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. Gisella tried to climb down the stairs but the
rocking threw her back into the wagon. Another wave
crashed into the side of the wagon, and two of the
three ropes securing the wagon to the deck burst under
the strain.
"Miss Hornslager!" screamed Woodrow. He
watched in horror as the wagon bearing Gisella slid
across the tilting deck, straining at the remaining rope.
But the rope held. Then, with a sound that almost
stopped Woodrow's heart, a jagged, white crack ap-
peared in the mast. The front end of the wagon
smashed through the ship's rail, and the wheels
dropped over the side. The ship rolled beneath the
shifting weight until water washed over the deck. A
second later, the entire wagon disappeared over the
side of the ship, slipping beneath the waves, followed
by the upper half of the mast.
The ship did not right itself, but bobbed and rocked
with its deck awash. The horses screamed and pawed
at the slippery deck. Seeing that the ship was lost,
Woodrow leaped off the steering deck and scrambled
to the stump of the mast. With his knife he sliced
through the horses' tethers so they would not be
dragged down by the sinking ship.
As the water rose in the cabin, Fondu and the other
gully dwarves who had taken shelter there stumbled
up on deck. A massive wave thundered down on the
upturned hull and the deck rotated even more. Tas
heard tumbling and crashing inside the ship as its bal-
last shifted.
"It's hopeless!" he shouted to the gully dwarves.
"The ship is sinking! Jump off! Swim for it!"
Woodrow and the horses were already in the water
when Tas dove after them
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