by Shey Cannon

Created on: June 09, 2008

SYBILIA ~ ANGELIQUE

August 1876

Bolting the last of the seven horses into their stalls aboard the 'Sybilia-Angelique', I was to find this was the beginning in a sequence of most horrifying events. I, Francisco della Scurenti, and my Captain, Rudy Santiago, along with ten other shipmates loaded the lower deck with the cargo of five hundred barrels of Spanish and Italian red wine and salted fish along with the horses. We left port in Genoa and headed for Madagascar. Our first three days out at sea were a calm affair with fair winds and all men in jovial spirits.

Then, around eight o'clock in the evening of the fourth day, the horses below deck began to act strangely. Just after supper, myself and the cabin boy, Vincenze, went to check on the cause of the animals discomfort. Six of the horses were in a terrible state. They were whinnying and skittering about in their stalls in a state of anxiety. Myself and Vincenze tried to calm these sensitive creatures but, it took a long while to soothe their nerves. I noticed throughout this strange situation the seventh horse, known as Astinio. He appeared inordinately calm in comparison. Detached, even. As i walked up to him to see if he was ok, i noticed his eyes were an unreal shine of green-yellow, nothing like i have seen on a creature before or since. They were unnervingly sharp with a jet black pupil that stared me down with sheer intimidation. Astinio seemed oblivious to the plight of the other horses and turned to look out the porthole and out onto the sea. Some time had passed when the other horses began to calm down and we left them and returned again above deck.

An hour barely passed when a raging storm exploded over the seas. We tried in vain to tie down what we could and sit out this awful tempest. The swells of the ocean pounded our ship like a rolling fist. The rain thrashed down violently and was whipped into a frenzy by the sea winds. The storm lasted for over three hours, relentlessy goading and battering our ship.

Soon as morning arose over the horizon all had become calm but, the 'sybilia-Angelique' was in a dreadful state. Some of her sails were shredded over their masts. Part of the railings on the side of the ship had broken away by the ocean's unrelenting force. Then, the Captain came onto the deck, a dark shade of his former self. 'All the nautical equipment is no longer working, the ship's steering is useless', he'd shout out to the sea. He screamed at us to search the ship to find Vincenze, whom he

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• Next Page >>