Someone off to her right yelled out and pointed to the swath of brown sandy beach where many bodies lie baking under an unusually warm morning, for it would soon be fall. A whimper slipped from Rhiannon’s parted lips, and she could see from the corner of her eye Kyia looking up at her with concern in her eyes. Rhiannon started to shake, and her knees buckled. She slid to the deck turning away from the morbid scene.
Kyia crouched beside her and took her hand. “You will be all right, Rhiannon.” Her cousin’s words echoed in her ears as if she were far away.
The captain started shouting out orders, and the lifeboats were filled and dropped into the water. Rhiannon climbed into one of the rickety little boats with Kyia and Gen ‘Lon, and the sailors rowed steadily to shore. As they made their
