on them.

Lighting flashed. The ship’s timbers vibrated with the crashing thunder. Scarlett struggled to keep her footing as huge waves washed over the deck. Sam grabbed her to keep her from being swept overboard. Inch by inch, Scarlett and Sam made their way across the deck to the hatchway, pulling the hatch shut behind them. But not soon enough. A torrent of seawater washed through the opening.

“You’re soaked!” Scarlett exclaimed. “You’d better change before you catch cold.”

“Change into what?” Sam asked. He was right. They hadn’t exactly packed for this trip. Scarlett and Sam glanced around the hold. Passengers lay on sacks and boxes, too scared to move. Others, frightfully seasick, were lying facedown, vomiting. Bilge water sloshed over everybody as the ship rolled back and forth. The only light came from a tiny oil lamp hanging from the ceiling.

“Where’s Jonah? Do you see him?” Scarlett asked.

Sam pointed to a form huddled on top of a stack of wine jars. “There he is! Fast asleep.”

“How can he sleep through a storm like this? It’s . . .” She never finished the sentence. At that moment, a huge crash of thunder rattled the ship. Its timbers groaned as if they might come apart at any moment. The passengers in the hold started crying and screaming.

“Help!”

“We’re doomed!”

“We’re going to drown!”

The hatch flew open. The captain shouted down into the hold, trying to make himself heard over the raging storm. “Get up on deck, all of you! The ship’s breaking up! We’re not going to make it! Now’s the time to call on whatever god you worship! Only the gods can save us now!”

Scarlett and Sam struggled onto the deck with the rest of the passengers. The wind nearly blew them overboard as they emerged from the hatchway. Scarlett and Sam saw the sailors kneeling on deck, lifting their arms in prayer as the wind howled and the rain whipped their faces.

“Oh, Marduk! Have mercy on me!”

“Isis, spare my life!”

“Great Ishtar, hear my prayer!”

“Poseidon, ruler of the sea, save me from the wind and waves!”

Sam began his own prayer: “Ruler of the earth and sky, we call on You to have mercy on us and everyone aboard this ship. Protect us all from the storm. Shield us all from thunder and lightning. Shelter us all beneath Your wings, and guide us to a safe harbor. Amen.”

“Hey, where’s Jonah?” asked Scarlett suddenly. “Did he get swept overboard?”

“No,” said Sam. “I don’t think he ever came up on deck. I’ll bet he’s still asleep down in the hold.”

Just then the captain lurched by, holding tight to the rail. His face was pale with fright in the lightning flashes. “Where’s your friend?” he shouted at Scarlett and Sam.

“Down in the hold. I think he’s still asleep,” Sam shouted back.

“Asleep? How can anybody sleep through this? Wake him up, and get him up on deck if he wants to save himself! We’re likely to capsize any moment if these waves don’t shatter us first. We need every soul aboard to pray to their gods to help us. It’s up to the gods now.”

“I’ll get him,” Scarlett said. As she turned to go down into the hold, the hatch opened. Jonah climbed out. He looked like someone just awakened from a nap. He didn’t seem surprised by the storm.

“What’s all the noise?” he asked.

Scarlett and Sam stared at each other. What did he think was going on? They were obviously in the middle of a storm!

“Start praying to your gods,” the captain shouted at him.

“It won’t do any good,” Jonah said. “God doesn’t want your ship. God wants me. I am the reason God sent this storm.”

“Tell your god to unsend it. Ask for your god’s mercy before we all drown. How can we appease your god?” the captain said.

“You must throw me overboard,” Jonah said to the captain. “That’s really what God wants. If you throw me overboard, your ship will be saved.”

“What?” The captain backed away, shaking his head. “No. No! I can’t do that. I can’t throw an innocent man into the sea. The gods would haunt me forever. Better for us all to be swallowed by the ocean than for me to perform such a wicked deed.”

“Listen to me,” Jonah told the captain. “You will all be swallowed by the ocean—you and everyone else aboard this ship—unless you do as I say. Save your ship. Save your crew. Throw me overboard.”

The captain shook his head. Lightning lit up his face. Was it rain or tears streaming down his face?

“I could never do that. I’d rather drown.”

“He won’t do it,” Scarlett told Jonah.

“Then the ship and crew will be lost,” Jonah said. “They must throw me overboard. It’s the only answer.”

“You don’t seem too concerned about drowning yourself,” Sam said.

Jonah nodded. “It is what God wants. It is what God commands. I’ve told the captain what he must do.”

Scarlett looked at Jonah. “Okay, Sam. Jonah says this is what God commands. So we know what we have to do.”

“We do?” Sam answered.

“Yes. Grab his right hand. I’ll take his left.”

Scarlett and Sam pulled Jonah over to the ship’s rail.

“You’re going to Nineveh one way or another, Jonah. And we’re going with you. Even if we all have to swim!” Scarlett said as she and Sam leapt overboard, taking Jonah with them.

The waves closed over their heads as the winds carried the ship onward.