Burnt Sea: A Seabound Prequel (Seabound Chronicles Book 0) by Jordan Rivet Page A

ship off the computer,” she said
briskly. “If we’re going to be here for a few days, we should assign rooms so
everyone has somewhere to sleep. We may need to make a few people move to crew
cabins so there will be room for all the families, though.”
    “I’m not sure we should be making people do anything just yet,” Simon
said, matching Judith’s businesslike tone. “We can find places for people to
sleep in the restaurants for the time being. There’s probably a spa with beds
or mattresses too.”
    “Everyone’s going to have to make sacrifices,” Judith said.
    “True. But I think we’ve all made enough sacrifices for today,” Simon
said.
    An awkward silence descended on the table. Then Judith nodded.
    “Sure,” she said. “Oh, the pregnant lady had her baby. It seems fine.”
    “And the woman?”
    “She’s getting stitches, but the nurse said she’ll be okay.”
    “That is good news,” Simon said. “And terrifying news, to have a
newborn in these circumstances.”
    “There’s a baby?” Esther asked. “Can we see it?”
    “I’m sure it needs to sleep right now,” Simon said. “We’ll go see it
later.”
    “Can we name it Thomas?”
    “It’s a girl,” Judith said. “The mother named her Catalina.”
    “That’s a weird name,” Esther said.
    Judith leaned close to her. “I think so too,” she said.
    Esther grinned.
    “Shall we take a look at those room plans you found?” Simon said,
pushing the rest of his sandwich over to his daughter. “I’ve been collecting
the names of the people on board. We can start matching them up.”
    “Sure thing, boss.” Nora unfurled her stack of papers and spread them
across the table.
    They bent close to the diagrams and started working through the
handwritten lists, crossing off those who were still on the ship. It felt good
to do this straightforward motor task. The group avoided any further talk of
families and focused on the simple puzzle of finding somewhere for everyone to
sleep.

 
    Judith

 
    They worked all afternoon and late into the evening getting everyone
food and a room or a mattress. Their little group began to gather helpers. They
still hadn’t found a high-ranking member of the cruise staff to take over, but
a woman named Willow Weathers, who sang in the lounge every night, knew her way
around the ship. She told them about all the additional spaces where they might
find extra blankets, sundries, and more space for people to sleep.
    Judith and Nora managed the room assignments. They spread out the
diagrams on one of the bigger tables near the entrance to the dining hall and
ticked off names as people came over to confirm whether they had a place to
stay and whether there were any empty beds in their rooms. There were some
complaints, but most people were too exhausted by the day’s events to protest
too much. If anyone didn’t know where to go, either because they had still been
in the process of checking in or because they were runners, Judith or Nora
would give them a room number. Willow Weathers would then tell them how to get
to the correct deck or assign a porter or a member of her backup band to help
them.
    Simon divided people into teams to search the ship for anyone who
hadn’t been accounted for yet. He dealt with any miscellaneous questions as
best as he could, turning to the three women for their input often. Judith kept an eye on him as he delegated tasks and listened to
the passengers’ concerns. With his quiet voice and unassuming demeanor, he had
a calming effect on people. He could resolve conflicts with a hand on the
shoulder and a soft word of encouragement.
    When Rosa Cordova, the woman they had met earlier in the plaza,
demanded additional rooms for her large family, Simon listened patiently and referred
her to Judith. The survivor count had climbed past the thousand mark , and Judith explained they needed every room filled to
capacity. Rosa grudgingly accepted Judith’s verdict. She looked to