The clipper"s towering rigging, tuned as tightly as a violin, thrums a monotonous song as it sways in the brisk wind. A sudden lurch of the ship startles David awake and he almost falls off the bench he is sleeping on. Another lurch and David is on his feet, trying to balance himself as the ship sways with the increasing speed and power of the wind.
A violent thunderstorm rolls in and the sky becomes black and foreboding. Building up into a hill of water, the sea lifts the Moon Singer up by the stern and sends her crashing down hard. Giant waves topple forward, with wind batting off their crests, and sweep across the main deck in a flooding carpet of water. David is knocked off his feet and sent sliding across the width of the deck. Desperate, he grabs onto anything he can find to keep fr
