the wind and billowed out, “best hold on for yer life.” He stopped what he was doing and let out a wry chuckle. “It’s not very often I get ta say that.”
The wind picked up and the boat bounced over waves, which were rougher with each passing second. Angling the boat toward the setting sun, we raced ahead faster and faster, chasing the dying orb as it sank below the sea. Within moments the only thing I could make out was the large man on the tiller just behind me. My stomach lurched as gravity shifted. I felt like I was on a terrifying roller coaster that had just left the tracks.
Seeing through the darkness was something I had begun to take for granted after inheriting Tia’s powers. But I wasn’t able to see the white of my clothing and, that disturbed both of us.
“What’s happening?” I cried out as a large wave crashed over the edge of the boat.
“This area’s choppy, girlie,” my peculiar companion hollered. “Best hold tight for the transition!”
“What transition? What do you mean?”
He didn’t answer, and as the ship lurched upward and then fell with a heavy crash into the sea, I decided I needed to hold on to something more substantial than a rope. Stumbling to my feet, I shuffled closer to the boat captain and grabbed the rail of the ship, wrapping my arms around it and locking onto my wrists. It was a good thing I did because as we crested the next wave, the ship became momentarily airborne and my legs lifted out from under me as we dropped down once again. My body bashed against the deck with a painful blow.
“One more wave oughta do it!” he cried, and I braced myself as the ship angled up the next swell. A dark wall of water rose before us and gravity shifted again. We climbed higher and higher, and I knew once we crested the wave, we’d fall to our deaths. There was no way we wouldn’t sink. It wasn’t possible. We’d either flip over backward or break into a million pieces on the other side.
“Hold on!” he shouted. “Here it comes!”
Up and up the boat climbed until it was nearly vertical on the column of water. I wasn’t sure how my companion had been able to remain standing. Surely he wasn’t strong enough to hold up his own bulk. Freezing water sprayed us from every side. Even with the power of the sphinx, I knew my arms couldn’t hold out much longer.
Tia was terrified. Death by drowning was not the way a cat should die. Of course, a human-turned-sphinx on a mission to save her mummy boyfriend shouldn’t die that way either. Tia’s fear echoed my own, reverberating through my body as we clutched the railing desperately.
Just when I was ready to give up, to let go and allow my body to be swept away, I heard a triumphant cry and the shaking of the boat eased, pale light washing over us. Slowly the craft realigned itself, and when I was at last able to unlock my trembling arms from the rim of the boat, I cautiously looked for the source of the light.
We were encompassed by stars. Heavenly bodies so bright and close I felt like I could reach up and catch them. I’d never seen so many. When I looked over the side, I was shocked to find the rocky ocean gone, and stars beneath us as well. They shifted and moved in a pattern that looked almost fluid.
In wonder, I asked, “Where are we?” I stretched my hand down and felt the tickle of the sparkling substance below. It was cold but not freezing, and when I lifted my hand, a pattern of lights ran over my fingertips before dripping off my skin and rejoining the starlit stream beneath us.
“The Cosmic River,” the large man behind me answered. “In your world it’s called the Way of Milk or some such rubbish.”
“The Way of Milk? Do you mean the Milky Way?” I stared out at the expanse around us, marveling at the colors swirling among the stars and the ink of the sky.
“Yeah. That sounds ’bout right,” he said. “We’re lucky we made it, seeing as how we left so late and all. Wasn’t sure a kicker like you would survive the transition. O’ course, we still have a ways to go. You could die at any time.” He almost sounded happy at the prospect.