Clancey hustled Kate over to his cabin door the second her feet touched the deck. Lottie was there waiting for her with a frown. "You stay here," he ordered slicing the rope that still bound her to Joshua. "We're heading into the thick of it. If we need to abandon ship, I'll come for you." Clancey glanced at Lottie, "Keep her inside, luv. These waves would sweep her over in a second."

     "She'll stay." Lottie promised gravely. "What about Joshua?"

     "I'll need every hand." The Seamus began to lurch forward. Clancey gave Lottie a quick kiss. "I'll see you when we're out of it."

     Lottie nodded, "Be careful, fishface."

     "I know what to do darlin'." He fixed his gaze on Kate. "I won't be takin' chances with anyone's life."

     With that parting shot he joined his men. Lottie drew Kate into the cabin and closed the door.

     "I want to help, Lottie."

     The woman shook her head and said firmly, "the biggest help you can give is to stay where you're told."

     Kate's eyes scanned the small cabin. She began gathering blankets and anything else she could find that could be used as medical supplies.

     "That's the way, honey," Lottie nodded. "Old fishface has enough alcohol in here to revive the entire United States Navy."

     "I hope he won't have to give up any of it."

     "So do I."

     Within the hour the storm had grown much worse than Clancey had anticipated. The Seamus O'Flynn was battered and tossed by swells twice as high as the dormitory. The sailors' hearts seemed to melt within them as the darkened sea pitched and flung them through the air like a child's toy.

     Lottie and Kate doused the lantern in the cabin and clung to Clancey's birth to keep from being bashed against the walls. "Lottie, I can't stand any more of this!" Kate cried out.

     "It will be over soon, Katie. Just hang on."

     "It's not the storm, it's not knowing what's happening out there. If I'm going to drown, I'd rather be working than sitting here waiting."

     "Kate!" Lottie clutched at her sleeve.

     The wind blew the cabin door open allowing the women to catch a glimpse of the chaos and destruction on deck. That was all Kate could stand. She wrenched herself from Lottie's grasp and pushed her way out the door. Lottie called to her in vain.

     Kate saw McShane struggling to lash a sail to its batten. He needed help holding the sail in place. Kate pushed herself over to his side and held down the canvas. McShane never looked up to see who had helped him.

     "Thanks, mate."

     A wave crashed over the deck and Kate lost her footing. McShane turned just in time and held her before she went over the rail.

     "Get below, girl," he ordered, "You're too small..." Another wave sent the ship rising to the crest of the sea then left it to plunge back into its depths.

     Kate felt the world spinning wildly around her as another wave washed over the deck. McShane held her tight once again. When he caught his breath, the sailor half pushed, half-carried Kate toward the wheelhouse. They were within a yard of the door when they heard it. A great ripping noise pierced the air.

     "The main sail." Clancey yelled. All hands looked upward. Through the blackness that enveloped the ship they could see the mainsail jerking about wildly from the mast.

     "Cut her down lads, or we're doomed for sure." Clancey warned.

     Every crewman froze. The only way to free the sail was to climb the main mast to the top, cutting the lines away. There wasn't a soul on board who didn't know the climb would most probably be their last, but if someone didn't attempt it, the torn sail would capsize them quicker than the waves.

     McShane released Kate and started for the center of the ship. He crossed himself, took out his knife and began the treacherous ascent cutting away the sail as he went. When he was several feet off the ground, another wave engulfed them. Kate held tightly to the nearest mast, barely able to hang on. She glanced over toward McShane just in time to see him struck from the mast by a swinging boom. The sailor lay unconscious a few yards from her. Clancey and a deckhand named Joe lifted their mate and took him below. They walked right past Kate without noticing her.

     Kate saw McShane's knife lying on the deck. She had already been up that mast once; no one else seemed to be willing or able to climb. The girl knew someone had to take the risk soon. She grabbed the knife and started for the rigging. She had just placed a foot through the ropes when a hand closed over hers and she was pulled back. Joshua snatched the knife from her hand.

     "Josh, don't. Not you," she protested. He ignored her and began to climb.

     Another fierce wave swept over them knocking Kate to the deck. Clancey appeared at her side, and hauled her to her feet. The girl couldn't take her eyes from Joshua who had made it a third of the way up the mast in spite of the waves. The length of rope he had used to tie himself to Katie was still hanging down from his side all the way to the deck. He'd never had time to untie it.

     "Clancey, Josh is up there." Kate pointed to him.

     "He'll do the job," he assured her. Inwardly, he cursed himself and his crew for leaving the task to the logger.

     Clancey and Kate both saw the wave coming. It was the tallest one yet. Clancey pushed the girl toward the anchor, yelled to her to hang tight, then covered her with his body.

     The wave hit with crushing force. The weight of the sea pressed the girl unmercifully into the iron of the anchor. Katie held her breath longer than she thought possible. When at last the Seamus cleared the water, she searched the mast. Josh was still there. Somehow he had managed to hang on. Just as she thanked God, the same beam that had battered McShane swung back with a vengeance knocking Joshua from the ship and into the wild sea.

     "No!" Kate screamed.

     Clancey grabbed at the length of rope that had been tied to Joshua as it snaked its way past him at lightning speed. He managed to catch it and wrap it around his forearm. A sudden jerk almost wrenched Clancey's shoulder from its socket.

     "I've got him, lass. Look for him now."

     Rob and Joe rushed to their captain's side and together the three men pulled the line in for all they were worth. Katie ran to the rail searching for any sign of Joshua. Oddly enough, when Joshua disappeared into the waves, the violence of the storm lessened. It was as if Neptune was appeased with this human sacrifice. Clancey must have been thinking the same thing, for Kate heard him swear, "This one is ours and the devil take you if you think you're gettin' him."

     Every eye searched the ocean as the sailors continued to pull on the rope. Kate strained forward peering into the darkness for any sight of Josh's blonde hair. It was no use. They needed more light. The girl hurried back to the Clancey's cabin for the kerosene lamp.

     Lottie took hold of her as she walked through the door.

     "Katie," she began to scold but Kate cut her off.

     "We need a lantern. Josh fell overboard."

     Lottie gasped and released her. Katie picked up the lamp, lit it and rushed back out to the others.

     The rope remained taut but the logger was still beneath the sea.

     "Joshua Bolt!" Kate screamed at the top of her lungs. Tears flowed from her eyes at the thought of never seeing Josh's face again. "Joshua Bolt, you rat, don't you dare be lost. I could never be happy again if you..."

     At that moment the impossible happened.

     "Help!" Josh's feeble cry was heard directly below her.

     "Clancey! Clancey!" Kate went wild. "Pull harder. He's here. He's right here."

     Why couldn't they pull faster? In what seemed like hours the girl finally saw Joshua's limp form sliding up the side of the Sheamus.

     "You've got him! He's out." Kate cried.

     Clancey took a look over the side and grew somber. "Gently boys."

     The other crewmembers gathered close and were there to lift Joshua over the rail and lay him on the deck. Clancey knelt beside his friend and gingerly turned him over on his side to empty as much of the sea from his lungs as possible. Water poured from between Joshua's lips but there was still no sign of life.

     The wind and rain had all but ceased and in the eerie quiet Kate bent down to look into Joshua's face; it was deathly pale and unresponsive. Not a soul spoke as the terrible truth sunk in. Clancey sat back on his heels numbed with grief.

     "It's too late."

     "No," Kate tried to steady her voice. "No, it's not. I just heard him say help."

     A dim memory gnawed away at her. Suddenly she knew what to do. Katie tilted Josh's head back, placed her mouth over his and blew breaths of air into his cold body.

     "Woman! What the devil are you doing?" Clancey thought this was the kiss of a woman who had gone mad with grief. He tried to push her away.

     "I saw this work once, Clancey. Rub his arms and legs, hard now."

     Joe and Rob looked at one another in astonishment.

     Clancey nodded, "Do it boys."

     The men obeyed as Kate continued to fill Joshua's lungs with air.

     Kate had given Josh twelve breaths when he finally responded. The young man gasped, coughed and vomited up more seawater. The sailors stepped back in surprise. They looked at Kate as if she were either an angel or a witch. Kate didn't notice. She embraced Joshua as tightly as she could.

     "Josh, you're going to be fine now! You're going to be fine," she repeated again and again.

     Joshua might have died of suffocation if Clancey hadn't pulled Katie away. "Let's take him to my cabin, luv. You've done a miracle, you have."

     The men lifted Joshua to his feet. He leaned against them all the way to Clancey's cabin.

     "I never helped a dead man walk before," Rob quipped at Joshua's right side. Joshua was so weak he barely smiled.

     Clancey led the way through the cabin door where a worried Lottie met them. One look at Joshua's pale but quite living face caused her to sink into a chair overwhelmed with relief.

     "Where's Katie?" she asked.

     "Here, Lottie." Kate stood beside her taking her hand.

     "She blew air into Josh and brought that young rascal back to life." Clancey explained as the men laid Joshua on the bunk. "How did you know what to do, lass?"

     "One winter in Chicago, years ago, I watched a mother pull her drowned child from a frozen lake. The boy was blue and so still. She was crazed with grief. She held him in her arms and breathed into his mouth as she warmed him with her body. After a while the boy opened his eyes." Kate moved around Clancey to get a closer look at Josh who had given in to exhaustion. "I'd forgotten all about that day until now."

     "It's a good thing it came back to you when it did."

     Lottie placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Come on, honey, let's get you below. Joshua will be asleep here for a long while. You can rest in his bunk."

     Clancey agreed, "You go along with Lottie. Rob will stay with young Bolt. The storm's movin' on and we've survived the worst of it. I'm heading us into the nearest port for repairs once I get our bearings."

     Katie nodded, "We need to find a doctor. Josh wasn't feeling well yesterday and after all I've put him through..." A lump rose in her throat.

     "He'll be fine," Lottie assured her. "He's a Bolt with a Bolt's constitution. They don't make them any tougher."

     Lottie gathered together a few of their things. "Clancey and I have nursed plenty of sailors back to health, haven't we, fishface?"

     "That we have darlin'. You rest, lass. We'll call if we need you."

     The captain gave her shoulder a pat as she headed for the door. "You were a blessing this day, Katie Macready, don't ever forget that."

     Kate and Lottie stepped out on the battered deck. Only a scattering of innocuous clouds spread across the sky above them as a reminder of the storm. Katie dropped to her knees to offer a prayer of thanksgiving. It was only by God's grace that they were still alive. Lottie closed her eyes, quietly adding her thanks to Kate's.

     McShane came up from below. Lottie greeted the sailor with a smile.

     "How are you feeling, McShane?"

     He rubbed his belly with a laugh. "Good thing I've got this gut on me. The boom hit me right here. Landed on my back and got the wind knocked out of me is all. How are the others?"

     "Josh fell overboard. Clancey and the others fished him out."

     "Fished him out in that gale?" he couldn't believe his ears.

     "Yep."

     "He's one lucky man."

     "That he is." Lottie turned to Kate who sat quietly on the deck. "Let's go, hon, before we both collapse."

     Kate didn't remember falling into Joshua's bunk. She slept soundly all that afternoon and throughout the night unaware of the growing concern in the cabin directly above her.