Unless, he suddenly found himself thinking, I came back here to write it. He grinned at his own bravado. What would they have said in freshman psych--that was practically paranoid thinking. As if Danny Jones, Whitney College, Virginia, U.S.A., could have anything to do with the success or failure of Columbus' journey. They reached the small skiff that would take them out to the tiny fleet of caravels. The crowd hooted and jeered. "... going to drop off the edge of the world, Columbus." "If the monsters don't get you first." "Or the storms and whirlpools." Columbus gripped Nina's hand. Martin-Danny took his other arm firmly and steered him toward the prow of the skiff. "Easy now, skipper," Danny said. "I can't--" "There's wine on the Santa Maria," Danny whispered. "Much wine--to make you forget. Come on!" "And I'm going, father," Nina said. "Whether you go or not." "You!" Columbus gasped. "A girl. You, going--" "With Martin Pinzon. If--if my own father can't look after me, then Martin can." "But you--" Danny began. "Be quiet, please," she whispered as Columbus climbed stiffly into the skiff. "It may be the only way, Martin. He--he loves me. I guess I'm the only thing he cares about. If he knows I'm going." "To the Santa Maria!" Columbus told the rowers as Danny and Nina got into the skiff. "To the New World!" cried Danny melodramatically. "What did you say?" Nina asked him. His face colored. "I mean, to the Indies! To the Indies!" The skiff bobbed out across the harbor toward the three waiting caravels. Departure time had arrived. Two hours later, they were underway. * * * * * The sea was calm as glass, green as emerald. The three caravels, after a journey of several days, had reached the Canary Islands where additional provisions and fresh water were to be had. "This," said Columbus, waving his arms to take in the chain of islands. "This is as far as a mere man has a right to go. There is nothing further, can't you see? Can't you?" He was sober. Danny had come over in a skiff from the Nina to see that he remained sober at least for the loading and the departure. It was as if he, Danny, was going to preserve Columbus' name for history--single-handed if necessary. "We will not go on," Columbus said. "We're going back. The only way to the Indies is around the Cape of Storms, around Africa. I tell you--" "That's enough, father," Nina said. "We ..." "I'm in command here," Columbus told them. It surprised Danny. Usually, the drunken sailor was not so self-assertive. Then it occurred to Danny that it wasn't merely self-assertiveness: it was fear. Danny called over the mate, a one-legged man named Juan, who walked with a jaunty stride despite his peg leg. "You take orders from Columbus?" Danny said. "Would you take orders from me?"