I OVERCAME VOODOO
** An unpublished chapter of "Manuscript found in a bottle" **
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In the heart of the storm, the Malay suddenly emerged from the cabin, waving a chicken leg. The possessed one would have given his soul for chalk Captain Pregzt's orders rang out about the howling of the tempest: "Do as he says!" A monstrous wave had taken Jovano, the cabin boy. Another terrifying wall of water loomed to starboard, demanding its due.
The Malay grabbed the chalk as if it were a diamond-studded crown. Upon the deck, he drew a strange pattern. "Papa Legba," screamed the demented savage, waving his chicken leg. The effect was prodigious! The wave stopped where it was, twixt heaven and Hell.
He then searched inside the leather pouch that he had hanging round his neck, and took out a piece of mirror. He placed it in the centre of the altar that stood beneath the mizzen mast, and on which he had drawn a "verve". Drawing from his red belt the strange staff which he always carried, the Malay shook it at the wave and chanted.
The giant wave sank gently into the ocean. "Voodoo, Voodoo," yelled our saviour, as Jovano's body struck the vessel's hull. "I can bring him back!" The Malay looked over at Pregzt who answered, "No, the fool could not even read!"