An excerpt from Spirits' Desire. This contains my favorite sentence that I've ever written in any of my books. Can you guess which one it is? In box me.
After three months of water, even the adults grew irritable. With the smallpox past, there had been few real challenges. They became lackadaisical in their vigilance of a fickle sea. From breakfast until lunch one bright morning, the temperature dropped twenty degrees, the skies turned pitch black and loosened a deluge of water, and the wind changed from helpful gusts to turbulent, uncontrollable swirls that roared.
Morgan and Nancy took the children below deck. Sternly, Morgan held both Donovan and Cameron by the arm. "Under no circumstances are any of you to come up top. Do not walk around. I don't want a repeat performance of our trip to London. Do you understand me?"
Both boys nodded and said sheepishly, "Yes, ma'am."
Morgan hugged and kissed both boys. "I'm not trying to be mean or cruel. I love you two so much. It would kill me to lose you. Donovan, you're the eldest child here. You're in charge while we're on deck. Treat the other children the way you think I would treat you. The rest of you listen to Donovan, even you, Emily Claire. I see your mouth opening to object. I trust Donovan to do what's wise and right. He has had more experience at sea than you. You help keep the little ones busy with something."
Morgan and Nancy sped to assist their husbands. On deck, Geoffrey had lashed himself to the helm. While Rennin worked frantically to secure the sails. The ladies made sure any loose items were fastened down. Rennin then ordered them below with the children.
As hard as Rennin and Geoffrey tried to keep The Rover afloat, the wind and waves tried harder to capsize her. When darkness fell, the tempest still raged. Even Rennin's flawless sense of direction could not tell him which way the ship was headed, so many times had the wind spun her that day. The men were satisfied they were not at the bottom of the sea. Then, near midnight, Rennin's heart leapt into his throat as he heard the crunch of wood against rock. The Rover moved no more.
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