Caballus

“Ezra, where do you think we are going?” I shifted the bags of grain to make a place to lay down.

“I’m not sure. I heard a man with an Italian accent. Maybe we are going to Italy.” Ezra too started to make himself comfortable among the crates, bags, and barrels.

“I thought I overheard a man talking about a mademoiselle. Maybe we’re going to France!” Ezra looked over at me with that twinkle in his eye. He stood up.

“ Actually Dimitri, I think we are going to Greece. I can see us there at the beach swimming.”

I stood up. “ No no! We are going to Spain. I can see it now. We are bull fighting and rose petals are thrown at our feet.”

Ezra laughed. “Hell, we are going to England to sip tea with her majesty!” Now I’m laughing too.

“Does it matter where we are going? We are finally getting out of St. Pete. Our lives start now.” I paced as I spoke. Ezra and I are finally leaving. Sure we didn’t know where we were going or pay for it, but compared to what we were doing at the beginning of this week we were saintly. Ezra began laughing again.

“Ezra we–” Creak, creak, creak. Boots stomped across the deck above us. Ezra held a finger up to his lips. The man on the deck coughed and wheezed.

“Good lord Jenkins cut the smoke. I swear you smoke more than you speak.” Another man's voice spoke.

“Sorry captain.”

“So what is it?”

“Have you felt the air?”

“Yes Jenkins it is a day of wind.”

“Aye sir, but hot wind. It is humid as well.”

“So there’s a storm brewing. The Genaya has weathered more storms than I can count.” “Yes captain, but do you remember where we are?”

 “Jenkins get to the point.”

“We are in the area where those Danish chaps went down. They never came back.”

“Correct but the ship wasn’t found either. The ship probably sank.”

“The same thing happened to those Chinese and Greeks, sir. A big storm and then nothing.”

A little flame that was always in my stomach grew just a bit hearing this. “I think they are talking about Caballus.” I whispered low to Ezra.

Sigh. “Caballus? Seriously, Jenkins?”

“Told you.” I looked over at Ezra, but he just rolled his eyes. I have always suspected that Ezra didn’t believe in Caballus. I suppose I shouldn’t either. There’s just something about it I can’t deny.

“You all say it's a legend, but I have spoken to a man who was there. Some men make it to that land. Many do not.” Jenkins' voice rose.

“ So what do you want us to do? Are you going to make us turn around?” The captain retorted. “I highly recommend it.”

“No, we are very close to the port. We will keep moving.” The captain’s boots moved away from the deck.”

“Captain! Wait!” Jenkins’ boots followed.

Caballus has always just been cracked up as an old sailor’s tale. It was strange to hear someone genuinely believe it was a real place. The child inside me was rearing with joy. I had always wished it was true. The only people who supported my childhood obsession were my parents. They always listened to my theories and fantasies with the seriousness of a Czar listening to his advisor. My father even found a picture of an old scroll allegedly from there. The alphabet of the people there was fascinating. It had hardly any relation to another alphabet, but it did follow a structure of sorts. My obsession, though, usually was met with criticism and accusation of an overactive imagination.

When you are beaten down so many times you unfortunately give into the crowd. Deep down though I could never stop believing. I guess I have been storing my hopes like a little button in a bedside drawer. I mean a land that is preserved so greatly it is basically the Garden of Eden is hard to forget. Imagine the fantastic wildlife that is still there. My dream was to lead an expedition to find this majestic place. It still kind of is, but who was going to fund or follow an orphaned con man into the unknown. If this Jenkins is right, maybe I could get to Caballus after all.

 “Well I’m going to sleep. See you tomorrow.” Ezra plopped down on his bag of grain. I followed suit. Wherever this boat was going was better than where we started. “Goodnight, Ezra.” I closed my eyes.

I was in the water. It was dark and gray. I looked around hesitantly, a bit scared of what I might see. Nothing except the salt water and white sand at my feet. Somehow I could breathe underwater. The waves started to come. I could see them pass above me. I could feel a rush of cool water go by with each wave. Something shimmered in the corner of my eye. I turned but nothing was there. In the corner of my other eye the same glimmer happened again. The little light then appeared above, below, and around me. It was quick like fireflies. A parchment was in my hand and the little fireflies–.

Suddenly, I was awakened by a cold splash to my face. I looked down and my clothes were wet. In fact the whole floor of the ship was flooding. I heard the waves savagely crashing against the hull, as if the ocean was trying to wash us out. Barrels were rolling across the floor and knocking over the crates.

“All hands on deck, get up! Get up!” A man on deck shouted.

A barrel charged towards Ezra’s sleeping body. I leaped over and stopped the barrel just before it hit his gold curls.

“Ezra! Wake up! Quick!” I gave him a swift kick.

“Ugh, Demitri you better–. Why am I all wet?” Ezra, not noticing the chaos, woke up like it was his Sunday off.

“There’s a bad storm. We have to get up now!” I shoved the barrel forward and hoisted Ezra up. We jumped over crates and dogged the rolling barrels. I lept for the stairs with Ezra in tow.

“Wait,” I stopped just before the top of the stairs, causing Ezra to bump into me. “ What if they realize we aren’t supposed to be here and kick us off?”

“Are you kidding me? If we stay down there we could drown or get bashed up. Plus, it will be easier to beg for forgiveness after we save this ship.” Ezra squeezed past.

 “Save the ship?” Ezra didn’t answer. He just went into action. I ran after him.

We were hit by the pouring rain. The wind whipped at our backs as we neared a group of men trying to secure the ship.

“Hurry! The mast is our lifeline!” The captain shouted.

Ezra didn’t hesitate. He sprinted to the mast and latched himself on. Another man climbed the mast too and helped Ezra secure the sails. Lightning cracked in the black clouds above the ship.

“Boy, over here! Help!” It sounded like Jenkins. I turned to see a man struggling to tie barrels down on the deck. I rushed over to help.

“Hold the barrels still, boy. I’ll tie them down. No storm has ever untied my knots.”

“Aye, sir.” I held two barrels at a time as Jenkins secured them. Our boots squeaked and slipped with the fierce rocking of the ship.

The wind was increasing in strength. The ship started to pull forward. I was confused. Our sails were up. How were we going in such a strong straight line?

“Captain! There’s a whirlpool! Whirlpool! Whirlpool!” The boy in the crow’s nest was frantic. The captain strained to steer the boat, but it was firm still.

“It’s Caballus.” Jenkins said softly.

“What?” I look at Jenkins. He looked at me and forcefully grabbed my shoulders.

“Boy listen to me. We are going somewhere many men don’t go or come back from. Do you believe me ?”

“Believe wha–?”

“Just listen to me!” Jenkins had a strong hand on my shoulder. “If you make it look for the village.”

“The village like that old sailor’s tale?”

“It’s no tale boy. It's–.” A lightning bolt with the magnitude of a gunshot electrified the large cloud above our heads.

“Just trust me boy. Look for the village.” Jenkins looked at me with determined eyes. They also looked sad. I think he knew he wouldn’t make it.

 “I trust you.”

“Demitri!” Ezra called out to me. I ran to him. The boat hit the first ripple in the whirlpool sending Ezra and I on to our stomachs. We crawled to each other.

“What’s gonna happen to us now? Right when our life started we were about to drown.” Ezra grabbed on to my arms.

“For what it's worth you were the best friend I ever had. My life started again when we first met that day in the orphanage.”

“You are my best friend too. The best friend I could have asked for.”

I grabbed his arms too. We held on to each other as our ship descended into the ocean’s ravenous waves. The sky became watery walls all around us. The salt water was about to consume us.

“Ezra! We will survive!” The water was about to come down. I closed my eyes. “What?!”

Then the waves smashed down on us. We were completely submerged under the waves. Other than the cool water surrounding me I felt like I had been hit by a train. I dared to open my weak eyes. I saw Ezra still in front of me and then nothing.

I felt sand on my palms and face. My throat started burning and I coughed up what water I had trapped. When I opened my eyes and I was indeed on land. I was unsure to move. How long was I under water? How long had I been on this beach? It was night, but a luminescent glow dusted the ground. When I turned on my back I immediately saw what brought this soft strong glow. The sky above was filled with stars. Pure white crystals shined and glistened unlike anything I had seen before. They were so clear I bet they could’ve lit up all of St. Petersburg. “Wait, where is Ezra!” I immediately pushed up onto my feet.

“Ezra!” I screamed.

“Demitri.” I heard a weak voice call.

Down the shore a few feet away Ezra laid on the beach. I hurried to him and turned him over.

“Where are we?” Ezra’s glassy eyes searched the night sky above us. “What are those bright lights?”

 “There stars. Can you get up?”

“Yeah.” Ezra slowly lifted himself up into a sitting position. I sat beside him.

“We made it.”

“We made it.” I repeated after him.

“We made it?” Ezra sounded surprised.

I looked at him. “We made it!”

“We made it! We made it!” We said in unison. I jumped up and Ezra let out a loud whooping sound.

“We beat the damn ocean! We are unstoppable!” Ezra kicked at the water lapping at the shore. Ezra stopped. “Wait, where is the rest of the crew?”

I hadn't noticed until now that we were the only ones on the beach. Indeed the only other thing besides Ezra and I were pieces of wood and a stray barrel.

“I think we are the only ones who made it.”

We both turned away from the beach. After the beach was a huge grassland going who knows how far.

“I think we should go out there.” And with that we began our trek.

Ezra and I started hiking through the grass. While finding any sort of shelter was the most important thing I couldn’t help but wonder if we were on Caballus. And if we were on Caballus should I be looking for the village like Jenkins had said. How would I even find it? I had never seen a map of this place before and I have no idea where north or south is. From what I can remember there were or are more than one tribe. Did Jenkins tell us to go to the village because the other tribes are dangerous?

“What country do you think we are in?” Ezra grazed the top of the grass with his fingers as he walked.

“Maybe we aren’t in a recognized land.” I wanted to tell Ezra my suspicion, but I wasn’t sure yet. “Oh, like a colony or an uncharted territory.”

“Well do you feel that breeze?”

 “Yeah it's pretty strong.”

“A breeze of this magnitude might be from another ocean.”

“So you think we are on an island?”

“Yes, actually I do.”

“Great. We will probably find some civilization soon.”

Ezra was surprisingly calm for being in unknown land and meeting the possible inhabitants. He has always been a people person. I can’t say I’m too surprised.

“ They might not speak our language.”

“Demitri between the two of us we can speak Russian, Swedish, French, German, Polish and Danish. I think we will manage. Why are you so hesitant about this place? Do you know where we are? Tell me.”

“I think–. I believe we might be on... Caballus.” I braced myself.

Ezra shook his head. “Demitri, really?”

“It lines up with the legend. A boat set for a new land gets sucked into a whirlpool.”

“So? Boats get caught in whirlpools.”

“We were completely consumed by the water and now we are magically on land. Also, we were dumped on a beach with a prairie nearby.”

“Wait, don't tell me you believe that old sailor at the bar.”

“I’ve heard about this place prior to that man. I have seen some old texts too.”

Ezra turned in front of me as we walked. “That place is a legend. A dream if anything–. Ow!”

Ezra had fallen backwards over a strange dark figure. In the middle of some vine shaped formations, a tube held an orb at the top. After a closer look, I could see the whole formation was made of metal. The tube base was chalked with engravings. Engravings of plants and I think animals. What was the most prominent of the engravings were the curly cues lining the top of the tube right before the orb.

“What in hell is that?!” Ezra is always tempered when he gets hurt.

 “It looks like a marker.” I reached to touch the orb.

“Hey!” Ezra slapped my hand. “Don’t touch it. It could be cursed or something.”

“You believe in curses, but not Caballus?”

“I have seen curses first hand. I haven’t even seen a picture of this Caballus place.”

Ezra was my best friend, but he could still get on my nerves. We didn’t often disagree on things, but when we did I just learned to keep it to myself instead of fighting it.

“Well this proves there is a civilization around here.”

Ezra was right. For now I would just have to focus on getting us to shelter.

“You're right. Hey look at this.” I pointed at the ground where the grass had some sort of impression.

“Do you think it is a vehicle or wagon?” Ezra asked. The trail had parallel streaks and hoof prints.

“I think it is a wagon. This is our best lead. Let’s go” I started off on the trail.

The trail brought us through the grasses and to the outskirts of a forest. The trees were glowing with warm pastels. Upon our approach the trees had little paper lanterns hanging from the branches.

“Look! Lanterns! We are definitely going to be okay. Kind of strange though that they would put fire in an unattended paper lantern.” Ezra grabbed a little orange one but looked stunned after peering inside it. “Demitri, come look at this.”

I looked in and saw not a flame. Inside was a crystal of some sort that glowed a warm yellow color. I reached my finger to its tip. It was cold.

“This is amazing!” I was fascinated.

We continued into the forest following the path. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the lanterns. Some were orange, some were pink, and others were red. I had never seen such pigmented paper or lighted crystals without a flame of some sort. I believe some electric things were being made back home, but nothing public. Where in the world were we where electricity was this easy. Besides the obvious scientific awe I felt as if I was in a dream. Walking on ancient ground, but surrounded by the future you could only find in a fairytale. The trees smelled faintly like

 gingerbread and looked soft as wool. The leaves were inky green. Not a single tree we pasted looked depleted. No trace of sickness either. All I saw was harmony. Harmony that my parents and I talked about for hours and hours long ago.