William the Conquerer and the Sands of Persia: Chapter 8 - Aboard the Evening Star

They were all on board Sinbad’s grand vessel, named the Evening Star. It was a three-master, manned by a crew of 40. William admired how the sailors moved with such efficiency to get the ship ready to cast off. 

They released the lines from the cleats of the dock, and the wind carried them out away from the land. Sinbad was everywhere all at once, giving orders and shouting encouraging words to his crew, who it was clear would follow him to the ends of the earth. 

They set a course almost due east which would take them down the coast of the Caspian Sea. 

The ship rolled and pitched over the briny waves, as Sinbad and his men sang rousing Arabic shanties:

Farewell and adieu to your fair Spanish ladies

Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain

For we’ve received orders for to sail to Basra

And we hope very shortly to see you again

We’ll rant and we’ll roar like true Bagdad sailors

We’ll rant and we’ll roar along the salt sea

Until we strike soundings in the channel of old Basra

From Baghdad to Basra is thirty-five leagues. 

The ship surged forward, it was as if the men’s voices were thrusting it through the crashing waves. 

Much of the journey to Chalus need not be retold, for it was uneventful. William was so bored that he asked Scherezade to tell him stories and to dance for him. William’s favorite of her many tales was the story of the “Magic Horse.”

Then one day, a mysterious shadow spread over the vessel. Even though it was noon time and the sun was high, blackness engulfed Sinbad’s ship. 

A deafening, screeching sound was heard. Scherezade screamed and fainted. Hajji balled up his fists, and Sinbad drew his naked scimitar. 

“Arm yourselves, all, we are being attacked by a Roc!”

William didn’t know what a Roc was, but it sure seemed large, by its shadow and its screech. Suddenly the Roc dived. Sinbad jumped in the air, the Roc caught him and prepared to have Sinbad nuggets. William tried to make himself as big as possible, knowing if he did that, the animal might be scared away. But his efforts were to no avail.

“Hey, I don’t like this!” said Abdul, a random sailor. 

“Don’t worry,” William said, “he’ll come out the other end.”

But it did not come to that, as Sinbad, with his deft scimitar, struck the Roc’s head off. The head tumbled into the ocean with a splash. The shadow over the ship dissipated. 

The crew cheered at Sinbad’s victory, and then they sailed on.