The lad hates being sent down to the hold. It is dark and damp and worst of all, the sailors say there is something down there that likes to eat deck hands. Sometimes he thinks he can hear panting. He can smell something like the cross between a fishmonger and a wet dog. There's a big crate at the back of the hold that no one ever goes near. It has strange markings all over it. At night, sometimes he hears a sharp keening from below. He is waiting for the day it gets out.
Paddy Dobson
6th August 2023