Chapter 32: Staying the Course Part 2
"Good work." He handed the glass back to Cal and walked over to a sailor. After a couple of words, the man ran up to the bridge. A moment later the boom of the ship's horn made Cal start and clutch the spyglass. She put it to her eye.
The crew on the boat were pointing to the ship, while the scientists stowed their gear. Prof. Orthin pointed at the flock; Dan looked but shook his head. The sailors were already rowing the boat quickly back toward the Peregrine. The other boats arrived and were winched into place and disgorged their passengers onto the deck. When the third boat arrived, Prof. Orthin climbed over the side then went to the rail beside Sir Shillingsworth and scanned the weeds.
"I take it you called us back because of whatever was eating the birds?"
"Yes, we need to plan carefully how we are going to capture one of them. Cal spotted them first."
The professor came over to her.
"Well done." He sat, then stood again. "Sorry, but sitting in that boat has made me crave standing. Would you be able to sketch what you saw?"
Cal handed him the spyglass and pulled out her materials. Drawing from memory was tricky, details shifted in her mind, and she'd only had the briefest glimpse. She closed her eyes and sketched the picture on the back of her eyelids. The gull diving down, staying a little too long. The black head erupting from under weeds to snatch it.
Her fingers flew across the paper. She hardly looked at what she drew. A collective gasp brought her awareness back from wherever it had been. A crowd hovered around her, peering at the drawing.
"That's no fish."
"Don't know what it is; never seen the like."
"Looks like something my gramps told me about when I was a kid. He'd seen it on his last voyage."
"What was that?"
"A sea serpent, though from Gramps' telling it was some bigger than that." A sailor named Thomas spoke up.
Some laughed while others nodded their heads.
"Sea serpents aren't real, are they?" Hank asked, looking at Prof. Orthin.
"Real enough my gramps never went back to sea," Thomas said.
Cal studied the drawing. The creature's snout looked too long for a snake, more like a crocodile. She'd never seen teeth like that on any snake her father had shown her.
"So now what?" Cal looked up at Sir Shillingsworth.
"We plan how we are going to capture one of those things."
The crowd stirred, then broke into groups, the crew returning to their duties, the scientists to plotting traps.
Cal didn't think she was supposed to hear her father murmur.
"I wonder just how big they grow."
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