Wulfsen drank a couple dipper's full of water. He watched Shawn pace as he sipped the water, then replaced the dipper.

"I haven't seen anything up there." Wulfsen said to Shawn. "I had hoped to overtake the ship days ago."

Lek was miserable. He had been spared seasickness, but he knew his uncle was still furious with him, and that Wulfsen was not pleased with him either. He did his best to keep out of the way, spending most of his time hidden below deck. But if he wanted to drink he had to get his own water. He saw Uncle Shawn and Wulfsen talking nearby, he tried to quietly creep to the water barrel without being noticed.

"They are long gone, aren't they?" Shawn clenched his teeth. "Never to be seen again. This will kill Brie. That last thing she needs is to lose Sileas. What was that girl thinking?" It was all he could do not to shout.

Wulfsen shook his head, he refused to believe he would never see Sileas again. He wished he had taken a chance and hugged her when he had the chance.

"No, we will find her. It's just taking longer than I thought it would." Wulfsen stomped over to the railing. "Maybe we should start looking at this as an abduction... We know of lands where slavers take captives. Maybe we should look there instead of sailing without a real direction hoping to spot red sails."

Just the possibility that Sileas was on a slave ship made Shawn nauseous to his stomach. "You're right. A specific direction would be good. Obviously we're not going to randomly spot red sails out here."

The thought made Wulfsen feel sick too. He hated to think about what slavers would do to Sileas. "Let's talk to the captain about the new course."

Sileas and Yehudit enslaved? Lek burst into tears. He even felt bad for Questa, even though she scared him most of the time. This was all his fault.

In reply to Wulfsen Thornblade (msg # 9):


Shawn nodded his agreement and followed Wulfsen to find the captain.

Wulfsen spotted Lek.

"Why don't you climb up to the crow's nest and keep an eye out?" Wulfsen suggested as he walked past the boy and headed for the captain's chambers.

Shawn clenched his fists, still battling the desire to throttle the boy.

Lek hated the crow's nest, but he wordlessly scrambled up there.

Wulfsen knocked on the captain's door. "Captain?"

"Aye? Enter!" the grizzled old captain called out.

Wulfsen entered.

"Captain, I think we need to change course." Wulfsen said. "We haven't seen the red-sailed ship, I'm beginning to think we'll never find it this way... But if this ship is a slave ship we might know where it's going."

The old man harrumphed. "'Bout time you gave me a real direction to head in." He turned the wheel and headed in a different direction.

"You know where to go?" Wulfsen asked.

"I know of at least one area that deals in the slave business. It's a starting point."

"Hopefully we can get there in time." Wulfsen said.

"We have a lot of wasted time to make up for," the Captain growled.

Wulfsen felt sick to his stomach. Sileas had already been put through so much, what could she be forced to go through now? He clenched his fists, vowing to find her no matter what it took.

Shawn stormed down to the hull. Sick with worry, he just didn't want to be around anyone.

Even from so high above, Lek could tell that Uncle Shawn was furious. Lek dragged his eyes from his uncle and stared ahead, hoping to find the red-sailed ship and redeem himself.

"Just get us there as fast as you can." Wulfsen thumped the captain on the shoulder, then followed Shawn from a distance.

"We're going to find Sileas." Wulfsen told Shawn. "And we're going to rescue her. If she's been... hurt or something... I'll do whatever it takes to help her through it."

Shawn turned to Wulfsen. "Where did I go wrong? Sileas was raised knowing nothing but love after we adopted her. We were all so very close. She knows we lost most of her siblings. Sileas knows what her mother just went through and that she is needed. And she does this? Boards a ship with unknown people, leaves everyone behind without a word." He clenched the back of a chair until his knuckles were white.

"She must want to reunite Nelek with his family." Wulfsen said. "I wish she had gone about this differently... But she really cares about others."