The sudden screaming of the children forces the boatman to get up. He stands by his bed in the dark, listening to the sound of their continuous shouting. Something must have happened. This is not the sound of joyful playing. It is close to the boat and seems to be getting closer, as if the children are rushing towards the boat both from the wooden dock and in the sea. Their voices pass through the water and hull, reaching his ears. It has turned into murmurs. He also hears it from above. They must have surrounded the boat. He quickens his stride and leaps over the three, short steps of the cabin and opens the hatch. The early morning sun hits his eyes as the fresh air passes through his lungs. With one glance, he can see at least ten half-soaked children above the boat hook pin and twice that number floating in the water, behind the boat where his cabin is. The children levitating in the water are pointing at something. But the boatman turns his head towards the Oxan gate and stares at the three guards that walk hastily towards his boat with two boys guiding them.

The boatman takes a few steps and reaches the bow. He bends down from the deck wall and looks at the object that is stuck between bow and the chains. It is the tumid body of a woman faced down on the surface. He horridly gets up on his knees, struggling to keep his balance, takes a breath and bends down again to take a closer look. The waves gently bang the body against hull. Her right hand is stuck in the chains. She has little clothes on and what remains of her short skirt is ripped and ragged. The naked body of the woman, even though lifeless and bloated like a dead fish, is not something that the boys should see. It would be better to scatter them from there. The woman’s torn skirt is made of the light colour cotton fabric that the fisher women or divers would wear, and it has a large, dark bloodstain on it beneath the waistline from where the skirt is torn. Her very short hair adds to the possibility that she is a diver. The boatman feels a tap on his shoulder and stands up on the guard’s command. The other two guards scatter the children.

The guards start at once without saying a word or asking questions. One of them takes off his leather sandals and steps into the water in the gap between the boat and the body. The boatman also jumps in. The water is deep and he has to hold himself up on the surface by treading water. He holds the chain with one hand and with the other hand, he frees the woman’s arm from the chain. He turns her hand and sees the four-line tattoo of the sea people; it is crossed with a thick scratch. There are more cuts and scratch marks on her arms, and the newest is from being released from the boat chain. There is no blood coming out from the new wound. The boatman holds up the woman from her neck and her chest and the guard from her waistline and legs. They push the body up to pass the edge of the pier wall which is higher than the sea level. But the body is heavy, and its wet and livid naked skin is slippery. It slides back from their hands into the water. They have to be careful not to let the waves take it further back. The guard hurriedly pushes her leg to the pier and picks her up again from her waist. The boatman helps with holding her head. The two guards on the dock act faster this time, and they take her arms and pull up the body.